Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizatio (48 page)
Authors: David Standish
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BOOK: Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizatio
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12
Mercator wrote in a letter to John Dee, Queen Elizabeth I’s astrologer: “In the midst of the four countries is a Whirlpool into which there empty these four Indrawing Seas which divide the North. And the water rushes round and descends into the earth just as if one were pouring it through a filter funnel. It is 4 degrees wide on every side of the Pole, that is to say eight degrees altogther. Except that right under the Pole there lies a bare rock in the midst of the Sea. Its circumference is almost 33 French miles, and it is all of magnetic stone. And is as high as the clouds, so the Priest said, [and] one can see all round it from the Sea, and that it is black and glistening.”
13
McBride in
The Theory of Concentric Spheres
: “Hearne, who travelled very high north and northwest on the continent of America, details various facts in his journal, which strongly corroborate Symmes’s position … he states that large droves of
musk-oxen
abound within the arctic circle … white or arctic foxes are, some years, remarkably plentiful, and always come from the north… .We should conclude that the internal region of the earth is as much more favourable to the support of animal life, as the rein-deer is larger than our deer, and the white bear larger than our bear …”
The Theory of Concentric Spheres
: “Hearne, who travelled very high north and northwest on the continent of America, details various facts in his journal, which strongly corroborate Symmes’s position … he states that large droves of
musk-oxen
abound within the arctic circle … white or arctic foxes are, some years, remarkably plentiful, and always come from the north… .We should conclude that the internal region of the earth is as much more favourable to the support of animal life, as the rein-deer is larger than our deer, and the white bear larger than our bear …”
14
McBride enlists the aid of the book half a dozen times, saying of it, “there is an extensive collection of instances cited, where navigators have reached high northern latitudes…. It is almost uniformly stated, that in those high latitudes, the sea is clear of ice, or nearly so, and the weather moderate.”
15
Arguing Symmes’ case for greater refraction of light in polar regions, McBride quotes Mackenzie in a footnote as stating “‘that sometimes the land
looms,
so that there may be a great deception in the distances.’ —
Mackenzie’s Voyage
, p.11, New York, 1802.”
looms,
so that there may be a great deception in the distances.’ —
Mackenzie’s Voyage
, p.11, New York, 1802.”
16
This story appears in
A Fabulous Kingdom: The Exploration of the Arctic
by Charlies Officer and Jake Page (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).
A Fabulous Kingdom: The Exploration of the Arctic
by Charlies Officer and Jake Page (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).
17
In fact most martins winter in South America, from southeastern Brazil as far west as Colombia.
18
Today 95% of the world’s southern fur seals—upwards of a million—jam South Georgia in summer, along with half the southern elephant seals, a quarter-million albatrosses, and penguins numbering in the millions.
19
As Walker Chapman writes in
The Loneliest Continent:
“Sealing was a brutal, cold-blooded operation, and the men who manned the ships were the toughest to go to sea since the days of the Elizabethan buccaneers. Sailing in ice-filled seas, gliding between uncharted rocks hidden by mist and snow, they made their landings on lonely, barren islands where thousands of friendly, harmless seals had come to mate. The seals offered no defense as the sealers went among them, clubbing them to death. The men worked caked with grease, wading in rivers of blood. It was cruel work, and attracted cruel men… . Island after island was stripped of its seals. One sealing vessel alone killed 100,000 seals in five years.”
The Loneliest Continent:
“Sealing was a brutal, cold-blooded operation, and the men who manned the ships were the toughest to go to sea since the days of the Elizabethan buccaneers. Sailing in ice-filled seas, gliding between uncharted rocks hidden by mist and snow, they made their landings on lonely, barren islands where thousands of friendly, harmless seals had come to mate. The seals offered no defense as the sealers went among them, clubbing them to death. The men worked caked with grease, wading in rivers of blood. It was cruel work, and attracted cruel men… . Island after island was stripped of its seals. One sealing vessel alone killed 100,000 seals in five years.”
20
A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County Ohio, With Illustrations and Sketches of its Representative Men and Pioneers
(Cincinnati, Ohio: Western Biographical Publishing Company, 1882). This book is available online at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohbutler/cyc/
.
