CHAPTER XXX.
The manuscript sent forth.
PERSEVERANCE ISLAND, SOUTH PACIFIC, January, 1877.
I have decided. I am no longer in doubt. My mind is fully made up asto the course I must take, and that it is of no use for me to remainupon this island fretting my life away. I must escape, I must havecompanionship, and I must choose. Each method presented to my mind hasits advantages, and I have long been in doubt which to adopt: but thestruggle is ended; I have fully made up my mind, and shall not swervefrom it. If I should try to escape I have the following methods open tome: First, the submarine boat. If I should decide to use that method,I should, in the first place, have to build a much larger one, withroom for provisions and bed; and, being larger, it would be propelledmuch slower by goat power, for I could not utilize a steam-engine onaccount of the oxygen it would eat up, and the necessary space thatwould be needed for fuel. Now to build another, and larger boat, wouldtake time and patience, and would be practically useless when built;so I dismissed this from my mind. The one I now had was too smallto carry provisions for myself and goats, enough to last any greatlength of time; and the whole fabric was too crude to trust myselfin for a voyage of any length, supposing, even, that I could carry init sufficient food to sustain life. There was one principle, however,in the submarine boat that I hated to give up, and that was theperfect safety from storms on the surface: these I could escape at alltimes,--and, again, I should never lose in the night-time what I madein the day. There would be no drifting back, before the wind, whilstI was asleep, but by descending from the surface at night I shouldrest peacefully till morning, subject only to the slow drift of anyocean current that I might encounter. In stormy weather also I couldalways keep on my way in perfect calm, beneath the surface, withoutresistance of any kind except the friction of the water. These pointswere strongly in my favor; but I could not see any way to utilize them.One great impediment would be the want of air. If I should have toremain below the surface for any length of time beyond a few hours, Ishould have to keep to work preparing and introducing new air. Then, ifmy steering apparatus should get out of order, it would be difficultto repair it, and if my goats should die, or become sick, I shouldbe utterly without any means of locomotion, and liable to be leftdrifting about in mid-ocean till death ended my troubles. No; afterlong and anxious consultation with myself, I was forced to give up allidea of using my submarine boat, and, having so decided, put it whollyand completely out of my mind, and did not allow myself to think ofit again in connection with my escape. This gave my mind relief toconcentrate itself upon the second means of escape, namely, the steamyacht.
Here I was again puzzled. There was a great deal in its favor. Ishould, of course, have to sleep, and during my sleep I should go toleeward, before the wind, without reckoning of where I should bringup. I felt that I could stop this drifting, to a degree, by making asort of bag of canvas, to be submerged in the ocean to a certain depthto which the yacht could be anchored, so to speak, during the night.She would, of course, still drift, but not one-quarter as much as shewould without it. Such an anchor was often used successfully, as I wellknew, in larger vessels, in gales of wind, to keep them head to sea,and to prevent them drifting so rapidly to leeward before the blast asthey would without it. If I should risk this drifting I might also beexposed to all kinds of weather and gales of wind to which my littleboat was hardly equal. I felt confident that she would not be safe ina heavy seaway, and, if the machinery should break down, I should bereduced to sails alone, which I could only handle in the daytime, andwhich, in any sudden squall, might cause my being capsized for wantof assistance in taking them in. No; I knew the risk was too great.I might never see land for months, if at all, if my machinery shouldgive out so as to compel me to use sails, which would often becomeunmanageable by myself alone. No, I must give this idea up; and I didso.
I next turned my thoughts to a catamaran boat, or life raft,--somethingupon hollow cylinders, that could not capsize, and upon which I shouldfeel sure of being safe, as far as any fear I might have of the ocean.This seemed more feasible than anything yet,--slow, to be sure, butmore safe than any of the foregoing. I had here the danger of beingwashed off such a raft, the discomforts of being forced to go withoutfire during any gale of wind, and to be utterly unable to advance,with any great speed, towards my place of destination, unless thewind should be, by chance, favorable. By this third method I should,in reality, be exposed upon an open raft to the winds of heaven, forhow long a time God only knew. That I should suffer infinitely I feltcertain. I was too old not to see plainly just what I should have to gothrough with to put to sea in such a vessel. I knew that it had beendone, and that just such rafts had crossed the Atlantic after manyweary days of passage, and others had started that were called liferafts,--and believed so to be both by practical and scientific men, whohad examined them before their departure,--which had never been heardof again. No, I would not trust myself to the mercies of the sea inthis manner, and exchange my pleasant island for its dangers.
