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Rh —a manuscript. This I found by the side of the mangled skeleton.

It consisted of several pages of closely written material, in a small pocket notebook, which fact, in connection with the partial shelter afforded by the crevice where the body lay, doubtless accounts for its preservation through the years that have passed since its owner met his hideous fate.

up the notebook with nervous fingers, I opened it and turned the damp and musty pages through, reading it at first hastily, then slower and more carefully, then with a feverish concentration—as the awful significance of the words was riveted into my brain.

The writing was in a man's cramped, agitated hand, and I give it to you just as I read it, with the exception of the names and places, and a few paragraphs of vital scientific data—all but a few words at the very beginning and end, where the manuscript had been molded into illegibility by the gradual action of the weather. Here follows:

"as strange. I had a sense of apprehension from the start, a vague, indescribable feeling of doubt, of dread, as if someone, something, were urging me out, away, into these sullen hills.

"I might have known. The law of retribution is as positive as the law of gravity. I know that now. Oh irony!

"But I was so sure. No one knew. No one could know. She, my wife, heart of all, until the end. And the neighbors, her friends, never. She had merely pined away. No one dreamed I had poisoned her. Even when she died, there was no thought of autopsy. She had long been failing. And had I not been most concerned? None in the little town of, but who sympathized with me. And I mourned. Oh, I mourned! So it was that she paid the price of her infamy. Ah, but revenge never was sweeter!

"And he? Oh, but I despised him—even as I had formerly admired him, even as I had once loved my wife—so I despised him. And despising him, I killed him—killed him, but with a poison far more subtle than that I had used to destroy my wife—killed him with a poison in effect so hideous, so harrowing, that I can scarcely think of it without sickening even as I write.

"The poison I inculcated into his veins was a germ poison—a disease I, a physician of no small repute, had discovered and bred—a disease I had found existed only in a particular and very rare species of virulent purple and orange-banded spider—the genus [Here follow in the original manuscript seven paragraphs of elaborate scientific data, of no particular interest to the average reader, but of incalculable import to the scientific world. These paragraphs I have omitted from this account for very significant reasons, but I hold them open to scientific examination at any time, and as I have said before, I will welcome investigation by reputable scientists]—a disease which was responsible for the extreme rarity of this particular species.

"By careful investigation I was able to learn the exact manifestation and workings of the disease—which by their frightful ravages upon the system of the unfortunate victim fairly appalled me.

"By segregating and breeding diseased members of this particular species of spider, I was able to produce the disease in the young in its most virulent form. You can well imagine the care I used in handling these spiders, to prevent infection. Briefly, the symptoms were as follows: The spider about to be stricken apparently first experiences a peculiar numbness of the first left foreleg, to judge from its inability to use or move

W. T.—8


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 the sand at the bottom burnt my feet. On one side was a patch of hot earth and a pool of hot water, but I had no idea of anything more. The fact was, that the water at the side was the smallest portion of the hot spring; by far the greater quantity discharging itself through the bed of the river. We constantly passed near places where there appeared to have been springs formerly, and often there was steam hissing from slight fissures in the rocks which might be passed unnoticed. One in particular was under a small waterfall; and I should never have discovered it had it not been that I thought the water made a most extraordinary noise, which I found was caused by the water pouring down on the very hole from which the steam escaped. We arrived on the last bank of the Waikato on Saturday evening, and rested the greater part of the following day; after which we went about three miles down the river in a canoe, and found a temporary encampment of natives belonging to the great Waikato tribe, who had come there for the purpose of catching crawfish, shell-fish, &c., and snaring ducks and shags, which were very abundant. My natives took care not to find these people till it was near the evening, as they thought, if they did, I should go on as soon as I reached the other side of the river, although it was Sunday.

The next day we again embarked in a small leaky canoe, and dropped about two miles further down the river, and landed on the other side, just at the head of some rapids, which prevent further navigation for about two miles. At this place the road, which we had almost lost sight of for several miles, became again quite distinct, and we set off along it for Towpo. At the head of these rapids the river is fordable, and we found about two hundred natives in temporary huts. I could not find out what brought them there. They said it was to make flax, which grew there in great abundance; but in other parts of the

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 Waikato country which I have seen it has been much more abundant. The road for about ten miles from the river was very hilly and barren, and lay often through narrow valleys hemmed in with perpendicular rocks, so as to look something like the deep cuts on the railroads at home. There were numerous deep holes in the ground, which would have rendered the road very dangerous at night. I suppose them to have been formerly the sites of hot springs. We passed through this bad road, and, after about a mile of wood, emerged on a gently undulating plain surrounded by mountains in the distance. The land was better than the generality of fern land, but not good: however, there was abundance of water and great capabilities of improvement. At the edge of a wood which forms a belt between the Waikato and Towpo, of about five miles' average width, we found a small settlement, where about fifty acres were in potatoes. They said that maize would not grow there: at all events, they had none planted. They roasted some Swedish turnips, and afterwards dressed them in a copper mowrie. I refused to eat any at first, but tasted a bit and found it excellent, although the smell was disagreeable. The soil is very rich here, but after one or two crops of potatoes it becomes worn out. I am not certain whether the natives meant that maize would not grow in this part of the country in ordinary seasons, because they said this was one of unusual severity. Thermometer at one 55; barometer, 28$5/20$; weather gloomy. This is about the average range of both the instruments after passing the Waikato towards Towpo. We left this potatoe plantation, and, after about two hours 1 walk, emerged from the wood, and again came on a lot of damp moorish ground, which lasted all the way to Pirato, the next settlement we reached. The natives here brought me two very extraordinary plants, one a gigantic umbelliferous plant, the leaves of which were entirely stiff spines, from four to six inches long, and a curious

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 little ball of scarlet spines about an inch and half in diameter, which I afterwards found to belong to a plant with an almost invisible stem, and leaves clinging closely to the ground, so that a careless observer would think that the heads of flowers which he saw scattered about formed the entire plant. I found it to be a new species of Acæna, a genus allied to the common burnet. It is a very beautiful and curious plant, which I hope to be able to introduce into English gardens.

It was about ten at night when we arrived at Pirata. This pa is very strongly situate on the top of some perpendicular cliffs, rising from a small stream which runs into Towpo, from which lake it is only about ten miles distant. The people were not over-disposed to be civil at first, fancying I was only a "Pakiha Mowrie;" but when the missionary lads came up, they quite altered their tone.

It was necessary to make inquiries here about a canoe to take us across Towpo, as Mr. Chapman had before told me there would be a difficulty about it. Next morning, before I was up, the old chief "Pirate," or "Ze Pirate," came to see me. He is the head chief of this pa, and was quite a gentlemanly old fellow. He said there was one canoe at this end of the lake, and that he would send some people to bring it round to the nearest part. He had several children who had curious sandy-coloured hair, which looked very disagreeable; the others had, as usual, black hair; but I could not find out whether they all had the same mother or not. The wife who came with him was a well-looking young woman, about the age of his eldest son, and apparently a great flirt; she took a great fancy to me—so she said; but it was most probably to my blankets: however, she got a new pipe and some of the weed from me, in return for her compliments and smiling looks.

I found all my men rebellious this morning; they had made

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 up their minds not to stir for the day, on the plea of having walked so far on the preceding one. I wondered at their contumacy, and got very angry with them; especially when I found out that our resting-place was only about ten miles off; so I stormed away for some time, and then proceeded to take more violent measures: at least, so far as to lift one or two of them off the ground, and give them a gentle kick behind at the same time, and a few touches with the strap of my shot-belt. I at last got them all loaded and started a-head, threatening all I could imagine in case they did not follow quickly. As I went on ahead with a new guide, I found out the reason of their unwillingness. The old chief had brought them an immense pig for a feast, and as they had already stuffed as much as they could, they wanted to wait till the evening to kill it, and have another good feed. I looked back from the top of a hill, and saw that they were really on their way, and was satisfied; for when I found out the cause of detention, I feared it would prove too powerful for them to overcome—a pig being as irresistible to a New Zealander as turtle to an alderman, especially when it is to be had for nothing.

On reaching the top of a hill I got the first sight of Towpo, and a splendid sight it was. Much as Mr. Chapman had praised it, its appearance far surpassed his description. Just at the same moment, an opening in the clouds gave me a view of the Peak of Tongadido, covered with snow, and vomiting forth a dense column of smoke. It was only in sight just long enough for me to ascertain that it lay due south; and I did not see it again in the day during the whole time I was on the lake. My guide and I arrived on the shore of Towpo about one o'clock, and after waiting about till three, I began to get alarmed at the non-arrival of my men. Shortly after, a native came to say that we had come wrong, and I had to scramble along the cliffs at the

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 side of the lake for about a mile, both hungry and angry; to my surprise I found at the place to which I was led, not only my own lads, but the old chief Pirata, with several other men, and women, and boys. On my inquiring about food, they said the pig would be there soon, which I found, to my great surprise, to be the very identical one which had caused me so much trouble at Pirata. This was, it must be acknowledged, a most hospitable action on the part of the old chief, not only to provide a feast for us, but when we would not stay to eat it, to send it after us to try us again. I speedily caused the unfortunate porker to be killed, without allowing him time to recover his fatigue; and immediately set half-a-dozen boys and girls cooking pieces of kidney, liver, &c., on sticks over a fire—a method of cooking which at that time I settled in my mind to be much superior to any other for the inside of a pig.

