had the
first vision of a twilight country which was to become the province of Sulaco,
with its high shadowy Sierra and its misty Campo for mute witnesses of events
flowing from the passions of men short-sighted in good and evil.
    Such are in very truth the obscure origins of »Nostromo« - the book. From
that moment, I suppose, it had to be. Yet even then I hesitated, as if warned by
the instinct of self-preservation from venturing on a distant and toilsome
journey into a land full of intrigues and revolutions. But it had to be done.
    It took the best part of the years 1903-4 to do; with many intervals of
renewed hesitation, lest I should lose myself in the ever-enlarging vistas
opening before me as I progressed deeper in my knowledge of the country. Often,
also, when I had thought myself to a standstill over the tangled-up affairs of
the Republic, I would, figuratively speaking, pack my bag, rush away from Sulaco
for a change of air and write a few pages of the »Mirror of the Sea.« But
generally, as I've said before, my sojourn on the Continent of Latin America,
famed for its hospitality, lasted for about two years. On my return I found
(speaking somewhat in the style of Captain Gulliver) my family all well, my wife
heartily glad to learn that the fuss was all over, and our small boy
considerably grown during my absence.
    My principal authority for the history of Costaguana is, of course, my
venerated friend, the late Don José Avellanos, Minister to the Courts of England
and Spain, etc., etc., in his impartial and eloquent »History of Fifty Years of
Misrule.« That work was never published - the reader will discover why - and I
am in fact the only person in the world possessed of its contents. I have
mastered them in not a few hours of earnest meditation, and I hope that my
accuracy will be trusted. In justice to myself, and to allay the fears of
prospective readers, I beg to point out that the few historical allusions are
never dragged in for the sake of parading my unique erudition, but that each of
them is closely related to actuality; either throwing a light on the nature of
current events or affecting directly the fortunes of the people of whom I speak.
    As to their own histories I have tried to set them down, Aristocracy and
People, men and women, Latin and Anglo-Saxon, bandit and politician, with as
cool a hand as was possible