14 May 1870, Saturday
Cmdr. Wooster seemed greatly relieved that the captain was once again in command of the vessel. Miss Chigwidgeon and Edward appeared to be somewhat disappointed that they had missed out on the early monring excitement. Much of the crew was very confused about the captain's recovery and the arrests. All day long I overheard members of the crew retelling versions of the story.
Several sailors have been implicated in Mr. Vanderlay's contraband scheme, and have been locked away in the brig. Among those under arrest is Mr. Dawkins. The captain and Sir Cosmo spent a long time questioning the new prisoners.
Shortly after lunch one of the cabin boys brought Miss Sinclair a note. He reported that Mr. Dawkins had asked him to get this note to Miss Chigwidgeon. The boy wasn't certain whether he should report the note to one of the officers, deliver it as intended, or throw it overboard and pretend he never saw it. He elected to let the governess have the note and decide what to do with it.
The badly misspelled note indicated that Dawkins had some delicate information about Miss Chigwidgeon's mother that he simply must tell her. Miss Sinclair and Miss Chigwidgeon discussed the note for some time before deciding to go below decks and ask Sir Cosmo and Captain Rodgers for permission to interview Dawkins to see if the fool would accidently give even more incriminating evidence against himself.
They agreed, and left it to Mr. Kirati and myself to set up a secure way for the ladies to interview the prisoner. We securely chained him to a cot, and carried the cot from the brig to a nearby room, where the ladies were waiting.
The man is even more pathetic than I had earlier surmised. Because Miss Chigwidgeon had been introduced as Sir Cosmo's ward, Dawkins believed that her father, "old Rip," as Dawkins calls him, was dead. Dawkins had hoped to convince Miss Chigwidgeon that he had cuckolded Rip Chigwidgeon, and thus Mr. Chigwidgeon was not actually her father, but he was. He expected Miss Chigwidgeon to feel some family loyalty to him and plead with Sir Cosmo and Captain Rodgers for leniency. Later, he hoped to futher ingratiate himself with her so he might have an excuse to call on Sir Cosmo's home from time to time and steal valuables.
Miss Sinclair and Miss Chigwidgeon had no difficulty extracting the whole tale from the man. Then Miss Chigwidgeon explained that her father was alive and well, or at least had been as of only a few days ago. She said that he would be very interested to hear Dawkins' assessment of his manhood.
This reduced Dawkins to blubbering. He pleaded with Miss Chigwidgeon not to mention any of it to her father. She indicated that she might be willing to forget the conversation ever happened if he cooperated completely with the captain's investigation. But she made no promises.
After dinner the League met in Sir Cosmo's suite to discuss plans for the arrival at the island. Mr. Cuthbert will lead the expedition onto the island consisting of Miss Whitnell, Miss Sinclair, Mrs. Cuthbert, Mr. Ramsay, Mr. Pym, and Mr. Pryce. They will be escorted by Lt. Lochsley and a squad of marines. Since Lochsley already shows a natural deference to Mr. Cuthbert, there should be no difficulties with the chain of command.
The others will remain on board to assist with surveying the harbor. Edward's underwater contraption will be used to make the first search for signs of Nemo's underwater base. Then Dr. Wilson and Lt. Pellew will descend in the diving suits for a more thorough search.
Further action will be taken depending upon what each party finds.
15 May 1870, Sunday
We arrived at St. Damien island not long after dawn. The island itself is rather oddly shaped. The bulk of the island is a very tall, steep-sided moutain. It looks as if the gods had set a granite column into the sea to hold up the sky. The sides of the mountain are weathered sheer cliffs. Spread out on all sides from this column is flat wooded countryside, no more than a few miles wide in some places.
We dropped anchor in the small harbor near the mouth of the river up which Mr. Pym indicated the encampment lies. The landing party was taken ashore in the small boats, while Edward, Sir Cosmo, Dr. Wilson, and Miss Chigwidgeon began the underwater investigations.
Edward's device seemed to work properly. It disappeared below the surface and reappeared many minutes later. Sir Cosmo developed the photographic plates it had taken, and soon he, the Captain, Lt. Pellew, and Dr. Wilson were peering at the pictures through magnifying glasses and comparing the images to marks on a map of the harbor.
Dr. Wilson and Pellew finished putting on the diving suits and were lowered away. All was quiet for some time. Lt. Pellew, using the telegraph device in his diving suit, indicated they had found a sunken iron vessel. Dr. Wilson signaled something about ruins (his command of the code apparently was not thorough), while Pellew's device signaled they had found the remains of a stone building and an unsual statue.
Then there was a small explosion underwater, and everyone became a bit concerned. The gun crews were already in the turrets. After the first explosion, Sir Cosmo had Edward and Lt. Nottle begin priming the underwater rocket. Dr. Wilson's device signalled something about a dragon. Pellow signaled something about a devil fish.
