BOILING IT DOWN.
Well, that is rich! Leo had to cut it short, but he saved me a lot of trouble. Let’s see. Here is a lot of interesting details—interesting if life were not so short—but I’ll have to “boil it down,” for “spice” is the word.
The two adventurers left the Irene at Amsterdam, ran to Hamburg, where they remained over winter, and being joined by Oseba’s fellow-adventurers, they took a small steamer sent as a supply ship for a polar party “frozen up” in the seas north of Spitzbergen. Disembarking, they joined a party for the journey further north, intending to strike the open sea at a known point. As would be expected, “the cold was intense,” but the party was splendidly equipped, and progress, for polar travel, was rapid.
Mitre Peak, Milford Sound
“Oseba,” say the notes, “had recourse to a magazine he had supplied for the purpose on his outward journey. Here were supplies of condensed food, articles of raiment that bid defiance to cold, instruments which by reflection converted light into warmth, and various scientific appliances, some that practically rendered the party immune from cold, and others that aided them in meeting many dangers.”
Leo Bergin had not a reputation for underestimating the trials of any adventure in which he embarked, but taking all in all, it seems from his report that, under the lead of this wizard from “Symmes’ Hole,” a visit to the jumping-off place at the north could be made with little inconvenience or risk to life or health.
Only once in fifty pages of notes does Leo Bergin complain of hardship. Not once does he express any regrets, and he never once loses faith in his master. Only once does he say “the hardships are severe,” and then he adds, “but the genius of Oseba has made us so immune from Nature’s blasts, that, on the main point, we are almost comfortable.”
There were seven of the returning party, five of the nine friends, who, five years before, had crossed these frozen plains with Oseba, and the two “star” adventurers.
Considering the tales written by North Pole hunters, the incidents of this journey, from 80° over the “oval” or verge, to 60° inside, are hardly worthy of extensive comment. So I’ll throw the whole journey across these trackless fields of ice and snow into the waste-paper basket, or, better still, leave them here, consigned to more certain oblivion.
Had Leo Bergin been a jester, a thousand richer tales than were ever written by those who, in search of fame, have joined the throngs that left their bones in the unknown regions of the North, could have been found in these candid notes,
“But Truth is a jewel so rich and so rare,
When found should be cherished with martyr-like care.”
So I shall metaphorically skip some fifty of Leo Bergin’s pages, and take up the story where the party arrived in the small but picturesque harbor, on the shores of which stands the City of Eurania, the capital of Cavitorus—just over the “oval.”
Over five long years had passed, since the sage Oseba, the idol of Cavitorus, and his nine brave friends had been commissioned to explore the outer world, in search of truth, in search of laws or customs by which the Shadowas might be more wisely guided, or to find a country to which it might be possible, wise and well, to send a colony of their children. Four had perished, and these were to be fittingly mourned; but “the conquering heroes come,” and they were to be fittingly welcomed, and as their approach had been heralded, thousands of richly-dressed people thronged the “water front,” and the beautiful city was in gala-day attire. The description of the streets, and fountains, and parks, and statues of gold, and other eye-ravishing objects, are dwelt upon in lavish detail, but “want of space,” and the love of ease, admonish me to “blue pencil” many pages of this fancy fabric.
The superb personality and the gorgeous attire of the people, amazed the practical Leo Bergin. I will here venture a quotation, then again “boil it down.”
He says:—
“The appearance of the people, as they crowd without confusion along and away back the shore line, is most striking. They seem over-tall and very symmetrical in form, and they move as gracefully as trained actors. They have finely-chiselled features, deep, rather large and expressive eyes, slightly bronzed complexions, and in every curious look, gaze, or expression, there is an easy, modest dignity, such as I have never before seen, even among the rarest few. In every face there is a deep and real joy; but of enthusiasm, emotionalism, or sensationalism, there is really none. This passion of the animal has gone, and the pleasures of the intellect have re-moulded the countenance. The face has become the mirror of an exalted soul. On no countenance is there seen gravity, on none hilarity.
