Saturday, 14 May, 1870
(later)

Well, the above hope for a nap remained unfulfilled, as right after I set aside my pen, a cabin boy came to us, and, showing a gratifying respect for my authority, gave me a note addressed to Miss Chigwidgeon.

The note was from Dawkins, who, while imprisoned in the brig, somehow managed to get this note out. He wrote, with uneducated awkwardness and his usual unpleasant familiarity, that he wished to tell Miss Chigwidgeon something personal.

We directed our steps to the brig and stopped to look in at the room where Sir Cosmo, the Captain, and the senior officers were discussing the interrogation of the prisoners. We showed them the note, and they loaned us Mr Kirati as well as Mr Salmalin to escort us to Dawkins' cell.

Dawkins attempted to win Miss Chigwidgeon's sympathy by first implying and, when pressed, by saying outright that Rip Chigwidgeon couldn't be her father because he was, shall we say, incapable. Dawkins went on to claim that he himself must be Miss Chigwidgeon's father, and that only sensitivity to his friend Rip's pride had kept him from claiming her before now.

When asked why he said Rip was dead, he replied that since Miss Chigwidgeon had been adopted by Sir Cosmo, that must mean that Rip was dead. Miss Chigwidgeon indicated that her father was alive and would probably find Dawkins' claim very interesting when we all returned to England. It took some time for Dawkins to understand his error. Miss Chigwidgeon offered a very alarming performance, mimicking her father's threatening mannerisms in a way that frightened Dawkins very badly and left him begging to be locked in jail instead of being let loose in London where Rip could reach him.

I admit to being unsure whether this was entirely pretence or if Miss Chigwidgeon truly has this streak of her father's viciousness within her. I suppose I was simply surprised to have the interview so completely taken out of my hands by our usually ingenuous young lady.

Once we completed this peculiar encounter, we continued with our "usual" daily activities of exercise on the deck and hindi lessons.

We are proceeding toward our destination at an increased rate of speed, hoping to beat La Victoire. All the ship is abuzz with preparation. In our after-supper meeting in Sir Cosmo's suite, we discussed the plans for landfall, and how to best arrange our personnel.

Some of our party will go down in diving equipment and use Edward's underwater vessel to look for explanations for Mr Pym's "behemoth"--if perhaps it might have been some more advanced underwater ship. This group will include Dr Wilson and Lt Pellew (who will actually dive) and Sir Cosmo, Miss Chigwidgeon, and Edward (who will remain above to assist). Mr Salmalin will remain with them, as will Owen.

I will be joining the group going to St Damien island to search for signs of the Gordon expedition. Mr Cuthbert will be the civilian leader, with Lt Locksley in command of the Marines. Mr Ramsay has expressed a strong interest in looking for any archaeological traces, and has asked Mrs Cuthbert and Miss Whitnell to help him with that. Mr Rupert Pryce and Mr Pym will be with us as well, and we hope Mr Pym will be able to recall his past experiences without returning to his earlier madness.

I have reviewed the information I received from Lt Pellew early in the voyage and have shared what I know with my colleagues. We have reviewed the timetables and the rosters, the supplies lists, and the protocols. Somehow, though, I still feel nervous and under-prepared.

I am sure I'm not alone in this. We all seem to be at once anxious and eager to get started. Indeed, Sir Cosmo felt obliged to confide some information regarding his Will, in case of "the worst":

Recall that some while ago Sir Cosmo made some changes in his Will with regard to his two wards, and that his Grandfather had asked him to select alternate executors for the Will. He says that our precipitate departure from Town had forced him to make the changes he had thought of without consulting us first. His will now says that in case of his death, his estate will go primarily to Edward and to Miss Chigwidgeon. The executors are first Lord Greyminster, second, Miss Whitnell, and third, Mrs Cuthbert.

Regardless of which person is serving as executor (or executrix), I have guaranteed employment as Edward's tutor as long as he needs one (this time period seems rather vague, but we can take that question up when we return), and (here's the shock) a lifetime stipend thereafter. Very generous, and I'm pleased at the compliment to my capability, though of course hope that this never comes to the test.

Now I am perishing with exhaustion. I had better get some sleep tonight, or I will be of no use to anyone tomorrow.

Sunday, 15 May, 1870
(evening)

We are on the island at last. My first look at a desert island, and there is so much to see! But very little time to write about it.

In short, we have spent all day traveling inland, with several informative stops along the way. Sir Cosmo and the group from the ship have joined us after a very exciting and informative expedition under the water. We also met up with some unexpected survivors of the earlier devastation.

We are now camped on a knoll some distance inland, as secure as we can hope to be, and the Marines are setting up camp. I therefore have leisure to recount the day's events...