I distributed some physic to the natives, and was much amused at the cool manner in which they sucked down the nauseous boluses of rhubarb, aloes, peppermint, and the like abominations, without drinking anything afterwards to wash them down. I was provided with this medicine by the kindness of Mr. Chapman; and found it very useful, as the people were all sickly from influenza, which had been violent among them.

The natives are very fond of daubing their heads with a sort of red paint which they call "cocoi;" I saw a large manufactory of it on the banks of the Waikato; a double circle of matwork was formed round a large spring of rusty water, and the curdy carbonate of iron was by this means strained off. After this preparation, it is burnt and mixed with oil, and plastered on their heads and bodies, till they look as if they had fallen into a paint-pot. I understand it is going out of fashion; but it is still so common, that it is impossible to be carried by a native without

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 getting your clothes daubed all over with the red dirt which has saturated their mats.

We embarked on Towpo about five in the morning, in a very large Ti-wai (Tee-why) or canoe, hollowed out of a single log of wood, without top sides; those with top sides, of which they have none on this lake, are called Wa-kaw, or in common pronunciation "Walkers." This canoe was the largest of the kind I had seen; there were seventeen paddlers and about ten idlers, besides a great quantity of potatoes and my luggage. We had plenty of room, and for the first few miles went on very well. We had to cross a large bay, the only dangerous portion of our journey, and till that was done I had nothing to complain of in their pulling. After that they fell off sadly. As the wind almost always blows off the east shore, we kept close under it in case of accidents; the morning was, however, very calm, and the lake as smooth as glass. When we got about half-way through the lake, we had a glimpse of the Peak of Tongadido before us, and appearing to rise immediately out of the lake. As we approached the south end, it became again hid by the clouds, which rested on the summits of the lower mountains forming the range. About eleven o'clock we arrived at a village, where we landed to eat. I had not been long there before I was joined by a native called Peter, who had been left by Mr. Chapman to superintend the building of a house, which the natives are putting up for him, and which he will use as an out-station to visit every two or three months, just as the clergymen do in England with their distant flocks. This Peter was a very good native, and quite imbued with a missionary spirit. It was really edifying to hear him read prayers and expound; it was impossible to doubt his sincerity: but I am afraid there are not many such as he—the greater part of the so-called Christian natives being only attracted to become converts by the love of

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 change, and the easy mode of life which they enjoy at the missionary establishments.

Peter immediately volunteered to go with me to Tongadido, and I was very glad to have him, as he was known to the inhabitants of Towpo as a missionary native, and consequently could answer for my not being a "Pakiha Mowrie," a character the natives hereabout seemed to hold in great suspicion—owing to the reports of the missionary natives with whom they had had communication— Mr. Peter most likely for one. Had they been more in the habit of seeing white people, they would not have cared much whether they were missionaries or Pakiha Mowries, provided they had plenty of tobacco to give away. After resting an hour at this village, which contained about five hundred inhabitants, we again set off with the addition to our company of Peter and another native belonging to Mr. Chapman, and a chief, a friend of theirs.

In about two hours we reached a second and smaller village, where we had another detention, and where Peter wanted me very much to stay the night: however, I was determined not to be prevented from reaching the south end of the lake that evening, and forced them to set off again, although they told me the nearest way to Tongadido was from that village. One of my natives left me here. He had joined at Roturoa, but was not a missionary native, although I found him at the settlement. He was the worst sample of a New Zealander I had met with, and I was glad of an excuse for saying he should not go any farther with me. I could have had a dozen volunteers immediately in his place, if I had wished it. My boatmen were determined not to go farther than the village at the south end of the lake, for that night at all events; and although it was not three o'clock when we started from the last place, and our destination was not five miles distant, they took care not to

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498 the affected member. A day or so later the leg, which in a healthy condition is a dull brown, turns a pale, sickening shade of yellow, which deepens rapidly until it has taken on a flaming orange hue. Then, in a few hours, a deep, vicious-looking blue cincture, or band, appears just at the first joint of the affected member. This cincture rapidly deepens to purple, which seems somehow to sear its way into the flesh and through the bone, so that in a surprizingly short time the whole leg is severed at the joint where the cincture has been.

"The spider then appears to regain its normal condition of health, which it maintains for about a week; then once again the hideous disease manifests itself, this time in the left feeler, or antenna, which in turn becomes yellow, then orange, whereupon the same blue cincture appears and deepens to purple; then, in about the same period of time as in the case of the leg, the antenna drops off, seared as if by some hellish flame.

"Once again the spider appears to regain its health; then in about a week the whole head of the stricken insect turns slowly yellow, then orange; then the cincture appears—and as a last manifestation, the head is seared off in flaming agony—and the spider dies in horrible convulsions.

"That, briefly, is the process—as I was able to note after weeks and months of tireless research and observation. "So what more perfect punishment for the man who stole from me my wife, while pretending to be my friend?

her as I did, I had not the heart to kill her in this hideous way: so I put her to death with a painless and insidious poison.

"But for ——— I had no mercy. In fact I gloated as I worked over my vile and diseased spiders, breeding them to- gether until I was convinced that I had the germs of the disease in its most viru- lent form. Even then I was not sure what their effect would be on a human being — but that much at least I must hazard.

"So having finally made all my preparations, I invited him to my house and placed one of the diseased spiders upon his forehead one night as he slept.

"It must have bitten him, for he awoke with a cry, and I had barely time to close his door and get back to my room before I heard him rise and turn on the light.

"Then he called me, and I came to him, burning with a fiendish satisfaction. 'Something has bitten me, horribly,' he said. 'I feel as if I were going to be ill.'

"I managed to reassure him by telling him that it was very likely nothing but one of our uncommonly large mosquitoes, and he returned to bed.

"But he did not sleep. All night I heard him moaning and tossing. And in the morning he was very pale.

"'I do not know what is the matter with me,' he said, and I thought he looked at me queerly, 'but I feel as if a little rest would do me good. I feel choked. I think I will pack up my knapsack and go off to the hills for the weekend. Want to come?'

"I longed to go with him, to see the dread disease work, but I feared its deadly contagion, and was anxious to get him away before I myself became contaminated. So I said no—and he went. "That was the last I ever saw of him —but once.

away, as he had promised, and he seemed apparently well—all except the curious little inflamed spot on his forehead, whose significance I knew so well.

"He went away—and he failed to


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 get there till it was just time to pitch the tent. They never vexed me so much before; but their reason for delaying me was that they were afraid, if they reached the end of the lake before the evening, I should insist on their starting with me for the mountain that night; and they thought it would be much more pleasant to spend it in the village than in the woods, which was just the contrary to my notion.

It may not be amiss here to give a description of Towpo, as I am but the second European who has ever seen it, and as it is not likely to be again visited for a long time. My visit having taken place only three weeks after that of my predecessor (Mr. Chapman), it is very certain my account of it, imperfect as it will be, must be the only one that has ever reached Europe, and may therefore be considered valuable.

Towpo (Taupo, missionary spelling) is one of the most superb lakes in the world—not from its size, although that is considerable, but from the extreme magnificence of the scenery surrounding it. Mr. Chapman considers it to be thirty-five miles long, and twenty broad. I do not think it is quite thirty-five miles, but the width is not over-estimated at twenty. It is situated in S. lat. 39° 35′; E. long. 175° (about). These positions are supposed from the bearings of Mount Egmont, as it is laid down in the charts. Mount Egmont is visible from a mountain which rises interruptedly from the lake. The form of the lake is a sort of irregular triangle, with the two most distant angles forming the north and south ends. The western shore is apparently nearly straight, and the third point of the triangle will be about the eastern boundary of the lake; at this eastern angle is a deep bay about six miles long, running south-east, which is invisible except almost immediately opposite the entrance. The most peculiar feature in the appearance of Towpo is the immense height of the surrounding cliffs; they are always perpendicular,

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 although in some instances rising in terraces one behind the other, and vary from five hundred to one thousand feet high at several parts of the lake, particularly at the N.N.W. and N.E. sides; these rise perpendicularly from the water to such a height, that I never saw their tops through the clouds for above five minutes together during the whole time I was on the lake (eight days). There are but few places where a canoe can land, and at those the beaches are very short and narrow: they are covered with pumice and black sand, and always indicate the entrance o 1 a small stream of water. There are a number of small waterfalls round the lake, but none of any consequence; the only river or stream of any size which runs into it being the Waikato, which runs in at the only part of the lake (the south end) where the banks for any distance are level, and the water shallow.