“Seeing no sadness, I said, ‘Where are the friends of the four who perished?’
“Alas! under their system none can know father or mother, sister or brother, son or daughter. All are children of the State. In the success of any one, there can be but a common joy; in failure, but a common sorrow.”
What nonsense, to talk of such a society! People who forget their own children? But Herbert Spencer tells us of a people among whom the men had more affection for the children of their sisters than for those of their own wives! Mayhap, Herbert was wrong, for this seems unnatural. Mayhap, Herbert was right, for what we call “natural” is really but custom. However, “maybe” there were “reasons” in that case—experience.
Leo continues:—
“The attire, too, of these people was ‘gorgeous beyond description.’ Array all the royalties, all the nobility, all the Popes and the Cardinals, with all the courtly favorites and all the Rajahs and robber chieftains of all the Indies, and all the flunkies, the fops and the fools of all the capitals, great and small, of the pretentious upper world, and marshal them for comparison in ranks facing these, and they of the upper world would seem but a pitiable show, or at best an amusing burlesque.
“Silks and splendid fabrics, not loud and gay, but rich and rare; jewels resplendent with Nature’s lustre, but worn as modestly as to seem but articles of common use, were present in enormous profusion. For jewels, for articles of personal adornment, for ornaments or trimmings of wearing apparel, gold was too common, cheap and vulgar. In carriages, in furniture, in statuary, in architectural adornments, it was in use by the ton—yes, by the cord. Ye gods, if the Americans knew this!
“Here, as superstition has not blighted, monopoly has not diverted, despotism has not robbed, war has not wasted, vice has not withered, wealth has grown with the ages.
“As our whole party were attired in very modest European dress, we must have appeared rather uncouth to the people, but the absence of apparent curiosity or inquisitiveness, was surprising.”
The notes continue:—
“These people must be adepts in electrical science, for the air was full of ‘floaters,’ or flying machines, each seating one or more persons. They were as thick as blackbirds in a Missouri cornfield.”
He noticed an entire absence of children from the throngs of people, but soon an open space was formed by the crowd falling back, when several thousand “youngsters” of both sexes, and all the tender ages, came marching down the wharf, in charge of a few modest-looking superintendents. As they came to a halt, the people raised their hats in salutation, when the children, seemingly all of one accord, bent a knee in acknowledgment.
The notes, observations, and running comments of the observing Leo are worthy of full perusal, and indeed of preservation, but as I am hurrying on to a definite purpose, brevity seems to be a necessity.
The reception of the party by the City Council and a joint committee from the great college, of which Leo learned that Amoora Oseba was the head, was most impressive, and when the master of ceremonies waved his hand as a signal, there was an unanimous shout of “Welcome home, Oseba! Welcome back to Eurania!”
This was the only noisy demonstration. “Every face,” says the chronicler, “looked respectful, grateful, gratified, and happy, but there were no fire-crackers or bad breath.”
Is not that marvellous? Think of such a people! Think of an occasion of like character in London, New York—ah, ye gods!—in Paris or Berlin! I wonder if this fellow was not spreading it on rather thick?
But, listen:—
“We were escorted to our carriages, one hundred gorgeous electro-motors, literally made of gold and ivory, and adorned with what appeared to be precious stones, but what proved to be common, indeed. We were driven to the temple—and such a temple! The Palace of Westminster, the Vatican, or the Washington Capitol would be ‘nowhere.’”
But I must “boil it down.” He tells us that the ceremony at the temple was “splendid, but brief”; that the reception of Amoora Oseba was sincere, and that the proceedings of the meeting of over five years previous, commissioning him for the perilous journey, were read.
“Resolutions of regret” for the loss of members of the party were passed, and a meeting was appointed at which Amoora Oseba should make his report to a select committee, and through such committee to the people of Eurania and Cavitorus.