There was a second explosion, and something vaguely resembling an enormous fish appeared to break the surface near the explosion. There were several more explosions before both divers signalled that the beast was dead. It was many minutes before they signalled that they were ready to be brought aboard.
The beast that attacked them appeared to be a glowing skeleton of an enormous creature, and it took four direct hits from Dr. Wislon's rockets to destroy the thing. Wilson and Pellew had collected several pieces of its bones, which Sir Cosmo and Lt. Spode said appeared to be fossils of some extinct beast.
They had also discovered ruins of several buildings, which Pellew thought resembled ancient greek architecture. The statue, however, was of a four-armed monstrous man, which seemed like Hindu statuary to Dr. Wilson. More importantly, the sunken vessel was an underwater boat, indeed, though much smaller than Captain Nemo's infamous ship is believed to be. The vessel seems only large enough for a crew of between two and five men. It is damaged as if by explosives, and no bodies were inside. At the prow of the vessel the words "Under sea boat 2" were written in Dutch.
About this time a crewmember brought the Captain a note from the wheelhouse. The landing party was signalling via semiphore. They had proceeded into the forest, having found evidence of dark sorcery, specifically some indication that the dead were being raised. They had found two men who claimed to be survivors of a Dutch expedition sent to investigate the ruins beneath the harbor. The party was investigating the campsite, and had found some clues they thought Sir Cosmo should see.
The strangest part of the note was that the party wanted to know if the earthquake had endangered us. None of us aboard had noticed an earthquake, which both the Captain and Sir Cosmo felt certain should had disturbed the water. After a brief consultation, the Captain had the signal man send back that the rest of the League was coming ashore.
After Dr. Wilson changed into dry clothes he spent a few moments going over the workings of the underwater rocket with Lt. Nottle and some of the crew. Meanwhile I gathered the bags packed with clothing for Sir Cosmo, Miss Chigwidgeon, Edward, and the others. We climbed into two of the boats and were taken ashore.
Owen was very happy to be on land at last, racing up and down the beach barking at the sea birds. Edward was briefly distracted following him and doing the same. A large boulder, which no one had remembered seeing on the beach when the ship had first arrived, was embedded in the sand just above the high water mark. It seemed to be in the center of a small, impromptu graveyard, which had been vandalized. All the grave markers were knocked over and the graves disturbed, though there was no sign of the corpses.
We followed the river, as the others had before us. Owen discovered that the island was populated with a large species of pheasant, which he took great delight in flushing from the underbrush.
We found the others at the site of Professor Gordon's encampment and dig. Sir Cosmo was introduced to the two dutch sailors, Mr Van Brainrich and Mr Van Reed. Mr. Van Brainich is a sailor with some experience working in the engine rooms of steam ships, and Mr. Van Reed is an engineer who assisted in the construction of the underwater boat found in the harbor. They were both crew members of "Under sea boat 3."
Their tale filled in several of the missing portions of what had happened to Mr. Pym and the Gordon expedition. Having read the accounts in many newspapers of Prof. Arronax's experiences while a prisoner of Captain Nemo, an inventor whose name I never quite caught, convinced a Dutch salvage company to finance the building of several underwater salvage boats, based on a prototype he had been constructing.
Three of these salvage boats were brought to St. Damien Island aboard a large, conventional salvage vessel. The island was chosen because it is very near to the location given by Prof. Arronax for the ruins which Nemo claims are all that remains of the fabled land of Atlantis. When the salvage crew arrived, they realized there was some sort of expedition on the western side island, and chose to anchor off the island's south shore, so as to conduct their experiments and investigations in secret.
The three under sea boats were doing precisely that one day, when the Aerofrigate Le Majeste arrived and, for whatever reason, bombed the Dutch surface ship, killing everyone aboard. The crews of the undersea boats decided to attack the aerofrigate's escort in retaliation. They placed explosives on the vessel, but before they could escape, Le Majeste's crew had spotted them in the water, and commenced bombing.
Only one of the undersea boats remained intact enough for two of its crew, Mr Van Brainrich and Mr Van Reed, to abandon ship and swim ashore. Mr. Van Reed was seriously injured, Mr. Van Reed less so. They saw Le Majeste explode high in the sky after apparently being struck by lightning. A terrible storm had arisen without warning just before this happened, and as rain and fog descended on the island, the Dutch sailors had sought shelter in the forest.
Eleven bodies of French sailors washed ashore. Van Reed and Van Brainrich did their best to give the bodies proper burials. On the following night they were awakened by eerie lights in the forest and strange, frightening sounds. When Van Brainrich went to investigate, he saw the corpses clawing their way out of the earth. The reanimated bodies then began shambling inland, following the river. Frightened, Van Brainrich carried his companion deeper into the forest and set up a new camp.
