CHAPTER VII
SCIENTIFIC THEORIES AND SCEPTICISM
Thus far Melick had been reading the manuscript, but at this point hewas interrupted by the announcement that dinner was ready. Upon thishe stopped abruptly; for on board the Falcon dinner was the greatevent of the day, and in its presence even the manuscript had to belaid aside. Before long they were all seated around the dining-tablein the sumptuous cabin, prepared to discuss the repast which had beenserved up by the genius of the French chef whom Lord Featherstonehad brought with him.
Let us pause here for a moment to take a minuter survey of these fourfriends. In the first place, there was Lord Featherstone himself,young, handsome, languid, good-natured to a fault, with plenty ofmuscle if he chose to exert it, and plenty of brain if he chose tomake use of it--a man who had become weary of the monotony of highlife, and, like many of his order, was fond of seeking relief from theennui of prosperity amid the excitements of the sea. Next to him wasDr. Congreve, a middle-aged man, with iron-gray hair, short beard andmustache, short nose, gray eyes, with spectacles, and stoutish body.Next came Noel Oxenden, late of Trinity College, Cambridge, a collegefriend of Featherstone's--a tall man, with a refined and intellectualface and reserved manner. Finally, there was Otto Melick, alitterateur from London, about thirty years of age, with a wiry andmuscular frame, and the restless manner of one who lives in aperpetual fidget.
For some time nothing was said; they partook of the repast in silence;but at length it became evident that they were thinking of themysterious manuscript. Featherstone was the first to speak.
"A deuced queer sort of thing this, too," said he, "this manuscript.I can't quite make it out. Who ever dreamed of people living at theSouth Pole--and in a warm climate, too? Then it seems deuced odd, too,that we should pick up this copper cylinder with the manuscript. Ihardly know what to think about it."
Melick smiled. "Why, it isn't much to see through," said he.
"See through what?" said the doctor, hastily, pricking up his earsat this, and peering keenly at Melick through his spectacles.
"Why, the manuscript, of course."
"Well," said the doctor, "what is it that you see? What do you makeout of it?"
"Why, anyone can see," said Melick, "that it's a transparent hoax,that's all. You don't mean to say, I hope, that you really regard itin any other light?"
"A transparent hoax!" repeated the doctor. "Will you please state whyyou regard it in that light?"
"Certainly," said Melick. "Some fellow wanted to get up a sensationnovel and introduce it to the world with a great flourish of trumpets,and so he has taken this way of going about it. You see, he hascounted on its being picked up, and perhaps published. After this hewould come forward and own the authorship."
"And what good would that do?" asked the doctor, mildly. "He couldn'tprove the authorship, and he couldn't get the copyright."
"Oh, of course not; but he would gain notoriety, and that would givehim a great sale for his next effort."
The doctor smiled. "See here, Melick," said he, "you've a very vividimagination, my dear fellow; but come, let us discuss this for alittle while in a common-sense way. Now how long should you supposethat this manuscript has been afloat?"
"Oh, a few months or so," said Melick.
"A few months!" said the doctor. "A few years you mean. Why, man,there are successive layers of barnacles on that copper cylinder whichshow a submersion of at least three years, perhaps more."
"By Jove! yes," remarked Featherstone. "Your sensation novelist musthave been a lunatic if he chose that way of publishing a book."
"Then, again," continued the doctor, "how did it get here?"
"Oh, easily enough," answered Melick. "The ocean currents brought it."
"The ocean currents!" repeated the doctor. "That's a very vagueexpression. What do you mean? Of course it has been brought here bythe ocean currents."
"Why, if it were thrown off the coast of England it would be carriedaway, in the ordinary course of things, and might make the tour of theworld."
"The ocean currents," said the doctor, "have undoubtedly brought thisto us. Of that I shall have more to say presently--but just now, inreference to your notion of a sensation novelist, and an Englishorigin, let me ask your opinion of the material on which it iswritten. Did you ever see anything like it before? Is it paper?"
"No," said Melick; "it is evidently some vegetable substance. No doubtthe writer has had it prepared for this very purpose, so as to make itlook natural."
"Do you know what is is?" asked the doctor.
"No."
"Then I'll tell you; it's papyrus."
"Papyrus?"