Speaking in much praise of the almost depressing dignity of the ceremony, the notes record that at the close of the announcement, the chairman read the commission under which Oseba had acted, and on the performance of which authorised duty he was to report. It read as follows:—
“City of Eurania, Cavitorus,
“Year 20993, P.C.
“To the well-beloved Amoora Oseba, Chief, National Academy of Science.
“We, the representatives of the State, on behalf of all the Shadowas, believing that the time is approaching when, according to our traditions, we are to be reunited with our brethren of the outer world, and recognising the necessity of discovering a broader field for the expansion of our race, hereby authorise you to proceed to the discovery of any country, to study the condition of any people on this or any other world, to learn lessons of wisdom whereby we may be better governed, or ‘spy out’ a land to which, if possible, we may desire to send a colony of our surplus population, and to report at your discretion. The time, the necessary means, the associates, and all other matters pertaining to this unique enterprise, will be granted by the State at your discretion, and may the gods favor your undertaking, and send you back to us with improved health, increased knowledge, and hopes that may guide the Shadowas in their future struggles for social progress.
“Signed by a hundred of the National Committee.”
My word! pretty good billet had this Amoora Oseba. No wonder Leo Bergin was captivated by the fellow. But that journey over the “oval,” as he calls it—excuse me—it makes me shiver.
Well, according to the notes, it’s a week before that meeting takes place, a week to be thrown away, to wait. Queer, it seems almost as though I was there. Let’s see if there is anything in his notes to bridge the time.
Mount Cook, Mueller Valley.
Yes, here he relates what a thrilling adventure he had in a “soar” over the fifty-story houses in an electric air motor; that the buildings are made of indestructible material; how their steel does not rust; how light their machinery; how beautiful the girls. Ah, yes! And then he says: “It might be nice not to have to ‘ask papa,’ for here no girl has a father, a big brother, or a pretty sister—which may be convenient.” But from the luxury of a mother-in-law, the Shadowas are forever cut off.
“The freedom of association between the sexes,” he says, “is surprising, but the social dignity and decorum are even more surprising. The country, with every inch cultivated, is beautiful, and the aspect of Nature, especially in the night, with the moon sweeping along the opposite rim of the earth, the sweeping of the sun along the horizon, the reflection of light from unknown sources, the wonderful play of electric phenomena, are too awe-inspiring for description.
“Gold is more plentiful than iron is with us, and platinum more plentiful than silver;” and he accounts for the great quantity of these heavy metals on scientific theories. “As for diamonds and other precious stones, it is only a matter of ‘grinding;’ but the ‘brilliants’ are more beautiful than with us, owing to the peculiarities of the light.”
What fairy tales! And yet we don’t “know.” Nature tells some strange stories. Yes, and so do people. There is something amusing or interesting in the notes of every day, but let the week slide, for we want to hear the report—we want to hear what Amoora Oseba thinks of the people of the “upper crust.”
“Oh! wad some power the giftie gie us,
To see oursels as ithers see us,
It wad frae monie a blunder free us.”
Possibly.
Here we come to that great meeting. Let’s get down to date again, and Leo Bergin’s notes.
He says:—
“Eurania, Cavitorus,
“October 5th.
“‘To-morrow,’ yes.
“‘To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.”
“To-morrow! the great event opens. How like a dream it all seems. But,
“Dreams in their development have breath,
And tears and tortures, and the touch of joy.
They leave a weight upon our waking thoughts,
They take a weight from off our waking toils.
... They speak,
Like symbols of the future.’
“Ah, this dreamy reverie! It brings back the vanished years, for
‘’Twas just one year ago to-day,
That I remember well,’
when I began this record, at sea, on board the S.S. Irene. I wonder if Sir Marmaduke ever thinks of me. If he does, he thinks me—well, it doesn’t much matter now. He was a good sort, however, and I will never forget him.”