Van Reed became sicker, being delirious for the last several days, until Mrs. Cuthbert and Miss Whitnell had tended his wounds. Mrs. Cuthbert says he will require several more days to recover. Sir Cosmo had several of the marines take the two Dutch sailors to the shore, where they can be taken aboard the ship to be fed and cared for. The men were appropriately grateful.
Mr. Cuthbert's party has discovered a great deal. They found the eleven graves near the shore. Miss Whitnell, Mrs. Cuthbert, Mr. Ramsay, and Mr. Pryce immediately detected a residual of dark sorcery or witchcraft. They attempted to cleanse the area with one of Miss Whitnell's rituals. It was during this attempt that they felt the earthquake, and the boulder we saw later, pushed its way out of the ground right at the spot they had been standing. They decided to head inland.
They discovered the pheasant I mentioned earlier, and Miss Sinclair is convinced it is a species never before seen by europeans. They do resemble peacocks, though their colors are violet and purple, rather than blue. Apparently their feathers have been turning up everywhere, seemingly by magick.
Some notes belonging to Mr. Pryce's brother were found in the ruins of the camp. The others surmissed that Mr. Andrew Pryce was translating inscriptions on some object or objects which they expedition had unearthed. It sounds, to my ear, like fragments from a holy book:
That which is alive hath known death, and that which is dead yet can never die. For in the circle of the spirit, life is naught and death is naught. Yes, all things live forever though at time they sleep and are forgotten.
There is no such thing as death though (rather?) there be a thing called change
...in seeking him through those great spaces where the planets wander forever.
He who can find spirit and let it breath upon him shall live with her in life.
She, herself, must change and sleep til it be time for her to live again.
Behold, she (her?), lovely as no woman was or is, undying and god (godlike? goddess? holy?). Memory haunts her from age to age. Sorrow swells in her from age to age. Evil has she done and evil shall she do and sorrow shall she know until her (redemption? purification?) comes.
The encampment had otherwise been razed of useful clues by the French. Everyone (with the possible exception of Edward, who is anxious to get back to the ship to start re-designing his sinkable boat) felt we were most likely to find the survivors of the expedition, and the source of the dark magic, if we followed the trail of the animated corpses inland. Thus we continued.
Late in the day Mr. Cuthbert chose a small hill as our camp for the night. It is a good, defensible position from which we can see all the surrounding countryside.
There appears to be an ancient idol or statue buried in the hill. Only a small part of the head is visible now. There also appears to be a cave, which is inhabited by a large colony of bats.
Once camp was made, Miss Whitnell, Mr. Ramsay, and Mrs. Cuthbert performed a ritual which they said would keep evil spirits away from the camp. During the ritual something went amiss and Mrs. Cuthbert's spirit left her body. Mr. Ramsay and Miss Whitnell cast another spell and eventually Mrs. Cuthbert regained consciousness. She said her spirit had been sent across the heavens to someplace called "Mars" which had many pretty cities and busy people. It was also during her sojorn on the spiritual plane that she discovered the statue. She later showed the visible portion to the rest of us.
Eventually everyone settled down to sleep. Or at least tried to. The sounds of the forest at night were a bit much for some members of the League. At one point, Dr. Wilson sat bolt upright out of what appeared to be a dead sleep and fired his rocket gun into the night, announcing that he was shooting the loudest mosquito he had every heard. Apparently the rocket did hit something in midair that set off its explosive.
It was a few hours after this that I first saw the lights up on the cliff. Three torches appeared to be making a slow zig-zagging path down from the mountain top. Occasionally the torches would vanish, only to reappear many minutes later some distance further down. Occasionally one torch would go out, and another would be lit in its place. At the rate there were progressing, they would not reach the base of the cliff until after dawn, so I decided not to wake the others, but to watch their progress. If they meant us harm, the League would best be able to deal with any danger well-rested.
16 May 1870, Monday
My news concerning the party approaching us cancelled the plans to explore the cave of bats. I suspect the fact that the Aerofrigate Le Victoire can now be seen off the coast may have influenced the decision as well. Since the hill is a good defensible postion, Mr. Cuthbert suggested we await the approaching party here.
A group of five men, who look to my eyes to be Arabic in ancestry, though their clothing is not typical of mohamaddans, soon emerged from the woods. They stopped at the base of the hill in full view. The man who appeared to be the leader handed his weapons to a companion and walked forward with his empty hands held before him.