"Yes, actual papyrus. You can find but little of that in existence atthe present day. It is only to be found here and there in museums.I know it perfectly well, however, and saw what it was at the firstglance. Now, I hold that a sensation novelist would never have thoughtof papyrus. If he didn't wish to use paper, he could have found adozen other things. I don't see how he could have found anyone able toprepare such a substance as this for writing. It must have come from acountry where it is actually in use. Now, mark you, the papyrus-plantmay still be found growing wild on the banks of the upper Nile, andalso in Sicily, and it is made use of for ropes and other things ofthat sort. But as to making writing material out of it, that is hardlypossible for the art is lost. The ancient process was very elaborateand this manuscript is written on leaves which resembled in amarvellous manner those of the Egyptian papyrus books. There are tworolls at Marseilles which I have seen and examined, and they areidentical with this. Now these papyrus leaves indicate much mechanicalskill, and have a professional look. They seem like the work of anexperienced manufacturer."
"I don't see," said Melick, obstinately, "why one shouldn't getpapyrus now and have it made up into writing material."
"Oh, that's out of the question," said the doctor. "How could itever enter into anyone's head? How could your mere sensation-mongerprocure the raw material? That of itself would be a work of immensedifficulty. How could he get it made up? That would be impossible.But, apart from this, just consider the strong internal evidence thatthere is as to the authenticity of the manuscript. Now, in the firstplace, there is the description of Desolation Island, which isperfectly accurate. But it is on his narrative beyond this that I laychief stress. I can prove that the statements here are corroboratedby those of Captain Ross in his account of that great voyage fromwhich he returned not very long ago."
The doctor, who had been talking with much enthusiasm, paused here totake breath, and then went on:
"I happen to know all about that voyage, for I read a full report ofit just before we started, and you can see for yourselves whether thismanuscript is credible or not.
"Captain James Clarke Ross was sent forth on his expedition in 1839.On January 1, 1841, he passed the antarctic circle in 178 degrees eastlongitude. On the 11th he discovered land in 70 degrees 41' southlatitude, 172 degrees 36' east longitude. He found that the land wasa continuous coast, trending southward, and rising to peaks of tenthousand feet in height, all covered with ice and snow. On the 12thhe landed and took possession in the name of the Queen. After this hecontinued his course as far as 78 degrees 4' south latitude, tracing acoast-line of six hundred miles. Observe, now how all this coincideswith More's narrative. Well, I now come to the crowning statement. In77 degrees 32' south latitude, 167 degrees east longitude, he came insight of two enormous volcanoes over twelve thousand feet in height.One of these was in an active state of eruption. To this he gave thename of Mount Erebus. The other was quiet; it was of somewhat lessheight, and he gave it the name of Mount Terror. Mark, now, howwonderfully this resembles More's account. Well, just here hisprogress was arrested by a barrier which presented a perpendicularwall of over a hundred and fifty feet in height, along which hecoasted for some distance. On the following year he penetrated sixmiles farther south, namely, 78 degrees 11' south latitude, 161degrees 27' west longitude. At this
point he was again stopped by theimpassable cliffs, which arose here like an eternal barrier, whilebeyond them he saw a long line of lofty mountains covered with iceand snow."
"Did you hear the result of the American expedition?" asked Melick.
"Yes," replied the doctor. "Wilkes pretends to have found a continent,but his account of it makes it quite evident to my mind that he sawnothing but ice. I believe that Wilkes's antarctic continent will someday be penetrated by ships, which will sail for hundreds of milesfarther south. All that is wanted is a favorable season. But mark thecoincidence between Ross's report and More's manuscript. This musthave been written at least three years ago, and the writer could nothave known anything about Ross's discoveries. Above all, he could nothave thought of those two volcanoes unless he had seen them."
"But these volcanoes mentioned by More are not the Erebus and Terror,are they?" said Lord Featherstone.
"Of course not; they are on the other side of the world."
"The whole story," said Melick, "may have been written by one ofRoss's men and thrown overboard. If I'd been on that expedition Ishould probably have written it to beguile the time."
"Oh yes," said the doctor; "and you would also have manufactured thepapyrus and the copper cylinder on board to beguile the time."
"I dare say the writer picked up that papyrus and the copper cylinderin China or Japan, and made use of it in this way."
"Where do you make out the position of More's volcanoes?" askedFeatherstone.
"It is difficult to make it out accurately," said the doctor. "Moregives no data. In fact he had none to give. He couldn't take anyobservations."
"The fact is," said Melick, "it's not a sailor's yarn at all. Nosailor would ever express himself in that way. That's what struck mefrom the first. It has the ring of a confounded sensation-monger allthrough."