Kind of you, Leo Bergin. By golly! that fellow has a heart, and a head, too, for that matter, for he is rarely far wrong. He continues:—
“Yes, he was a generous old soul. Rich, good-natured and careless, but just. He read everything, but—well, perhaps if I had read as much as he, I would have thought and known as little.”
Leo Bergin, I swear I had rather you had forgotten me. That’s a nice way to speak of an absent friend. There is evidently a coolness between us. Yes, a cool belt, so I will keep my temper.
Proceed, Leo:—
“Had a note from Venesta to-day, and I don’t know whether it gives me more pleasure or sadness. Think of courting a girl, who never had a father or a mother, a sister or a brother! Daughter of the State! Marry the daughter of the State! Ye gods, what a mother-in-law!
“I have idled away the day, and how can I make amends, save by confession and the forming of new resolutions? Well,
“‘I resolve! yes, I resolve!
And then I sit me down
And watch that resolution die.
But, “To-morrow”—’
“Eurania, Cavitorus,
“October 6th.
“How balmy the air! How grandly the old sun sweeps along the rim of this great world! For one such scene New York would give a ‘million,’ and every eye would dim with watching the face of the flaming wheel, and every neck would ache, and every soul would shudder with awe. But, would not the Shadowas like to see Old Sol passing over their heads every twenty-four hours, and give them three-hundred and sixty-five days during the year, instead of having him whirl about their heads, hip high, giving one night seven months long, and but a hundred and sixty days of variable length? But it’s all in being used to things.
“Well, I must off to the meeting. I am invited to the platform, and I shall have plenty to record this evening, for to-day is nineteen hours long. Oh, how weird!
“Later, evening.
“What o’clock is it? I don’t know. I know it was nineteen hours after the old sun first flitted around Mt. Lena, that it finally retired, and how can a ‘new chum’ keep track of his running on such erratic lines? To make it more confusing, this is the self same old sun that mine eyes have been looking upon for, lo! these thirty wasted years. Who would have thought that sedate old watchman could ever play such pranks? Then, too, on the same little old world! Am I waking? Am I sane, or is this but a hideous delirium?
“I feel sure that all is unreal, that I am the sport of some jesting destiny—but I will play my part; then, if the vision be not a mockery, I will not have wasted too much time.
“What an eventful day! Yet, as long as it has been, or even seems to have been, every hour has been crowded with bewildering incidents—only bewildering to me, however, for how unlike the hurry, the confusion, the bustle, the noise and hilarity seen on such occasions on the upper crust! How different from a horse-race in England, an election-day in France, or a Fourth of July in America!
“What a happy, orderly, handsome, and amiable people, these. Even their Deities are amiable. Their temples of worship breathe, not only hope for the future, but appreciation for the blessings of to-day. With them, it is not a crown of glory afterwhile, but a living joy. Without the sorrow of Gautama, the gods of this under-world are as loving and as amiable. But why should not the Deities be amiable?
“‘God made man,’ the preacher saith,
‘From a handful of dust, by a whiff of breath.’
‘No,’ say the sages, ‘man made God,
From nothing at all, by creative nod;
Organ for organ, and limb for limb,
In the image of man, created he Him.
“These people evidently made their Gods, for they admit it. I wonder if we made ours?”
Careful Leo!
“What a wonderful city is Eurania! What a wonderful country is Cavitorus! What a wonderful people are the Shadowas!
“But that meeting! The calm dignity of those four hundred Councillors of State was amazing. What marvellous dispassionate interest is taken by the enormous throngs of people, who occupy the main body and galleries of the Temple.
“Proud Oseba! Well may I call thee ‘master.’ Oh! how I wish the appreciative Sir Marmaduke were here.”
Yes, Leo, I would like to have been with you, but, maybe, that would have meant that I would be with you now, out of the cold, poor fellow!
But here the fellow strings it out as though our days were also nineteen hours long, and our lives a thousand years. He keeps us on so high a key, that we begin to wonder what there is in it for him. I will “blue pencil.” For the once impatient Leo Bergin has forgotten, I fear, the customs of this upper world, and that every ear is attuned to the popular rush.