(Cincinnati, Ohio: Western Biographical Publishing Company, 1882). This book is available online at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohbutler/cyc/
.
21
Quoted without naming the source in “Symmes and His Theory,” by E. F. Madden,
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine.
October, 1882: 740–744.
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine.
October, 1882: 740–744.
22
The best account of this partnership is found in William Stanton’s 1975
The Great United States Exploring Expedition of
1838–1842
,
to which I am indebted for the details here.
The Great United States Exploring Expedition of
1838–1842
,
to which I am indebted for the details here.
23
It must have been pretty profitable to him. His first solo lectures in Philadelphia, according to a notice in
The Democratic Press,
drew “an auditory of from thirteen to fifteen hundred…. The lecture was intended and well calculated to remove prejudice against the theory of Capt. Symmes.”
The Democratic Press,
drew “an auditory of from thirteen to fifteen hundred…. The lecture was intended and well calculated to remove prejudice against the theory of Capt. Symmes.”
24
Henry Howe,
Historical Collections of Ohio
(Columbus, Ohio: The State of Ohio, 1891), 1:430–432.
Historical Collections of Ohio
(Columbus, Ohio: The State of Ohio, 1891), 1:430–432.
25
As related in
Israfel: The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe
by Hervey Allen (1926).
Israfel: The Life and Times of Edgar Allan Poe
by Hervey Allen (1926).
26
This sketch of Reynolds is quoted in
The History of Clinton County Ohio
(Chicago: W. H. Beers and Company, 1882), 580–585.
The History of Clinton County Ohio
(Chicago: W. H. Beers and Company, 1882), 580–585.
27
Reynolds finds no metaphysics lurking in his story of the white whale, and, at the end of his tale, it’s killed. Melville probably read the story as a young sailor aboard the
Acushnet.
In 1847, Melville bought a copy of Reynolds’
Voyage of the United States Frigate Potomac.
Acushnet.
In 1847, Melville bought a copy of Reynolds’
Voyage of the United States Frigate Potomac.
28
Nathaniel Hawthorne, then thirty-four years old, whose
Twice-Told Tales
had been published in 1837, had also applied for the job as Corresponding Secretary, seeking “a way out of despondency,” as Robert Almy puts it, adding, “His friend Franklin Pierce advised negotiating through Reynolds, and himself talked with and wrote Reynolds in Hawthorne’s behalf.” But nothing came of it, and in 1839 Hawthorne took a position in the Boston Custom House instead.
Twice-Told Tales
had been published in 1837, had also applied for the job as Corresponding Secretary, seeking “a way out of despondency,” as Robert Almy puts it, adding, “His friend Franklin Pierce advised negotiating through Reynolds, and himself talked with and wrote Reynolds in Hawthorne’s behalf.” But nothing came of it, and in 1839 Hawthorne took a position in the Boston Custom House instead.
29
Others he liberally pilfered from were Benjamin Morrell’s
A Narrative of Four Voyages
( J. & J. Harper, New York, 1832);
The Mariner’s Chronicle
(stories of true sailing disasters originally published from 1804 to 1812, reprinted as a collection by George W. Gorton, New Haven, 1834); and R. Thomas’s
Remarkable Events and Remarkable Shipwrecks
(New York, 1836). Behind on getting material to his publisher, Poe resorted to using these as a bit of Novel Helper.
A Narrative of Four Voyages
( J. & J. Harper, New York, 1832);
The Mariner’s Chronicle
(stories of true sailing disasters originally published from 1804 to 1812, reprinted as a collection by George W. Gorton, New Haven, 1834); and R. Thomas’s
Remarkable Events and Remarkable Shipwrecks
(New York, 1836). Behind on getting material to his publisher, Poe resorted to using these as a bit of Novel Helper.
30
This account is related in Hervey Allen’s landmark 1926 biography,
Israfel
.
Israfel
.
31
This letter is quoted by Edna St. Vincent Millay, in her 1936 translation with George Dillon of
Les Fleurs du Mal.
She comments that “Baudelaire made it the patient and worshipful task of half his writing years to translate the prose of Poe into French, to present to the European public a writer whom he considered to be a genius unappreciated at home.”