The doctor elevated his eyebrows, but took no notice of this.
"You see," he continued, addressing himself to the others, "DesolationIsland is in 50 degrees south latitude and 70 degrees east longitude.As I make out, More's course led him over about ten degrees oflongitude in a southwest course. That course depended altogether uponthe ocean currents. Now there is a great antarctic drift-current,which flows round the Cape of Good Hope and divides there, one halfflowing past the east coast of Africa and the other setting acrossthe Indian Ocean. Then it unites with a current which flows round thesouth of Van Dieman's Land, which also divides, and the southernmostcurrent is supposed to cross the Pacific until it strikes Cape Horn,around which it flows, dividing as before. Now my theory is, thatsouth of Desolation Island--I don't know how far--there is a greatcurrent setting toward the South Pole, and running southwest throughdegrees of longitude 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, east of Greenwich; andfinally sweeping on, it would reach More's volcanoes at a point whichI should judge to be about 80 degrees south latitude and 10 degreeswest longitude. There it passes between the volcanoes and burststhrough the vast mountain barrier by a subterranean way, which hasbeen formed for it in past ages by some primeval convulsion of nature.After this it probably sweeps around the great South Polar ocean, andemerges at the opposite side, not far from the volcanoes Erebus andTerror."
Here the doctor paused, and looked around with some self-complacency.
"Oh," said Melick, "if you take that tone, you have us all at yourmercy. I know no more about the geography of the antarctic circle thanI do of the moon. I simply criticize from a literary point of view,and I don't like his underground cavern with the stream runningthrough it. It sounds like one of the voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.Nor do I like his description; he evidently is writing for effect.Besides, his style is vicious; it is too stilted. Finally, he hasrecourse to the stale device of a sea-serpent."
"A sea-serpent!" repeated the doctor. "Well, for my part I feel byno means inclined to sneer at a sea-serpent. Its existence cannotbe proved, yet it cannot be pooh-poohed. Every schoolboy knows thatthe waters of the sea were once filled with monsters more tremendousthan the greatest sea-serpent that has ever been imagined. Theplesiosaurus, with its snakelike head, if it existed now, would becalled a sea-serpent. Some of these so-called fossil animals may havetheir representatives still living in the remoter parts of the world.Think of the recently discovered ornithorhynchus of Australia!"
"If you please, I'd really much rather not," said Melick with agesture of despair. "I haven't the honor of the gentleman'sacquaintance."
"Well, what do you think of his notice of the sun, and the long light,and his low position on the horizon?"
"Oh, that's all right," said Melick. "Anyone who chose to get up thisthing would of course read up about the polar day, and all that.Everyone knows that at the poles there is a six-months' day, followedby a six-months' night."
"You are a determined sceptic," said the doctor.
"How is it about the polar day?" asked Featherstone.
"Well," said the doctor, "at the poles themselves there is one dayof six months, during which the sun never sets, and one night of sixmonths, during which he never rises. In the spaces between the polarcircles the quantities of the continuous day and continuous night varyin accordance with the distance from the pole. At the north point ofNova Zembla, 75 degrees north latitude, there is uninterrupted lightfrom May 1st to August 12th, and uninterrupted darkness from November8th to February 9th. At the arctic circle at the summer solstice theday is twenty-four hours long. At the antarctic circle at the sametime the night is twenty-four hours long."
Upon this Melick filled the doctor's wine-glass with a great deal ofceremony.
"After all those statistics," he said, "you must feel rather dry. Youshould take a drink before venturing any further."
The doctor made no reply, but raised the glass to his lips andswallowed the wine in an abstracted way.
"The thing that struck me most," said Oxenden, "in all that has beenread thus far, is the flatness of the South Pole, and the peculiareffect which this produces on the landscape."
"I must say," added Melick, "that the writer has got hold of a verygood idea there, and has taken care to put it forward in a veryprominent fashion."
"What is the difference," asked Oxenden, "between the two diameters ofthe earth, the polar and the equatorial? Is it known?"
"By Jove!" said Featherstone, "that's the very question I was going toask. I've always heard that the earth is flattened at the poles, butnever knew how much. Is there any way by which people can find out?"
The doctor drew a long breath, and beamed upon the company with abenevolent smile.
"Oh yes," said he; "I can answer that question, if you care to knowand won't feel bored."
"Answer it, then, my dear fellow, by all means," said Featherstone,in his most languid tone.