At the north end is a very peculiar mountain, with an outline as regular as if it had been the work of art. At the two extremes of the range are two peaks just alike, and each about one-third the height of the mountain. At about the distance of another third rise two other equal peaks, and in the centre rises the fifth. I suppose it is about five thousand feet high. I am not certain that the centre peak belongs to the same range as the four others. It was undoubtedly considerably farther off, and appeared somewhat bluer than the others. At the south end rose Tongadido, which from the north-east part seemed to overhang the lake; but when we reached the south end it was invisible, and I did not again see it till after ascending a mountain, which cost us four hours' hard labour to climb. It does not happen above every other day that one end of the lake is to be seen from the other—at least so the natives said. I saw the two ends at the same time but twice, and each time very early in the morning. Frequently, even the east shore is

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Rh come back. Days passed, and there came no word from him. People began inquiring. It was odd that he should have left no address. His business suffered.

"Weeks went by—and no word. Search parties were sent out. The river was dragged. The morgues of near-by cities were searched. And all the while I laughed. For who would think of turning to those far-off hills?

"And yet, as the days went by, I found myself turning to them again—wondering, wondering, wondering. I grew nervous, agitated. I got so I couldn't sleep.

"Finally, on a day in late summer (it was the 8th of August—date I shall never forget!) I packed a few things and set off. In search of him? God knows. I tried to tell myself not—but at any rate I found myself strangely, magnetically drawn to those distant somber hills—and thither I went.

"It was one of those gorgeous mornings that only August can produce, and the exhilarating air would have lifted my spirits, but instead I walked along depressed, and the knapsack strapped to my shoulder served only to intensify the feeling.

"In spite of all I could do, I found my mind reverting to the hideous revenge I had wreaked on my wife and her lover, and for the first time repentance stole in upon me.

"I walked along slowly, and it was well toward noon before I left the beaten road and started at random off over the hills, following a narrow and little-used path.

"Progress now became doubly slow and painful, leading often up steep inclines and hard descents, with the aspect momentarily becoming more and more rugged, as I left the lower hills and climbed toward the mountain.

"By this time, however, I had got a kind of exhilaration sought in vain during the earlier hours of the morning, and climbed on and on, glad to free body and mind thus of the poison of brooding and lassitude. I would return to the town at night and take supper at one of the small inns that abounded thereabouts. This would give me some hours yet before I turned back. For the time being, the thought of searching for was forgotten. I had freed my mind of him entirely.

the path I had been following branched, and the right half narrowed into an all but obliterated trail, leading up a laborious slope. Forcing my way over dry, snapping underbrush and under low-hanging spruce boughs, occasionally starting an indignant partridge from its hidden nest, often put to a wide detour to avoid some hazardous gully cut deep by centuries of spring and autumn freshets, I at last emerged upon a small, circular clearing, evidently the work of some lone woodchopper.

"Here I sat down, tired by the climb, and refreshed myself with a sandwich from my knapsack. Then I pushed on to the summit, pausing frequently to examine some uncommon species of insect life with which the hills abounded.

"So much was I enjoying myself and such scant notice of the time did I take, that sunset came upon me unawares and I found myself, with darkness settling in on all sides with a startling rapidity, still on the summit of the mountain, with a good three-mile descent before me. Indeed, the prospect was not altogether a cheering one and I reproached myself for my heedlessness. But I had found a species of spider for which I had searched in vain for months; so, somewhat reassured by its precious body in a pill-box in my pocket, I started down.

"In spite of my best speed, however, night shut in on me before I had made


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 from the west, in spite of its equal height. The cliffs around the greater part of the lake are of a dark greenish colour, tinged sometimes with red, and are basaltic. The fissures are irregular, but run quite perpendicular; and the whole face of the rock presents much the appearance of a mass of common starch, but on a gigantic scale. On the west coast, about the middle, there appears, for a considerable extent, a dazzling white outline; but I do not know what it is. The natives said it was not a very hard stone. The white cliffs were not so high as the dark ones—rarely more than two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet. There is plenty of obsidian near the lake, and it is cast up on the shore in many places, but I did not see any in situ. The water is of a deep blue colour, appears exceedingly deep, and no weeds growing in it.

The river Waikato runs into Towpo at the S.S.E. end, and makes its exit at the north; at the place where it enters, it is a small sluggish river, about twenty-five yards wide, and from two to four feet deep. It runs in a very circuitous course through a long line of mud and rushes, forming the only piece of flat land near the shore. On one side of the river, about two miles distant, is situate the great pa of Towpo, and on the east side, at about one mile from the river, is a small pa, called Coteropo, where I was encamped; there are several other pas on the west side of the lake, and three on the east, but not large ones: it is, however, decidedly the most populous place I have seen or heard of in the island. I should think the population of the pas on the lake could not be less than 5000. The country around, I do not think can be populous; it is too mountainous and bare of wood, and the Mowries only grow potatoes in land which is just cleared, and after about three crops abandon it, and clear another portion of forest. Mr. Chapman imagines that all the land which is now bare of timber has been

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 made so by this custom of the natives: but I hardly think such can be the case. It is to be taken into consideration, that potatoes have not been grown in the island for more than fifty years; and the natives must have been both very much more numerous and industrious, to have cleared such a quantity of land in so short a time. Although I do not think the growth of potatoes sufficient to account for the absence of forest over a great part of the country—perhaps more than half—yet it is certain the wood has decreased, from some cause or other, within no great distance of time; as I constantly found logs and roots lying in the wet ground of the barren moors, where they could not have been brought by any natural causes; and they were too distant from any place where they grow at present, as well as too useless, to have been conveyed there. The natives now yearly destroy large quantities of land, by their wasteful system of agriculture, and in time there will be no timber-land left: but this cause has not been long in operation, and is inadequate to the visible effects on the face of the country.

Wood is excessively scarce near Towpo, except in places inaccessible, and land fit for the cultivation of potatoes equally so. In a very few years, all the wood which now clothes the sides of the ravines and bases of the cliffs will be gone, and great part of the beauty destroyed in consequence; even now you see potatoes planted where it is necessary to climb. In fact, on the shores of Towpo, every bit of soil which a man can reach, even at the risk of his neck, is beginning to be planted with potatoes, as they have worn out all the level lands near. Were they to take half the care in the cultivation of the potatoe they do in that of the Kormera or sweet potatoe, they might grow it in hundreds of places which are now only covered with fern, and are in progress towards becoming barren; owing

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 to the constant fires which the dry nature of that plant causes to spread in a most destructive manner. A person who paid attention to the subject might easily tell how many years had elapsed since the forest was cut down in any particular place, by observing the height of the fern. In the first year, after its cultivation for potatoes has been discontinued, the fern springs up to ten, or even thirteen feet in height, gradually dwindles down to six inches, and at last vanishes altogether: it is then replaced by a short wiry grass, growing in small tufts, about a foot apart, with nothing between, and presenting the most desolate appearance.

Coteropo, the village where I encamped, at the south-east end of the lake, is a small place surrounded by boiling springs. The whole side of the mountain at the back is enveloped with steam, escaping from innumerable crevices in the soil. The bushes of Veronica and fern-plants grow close to these places, and do not seem to be affected by the heat, unless they are absolutely touched by the boiling water. The portion of land on the side of the mountain where the springs are most numerous is about two miles square, and a great part of it is so covered with springs that nothing grows on it, and it looks as bare as a ploughed field. There are a great many other places on the lake where there are hot-water springs, but not so extensive as at this place. I found here, that the action of the hot water, which was nearly tasteless, (although the vapour smelt of sulphuric acid,) converted the compact black lava into clay of different colours; some of it being quite white, other parts mottled with red and yellow. The stones which overhung the hot places were half converted, while the others were as hard and fresh as if they had been only formed yesterday; the lava is hard, black, compact with white grains, strongly resembling greenstone in general appearance and weight. I physicked some

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Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3 NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011 TOP SECRET – Sensitive unobligated, participant. The U.S., Dulles cabled him, was to be "an interested nation which, however, is neither a belligerent nor a principal in the negotiation." Its primary aim would be to:

 * "...help the nations of that area [Indochina] peacefully to enjoy under  with the opportunity to expand their economies, to realize their legitimate national aspirations, and to develop security through individual and collective defense against aggression, from within and without. This implies that these people  into the Communist bloc of imperialistic dictatorship."

Accordingly, Smith was told, the U.S. should not give its approval to any settlement or cease-fire.

 * "...which would have the effect of of the three aforementioned states or of  or of placing in jeopardy the forces of the French Union of Indochina, or which otherwise contravened the principles stated...above."

 * f.