My last chance of escape was by my flying-machine, and the many thingsin its favor tempted me greatly, and at one time I thought that theyhad overcome in my mind the danger. I could easily construct one ofthese machines, that would take into the air both myself, my twogoats, provisions, spare sulphuric acid and steel filings to makenew gas, and if my machinery would work I could escape in safety, Ifelt convinced. I could, as I have said, make new gas, even when onmy voyage; and if I should use up all my sand-bags, and needed moreballast, I had only to let down a bucket into the ocean, attached to along line, and pull up as much water as I might need to overcome thebuoyancy of any new gas I might make. I might, also, if a favorablewind should commence, fly like a bird towards the continent of SouthAmerica. But, on the other hand, if a gale should arise, I might, ifone of my fragile propellers should become broken, be hurled beforethe blast till I floated above the vast ocean far beyond the reachof mortal aid. If I dared trust my machinery this would be the way Ishould make my attempt; but I did not feel that I had the right to riskmy life in this manner, or by any of the above methods, till I hadexhausted all means of making the outside world come to me. Therefore,after due and serious consideration, I made up my mind firmly not totry to escape by any of the above plans, or by any means, till I hadtried the other alternative.
This decision having once been firmly made, I felt that more than halfmy task was already done; for it was this shilly-shallying that wasundoing me. Anything was better than to waste my life in this uselesswavering. What good to me was all my wealth unless I could utilize it?and to do so I must run some risks, and the quicker I undertook themthe quicker I should be put out of my pain and misery if my plans wereto be successful, and the more years I should have to enjoy my princelyrevenues. I could not better affairs by any act of mine. It was all inthe hands of God, and I might as well now, as at any time, give myselfup to what He might order for the best.
Having thus made up my mind to let my position be known to the outsideworld, and to ask for assistance and aid, I had next to settle upon thebest plan. If I should send up, daily, one or more small balloons, witha piece of parchment attached, giving the latitude and longitude of theisland and asking for rescue, I ran several risks. In the first place,I was well aware that in these days, on board steamers, with passengersespecially, anything and everything was thought of to pass away anidle hour, and that albatrosses, when caught, were fitted out oftenwith letters and legends tied to their feet; that, in sport, bottleswere often thrown overboard containing fables and yarns of shipwreckand disaster, and I was very much afraid that, if one of my balloonsshould be picked up, it would be taken as a hoax, as the first thingwould be to examine the chart, and no island would be found to existwhere I now write these lines. Besides, if anybody should pick up oneof my balloons, which at sea was improbable, it would, I fear, be takenlittle account of. For, although I might send up hundreds, the chanceof their falling into the water so as to be seen by any vessel,
in thedaytime, near enough to be distinguished from a nautilus, was extremelyand infinitesimally small. No, I had little hope in this direction.On the other hand, should they reach land, the chart would show thatthere was no known land in the direction specified, and the whole thingwould be taken as a hoax from the next neighboring town, and I feltsure no attention would be paid to it. And if any of them landed on thecoast of South America, as was possible, and even probable, the Englishlanguage, in which they would be written, would be so much Greek tothe natives. On the other hand, should one of them be picked up by avessel, and search made for the island, what guarantee had I that Iwould be allowed to preserve my treasure?
No! I felt that small balloons would be of little use to me, and, infact, might do more harm than good. What should I do to prove that Iwas in earnest; that there was such an island, and that I was uponit, in person; and that I needed help and assistance, which I couldrepay? Why, I felt convinced, by writing a history of all my sorrows,troubles, and tribulations, that would bear upon its face the impressof truth, would carry conviction to any mind that would read it, andwould prove to the intellect of any one that it was not _fiction_, buttruth, in all its majesty, never to be mistaken for the former.
This, I felt, was the only way to reach out towards a rescue, and itis for this purpose that all that has been herein set down has beenpenned. Having made my mind up firmly to this, I have written all theabove, to be launched into space. Let me beg that my story may bebelieved, and that I may be rescued; let me ask of you, who find this,by God's grace, to weigh each word and sentence, and feel that you arereading no romance. I shall attach this to a balloon of size, so as tofloat long in the air, and to attract attention, if ever observed byany one, both by the strangeness of its make and these parchment sheetsupon which I have written.
And now let me proclaim to the world the following,--for if thismanuscript ever does come into the hands of anyone who intends to seekme out, let all that is contained therein be perfectly understood:--
PROCLAMATION.