"There are two ways," said the doctor, "by which the polar compressionof the earth has been found out. One is by the measurement of arcson the earth's surface; the other is by experiments with pendulumsor weights with regard to the earth's gravity at different places.The former of these methods is, perhaps, the more satisfactory.Measurements of arcs have been made on a very extensive scale indifferent parts of the world--in England, France, Lapland, Peru, andIndia. Mr. Ivory, who devoted himself for years to an exhaustiveexamination of the subject, has deduced that the equatorial radius ofthe earth is over 3962 miles, and the polar radius over 3949 miles.This makes the depression at either pole upward of thirteen miles. Adepression of over thirteen miles, as you must plainly see, shouldproduce strange results in the scenery at the poles. Of course, ifthere are mountains, no difference would be noticed between this andany other part of the earth's surface; but if there is water, why,we ought to expect some such state of things as More describes. Thegravitation test has also been tried, with very nearly the sameresult. The surface of the earth at the equator, being farthest fromthe centre of gravity, indicates the least weight in bodies; but atthe poles, where the surface is nearest the centre of gravity, theremust be the greatest weight. It is found, in fact, that the weigh
tof bodies increases in passing from the equator to the poles. Byexperiments made in this way the polar compression is ascertained tobe the same as I have mentioned."
"What effect would this have on the climate at the poles?" askedOxenden.
"That's a complicated question," said the doctor. "In answer to thatwe must leave ascertained facts and trust to theories, unless, indeed,we accept as valid the statements of this remarkable manuscript.For my own part, I see no reason why it should not be as More says.Remember, this polar world is thirteen miles nearer to the centre ofthe earth. Whether this should affect the climate or not, depends uponthe nature of the earth's interior. That interior, according to thepopular theory of the present day is a mass of fire. This theoryaffirms that the earth was once a red-hot mass, which has cooled down;but the cooling process has only taken place on the surface, leavingthe interior still a molten mass of matter in a state of intense heatand combustion. At the poles the surface is thus thirteen miles nearerto these tremendous fires. Of course it may be supposed that theearth's crust is of about equal thickness on all parts; yet still,even if this be so, thirteen miles ought to make some difference. Nowat the North Pole there seem to be causes at work to counterbalancethe effect of the internal heat, chiefly in the enormous accumulationof polar ice which probably hems it in on every side; and though manybelieve in an open polar sea of warm water at the North Pole, yetstill the effect of vast ice-masses and of cold submarine currentsmust be to render the climate severe. But at the South Pole it isdifferent. The observations of Ross and of More show us that there isa chain of mountains of immense height, which seem to encircle thepole. If this be so, and I see no reason to disbelieve it, then theice of the outer seas must be kept away altogether from that strangeinner sea of which More speaks. Ross saw the volcanoes Erebus andTerror; More saw two others. How many more there may be it isimpossible to say; but all this shows that the effect of the earth'sinternal fires is very manifest in that region, and More haspenetrated to a secluded world, which lies apart by itself, free fromthe influence of ice-masses, left to feel the effect of the internalfires, and possessing what is virtually a tropical climate."
"Well," said Melick, "there is no theory however wild and fantastic,which some man of science will not be ready to support and to fortifyby endless arguments, all of the most plausible kind. For my own part,I still believe More and his south polar world to be no more authenticthan Sindbad the Sailor."
But the others evidently sympathized with the doctor's view, andregarded Melick as carrying his scepticism to an absurd excess.
"How large do you suppose this south polar ocean to be?" askedFeatherstone.
"It is impossible to answer that question exactly," said the doctor."It may be, as More hints, a thousand miles in extent, or only fivehundred, or two hundred. For my own part, however, I feel liketaking More's statements at their utmost value; and the idea thatI have gathered from his narrative is that of a vast sea like theMediterranean, surrounded by impassable mountains, by great andfertile countries, peopled with an immense variety of animals, witha fauna and flora quite unlike those of the rest of the world;and, above all, with great nations possessing a rare and uniquecivilization, and belonging to a race altogether different fromany of the known races of men."
"Well," said Melick, "that at least is the idea which the writer ofthe manuscript tries to convey."
By this time they had finished dinner.
"And now," said Featherstone, "let's have some more of the manuscript.Melick is tired of it, I dare say. I would relieve him, but I'm aninfernally bad reader. Doctor, what do you say? Will you read the nextinstalment!"
"With all my heart," said the doctor, briskly.
"Very well, then," said Featherstone; "we will all be your attentivehearers."
And now the doctor took up the manuscript and began to read.