If you’ve something good to say,
Get a move!
If you’d have us go your way,
Get a move!
If it’s goods, fling out your sample,
If religion, show it’s ample,
But—Get a move.
’Pon my word! Leo’s “borrowed lines” inspire me with a poetic vein. But Leo is becoming as tedious as an Australian drought, a West Coast “wet spell,” or a debate on a “no-confidence motion,” so I shall here draw my critical pencil through many lines. Leo Bergin is clearness itself, and from his language there flows, to the intelligent brain, a true conception of the situation; but for the sake of brevity—from vanity, maybe—I shall condense, in my own language.
Well, at the appointed time and place the people assembled. The four-hundred members of the Council of State occupied favoured seats in front of the platform, while many thousands of the citizens filled the stalls and ample galleries. It was an impressive scene. The meeting once called to order, “Music, such as heard outside of Eurania or heaven was never, burst upon the ear.”
That’s Leo’s, but I shall be more prosy and more brief.
When the last strains of music had died away, and the applause ceased, the chairman arose, and after giving a brief but comprehensive review of the national traditions, the discoveries and events that led to these unparalleled adventures, he re-read the commission under which Amoora Oseba acted, and impressed upon the audience the importance of the report from the lips of Eurania’s most gifted son, and the world’s most intrepid explorer.
The chairman said, in opening the proceedings, that while little real attention had been given to the vague traditions that had floated down the centuries, there had always been a feeling among the Shadowas that they were in a most peculiar situation, and that science would some time solve the mystery that seemed to hang over them.
He said, since the dawn of civilisation there was an “absolute knowledge” that they were on the inner surface of a hollow planet, and there was a vague belief that there were like beings on the outer surface.
He explained that, through the enterprise of the Council of State, and the intrepidity of Amoora Oseba and his brave comrades, that question, the most momentous in the long history of Cavitorus, it was hoped, had been solved, and they had met to hear a report on that most interesting matter.
He said, as the Committee had given the most careful attention to the books, maps, charts, and globes brought by the returned party, and having had the generous assistance of Oseba himself, and Leo Bergin, a native of the upper world, they had familiarized themselves somewhat with the geography, history, customs and manners of the various nations of the upper world, by the assistance of the views to be presented, a fair understanding would be easily reached. Then, too, as the press had been generous and enterprising, he thought the people were quite prepared for an intelligent appreciation of the gifted traveller’s oration. “Mr. Oseba, the father of the new philosophy,” said he, “will now speak to us, as to his children.”
However, as the people had requested that the poetess Vauline be permitted to ask for occasional explanations, this was provided for.
Here the record tells us—I have boiled out twenty pages of delightful “toffy”—that the chairman introduced Amoora Oseba as: “The most intrepid explorer the world ever knew,” at the same time inviting Leo Bergin and the other members of the returned party to the platform.
Of this episode of the ceremony, the modest Leo Bergin says: “I was embarrassed.”
A fine canvas, some sixty feet square, had previously been raised at the end of the hall, and, with the assistance of attendants, a large instrument, from which could be thrown moveable views of the earth’s surface, was properly adjusted. With an explanation all too brief, as Leo himself thinks, the first picture was thrown on the wall. It was our planet, represented by a globe forty feet in diameter, revolving slowly on its axis. It was a true model of our globe, on Symmes’ theory, the angle to the axis being 23°, with the north opening plainly visible, and Cavitorus was easily located.
This, we are told, was entirely novel, even to the Committee; but so skilful are the mechanics of Eurania, that from a small model or instrument taken across by the party, this wonderful piece of complicated mechanism was perfected.
What a revelation this must have been, bursting so unexpectedly upon the astonished gaze of these strange people!
But as in the magic hand of the “loved and lost” Leo Bergin there are both pen and brush, I here invoke his genius, for my pen falters.