The NSC decision of May 8, Smith's comments at the second and third plenary sessions, and Dulles' instructions to Smith reveal the hardness of the U.S. position on a Geneva settlement. The U.S. would not associate itself with any arrangement that failed to provide adequately for an internationally supervised cease-fire and national elections that resulted in the partitioning of any of the Associated States; or that compromised the independence and territorial integrity of those States in any way. Smith was left free, in fact, to withdraw from the conference or to restrict the American role to that of observer.

 * g.

The pessimistic American view of the conference was founded also on the deterioration of the Franco–Vietnamese military effort, particularly in the Tonkin Delta. After the debacle at Dien Bien Phu, the French gradually shifted their forces from Laos and Cambodia into the Delta; but the Viet Minh naturally did likewise, moving several battalions eastward. U.S. Army intelligence reported on May 26, on the basis of French reports, that the Viet Minh were redeploying much faster than anticipated, to the point where only 2,000 of 35,000 troops originally in northwestern Tonkin remained. To thwart the communist military threat, General Ely told General Trapnell (on May 30) that French forces were forming a new defensive perimeter along the Hanoi–Haiphong axis; but Ely Rh

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 more people here, especially an old chief: I was very loath to give this old fellow any, as I did not expect to do him any good; old age seemed to be his only disease; he was a quiet old man, and was led about by a little girl, I suppose his daughter. I gave him some boluses, and told him how to take them, and when I returned, found that he was very much pleased; as he said they had quite cured him—of what it would be difficult to say, for when he first came to me his tongue was as clean and his pulse as firm as anybody need wish. His cure quite established my reputation as a physician, and I had innumerable applicants afterwards.

The natives were very curious to know what was the use of my collecting so much trash in the way of stones and plants; so I told them that we Pakihas made all the "rungwau," with which we cured them, from these things. But even this did not make them more willing to carry a basket of stones, or a portfolio of dried plants: although they would carry twice the weight of tobacco, or my tent, which was very heavy, without any grumbling.

We set off from Coteropo on the morning of the 1st of March, and immediately began to ascend a mountain, which the natives told us was the nearest way to Tongadido. After about four hours' ascent, we reached a bare place on the top of the mountain, and expected to see the peak momentarily: however, when we arrived at the top, no peak was to be seen, but one of the Towpo natives pointed out another mountain which he said was Tongadido. I was excessively annoyed at having been so deceived, more especially with Peter, who I thought must have known his friends were telling falsehoods; but he declared that he was deceived as well as myself. I was very much puzzled to discover where Tongadido could really be, as the mountain which they pointed out appeared to have no peak; and

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500 one quarter of the return, leaving me to grope the rest of the way in utter darkness, with not even the light of a dim star to go by. Vague fear awoke within me, but I shielded my eyes and stumbled to the bottom, sliding, falling, clutching here and there at some projecting tree-limb to check my headlong descent. Finally, torn and disheveled and shaking, I emerged upon the clearing. Pausing only for breath, I plunged on into the dark. Fear was growing—growing—that peculiar fear of the dark which is the heritage of those who have taken human life.

"What was that? Something lay gleaming queerly ahead, with a dull phosphorescent glow. I stooped and picked it up—and flung it from me shuddering. It was the skeleton of a human foot!

"I groped on, my every heartbeat choking at my throat. Of a sudden I came forcefully against a barrier of rock. I tried to feel my way around it, to get beyond it, but could not. It seemed continuous, a solid wall that would not let me by. Had I fallen into a trap in the darkness? Terrified, I turned—and there lay something else gleaming with that same weird phosphorescent glow! Sick with terror and dread, half fearing what it might be, I sprang on it and picked it up—picked it up—the rotting hand of a human being! With a stifled gasp I flung it from me, reeled, tripped through some vines, and fell swooning.

I came to myself, I struck a I match and looked about me. Its feeble flame revealed a pair of damp, rocky walls,, low and vaulted. I was in some sort of cavern.

"Later on I crept out, collected an armful of sticks, brought them back, and soon had a fire started. By its light I observed that the rear of the cave was still in darkness, and judging that it must extend back indefinitely, I gave my attention to my immediate surroundings—when with a shock I saw, directly in front of me, a granite slab. On it lay several loose sheets of manuscript, scrawled wildly on odd scraps of paper.

"With a prophetic dread I bent forward and gathered the loose sheets together. Holding them near the fire, I peered closer. Then I think a cry must have escaped me. The writing was in 's hand, curiously scrawled and scraggy, but still recognizable.

"So fate had brought me to my victim!

"For the rest, there is little more to say. I am doomed as I deserve, even as he was doomed. His words speak all that can be spoken. They follow:

—''I had meant to spend only the week-end in these hills, yet here I am, after two weeks—still here, and suffering the pains of hell. What has come over me I cannot imagine. And yet—can I not? I am not so sure! Perhaps—perhaps has in some devilish way managed to poison me. He is insanely jealous. He thinks there was something between his wife and me. Verily I believe he harassed her to death on the subject. And, having thus brought her to her grave, he wishes to send me there.''

''Perhaps he will succeed—if it is true. that in some fiendish way he has got some of his germs into my blood. That bite, at his house that evening. I am not so sure. It was a most unusual bite. It seemed upon the instant to sour all my blood.''

''And yet, if he accomplishes my death, how vain it will be—for as God is my witness I swear I never harmed his wife. We were the best of friends, nothing more. And she loved him with a wholeness, a passion that any but a man maddened by groundless jealousy must at once have seen.''


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 I thought I could distinctly see the top of the hill opposite us, through the vapour on its summit. Between us and the other mountain there was a plain and a lake, but I saw it would be impossible to reach it that day at all events. The worst part of the business was, that there was no track to be found down to this lake, and although it did not appear half a mile from us, it took us nearly three hours to force a passage to its shores. The greater part of the side of the mountain was covered with the common arborescent Veronica of New Zealand (V. diosmœfolia), which, from its never becoming anything more than a bush, impeded our passage much more than a large forest would have done, and, besides, prevented our ever seeing the lake or mountain opposite, although the descent was always exceedingly steep. I began to think we must be wrong, and that we had gone round the side of the mountain, instead of directly downwards: but a glimpse of the lake showed my error. Although the lake appeared further off than it did from the top of the hill, yet it was still immediately beneath our feet. Peter and myself at last reached the open plain in which was the lake, and were soon after joined by the rest of the party.

There we found a native who fetched canoes to take us across. At the place where we landed, we found a temporary village with about fifty people, very few of whom had ever seen a white man before. They were very civil, and I agreed to stay there till the next day. One of the people promised to go with us, to show us the proper way to Tongadido. On the top of the mountain I found several exceedingly curious plants: the only one generally interesting is a Gaultheria, not before discovered, perfectly recumbent on the ground, with berries two inches in circumference, in great abundance, and very good to eat, as well as beautiful. Like all the other Gaultherias of New Zealand, this plant has a sort of double identity, there being about half of the plants bearing

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Rh ''How he has wrecked his life! A mind so brilliant—and yet, with her dead, a closed room.''

''However, I may be wrong. I will wait. By the symptoms I will know. I write this down, for I must do something.''

—''It is he now, his hellish work. I am sure of it. Today my left leg, which for two weeks has felt positively numb, turned a sickening yellow, from the ankle down, which began at once to deepen, until it now flames orange. And oh! the pain is hellish! Yes, I am sure it is 's work. But I will still withhold judgment.''

—''Today a deep, virulent blue cincture has appeared just at the ankle of the affected leg. What a hellish contrast to the orange!''

''It is. I am sure now. Oh, what a fiend!''

—''The cincture has deepened to purple, and seems to cut into the very flesh. It seems sometimes as if the pain would drive me mad.''

—''My flaming foot dropped off tonight, seared at the ankle by the purple cincture, and I flung it outside the cave. I wonder. Perhaps I may yet live to return to the world. Ah, I will be avenged for this!''

—''I am cursed, cursed! Today, just as I teas beginning to believe the hellish thing had left me, it returned, this time in my left hand. Oh, I can see it all: tomorrow and the next day and the next, for just two weeks, my hand will be numb; then will come that frightful yellow; then the orange; then—then the purple cincture!''

''Curse the man who discovered this hellish disease — and turned it into me! I could tear him limb from limb. Oh, I pray to return! I would go now, yet I fear my malady is of a vilely contagious nature. I have not the heart to menace a whole community, perhaps a whole nation, perhaps humanity itself—merely to avenge myself on one man.''

—''I was right! This morning I awoke with my hand that death-yellow. Oh, it is too regular, too certain—too cruelly certain!''

—''Thank God! My hand is gone—out there where my foot went. It happened tonight. Perhaps I may yet return! Perhaps I may yet be avenged. I wonder.''

—''Doomed! That fearful numbness again—this time in my head. I cannot think—I cannot write—I can scarcely breathe. Oh, the pain—the pain——''

it ended in a sputter of ink. Trembling in every limb, filled with a horror and anguish and remorse no man can know, spellbound by the awful tale those few sheets told, I sat there motionless.