Sir Cosmo, Mr. Caine, and Mr. Cuthbert met him partway. He spoke in a language in which no one in our party was fluent, although Mr. Caine and Mr. Ramsay were able to make some sense of it and answer in Arabic. Mr. Ramsay thinks it is an off-shoot of a language that predates both Arabic and Arameic, as he heard elements of both in the speech.
The man came with a letter, written by Professor Gordon, and dated just yesterday. The letter invited us to enter the city of Kor, which is ruled by someone Gordon continually referred to as "She Who Must Be Obeyed." We were promised safe conduct into the city if we come with peaceful intentions. The letter stated forthrightly that this "She" is suspicious of outsiders particularly after the death and destruction caused by Le Majeste.
Sir Cosmo and Miss Whitnell composed a reply, which was carried back to the city by one of the group of natives. The others acted as our guides after we finished packing. A note was also composed for Captain Rodgers. Lt. Lochsley and his remaining marines were sent back to deliver the message by whatever means seemed best, and to delay any French parties that might attempt to follow us. Lochsley seemed quite pleased to have orders to harass the French.
Our guides then led us to the foot of the mountain. The road to the city of Kor begins at the base of the cliffs not far from the waterfall that feeds the river. A cave, whose entrance is not easy to spot, leads to a steep stair carved into the stone. The stair leads to another cave, which leads to a short tunnel which brings one to another stair way out on the surface of the cliff. The climb to the city was an arduous one. Stairways have been carved into the stone of the mountain at varying angles. Some of the passage is through more twisting caves and tunnels. At one point the tunnel we were following opened into a great shaft, which descended further than the eye could see downward, and which extended upward to an opening which admitted sunlight. Yet another stairway had been carved inside this shaft, winding upward.
Because it is open at the top and received both rain and sun, the stairs in this section were sometimes more slippery than others. It was in this place the Miss Sinclair lost her footing and might have fallen to her death, if she had not been caught.
The last portion of the journey was through a tunnel. The tunnel opens at an enormous gate, each side of which is carved with the likeness of the a woman that we later learned is She Who Must Be Obeyed. The top of the mountain is like a bowl several miles wide. The city is nestled at the bottom of the bowl, surrounded by terraced fields. The city itself consists of stone and mud-brick buildings built close together. In the center of the city a pyramid-shaped building rises above all the others, topped by a large golden ball. A plaza and smaller (though still quite impressive) temple are in front of the pyramid. Everywhere were images of the same woman.
We were led through the city and into the temple, where Prof. Gordon, his daughter, Miss Alice Gordon, and four priestesses of the city met us. One of these women is the wife whom Mr. Pym only vaguely remembers. She was very pleased to see him.
Introductions were made. Prof. Gordon informed us that two other members of his party, Mrs Hardy and Mr Cleves, are alive and well in the city. Gordon further reported that they have been told they may leave the city as soon as they wish, but they have been unable to find Mr. Andrew Pryce, who has been missing since just before the unpleasantness with Le Majeste. Apparently She Who Must Be Obeyed has not been very helpful in the search for the missing man.
The party was treated to a tour of the temple and given refreshments before being taken to meet She who rules this place. The temple is full of artwork and books. There are at least two representations of the universe with the sun at the center and all the planets circling in their orbits. Sir Cosmo was quite impressed with this representation, since it includes two planets which have only recently been discovered by European astronomers.
The temple includes a school where the priestesses are trained in their duties. Apparently many of them are capable of performing sorcery. Men are not allowed to be educated in such things.
We were eventually taken from the temple into the pyramid, crossing a bridge more than a score of feet above the plaze to enter polished metal doors. We passed between the ranks of an honor guard and through another set of metal doors and into the presence of She Who Must Be Obeyed.
Words fail to describe her, but I shall attempt it, nonetheless. I can not say whether she is a goddess, demon, or simply an extremely powerful sorceress, but the light of her soul shines so brightly, it is blinding to the trained eye. Even a dullard such as Lt. Wooster seems to perceive a fraction of its glimmer.
She appears to be beautiful, but I can not say whether her flesh truly is, or if my senses are being overwhelmed by her mystcial power. She appears to be taller than a typical European woman, certainly much taller than the average woman living in the city. Her skin is dark. Her hair completely black. Her eyes seemed to change colour as I looked at them, from amber to green, to gold, to a dark grey (the last the color of storm clouds).
She greeted us all, welcoming us to her lands. I heard her speak in perfect Hindi. From the reactions of the others, they heard her speaking in English.
I noticed immediately a slight scowl on Her face directed toward Miss Sinclair, Miss Whitnell, Mrs. Cuthbert, and Miss Chigwidgeon. I fear this may not bode well. Since I given my solemn oath to both Sir Cosmo and to Mr. Graves that I will protect members of the household, I pray my strength may be equal to the challenges ahead.
Proceed to 5. Meeting She Who Must Be Obeyed
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