He says:—
“As the vast assembly gazed in almost breathless awe, the master said: ‘This is Oliffa, our own planet, as it is hurled through space at 68,000 miles an hour, with this brief forty feet expanded to 8,000 miles.’
The Drop Scene, Wanganui River.
“I looked into the faces of the most intellectual, the least emotional, and most observing people I have ever seen, and yet no pen, no brush, no imagination could reproduce that scene. Considering the intelligence and the unemotional character of this vast audience, the evidence of surprise was really alarming. For once, these people acted almost like we fools of the ‘upper crust.’”
Humph! it makes me crawl.
“The sitting was adjourned.”
I’m glad of it, for it makes me shiver. But it seems to me, considering the cool intellectuality of the Shadowas, that Leo Bergin is drawing that rather long. Let’s see! These Shadowas are a very intellectual, a very thoughtful, a very cultivated and civilised people. But let us reason this out. They were utilitarian; amiable as their environment, and learned, in what was necessary for their happiness, or within their reach. Yes, but nine-tenths of the universe—of the outer world—was shut off from them. They, for 21,000 years, had been on one side—the inside—of a great tube. Practically back of them, the world lifted abruptly up; front of them, they could but see above the rim of the bowl of which they were well toward the bottom.
The field of observation was narrow, the visible facts of Nature were few. At the near opening of the “tube” there was eternal ice and snow, an endless expanse of frozen mystery; while at the other, there could sometimes be seen many weird clusters of stars, but, usually, only clouds and storms, and desert and mountains, and dangerous whirlpools.
They had no telescopes; their point of view was too narrow for the study of astronomy, and, as all thoughts, all ideas, all conceptions of all natural objects must be formed from observation—from sensuous impressions—how could they draw anything like correct conclusions regarding the outside worlds? Intellectuality does not always, if ever, mean universal, or even very great, knowledge.
Well, then, maybe Leo was even drawing it mildly. Maybe, a vision so strange, a view of a known thing from so surprisingly unexpected a standpoint, at a time, too, when the public imagination was at a high tension, presenting so strange a phenomenon, would affect the fine but impressive mind more than it would the less thoughtful. Maybe, I say, Leo is right, but it seems a little lofty.
But let’s back to Leo’s notes. He says:—
“After lunch”—that sounds familiar—“the meeting recommenced, and the people, having conversed fully and freely over the matter, seemed in their normal condition.
“Oseba turned the globe slowly, explained the nature of the earth and of the sun, why the days were ‘thusly’; then the ‘outside’ conditions, and why it was not all eternal frost, as they had imagined. He showed the map of land and water, how there were on the outside of our planet, or Oliffa, 1,400,000,000 of people—a few of them very decent fellows—and suggested the enormous importance of communicating with them.
“Then he showed a globe, with continents, islands, seas, rivers, and the geographical divisions of the land as claimed by nations, empires, states, and communities, making suitable remarks, that his impressions might lack nothing in clearness.
“He explained that the varied blocks and patches, distinguished by colored lines, marked the ‘possessions’ and claims of various races, nations, or political communities. He here described the enormous waste of water, and mountains, and uninhabitable land, and how little really desirable country there was on the outer surface of Oliffa. Yet, he told his audience that the Outeroos did not dwell in peace together, but divided the land according to might, and lived isolated in semi-hostile communities. ‘These,’ said he, ‘are the lands, the countries, and the peoples I have “discovered.”’
“But, he said, while the nature and necessity, the hopes, the aspirations, and the desires of all men were much the same, there existed on the outer surface of Oliffa such a variety in customs and manners adopted for the accomplishment of desired ends, that only by a visit to, and a study of, all countries, could the object of his mission be fulfilled, so for five years he and his companions had wandered, observed, and taken notes, and now it was only by reviewing the situation with some detail that an intelligent understanding could be conveyed.