Les Fleurs du Mal.
She comments that “Baudelaire made it the patient and worshipful task of half his writing years to translate the prose of Poe into French, to present to the European public a writer whom he considered to be a genius unappreciated at home.”
32
While 7,254 miles above the North Pole, Hans makes an observation that the earth there becomes “
not a little concave”
and that the “dusky hue” of the Pole itself, “varying in intensity, was, at all times darker than any other spot on the visible hemisphere, and occasionally deepened into the most absolute blackness. Farther than this, little could be ascertained.” This description, while deliberately elliptical, seems to be a definite allusion to a sighting by Hans of a Symmes’ Hole up there.
not a little concave”
and that the “dusky hue” of the Pole itself, “varying in intensity, was, at all times darker than any other spot on the visible hemisphere, and occasionally deepened into the most absolute blackness. Farther than this, little could be ascertained.” This description, while deliberately elliptical, seems to be a definite allusion to a sighting by Hans of a Symmes’ Hole up there.
33
Humphrey Davy,
Humphrey Davy on Geology: The 1805 Lectures for the General Audience
, edited by Robert Siegfried and Robert H. Dott, Jr. (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1980).
Humphrey Davy on Geology: The 1805 Lectures for the General Audience
, edited by Robert Siegfried and Robert H. Dott, Jr. (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1980).
34
The translation here is Robert Baldick’s, for a 1965 Penguin edition of the novel.
35
This article, “Nothing New Under the Earth: The Geology of Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth,” first published in 2003, is available at
http://home.netvigator.com/~wbutcher/articles/nothing%20new.htm
. His annotated
JTCOE
text is also online at
http://home.netvigator.com/~wbutcher/books/journey_to_the_centre_of_the_earth.htm
.
http://home.netvigator.com/~wbutcher/articles/nothing%20new.htm
. His annotated
JTCOE
text is also online at
http://home.netvigator.com/~wbutcher/books/journey_to_the_centre_of_the_earth.htm
.
36
The Illumination of Koresh: Marvelous Experiences of the Great Alchemist Thirty Years Ago, at Utica, NY
(Chicago: Guiding Star, n.d.).
(Chicago: Guiding Star, n.d.).
37
Aboron would appear to be an element of Teed’s own invention—or one God told him about that hasn’t been revealed to the rest of us. The word doesn’t appear in the
Oxford English Dictionary
, and a Google search turns up only a West African tribe of that name.
Oxford English Dictionary
, and a Google search turns up only a West African tribe of that name.
38
Robert S. Fogarty, introduction to a reprint of
The Cellular Cosmogony
by Cyrus Teed and Professor U. G. Morrow (Philadelphia: Porcupine Press, 1975). The original edition appeared in 1898.
The Cellular Cosmogony
by Cyrus Teed and Professor U. G. Morrow (Philadelphia: Porcupine Press, 1975). The original edition appeared in 1898.
39
This idea hearkens back to the notion of an “abundant creation” that was a commonplace in the seventeenth century, invoked by Halley in his hollow earth paper to suggest that there might be life down there, and used by Symmes as well to explain the paradise he expected to find inside.
40
Hicks was a ranger at the Koreshan State Historic Site in Estero, Florida, at the time of writing this unpublished article, which is available online at
http://koreshan.mwweb.org/teed.htm
.
http://koreshan.mwweb.org/teed.htm
.
41
From
Plain Talks upon Practical Religion
by George Albert Lomas (Watervliet, NY, 1873), quoted in Charles Nordhoff ’s
The Communistic Societies of the United States
(London: John Murray, 1875; New York: Harper & Brothers, 1875).
Plain Talks upon Practical Religion
by George Albert Lomas (Watervliet, NY, 1873), quoted in Charles Nordhoff ’s
The Communistic Societies of the United States
(London: John Murray, 1875; New York: Harper & Brothers, 1875).
42
Howard D. Fine, “The Koreshan Unity: The Chicago Years of a Utopian Community,”
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
68 (1975).
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society
68 (1975).
43
The Koreshan Story
by Sara Weber Rea (Estero, Florida: Guiding Star Publishing House, 1994).
by Sara Weber Rea (Estero, Florida: Guiding Star Publishing House, 1994).