"So I had been wrong. Oh, my jealousy, my insane jealousy! As I sat there, all desire of life suddenly left me, and I thrilled with joy at the remembrance of the hand and foot I had come upon, outside the cave. They were his. I had touched them. I was contaminated with the dread disease.

"What was that? I listened, straining every nerve. From the back of the cavern had come a sound.

"Five minutes passed—ten—fifteen (I was oblivious of time)—but it was not repeated. Slightly I relaxed my aching nerves and tried to think. Already I fancied I could feel the fearful poison of the diseased spider working in my veins.

"Suddenly the significance of that last


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 snow-white berries, and the others red ones, but not differing in any other particular. They would undoubtedly grow out-of-doors in England. I afterwards found a third variety, or rather a second species, with pink berries, more beautiful than the red and white ones, but not so good to eat. From this lake, which was called Rotuide or Rotuite (Ro-twe-tee), the character of the vegetation entirely changed. The fern on the open land vanished, and was replaced by grass of which I collected more than twenty species, some of them very good for pasture. The common plantain was also abundant, as it is all over the island; so that if I had not the example of the potato before my eyes, I should consider it indigenous. On the shore of Towpo I found a fine plant of wheat. How it came there the natives could not tell me; and as undoubtedly Mr. Chapman was the only European who had ever visited the place before, and three weeks was too short a time for it to have sprung up and come to perfection, its existence there was very curious. In this little lake there were no fish longer than two inches. There were large flocks of gulls, and of the small species of black and white tropic birds which frequent the coasts of New Zealand. There were also, as on all the other fresh waters of New Zealand, abundance of cormorants of two species—one very large and black, the other black and white, and small; and plenty of ducks. The wood which covered one side of the lake was the only one I ever saw in New Zealand composed entirely of one sort of tree. It was an open forest of Totara, and strongly resembled the pine-woods of Canada. The trees were not large, but still large enough to make very good Ti-wais. Canoes and paddles are always made of this wood on the south side of the Thames. It is more brittle than cowrie, but more durable.

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 At this village I saw a woman so very light, that she had a perceptible colour in her cheeks. I intended to say to her, jokingly, that she was a white woman (Whaiheinie Pakiha), not a New Zealander (Waihini Mowrie): however, she understood me to ask her whether she would be my waihini, i. e. my wife, and immediately came over to the mouth of the tent where I was sitting, and seated herself beside me—to our great astonishment, for all knew that I never allowed any native to come inside the tent. I was still more surprised to find what an easy conquest I had made. I, however, explained, begging to be excused the honour, as I was a missionary, and missionaries did not marry any but white women. She took it in very good part, which in all probability is more than most English women would have done in case of a similar disappointment.

One great peak of Tongadido slopes up from the lake; but while I was there, I could never see the top of it, in consequence of the quantity of vapour always rolling up the side of the mountain from a great many hot springs which are visible on its sides. From one of these a considerable stream of water runs into the lake, but gets cold by the time it reaches it. The side appeared quite barren, with the exception of a small belt of wood about two-thirds up the visible part of the mountain. Rotuite may be said to be the real source of the Waikato, as the stream which runs out of it is called by the natives; those which run into it are very insignificant. The mean of four days gave for the barometer 28$5/20$°; thermometer, about 56°.

March 2, 1839.—Several of my natives being unwell, I left them behind till my return, and started for Tongadido with only two of the lads I brought from Tawranga. Peter went with me, and several people from Rotuite. As usual, the men carried the children, and the women the potatoes, &c. The procession

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 was closed by one or two pigs, which, from the opposition they made to the efforts of their drivers, seemed to have as great a dread of Tongadido as the Mowries themselves. The road led over a tolerably level country covered with grass of many different kinds; the most common was a large wiry one, which I should not think good for cattle. There were, however, many which would be well worth cultivating. I have sent specimens and seeds of most of them to England, where I think they will thrive as well as in their native place. As we skirted the base of the mountain in order to get at the best place for the ascent, we found the ground in general marshy, and crossed a great many small streams, and nearly dry water-courses filled with large stones. The great width of these places would indicate that at some seasons of the year the whole of this country would be impassable from the quantity of water. This was a very dry season, but yet had not dried up the wet places in the moors, although it had nearly exhausted the torrents. We were on Tongadido all day, but the peak was never visible in consequence of the mist which always covered the upper regions. I several times accused the natives of leading me astray, as I could not make out the direction in which we were going as compared with that of the peak as I had observed it from Towpo. About four o'clock we arrived at the junction of two considerable water- courses, where my guides said we must stop; and as I could not see any vestige of wood anywhere else, I agreed. After we had been there about half an hour, the clouds rolled out of the upper end of the valley where we were, and I saw that the cone was close to us, and then found that this, if any, was the proper place to ascend, which the natives still maintained was impossible. The trees which grew here were small stunted coniferous or taxaceous and composite ones. There were none except on the sides of the

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, and they did not lift their heads above the level of the top of the bank on which they grew. The stream which here runs down from the mountain is, I have no doubt, (from observations I made afterwards, compared with what I observed at the time of the general direction of the country,) the one called the Waipa (Wypa) or western branch of the Waikato. It is here a noisy mountain torrent about four feet deep. I regret that I did not ask what they called it, as it is very likely they knew it to be a branch of the river called the Waipa when it flows further to the north. I found out that the road we had travelled was one which formerly led to some part of the Waikato country, but now disused, and that it was the only place where the base of the cone could be seen; that nobody had ever approached nearer than we now were; and that the reason was, they were afraid. They said that formerly when they passed this point of the road they used to cover their heads with their mats, because it was "taboo" to look at the mountain, or at least the peak. The night was exceedingly cold, but I did not feel it so much as I did on the Waikato. I found here a most curious little plant of the yew family (Dacrydium); it was not larger than a clump of moss, and was mistaken for a moss by me when I first saw it. I found here also the curious Forstera sedifolia, and many new composite plants and Veronicas.

March 3d.—When I arose in the morning, I was astonished to see the mountains around covered with snow, except the cone, which was visible from its base to the apex, and appeared quite close. The natives said, the mountain had been making a noise in the night, which, at the time, I thought was only fancy: there seemed to be a little steam rising from the top, but the quantity was not sufficient to obscure the view. I set off immediately after breakfast, with only two natives, as all the others were afraid to

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 go any nearer to the much-dreaded place; nor could I persuade the two who did set off with me, to go within a mile of the base of the cone. They, however, made a fire of such small bushes as they could collect, and waited for me till I got back. As there was no road, I went as straight towards the peak as I found possible, going over hills and through valleys without swerving to the right or left. As I was toiling over a very steep hill, I heard a noise which caused me to look up, and saw that the mountain was in a state of eruption: a thick column of black smoke rose up for some distance, and then spread out like a mushroom. As I was directly to windward, I could see nothing more, and could not tell whether anything dropped from the cloud as it passed away: the noise, which was very loud, and not unlike that of the safety-valve of a steam-engine, lasted about half an hour, and then ceased, after two or three sudden interruptions; the smoke continued to ascend for some time afterwards, but was less dense. I could see no fire, nor do I believe that there was any, or that the eruption was anything more than hot water and steam; although, from the great density of the latter, it looked like very black smoke. I toiled on to the top of a hill, and was then much disappointed to find that the other side of it, instead of being like what I had ascended, was a precipice, or very deep ravine, with a large stream of water at the bottom. With some difficulty I managed to get down; and on ascending the other side, I found myself in a stream of lava, perfectly undecomposed, but still old enough to have a few plants growing among the fissures. As I progressed towards the cone, which now seemed quite close, I arrived at another stream of lava, so fresh that there was not the slightest appearance of even a lichen on it, and it looked as if it had been ejected but yesterday. It was black, and very hard and compact, just like all the lava I have seen in this country;

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 but the two streams were very insignificant, not longer at the utmost than three quarters of a mile each. I had no idea of the meaning of a "sea of rocks" until I crossed them; the edges of the stony billows were so sharp, that it was very difficult to pass among them without cutting one's clothes into shreds. I at last arrived at the cone: it was, I suppose, of the ordinary steepness of such heaps of volcanic cinders, but much higher. I estimate it at 1500 feet from the hollow from which it appears to have sprung. It looks as if a vast amphitheatre had been hollowed out of the surrounding mountains, in order to place it in. The sides of all the mountains around are quite perpendicular, and present a most magnificent scene. A circular plain of sand at the north-east base would have been a fitting scene for the wildest piece of diablerie that ever entered the brain of a German, or was embodied by his pencil. Thermometer at base of cone, fine sunshine, 65° in sun; no shade to be had. Barometer, 25$14/20$.