“Here he pointed out on the maps the localities of the various countries, briefly describing the climate, soil, and style of government in general, and said he would now discuss a little more fully the merits of the various countries and peoples—with his conclusions from the inquiry—for his discoveries had been important and many.
“He reminded his audience of the prime purpose. His mission was to gain from the outer world a knowledge that might aid them in the better management of their domestic affairs; to discover, if possible, a country to which they might send a colony of the surplus population, and to find a people with whom they could open communications, that they might become co-workers to the mutual happiness of the newer and the older inhabitants of the world.
“Oseba,” says the record, “re-arranged his instruments, saying that he would show us, as occasion required, the globe as a whole or a sectional map. He would begin his review with a country, probably the oldest settled, and certainly the most populous, on the outer surface of Oliffa—that of the Chinese Empire.”
Here, I may remark that I have carefully studied the notes of poor Leo Bergin. They are full, carefully revised, and show a masterly understanding of the situation, but they are too copious for even extensive quotation. From many closely and well-written pages, the notes report Oseba’s orations, with hardly a break or comment. For the sake of brevity, I shall appropriate Oseba’s story, and, save by a few pointed quotations, I shall use my own language in the review of the next scene. I realise that by this method the story will be marred, the language will be less picturesque and expressive, and probably less correct, but it will be economy of space, and, what is of importance to me, “economy” in the expenditure of intellectual force. That is worthy of consideration!
The imaginative Leo seemed to be absorbed in the changing scenes of the unique situation. During a lull in the proceedings he notes:—
“How like a dream! Oh, my soul, how I do hope!”
But, probably being again confronted by that “if,” he seems to hang his head, halt, and ponder, for he writes:—
“Hopes, like joys and promising children, grow into regrets, or wither and die.”
SCENE IV.
FIRST “DISCOVERY.”
SIZING UP AH SIN, AND LU.
The sage Oseba, after locating China on the globe, threw a view of the map of the Empire on the wall. He explained that this country “embraced” 4,000,000 square miles of the surface of Oliffa, and contained about 400,000,000 “souls,” or nearly one-third of all the Outeroos. But this includes the Mandarins, who are not supposed to have “souls.”
With amusing speech, he reviewed the history, the social, political, and industrial conditions of this “peculiar” people.
It was in China that Oseba became first acquainted with the aggressiveness, the pretentiousness, and the real power of the European or Occidental Nations. As a race, these “foreign devils” were taller in stature, stronger of limb, and lighter in complexion, and they had better opinions of themselves than the Orientals. Conceit is a strong factor in all these mighty games.
The clergymen, or missionaries, were among his first acquaintances from over the seas.
A mischievous consular clerk, he says, who seemed to have a grievance, used to sing:—
“They came in shoals,
To save the souls,
Of Hop, Lee, Sing, and Wu.
They gathered gear,
Both far and near,
As you or I would do.”
These “solemn men,” as Oseba called them, apologising for the digression, came first of their countrymen, not for “filthy lucre,” but to “save all the sons of Confucius and to take them to Heaven, where, together, they could sing and associate forever, and forever, and forever.” “This,” said Oseba, “seemed kind of them,” but he soon learned that the nations who sent these agents to prepare the social situation for “the sweet by-and-bye,” were “not at home,” to Hop, Lee, Sing, or Wu, during their brief stay on the surface of Oliffa.
“We love you,” said the genteel agents of a hundred disputing creeds, “go with us to a land that is better than day.”
“Velly well,” says Hop, Lee, Sing, and Wu, “we likely go ’Melica.”
“Nay, nay!” says the good shepherd, “afterwhile, in the sweet by-and-bye. ’Tis of a better world we speak—patience, meekness, and love.”
“Why,” asked the poetess Vauline, “are the other Outeroos not ‘at home’ to the Chinese while they are quite alive?”
With a smile, Oseba said, “The Chinese, my children, are very industrious and frugal.”
“Are they an inferior race?” asked the poetess Vauline.
