A Strange Discovery
Encyclopedia
A Strange Discovery is an 1899
novel by Charles Romyn Dake
and is a sequel to Edgar Allan Poe's
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
which was published in 1838. It follows the experiences of the narrator, an Englishman, during his stay in Bellevue, Illinois (see below), and his encounter with Dirk Peters, Pym's sailor companion in Poe's novel. On his deathbed, Peters relates the missing conclusion to Poe's tale.
, and thirty-nine years after the publication of that book.
The narrator is an Englishman traveling in the United States to settle business interests in Southern Illinois. During his stay in Bellevue, Illinois (corresponding to the actual Belleville), he makes acquaintance with two local doctors, an older man, Dr. George F. Castleton, and the younger Dr. Bainbridge. Dr. Castleton is an eccentric local character given to extravagant opinions, and the narrator mentions that he was later the Prohibition Party
candidate for Governor of Illinois
. During a discussion of Poe's works and Arthur Gordon Pym, Dr. Castleton reveals that Peters is a patient of his.
Much of the first section is given to the narrator's observations on American society and to discussions between him, Castleton, and Bainbridge on topics ranging from poetry and literature (and Poe in particular), to U.S. and European politics, to Christianity and agnosticism, to medical science.
Bainbridge describes his earlier discovery, at the Astor Library
in New York, of a book written in 1594 and published in 1728, of a narrative purporting to tell the story of a sailor on Sir Francis Drake's voyage of circumnavigation. According to this book, Drake's ship
was driven by a storm for two weeks, until, deep in the Antarctic, he arrived at a city which the author describes as comparable to Venice
, but more beautiful than any European city of that time.
.
After leaving the island of Tsalal, Peters and Pym voyage south through a curtain of fog into the area near the South Pole
, which is warmed by volcanic activity. Passing a white marble figure at the entrance to a harbor, they arrive in the city of Hili-li at 89°S latitude. Hili-li Island is one of over 200 islands in a great inland sea, surrounded by a ring-shaped continent. The continent consists of volcanic mountains and ice, making it impassable except for a 300-mile-wide gap, through which had come Francis Drake, Pym and his shipmates on the Jane Guy, and the occasional other castaway from the outside world.
The Hili-lites are a white race, descendants from a shipload of ancient Romans who left Rome and the Mediterranean fleeing from the barbarian invasions of the 4th century. Hili-li's population of 100,000 to 200,000 inhabitants are ruled by a Duke. There is also a reclusive, mystic old sage, Masusaelili, who claims to be a survivor of the original voyage from Rome.
Peters and Pym are treated hospitably, and Pym eventually falls in love with the Duke's niece, Lilima. The romantic interlude is interrupted when Lilima is abducted by her ex-lover Ahpilus. Ahpilus is one of a group of exiles who have been banished to the volcanic island at the pole for various offenses, mainly for engaging in forbidden sports or other physically dangerous activities. Ahpilus has gone mad as a result of his exile and unrequited love.
Peters, Pym, and the Duke's son Diregus lead a rescue expedition and catch up with Ahpilus on the slopes of the 8-mile-high "Mount Olympus", below the crater lake near its summit. Ahpilus threatens to throw himself and Lilima to their deaths in a gorge, but Peters, in a feat of astounding physical prowess, leaps across the gorge and incapacitates Ahpilus by breaking his back.
Returning to Hili-li, Pym and Lilima marry, but their happiness is short-lived. A rare meteorological event brings a period of intense cold and snow to Hili-li. Despite valiant efforts led by Pym, Peters, Diregus, and the returned Olympian exiles to fend off the cold, many of the Hili-lites succumb. Among these is Lilima.
The grief-stricken Pym is allowed to depart, along with Peters. They leave in December 1829, are picked up by a large schooner, and are deposited in Montevideo, Uruguay in February 1830. There Pym and Peters part company.
. The actual Bellevue
is a small village, a suburb of Peoria
, while the story explicitly takes place in a city in Southern Illinois, not far from St. Louis, Missouri
. The author was in fact a physician in Belleville.