The cone is entirely composed of loose cinders, and I was heartily tired of the exertion before I reached the top. Had it not been for the idea of standing where no man ever stood before, I should certainly have given up the undertaking. A few patches of a most beautiful snow-white veronica, which I at first took for snow, were growing among the stones; but they ceased before I had ascended a third part of the way. A small grass reached a little higher; but both were so scarce that I do not think I saw a dozen plants of each in the whole ascent. After I had ascended about two-thirds of the way, I got into what appeared a water-course, the solid rock of which, although presenting hardly any projecting points, was much easier to climb than the loose dust and ashes I had hitherto scrambled over. It was lucky for me another eruption did not take place while I was in it, or I should have been infallibly boiled to death, as I afterwards found that it

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Author:John Carne Bidwill

Works

 * Rambles in New Zealand, 1841

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Rh learn the full evil of these Red spawn. They will kill me, but you also will die."

"Listen, you and your men came spying on K'Lamm to learn when Thargo and his forces will attack your city, didn't you?" Clark demanded, heedless of her hate. "Well, I can tell you that. Thargo and his men will ride toward Dordona in four days."

"Four days?" whispered Lurain, her face suddenly going dead white. "But we did not dream he would attack so soon—my people will be surprized—he will overwhelm Dordona!"

"Exactly," rasped Clark. "He will, unless we carry a warning to Dordona."

"You mean you strangers will help me escape, help me warn Dordona?" the girl exclaimed, with sudden desperate hope.

"We will," Clark said grimly, "and what is more, we will fight on the side of Dordona in the coming battle. You have seen how powerful our weapons are—it may be that our help will turn the tide against K'Lamm. But, for all this, there is a price."

"What price, for your aid?" Lurain demanded.

"The price," Clark told her, "is this: that when we reach Dordona, you shall take me down the pit to the Lake of Life, so that I may fill a flask with its shining waters to take back to the world outside. For that price, I and my men will aid your people."

"No!" flamed Lurain, leaping erect, her face blazing with wrath. "By the sun, never will I pay that price! Ages on ages have we of Dordona faithfully obeyed the commandments given us long ago by the Guardians below. Never have we permitted one blasphemer to descend to the lake. To allow you to do so would be supreme sacrilege. I reject your proposal. I would rather die!"

"But Dordona will die too, if it is not warned," Clark pointed out. "Yes, all its people will perish when Thargo leads the armies to K'Lamm into the city in surprize attack. And then Thargo will be able to descend to the lake and drink of it."

"The Guardians are there and will destroy Thargo and his horde if they dare descend," Lurain retorted fiercely.

"Are you so sure the Guardians are there?" Clark said. "Are you sure they exist? None in your city has seen them for ages."

"The Guardians are there!" Complete, unshakable faith of generations rang in the girl's voice. "Though Thargo and his spawn doubt their existence, they exist and still ward the sacred lake. Their powers are vast and they will slay any who approaches the lake, doubt it not."

"But then, why not agree to let me descend to the lake?" Clark pressed quickly. "If the Guardians are there, they will not let me touch the shining waters anyway, will they? The blame will not be yours, for you warned me. And by agreeing to let me go down there, you will save Dordona from surprize and death."

Lurain's face expressed doubt, hesitation, agony for her imperilled city. Clark hung on her answer. He was hoping the girl's blind faith in the legended Guardians of the lake was strong enough so that she would agree to let him go, as she supposed, to his death.

She said finally, her voice low and shaken, "It is true that the Guardians will kill you when you descend to the lake. The sin of letting you descend there will be on my soul. But—Dordona will be warned in time to prepare for Thargo's attack.

"Yes, I agree," she continued with desperate resolution on her face. "Help me escape from K'Lamm, promise to give my city your help in the coming war, and when we reach Dordona I will show


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15.] who has undertaken to reform Ireland, was to purchase experience by failure. The report had declared emphatically that the Irish chiefs would never submit so long as they might resist, and escape with their lives; that conciliation would be only interpreted as weakness; and that the tyrannical lords and gentlemen must be coerced into equity by the sword freely used.

The King, however, was young and sanguine; he was unable to accept so hard a conclusion; he could not believe that any body of human beings were so hopelessly inaccessible to the ordinary means of influence, as the Irish gentlemen were represented to be. He would first try persuasion, and have recourse to extremity only if persuasion failed.

His directions to the Earl of Surrey, therefore, were that at the earliest opportunity he should call an assembly of so many of the Irish chiefs as he could induce to come to him, and to discourse to them upon the elementary principles of social order and government.

'We think it expedient,' he wrote, 'that when ye shall call the lords and other captains of that our land before you, as of good congruence ye must needs do; ye, after and amongst other overtures by your wisdom then to be made, shall declare unto them the great decay, ruin, and desolation of that commodious and fertile land, for lack of politic governance and good justice; which can never be brought in order unless the unbridled sensualities of insolent folk be brought under the rule of the laws. For realms without justice be but tyrannies and robberies, more consonant to beastly


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, according to the awards made by the International Indemnity Commission.

The indemnities shall be paid in full, and without arrears of interest.

XI. The surplus of the loan shall be paid over to the Egyptian Government, as that Government may require it.

XII. Any unemployed balance remaining over from the loan shall be applied to the purchase of securities, which shall be cancelled, under the conditions stated in Article V.

XIII. The Treasury of the Public Debt shall, at the end of every half-year, address a Report to the Egyptian Government, showing the manner in which the proceeds of the loan have been employed, according to vouchers produced by the Egyptian Government. This Report shall be published in the 'Journal Officiel.'

XIV. The present Convention shall he ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged in London as soon as possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed it, and have affixed to it the seal of their arms.

Signed at London, on the

We, the Khedive of Egypt,

With reference to the Law of Liquidation of the 17th July, 1880.

With reference to the Convention dated containing the assent of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan to the issue of a loan of 9,000,000l.,

Whereas Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia have declared that they accept the present Law, and that they have engaged to bring it collectively to the cognizance of the other Powers who took part in the


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152 appetites than to the laudable life of reasonable creatures. And whereas wilfulness doth reign by strength without law or justice, there is no distinction of propriety in dominion; ne yet any man may say this is mine, but by strength the weaker is subdued and oppressed, which is contrary to all laws, both of God and man.… Howbeit, our mind is, not that ye shall impress on them any opinion by fearful words, that we intend to expel them from their lands and dominions lawfully possessed; ne yet that we be minded to constrain them precisely to obey our laws, ministered by our justices there; but under good manner to show unto them that of necessity it is requisite that every reasonable creature be governed by a law. And therefore, if they shall allege that our laws there used be too extreme and rigorous; and that it should be very hard for them to observe the same; then ye may further ensearch of them under what manners, and by what laws, they will be ordered and governed, to the intent that if their laws be good and reasonable, they may be approved; and the rigour of our laws, if they shall think them too hard, be mitigated and brought to such moderation as they may conveniently live under the same. By which means ye shall finally induce them of necessity to conform their order of living to the observance of some reasonable law, and not to live at will as they have used heretofore.'

So wrote Henry in 1530, being then twenty-eight


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472 you how you may descend the sacred shaft."

"Good!" Clark exclaimed, his heart quickening with excitement. "Now if we can just get safely out of K'Lamm"

door opened, and Ephraim Quell grimly entered, followed by Clark's other four followers. Mike Shinn was fighting drunk, bawling a song, his battered face glistening. Link Wilson too was flushed with wine, but Lieutenant Morrow and Blacky Cain were sober—the first because the drink had not affected him, the second from abstinence.

"What's the lay, chief?" rasped Blacky. "Something wrong?"

"A lot wrong," Clark snapped. He told them in curt sentences of Thargo's plot. A vicious oath ripped from the gangster.

"Double-crossing us, eh? We'll go down and put the blast on him, damn him!"

"Sure, I'll choke the dirty scut with me bare hands!" raged Mike Shinn furiously.

"Listen," Clark rapped, "we'll have alt we can do to escape this trap without bothering for revenge on Thargo. We're going to get out of here, at once—and join the people of Dordona."

Rapidly he told them of the agreement he had made with Lurain. The Dordonan girl stood tense and pale as he talked.

"It's a great idea!" exclaimed Blacky. The gangster laughed. "We'll hand Thargo a double-cross, and when we get to this other burg, Dordona, we can easy lift the water from the lake below."

"How are we going to get out of K'Lamm?" Lieutenant Morrow asked quickly. "How out of this palace, even?"

"We can't go down through the palace itself." Clark said emphatically. "The guards posted out there in the corridor would give the alarm. There's the way we'll have to take out."

He pointed to one of the big, open windows, that looked out across the dark city and the starry sky.

"We'll slide down from that window on a rope of some kind," Clark said quickly. "Behind the palace I noticed a court where the horses of the palace guards are evidently kept at night. If we can sneak back there and get mounts, we'll make a dash out through the city."

"That's the idea," approved Link Wilson, his eyes lighting. "We can ride right out through these hombres."

"What if the gates of the city wall are closed?" Morrow asked.

Clark shrugged. "I don't think they will be. I doubt if they close those gates every night—this city fears no attack from Dordona."