We started out just as planned this morning, the Griffin arriving at the island, anchoring in the lagoon. We loaded into the long boats and the sailors and Marines rowed us to shore.

My offer to help Mr Cuthbert with tracking was received well, so he and I have been first over any ground, looking for traces of humans and what might have happened here.

We found traces of 11 graves on the shore, but they were empty and look as though their contents had climbed out. Mr Ramsay said it was "Necromancy," and the mystics employed some rituals to protect us.

Mr Cuthbert and I scanned the trail ahead, not going too far and keeping 4 Marines with us

We were entirely amazed to meet a survivor from a Dutch salvage operation. Fortunately, Mr Cuthbert understands Dutch, so this Mr VanBrainrich was able to describe some of what happened here. I didn't understand much of the discussion or Mr Cuthbert's translation at the time, but I have since filled in the chain of events as reported by the Dutch:

1) The Dutch group was testing a set of 3 small underwater vessels. They chose this island because this area is suggested in Prof. Arronax's writings as the location of undersea ruins he explored with Captain Nemo.
-Note: this was confirmed later by Dr Wilson and Lt Pellew, who discovered a recently scuttled Dutch undersea vessel in the midst of an ancient city's pillars and statuary.
This Dutch expedition was apparently meant to be secret, and was not cleared with the Portuguese.

2) The Gordon Expedition was underway on the West side of the island. The Dutch tried simply to avoid their notice.

3) A French Aerofrigate (presumably Le Majeste) approached, and for unclear reasons they attacked the Dutch surface ship from above, killing all aboard.

4) The crews of the 3 submerged vessels had been somewhat protected from that attack, and so were able to retaliate by attacking Le Majeste's surface-bound tender, which was thereby sunk. The undersea vessels were all damaged and/or destroyed, however, leaving only Mr VanBrainrich and his crewmate Mr VanReed alive.
-Note: Since Mr Pym was able to describe the Dutch vessels' attack on the tender (his "behemoth from under the sea"), the Gordon Expedition staff must have seen at least part of this fight.

5) Le Majeste continued to the island, where it attacked the Gordon encampment. Again, motive is not clear. The Dutchmen saw Le Majeste struck down by "lighting" from the mountainous center of the island. Presumably this means that this occurred after the tender was destroyed and the Dutch survivors had come ashore.

Regarding the Motives of the French for attacking the other Expeditions:
According to Mr VanBrainrich, the Dutch group and the Gordon Expedition were harmlessly pottering about with their respective projects when the French came along and began raining fire on everyone. Admittedly this is not an unbiased account. The French must have had some reason for these merciless attacks. Some possible reasons:

a) The French were also pursuing the stories of Nemo and "Atlantis."
They have already shown strong interest in Nemo and his inventions (remember Mme Zephyrine and M. Gerard?). They may have struck at the Dutch to prevent them finding or reporting anything.

b) The French are interested in the archeological and possibly mystical findings of the Gordon Expedition.
According to Mr Ramsay, his organisation has observed pursuit of mystical power by the French, the Navy in particular. If they thought the expedition had found something significant, they might have tried to take it or to at least prevent its use by the British.

c) the French are simply vicious, and fly around looking for helpless people to attack.

Any, all, or none of these possibilities? All these factions are here, fighting over this island, except for the Portuguese, who supposedly control it. It would be funny, if not for the death and destruction.

6) After all the fighting and the lightning-storm had subsided, the two Dutchmen found a number of apparently dead French sailors washed ashore, and they attempted to "give them a Christian burial" there in the sandy soil (this was our landing point) Somehow those men did not remain in their graves.

They can't have been buried very deep, as the weight of the damp soil would have prevented anyone reviving beneath it from moving, much less digging out. I saw no sign of any digging from the outside of the graves, and VanBrainrich gave his eyewitness report to seeing the French dig themselves out. I suppose "necromancy" is no less likely than the Dutch fellows being mistaken 11 times over about whether a body was truly dead.

After meeting the informative Mr VanBrainrich, Mr Cuthbert and I returned with him to our landing point. The mystics were just completing some sort of exorcism when an Earthquake shook us.

We moved inland and to higher ground quickly, in case of tidal waves. We retrieved the second Dutchman, Mr VanReed, along the way...he had been injured during the fighting, and had been growing weaker and weaker. Mrs Cuthbert, with help from Miss Whitnell and Mr Ramsay, ministered to his injuries, after which he seemed improved.

Lt Lochsley signaled the ship with semaphores. He had to repeat his signals several times, as the signaler on the Griffin was confused by the messages about tidal waves and walking dead.

After a pause in which no tidal wave or continuing quakes occurred, we proceeded toward the Gordon site. Once there, Lochsley signaled the ship again, and we were instructed to await Sir Cosmo and the others. As we explored the camp, we found considerable devastation, the whole area burnt and ransacked. Mr Cuthbert pointed out signs of human bodies all around in the dust, though none remained--only numerous sandalled and booted foot prints, all going further inland.