The book includes a photograph of the Loomis House hotel and a nearby hotel identified as one visited by Charles Dickens
and described in his American Notes
. Dickens indeed visited the Mansion House in Belleville during his 1842 trip and recounts his conversation with an eccentric physician he met there.
, but because of the sensitive nature of his discoveries, it was probably kept secret, and no copy has ever surfaced. Nineteenth-century historians had to rely on the vague accounts supplied by his navigator, Nuna da Silva, to the Spanish Viceroy in 1579, and by John Winter, commander of the ship Elizabeth, to the British navy. It was only in 1909 (ten years after the publication of A Strange Discovery) that Nuna da Silva's detailed log was discovered in the archives of Seville
.
Based on the documents available to him at the time, Dake contends that "the story is that [Sir Francis Drake] once lost his 'bearings' for a month; in fact it is intimated that a hiatus of two months in his 'log' really did exist." During this hiatus, which occurred near Cape Horn
, Drake's ship was supposedly driven all the way to Hili-liland.
1899 in literature
The year 1899 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Edgar Rice Burroughs begins working in his father's business.*Rainer Maria Rilke travels to Moscow to meet Leo Tolstoy....
novel by Charles Romyn Dake
Charles Romyn Dake
Charles Romeyn Dake was a 19th-century American homeopathic physician and writer. He was an 1873 graduate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and he practiced in Belleville, Illinois...
and is a sequel to Edgar Allan Poe's
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is the only complete novel written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The work relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, who stows away aboard a whaling ship called the Grampus...
which was published in 1838. It follows the experiences of the narrator, an Englishman, during his stay in Bellevue, Illinois (see below), and his encounter with Dirk Peters, Pym's sailor companion in Poe's novel. On his deathbed, Peters relates the missing conclusion to Poe's tale.
Part 1: How We Found Dirk Peters
The story is set in 1877, forty-nine years after the events in Arthur Gordon PymThe Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket is the only complete novel written by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The work relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, who stows away aboard a whaling ship called the Grampus...
, and thirty-nine years after the publication of that book.
The narrator is an Englishman traveling in the United States to settle business interests in Southern Illinois. During his stay in Bellevue, Illinois (corresponding to the actual Belleville), he makes acquaintance with two local doctors, an older man, Dr. George F. Castleton, and the younger Dr. Bainbridge. Dr. Castleton is an eccentric local character given to extravagant opinions, and the narrator mentions that he was later the Prohibition Party
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement...
candidate for Governor of Illinois
Governor of Illinois
The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state....
. During a discussion of Poe's works and Arthur Gordon Pym, Dr. Castleton reveals that Peters is a patient of his.
Much of the first section is given to the narrator's observations on American society and to discussions between him, Castleton, and Bainbridge on topics ranging from poetry and literature (and Poe in particular), to U.S. and European politics, to Christianity and agnosticism, to medical science.
Bainbridge describes his earlier discovery, at the Astor Library
Astor Library
The Astor Library was a free public library developed primarily through the collaboration of New York merchant John Jacob Astor and New England educator and bibliographer Joseph Cogswell. It was primarily meant as a research library, and its books did not circulate...
in New York, of a book written in 1594 and published in 1728, of a narrative purporting to tell the story of a sailor on Sir Francis Drake's voyage of circumnavigation. According to this book, Drake's ship
Golden Hind
The Golden Hind was an English galleon best known for its circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 and 1580, captained by Sir Francis Drake...
was driven by a storm for two weeks, until, deep in the Antarctic, he arrived at a city which the author describes as comparable to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, but more beautiful than any European city of that time.
Part 2: The Story of Dirk Peters
Dr. Bainbridge visits Peters each day and elicits the story of his adventures with Pym a half-century earlier. Each night he visits the narrator in his hotel and relates, in episodic form, what he has learned from Peters. The narrator, in turn, passes on the essential points to Dr. Castleton as well as to Arthur, the hotel factotumFactotum
Factotum is the second novel by American author Charles Bukowski. The plot follows Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's alter ego, who has been rejected from the World War II draft and makes his way from one menial job to the next...
.