The six adventurers acted rapidly. While Ephraim Quell listened watchfully at the door, Clark and the others tore down the wall hangings and converted them into heavy, knotted rope. They tied the end of the rope to a heavy chest, then dropped it into the darkness outside.

The men quickly shouldered their packs. Clark peered from the window. There were no sentries in the palace yard immediately beneath, though he heard movement of some at the front of the building. The walled courts in the rear of the palace were silent except for an occasional stamping of the restless horses back there.

hung for a moment, transfixed by the weird beauty of the scene. The moon was rising above the mountain wall in the east, a flood of silvery light pouring across the prisoned land. And bathed in the moon slept the city K'Lamm, a sea of dully gleaming roofs and streets and squares. Solemn and


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1520.] years old, in his inexperience of human nature, and especially of the Irish form of it. No words could be truer, wiser, or more generous; but those only listen effectively to words of wisdom and generosity, who themselves possess something of the same qualities; and the Irish would not have required that such an address should be made to them if they had been capable of profiting by it. If Surrey was sanguine of any good result, he was soon undeceived. He had no sooner landed than the whole country was in arms against him—O'Neile, O'Carroll, O'Connor, O'Brien, Desmond, broke into simultaneous rebellion, acting, as was proved by intercepted letters, under instructions which Kildare had sent from England. Surrey saw at a glance the justice of the language of the report. He informed Wolsey briefly of the state of the country, and advised that unless the King was prepared for extreme measures, he should not waste money in partial efforts. Writing subsequently to Henry himself, he said that the work to be done was a repetition of the conquest of Wales by Edward I., and it would prove at least as


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154 tedious and as expensive. Nevertheless, if the King could make up his mind to desire it, there was no insuperable difficulty. He would undertake the work himself with six thousand men. The difficulty would be then, however, but half overcome, for the habits the people were incurable. Strong castles must be built up and down the island, like those at Conway and Carnarvon; and a large immigration would be necessary of English colonists. Either as much as this should be done, the Earl thought, or nothing. Half measures only made bad into worse; and a policy of repression, if not consistently maintained, was unjust and pernicious. It encouraged the better affected of the inhabitants to show their good will to the Grovernment; and when the Irish were again in power, these persons were marked for vengeance.

Practical experience was thus laid against Henry's philosophy; and it would have been well if the King could have discerned clearly on which side the truth was likely to lie. For the misfortune of Ireland, this was not the case. It was inconvenient at the moment to undertake a costly conquest. Surrey was maintained with a short retinue, and from want of power could only enter upon a few partial expeditions. He inflicted a heavy defeat upon O'Neil; he stormed a castle of O'Connor's; and showed, with the small means at his disposal, what he might have done with far less support than he had required. He went where he pleased


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1522.] through the country. But his course was 'as the way of a ship through the sea, or as the way of a bird through the air.' The elements yielded without resistance, and closed in behind him; and after eighteen months of manful exertion, feeling the uselessness of further enterprises conducted on so small a scale, to the sorrow and alarm of the Irish council, he desired and obtained his recall.

Meanwhile, in England, the Earl of Kildare had made good use of his opportunities. In spite of his detected letters, he had won his way into favour. He accompanied Henry to the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where he distinguished himself by his brilliant bearing; and instead of punishing him as a traitor, the King allowed him to marry Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter of the Marquis of Dorset, and nearly related to the blood royal. He was then permitted to return to Ireland; not, however, immediately as deputy. An intermediate effort was made to govern through Lord Ormond, whose intentions were excellent, but unfortunately the Irish refused to submit to him. The Earl of Desmond remained in rebellion, and invaded Kilkenny from the south; and two years followed of universal insurrection, pillage, and murder. Kildare accused Ormond to the English council as responsible; Ormond retorted with similar charges against Kildare, and commissioners were


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156 sent over to 'investigate,' with instructions, if they saw reason, to replace Kildare in his old office.

The permission was sufficient; in 1524 he was again deputy; and no deliberate purpose of misrule could have led to results more fatal. The Earl, made bold by impunity, at once prepared for a revolt from the English Crown. Hitherto he had been contented to make himself essential to the maintenance of the English sovereignty; he now launched out into bolder measures, and encouraged by Henry's weakness, resolved to dare the worst extremity. On the breaking out of the French war of 1523–24, his kinsman, the Earl of Desmond, opened a negotiation with Francis I. for the landing of a French army in Munster. Kildare, while professing that he was endeavouring to take Desmond prisoner, was holding secret interviews with him to concert plans for a united move, and was strengthening himself at the same time with alliances among the native chiefs. One of his daughters became the wife of the O'Connor; another married O'Carroll, of Leap Castle; and a third the Baron of Slane; and to leave no doubt of his intentions, he transferred the cannon and military stores from Dublin Castle to his own fortress at Maynooth. Lord Ormond sent information to England of these proceedings, but he could gain no


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62

suggestion-boxes throughout the works has been a great success. All employees are invited to make suggestions, which are dealt with each week by two committees, one for the men and one for the girls. Prizes amounting to about £80 are offered every half-year for the best suggestions. During the first seven months of operation over 1,000 suggestions were received, a very large percentage of which were found sufficiently useful to be adopted. The result has been to draw all sections closer


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64 and enter the amounts to the credit of each depositor, issuing new Post Office Savings books where necessary. This system secures absolute privacy for the permanent savings, and places the fund upon a secure basis. As some evidence that the scheme is appreciated, it may be stated that the total balance transferred to the Post Office Savings Bank has averaged over £3,200 per annum.

While in the district of Bournville, the opportunity must not be lost of becoming more closely acquainted with the village around the works. Away beyond the factory stretches an estate of nearly 500 acres, set apart for the purpose of "alleviating the evils which arise from the insanitary and insufficient accommodation supplied to large numbers of the working classes, and of securing to workers in factories some of the advantages of outdoor village life, with opportunities for the natural and healthful occupation of cultivating the soil." As yet only some 450 houses have been erected, pretty, picturesque cottages all of them, for the most part semi-detached, each on its sixth of an acre,


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1527.] hearing. For three years the Geraldines were allowed to continue their preparations undisturbed; and perhaps they might have matured their plans at leisure, so odious had become the mention of Ireland to the English statesmen, had not the King's divorce, by embroiling him with the Pope and Emperor, made the danger serious.

The alliance of England and France had disconcerted the first scheme. No sooner was this new opportunity opened than, with Kildare's consent, Desmond applied to Charles V. with similar overtures. This danger was


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Rh more or less, housing in all a population of about 2,000.

It was compassion for the ill-housed work-people of Birmingham that led Mr. George Cadbury, the founder of the village, to undertake so splendid a task, and having accomplished it, he crowned it by making a gift of the whole to the nation, placing its administration in the hands of a Trust. In doing so he laid down ideal stipulations for its development, and for the regulation of the villages which may in the future be built out of the income of the Trust. The principal of these are that factories or workshops shall never occupy more than one fifteenth of the area; that no house shall occupy more than one-fourth of the ground allotted to it; that in addition to wide roads and the ample gardens thus secured, one-tenth of the area shall be reserved for public open spaces for ever, parts of which are to be used as children's playgrounds. At present no intoxicants are sold or prepared on the estate, and if ever the trustees should see fit to permit this, it is to be as a co-operative undertaking, the profits of which


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66 shall "be devoted to securing for the village community recreation and counter-attraction to the liquor trade as ordinarily conducted."

Such a scheme affords a model for public bodies tackling the housing problem in earnest, and is fraught with great hopes for the future. The annual income, nearly £6,000, is to be applied first to the development of this estate, and subsequently to the purchase of estates near Birmingham or other large towns, and the establishment of new villages thereon. A most important feature is, that although the rents are calculated to yield a fair return on the cost, including a proportion of development expenses, they are so low that a five-roomed cottage with bath and every convenience can be had for the rent of a two-roomed hovel in the slums. About two-fifths of the householders find employment in the cocoa works, the rest in the adjoining villages or in Birmingham.

The gardens are a special feature, and before the houses are let, they are laid out by the Trust, and planted with fruit trees. All are well worked, and an average yield in vegetables


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Rh and fruit of nearly two shillings a week has been found possible, equivalent to something like £60 an acre—more than twelve times as much food as would be produced if under pasturage. Two professional gardeners, with several men under them, are employed to look after the gardening department, and they are always ready to give any information or advice required by the tenants, so that the cottage gardens may be cultivated to the utmost profit. At present the public buildings consist of a village inn and baths; a school is shortly to be erected. Building is being steadily proceeded with, and although the development of the estate may be somewhat slow at first, it will advance with growing rapidity as the revenue increases. No wonder that there is an omnipresent air of comfort and prosperity, or that the death-rate is only about eight per thousand, in comparison with nineteen in the neighbouring city.