Mr Ramsay and his group studied the area of excavation. They found no artifacts to speak of, but rather a recent set of mystical markings and one partial page of a translation in Mr Andrew Pryce's writing.

I explored nearby and saw a breathtaking specimen of local fauna--a large pheasant, almost like a peacock, in brilliant purple and red plumage.

I sketched it and took several feathers. I don't think I'll be able to bring home a complete specimen, alas. I'd love to have a new bird discovery to my credit. On the other hand, if I did publicise this particular find, the island would be instantly overrun by hunters ready to adorn all the ladies of Europe with these feathers, and that would be the end of them.

The purple feathers seem to crop up everywhere. Miss Whitnell's bag was inexplicably bursting with them when she opened it. Mrs Cuthbert reported that she had found one back on the Griffin, well before any landfall, but other events had driven it from her thoughts.

In addition to the birds, I have also spotted a large yellow lizard, some 30" from nose to tail. It puts me in mind of those described by Mr Darwin from his visits to the Galapagos Islands. I didn't get a very close look at it, though, so I'll have to try for a sketch later.

While we awaited Sir Cosmo, we sent the Dutch fellows back to the shore, to be taken to the Griffin by the same boat that brought our colleagues.
Sir Cosmo and especially Dr Wilson told of their discoveries in the lagoon:
-The sunken Dutch vessel
-The ancient ruins and statues (Mr Salmalin seemed oddly concerned with a description of a warlike statue and how many arms it had).
-No particular sign of Nemo
-An encounter with a very large (30 ft long) sea creature, with translucent flesh and a luminous skeleton. I'd heard that deep-sea fishes were bizarre, but I wouldn't have expected such a large specimen in that shallow lagoon! Dr Wilson and Lt Pellew were, unfortunately, forced to kill it to defend themselves.

Edward is very excited about the Dutch vessel, now legitimately salvaged to become the property of the British Navy. How Ironic.

We used the rest of the day to continue inland, following the tracks from the Gordon site. Mr Cuthbert has selected a good, defensible campsite on this high knoll. While the Marines are setting up our tents, the Mystics are attempting some sort of protective ritual. They are quite anxious about the possibility of reanimated corpses attacking us. I admit that the idea is rather horrible.

(slightly later)
Mrs Cuthbert, during the Mystics' work, drifted off into unconsciousness, causing much alarm. When she came to, she declared that this high knoll is in fact a colossal statue. Looking at a section of lightly weathered marble, I think she may be right. The marble doesn't match the igneous rock elsewhere on the island, and it looks quite like the curve of an enormous brow. How it got here and how it came to be buried remain a mystery. Of course, Mrs Cuthbert also declared, upon her return to consciousness, that she had been visiting Mars, so I shan't worry too much about the statue story at present.

We have had a camp supper from our provisions, and everyone is settling in. The mystical wards and the guard roster are set to everyone's satisfaction. Salmalin is prowling. Dr Wilson is ready to shoot at any disturbance, including "loud mosquitoes."

I am listening to the bats.

Monday, 16 May, 1870

Off we go again!

This morning, as we debated our next path (I wanted to explore the bats' caverns), Mr Salmalin announced that a group of 3 men was approaching from inland.

As they came closer, they proved to be natives of this island.

They brought a letter from Professor Gordon, inviting us to the city at the center of the island to be guests of its queen. He assured us that most of the Expedition's members were safe there.

We sent a carefully worded letter of acceptance back with one of the Native escorts. Now we are breaking camp.

(later)
We have had a very long, dusty, rocky, steep hike, during which I nearly plummeted down the cliff, and would have broken my neck had not our admirable Mr Salmalin caught hold of me. We now find ourselves welcomed in the city of Kor.

We've met Professor Gordon, his daughter, and most of the Expedition staff. Mr Pym has been reunited with his Priestess wife. The only one not accounted for is Mr Andrew Pryce. According to the Professor, the queen here has evaded and discouraged inquiry about him.

We've met the queen, too. All I can say is, she's no better than she should be.

This whole place is done up with statues of her. The people here seem to have impressive knowledge, in an Ancient Civilisation sort of way, but their learning seems to have been directed to glorifying this one woman. She must think a lot of herself.

When we were presented to her, she gave me quite a look, as though trying to make me feel insignificant. I'll have none of that, though. I've handled plenty of county ladies wanting to show me who rules the household, not to mention all the chilling Housekeepers. I know how to look polite and unexceptionable without giving an inch.

I suppose we'll have another audience tomorrow, or in some way find out what she wants from us. Until then, I'm for a bath.

Proceed to 5. Rendered Senseless and Scattered

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