After leaving the island of Tsalal, Peters and Pym voyage south through a curtain of fog into the area near the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
, which is warmed by volcanic activity. Passing a white marble figure at the entrance to a harbor, they arrive in the city of Hili-li at 89°S latitude. Hili-li Island is one of over 200 islands in a great inland sea, surrounded by a ring-shaped continent. The continent consists of volcanic mountains and ice, making it impassable except for a 300-mile-wide gap, through which had come Francis Drake, Pym and his shipmates on the Jane Guy, and the occasional other castaway from the outside world.
The Hili-lites are a white race, descendants from a shipload of ancient Romans who left Rome and the Mediterranean fleeing from the barbarian invasions of the 4th century. Hili-li's population of 100,000 to 200,000 inhabitants are ruled by a Duke. There is also a reclusive, mystic old sage, Masusaelili, who claims to be a survivor of the original voyage from Rome.
Peters and Pym are treated hospitably, and Pym eventually falls in love with the Duke's niece, Lilima. The romantic interlude is interrupted when Lilima is abducted by her ex-lover Ahpilus. Ahpilus is one of a group of exiles who have been banished to the volcanic island at the pole for various offenses, mainly for engaging in forbidden sports or other physically dangerous activities. Ahpilus has gone mad as a result of his exile and unrequited love.
Peters, Pym, and the Duke's son Diregus lead a rescue expedition and catch up with Ahpilus on the slopes of the 8-mile-high "Mount Olympus", below the crater lake near its summit. Ahpilus threatens to throw himself and Lilima to their deaths in a gorge, but Peters, in a feat of astounding physical prowess, leaps across the gorge and incapacitates Ahpilus by breaking his back.
Returning to Hili-li, Pym and Lilima marry, but their happiness is short-lived. A rare meteorological event brings a period of intense cold and snow to Hili-li. Despite valiant efforts led by Pym, Peters, Diregus, and the returned Olympian exiles to fend off the cold, many of the Hili-lites succumb. Among these is Lilima.
The grief-stricken Pym is allowed to depart, along with Peters. They leave in December 1829, are picked up by a large schooner, and are deposited in Montevideo, Uruguay in February 1830. There Pym and Peters part company.
Bellevue vs. Belleville
Although the setting of the story is identified as Bellevue, Illinois, details make it clear this is a reference to Belleville, IllinoisBelleville, Illinois
Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city has a population of 44,478. It is the eighth-most populated city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area and the most populated city south of Springfield in the state of Illinois. It is the county...
. The actual Bellevue
Bellevue, Illinois
Bellevue is a village in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,887 at the 2000 census. Bellevue is a suburb of Peoria and is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
is a small village, a suburb of Peoria
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
, while the story explicitly takes place in a city in Southern Illinois, not far from St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. The author was in fact a physician in Belleville.
The book includes a photograph of the Loomis House hotel and a nearby hotel identified as one visited by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
and described in his American Notes
American Notes
American Notes for General Circulation is a travelogue by Charles Dickens detailing his trip to North America from January to June, 1842. While there he acted as a critical observer of these societies almost as if returning a status report on their progress...
. Dickens indeed visited the Mansion House in Belleville during his 1842 trip and recounts his conversation with an eccentric physician he met there.
Sir Francis Drake's lost log
Sir Francis Drake must have turned over the log of his 1577-1580 voyage to Queen ElizabethElizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, but because of the sensitive nature of his discoveries, it was probably kept secret, and no copy has ever surfaced. Nineteenth-century historians had to rely on the vague accounts supplied by his navigator, Nuna da Silva, to the Spanish Viceroy in 1579, and by John Winter, commander of the ship Elizabeth, to the British navy. It was only in 1909 (ten years after the publication of A Strange Discovery) that Nuna da Silva's detailed log was discovered in the archives of Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
.
Based on the documents available to him at the time, Dake contends that "the story is that [Sir Francis Drake] once lost his 'bearings' for a month; in fact it is intimated that a hiatus of two months in his 'log' really did exist." During this hiatus, which occurred near Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
, Drake's ship was supposedly driven all the way to Hili-liland.
External links
- A Strange Discovery at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...