_In the name of God, Amen._--Be it known to all men, that I, WilliamAnderson, a citizen of the United States of America, do here solemnlydeclare that I am the discoverer, and at this present the occupant, ofan island in the South Pacific Ocean, which I have named PerseveranceIsland, and that said island lies in the latitude of 42 deg. 21' S., andlongitude 119 deg. 11' 15'' W. of Greenwich. That I was cast on shore,and miraculously saved by the goodness of God, on Nov. 10, 1865, and thatI claim as my own, in the name of the United States, all this hithertounknown island as my property, belonging to me and my heirs forever;and, inasmuch as I have discovered upon and about this island immensetreasures, as recited in a narrative hereto annexed, I ask, demand, andpray for the protection of the United States, and hope that it willbe deemed both fitting and proper to dispatch a man-of-war to protectme, for which assistance I am fully ready and capable of reimbursingthe government for any outlay; and further, let it be well understoodthat I, the aforesaid William Anderson, will resist to the death anyencroachment upon my property, by whomsoever made; and that for theprotection of myself, my treasure, and my island, it is hereby plainlystated, all manner of instruments of defence have been made by me, thesaid William Anderson, and that the harbors of the island are strewedwith torpedoes, and that it is highly dangerous to attempt to landupon any part of the island without intercourse with, and consent of,myself. And that there may be no mistake, and that I may know that ifany that approach have seen this proclamation, and acknowledge my justclaims and pity my long years of solitude and suffering, I issue thefollowing set of signals, to be by them used in token of amity and thatthey come to me as friends, otherwise they will be treated as enemies;and although my wealth is great, as herein related, it is believed thatpity for my sufferings will touch the heart of any in the civilizedworld, and I do look most for succor and comfort from the ships of warof the United States of America.
The signals to be made by any vessel approaching the island, whichwould be in safety, and rules for anchorage, etc., are the following,and must be strictly observed:--
If in the daytime, the vessel, if a steamer, will stand in to the mouthof Mirror Bay till the two iron discs on the mainland are in line, ornearly so, when she will anchor, in six fathoms of water, and thenfire three guns, two from the starboard side, one from the port side,and then run up the colors of her nation to the mizzen peak. A sailingvessel will follow these orders except that greater license will begranted her in coming to in a line with the two discs.
If a vessel makes the island in the night-time, she will heave to, orstand off and on, and not attempt to approach, by boat or otherwise,at her peril, till the morning; keeping up, during the night, a redsignal lantern at the fore, and firing one gun; when, in the morning,she can stand in under the rule preceding this, for daytime. Havinganchored and signalled, the same will be answered by the occupant ofthe island by two guns from South Cape, when a boat can then come onshore, containing three persons, one officer and two seamen, who, ifunarmed, will be allowed to land, and, if honest and true men, as isto be hoped, remuneration for all their trouble in seeking me outwill be freely granted. But let it be distinctly understood that allmy treasures, of both gold, silver, and pearls, are no longer hiddenin the places described in my narrative, but have been removed, andcarefully re-hidden, and that an attempt to take my life and possessone's self of my treasures will be futile, for their burying-place willnever be known; and I shall resist all aggression with all my might andstrength, and, if need be, give up my life in defending my treasure,that I have watched over for so many years.
In my lonely, solitude, with none but the hand of the ever-presentProvidence spread over to protect me, I sign the above proclamation asmy will and desire.
WILLIAM ANDERSON.
PERSEVERANCE ISLAND, South Pacific, Jan. 10, 1877.
And now I have done. I am about to cast this manuscript to the windsof heaven, to be conveyed hence to where God shall think best. Let mebeg that the subject-matter of the "Good Luck" may be published in theLondon newspapers, when attention may be brought to the case, and theold society may send for me, and believe in me much quicker than theoutside world will.
I know but little French, but, to still further protect this manuscriptI add these few lines, from what remains to me in memory, of thesailor's French that I once picked up, in Havre, in years gone by, sothat this may not be thrown carelessly away if it falls into the handsof any who can speak that lingo.
AVIS.
Ne jetez pas cette papier; c'est ecrit en Anglais et est DE GRANDIMPORTANCE. Faites rendre en Francais, et vous trouverai une vraiehistorie d'or et de l'argent trouve par moi sur une isle dans l'oceanPacific.
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I have no more to add. I have finished my story with regret. I am tyingthis manuscript together, and inflating the balloon that is to carry itwhere God wills.
I will believe in His justice, and await in patience His reply to mymany prayers.
WILLIAM ANDERSON.
THE MANUSCRIPT COMMITTED TO THE WINDS.--PAGE 372.]
L'ENVOI.
It may be interesting to call to the attention of those whose eyes itmay have escaped, the following that appeared in the _New York Herald_of June 16, 1880:--
"_In addition to our account of the wonderful story and succor ofWilliam Anderson, from his Pacific Island, with all his treasures,and his arrival at this port in the U. S. S. S. Tallapoosa, publishedin our last evening's edition, we have to state that, at a late hour,it was ascertained that this remarkable personage, who appears inexcellent good health and spirits, will at once sail by one of theCunarders for London to confer with his associates there, who werethe originators of the "Good Luck" scheme. He states that, having norelatives, he shall, without doubt, expend the larger portion of hisimmense wealth for charitable purposes, and that it is very probablehe may return to Perseverance Island, with a colony, there to end hisdays._"
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Transcriber's note:
Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author'soriginal spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.
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