“They are ‘different,’” said Oseba, “but every race, people, nation, tribe, or creed on Oliffa, thinks itself ‘superior’ to any and all others. Vanity is absent—with few of the Outeroos.”
At considerable length, he reviewed the political, social, and industrial situation of China, and said:—
“All the outer world might learn lessons of patient industry from China, but for us, there is nothing in China.”
After a brief review of the social and political situation of each, he dismissed all the countries of Continental Asia, but he said Hongkong and Singapore, two of the world’s modern wonders, had done much to apprise the world of the hidden treasures in these Tartarean regions.
He drew attention to his discovery of Japan, as it appeared on the map with Asia, and then removing this, he threw the globe on the canvas. He dwelt in almost raptures on the beauty of the country he was now to examine. Of the Japanese, of whose condition he would first inquire, he said they had an old history. They had been isolated for many centuries. They dreamed in their narrow world, played in their little backyards, worshipped their monarch, and had been happy; but recently, touched by the magic wand of modern civilisation, they aroused, and having for a brief spell cast about them, they “girded up their loins”—tightened their belts—and hurried to join the front ranks of the army of progress, with an enthusiasm, and even a wisdom, never before known on this little globe.
Cathedral Peaks, Lake Manapouri
Once aroused by the exhilarating thrill of progress, they as readily adjusted themselves to the peculiar conditions of their natural environments as children to a new playground. The mountains suggest liberty, the seas adventure, and to the fearless adventurers of those inhabiting the indented shores of the water-front, are the Outeroos indebted for all the blessings of modern progress—for civilisation is the ripened fruit of ocean commerce.
“But,” said the sage Oseba, “the present 42,000,000 Japs have but 147,000 square miles of dirt, half of which is waste. Under the delirium of modern conditions the population is rapidly increasing, and thus are the inhabitants already beginning to crowd each other. The nation is becoming wealthy, while the people are becoming poor. The real estate on little Oliffa is already staked out, and conspicuously adorned with that strange device—‘keep off the grass.’ There is no vacant corner for the surplus population, my children, and the Japs are land animals.”
The sage Oseba told his audience that “Many nations among the Outeroos regarded the ‘Japs’ as an ‘inferior race,’ but if the achievements of man is the measure of the soul and the intellect, the Japs have no superiors on little Oliffa, for her recent progress pales the lustre of the world’s authentic history; but,
‘If the zenith of strife, sheds a mystical lore,
And coming events cast their shadows before,’”
said the sage, as he tortured the immortal Thomas, the brilliancy of Japanese story may soon wane, and as, owing to lack of room, her only path to glory is through unfashionable war, the prospects are not rosy. Though that nation may, for a long time, remain flamboyant, the people may soon writhe in a lower misery than ‘pagan Japan’ ever knew.
However, should the little brown man clip the claws from the Russian bear, and send him back, lame and growling, to his northern lair, and then arouse China, and, by the skill of his wonderful capacity, organize it, Eastern Asia may remember a few thousands of the “insults” heaped upon her people during the last half-century, and conclude to test the question of “superiority” by other than industrial methods.
Of the known Monarchies of Asia, he said, the people were ignorant and impoverished, the officials were insolent and corrupt, the rulers were vicious and despotic, and the governments rotten beyond cure.
As to India, the sage Oseba spoke with sympathy. “Britain,” he said, “is the only country capable of governing an ‘inferior’ race. She has done much to rescue the country from periodic, if not from almost constant war, and famine, and despair; but the ‘people,’ the offspring of thousands of years of misrule and oppression, have reached a condition of crystallized non-progressiveness, and they must finally die out, as they cannot adjust themselves to modern conditions. Its past is sad, its future is hopeless. It will long be a country in which a few cunning bees may load themselves with golden honey, that their far away hives may be filled; but slowly and sadly that strange brown people must pass away. They have reached their ultimate. In them the oak and the steel, necessary for the contests of the future, are wanting.”