44
Quoted by Howard D. Fine.
45
Robert Lynn Rainard, unpublished 1974 master’s thesis, “In The Name of Humanity: The Koreshan Unity,” for the University of South Florida, Tampa.
46
Koreshan Unity: Communistic and Co-operative Gathering of the People
by Frank D. Jackson and Mary Everts Daniels (Chicago: Guiding Star Publishing House, 1895). Quoted in
The Koreshan Unity in Florida,
unpublished 1971 master’s thesis by Elliott J. Mackle Jr. for the University of Miami.
by Frank D. Jackson and Mary Everts Daniels (Chicago: Guiding Star Publishing House, 1895). Quoted in
The Koreshan Unity in Florida,
unpublished 1971 master’s thesis by Elliott J. Mackle Jr. for the University of Miami.
47
From
American Communities and Co-operative Colonies
by William A. Hinds, 2ND edition (Chicago: C. H. Kerr, 1908). Quoted by James E. Landing in
America’s Communal Utopias
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997).
American Communities and Co-operative Colonies
by William A. Hinds, 2ND edition (Chicago: C. H. Kerr, 1908). Quoted by James E. Landing in
America’s Communal Utopias
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997).
48
The Koreshan Unity in Florida
by Elliott J. Mackle Jr., an unpublished 1971 master’s thesis for the University of Miami. He is quoting the Koreshan newspaper,
The American Eagle,
February 14, 1907.
by Elliott J. Mackle Jr., an unpublished 1971 master’s thesis for the University of Miami. He is quoting the Koreshan newspaper,
The American Eagle,
February 14, 1907.
49
Carl Carmer,
Dark Trees to the Wind
(New York: William Sloane Associates, 1949).
Dark Trees to the Wind
(New York: William Sloane Associates, 1949).
50
A Short History of the United States
by Allan Nevins and Henry Steele Commager (New York: The Modern Library, 1945).
by Allan Nevins and Henry Steele Commager (New York: The Modern Library, 1945).
51
Can’t resist deconstructing this just a bit. Lola Montez (1821–1861) was born in Ireland as Marie Gilbert, but debuted on the London stage in 1843 as “Lola Montez, the Spanish Dancer,” famous for her “Spider Dance” and inspiration for the phrase, “Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets.” She married at least three men, not always bothering to get divorced first. On first seeing her, Ludwig I of Bavaria was so struck by her beauty he offered her a castle, which she accepted. She became his mistress in 1846 (making Editha putatively a daughter from this illicit union), and he bestowed the titles Baroness Rosenthal and Countess of Landsfeld on her the following year. In between fooling around, she helped him govern the country until he was dethroned in 1848. She also had reported dalliances with Franz Liszt and Alexandre Dumas and found herself in 1853 doing her Spider Dance for gold miners in San Francisco. I can find no information about General Diss Debar or James Dutton Jackson. Madame Blavatsky, born in the Ukraine in 1831, claimed to have studied for years under Hindu and Tibetan masters before arriving in New York in 1873 and soon founding the Theosophical Society, a “philosophico-religious” organization giving the occult scientific trappings. Like Teed’s, her writing was both voluminous and opaque, her principal work being
The Secret Doctrine,
published in 1888. Still a name to conjure with in occult circles, she died in London in 1891 after years of chronic illness. While living in New York, she kept on display in her flat a stuffed baboon, fully dressed and wearing spectacles, holding a copy of Darwin’s
Origin of Species.
The Secret Doctrine,
published in 1888. Still a name to conjure with in occult circles, she died in London in 1891 after years of chronic illness. While living in New York, she kept on display in her flat a stuffed baboon, fully dressed and wearing spectacles, holding a copy of Darwin’s
Origin of Species.
52
I am indebted to Elliott Mackle, Jr. for the details that follow, pieced together by him in
The Koreshan Unity in Florida,
his unpublished 1971 master’s thesis for the University of Miami.
The Koreshan Unity in Florida,
his unpublished 1971 master’s thesis for the University of Miami.
53
Carl Carmer,
Dark Trees to the Wind
Dark Trees to the Wind
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