No description of Bournville would be complete without a mention of its picturesque alms-houses. Here a haven of rest is provided


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158 too serious to be neglected; and in 1527 Kildare was a second time summoned to London. He went, so some French and English vessels there, and would be glad of my assistance. This I declined, and the Earl, I understand, was satisfied with my excuses.'The day after, the 2ist of April, we reached the said harbour of Dingle, and were honourably received by the townspeople, and by a party of the Earl's attendants. About four o'clock the Earl returned himself, attended by fifty horse and as many halberdiers. He came at once to my quarters, and asked after the welfare of 'our Lord the Emperor.' I replied that, by the grace of God, his Majesty was well, and I had sent his commendations to his lordship.'We then dined; and afterwards the Earl and his council repaired to my chamber, where we presented him with bis Majesty's letter. He read it and his council read it. His Majesty, he said, referred him to me. I was commissioned to make known his Majesty's pleasure to him. I at once declared my instructions, first in English to the Earl, and afterward in Latin to bis council; which I said were to this effect.One Godfrey, a friend of their lord, had lately presented himself to the Emperor with their lord's letter, in which their lord, after speaking of the good will and affection which he entertained towards the Emperors Majesty, had expressed a desire to enter into close alliance with his Majesty, as friend to friend and enemy to enemy, declaring himself ready, in all things and at all times, to obey his Majesty's commands.Further, the said Godfrey had requested the Emperor to send a confidential person to Ireland, to learn more particularly their lord's intentions, and his resources and power; and further, to negotiate a treaty and establish a firm and complete alliance. For these purposes the Emperor commissioned myself. I was the bearer to them of his Majesty's thanks for their proposals, and I said I was so far in my master's confidence that I was assured their lord might expect all possible assistance at the Emperor's hands.''When I had done, the Earl spoke a few words to his council. He then took off his cap, and said he thanked his Majesty for his gracious condescension. He had addressed himself to his Majesty as to his sovereign lord, to entreat his protection. His Majesty was placed in this world in his high position, in order that no one prince might oppress or injure another. He related his descent to me. He said that, between his family and the English, there had ever existed a mortal enmity, and he explained the cause to me.


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The accompanying diagram of a chocolate factory is reproduced by kind permission of the Berlin publishers of Dr. Paul Zipperer's well-known work on "The Manufacture of Chocolate," which contains much valuable information. The machinery described is that of Messrs. Lehmann, of Dresden, one of the largest makers on the Continent.

By means of the lift (1) all the raw materials, sugar, cocoa, packing, etc., are carried up to the store-rooms (2). Here are the machines for cleansing and picking the raw cocoa-beans, which are fed into the elevator boxes (3) above the cleansing machine (4), which frees them from dust; they then pass to the continuous band (5) on which they are picked over, and from which they fall into movable boxes (6). They are thence transferred to the hoppers (7), and fed by opening a slide in the hopper, into the roasting machine (8). The quantity contained in the hoppers is sufficient to charge the roasting machine. When the roasting is completed the cocoa is emptied into trucks (9), and carried to the exhaust arrangement (10), where the beans are cooled down, the vapour given off passing out into the open air. At the same time the air of the roasting chamber is sucked out through the funnel-shaped tube fitted to the cover. The roasted cocoa is then passed to boxes (11), to be


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1527.] was he of the weakness of the Government, and 'I replied that his Majesty never failed to support his allies and his subjects, and should he claim assistance in that capacity, his Majesty would help him as he helped all his other good friends. I advised the Earl to put in writing the words which he had used to me. He thought it would be enough if I repeated them; but when I said the story was too long, and my memory might not retain it with accuracy, he said he would do as I desired.'We then spoke of the support for which he was looking, of his projects and resources, and of the places in which he proposed to serve. He said he wanted from his Majesty four large vessels, two hundred tons each, six pinnaces well provided with artillery, and five hundred Flemings to work them. I said at once and earnestly, that such a demand was out of all reason, before he, on his part, had achieved something in his Majesty's service. I remonstrated fully and largely, although, to avoid being tedious, I omit the details. In the end his council were satisfied that he must reduce his demands till his Majesty had more reason to know what was to be expected from him, and he consented, as will be seen by his own memoir.'Of all men in the world the Earl hates most deeply the Cardinal of York. He told me he had been in alliance with France, and had a relation called De Quindel, now with the French army in Italy. In future, he said, he would have no dealings with the French. As your Majesty's enemies, they were his enemies.'Your Majesty will be pleased to understand that there are in Ireland four principal cities. The city of Dublin is the largest and richest in the island, and neither in the town nor in the neighbourhood has the Earl of Desmond land or subjects. The Earl of Kildare is sovereign in that district, but that Earl is a kinsman of the Earl of Desmond, and has married his cousin.'The Earl of Kildare, however, is at present a prisoner in the Tower of London.'Of the other three cities, one is called Waterford, the second Cork, the third Limerick; and in all of these the Earl of Desmond has lordships and vassals. He has dominions, also, among the wild tribes; he has lords and knights on his estates who pay him tribute. He has some allies, but not so many, by a great deal, as he has enemies.'He has ten castles of his own, some of which are strong and well-built, especially one named Dungarvan, which the King has often attempted to take without success.'The Earl himself is from thhty to forty years old, and is rather above the middle height. He keeps better justice throughout his dominions than any other chief in Ireland. Robbers and homicides find no mercy, and are executed out of hand. His people are in high order and


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70 by the elevator to the crushing and cleansing machine (12). After being cleansed, the cocoa is carried in trucks (13) to hoppers (14) by which it is fed into the mills (15) on the lower floor. The sugar mill and sifting apparatus (26) placed near the crushing and cleansing machines are also fed by a hopper from above. Cocoa and sugar are now supplied to the mixing machine (16), to be worked together before passing to the rolls (17) by which the final grinding is effected. After passing once or more through the mill, the finished chocolate mass is taken to the hot-room (18), where it remains in boxes until further treated, after which it is taken to the moulding-room. In the mixer (19) the mass acquires the consistency and temperature requisite for moulding. The mass is then taken in lumps to the dividing machine (20), and cut into pieces of the desired size and weight. On the table (21) the moulds, lying upon boards, are filled with chocolate and then taken to the shaking-table (22). By means of a double lift (23) the moulded chocolate, still lying upon boards, is conveyed to the cooling-room or cellar, in which there are benches or frames (24) for receiving the moulds as they are slipped off the boards. The cellar has to be cooled artificially, according to situation. Adjoining the cellar is the wrapping-room (25), and further on the warehouse. The goods so far finished are then taken by the lift (1) to the rooms where they are packed for delivery.


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160 again he was found to have calculated justly. He was . They are armed with short bows and swords. The Earl's guard are in a mail from neck to heel, and carry halberds. He has also a number of horse, some of whom know how to break a lance. They all ride admirably without saddle or stirrup.'After the report of Gonzalvo Fernandez, Desmond himself continues in Latin.'Hereunto be added informations addressed to the invincible and most sacred Cæsar, ever august, by the Earl of Desmond, Lord of Ogonyll and the liberties of Kilcrygge.'I, James Earl of Desmond, am of royal blood, and of the race of the Conqueror who did lawfully subdue Britain, great and small, and did reduce Scotland and Ireland under his yoke.'The first cause of the enmity between myself and the King of England is an ancient prophecy or prediction, believed by the English nation, and written in their books and chronicles, that all England will be conquered by an Earl of Desmond, which enterprise I have not yet undertaken.'The second cause is that, through fear of this prophecy, the King of England has committed his powers to my predecessors who have borne rule in Ireland; and when Thomas Earl of Desmond, my grandfather, in peaceable manner attended Parliament in Ireland, no cause being alleged against him, but merely in dread of the prophecy, they struck off his head.'The third cause is that, when Richard, son of the King of England [sic], heard that there were ancient feuds between the English and my predecessors, he came to Ireland with an army and a great fleet in the time of my father; and then did my father make all Ireland to be subdued unto himself, some few towns only excepted.'The fourth cause is that, by reason of the aforesaid feuds, the King of England did cause Gerald Earl of Kildare, my father's kinsman, to be destroyed in prison [destrui in carceribus] until that my father, by might and power, did liberate the said Earl of Kildare, and did obtain his own purposes, and did make his kinsman viceroy of Ireland.'The fifth cause is that, when peace was hardly begun between my aforesaid father and the King of England, a certain sickness fell upon my father, I myself being then eight years old.'The King, when he heard this, made a league of Irish and English to kill my father; he being then, as they thought, unable to take the field. They, being banded together, made war against my father for twenty-four years, wherein, by God's grace, they had small success.'The sixth cause is that, when peace was made at last between the King that now is and myself, I, in faith of the said peace, sent certain


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Page:The food of the Gods - A Popular Account of Cocoa.djvu/142

LTHOUGH now cultivated in many other tropical countries, the cacao tree is one of the New Worlds rich gifts, first made known to our ancestors by the venturesome Spaniards, who probably became acquainted with its cultivation early in the sixteenth century, and spread the knowledge derived from the Mexicans and the