Collins_The_Moonstone.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
the steamer bound for .
left by a steamer belonging to another company, which sailed
on the morning of the twenty-eighth. at ,
succeeded in finding the commander of the 's steamer.
informed me that the had certainly been passengers on
board his vessel--but as far as only. that place,
one of the three had inquired at what time they would reach .
being informed that the steamer was bound to ,
the spokesman of the party expressed the greatest surprise and
distress at the mistake which he and his two friends had made.
were all willing (he said) to sacrifice their passage money,
if the commander of the steamer would only put them ashore.
their position, as foreigners in a strange land, and knowing
no reason for detaining them, the commander signalled for a shore boat,
and the three men left the vessel.
proceeding of the having been plainly resolved on beforehand,
as a means of preventing their being traced, lost no time in returning
to . left the steamer at , and discovered that the
had gone from that place to . , again traced them as having
left for . made at proved that they had sailed,
forty-eight hours previously, in the , ,
bound direct to .
receiving this intelligence, caused the authorities
at to be communicated with, overland--so that the vessel
might be boarded by the police immediately on her entering the port.
step having been taken, my connection with the matter came to an end.
have heard nothing more of it since that time.
of (1849)
am requested by to set in writing certain facts,
concerning three men (believed to be ) who were passengers,
last summer, in the ship , bound for direct,
under my command.
joined us at . the passage out heard no complaint
of their conduct. were berthed in the forward part of the vessel.
had but few occasions myself of personally noticing them.
the latter part of the voyage, we had the misfortune
to be becalmed for three days and nights, off the coast
of . have not got the ship's journal to refer to,
and cannot now call to mind the latitude and longitude.
to our position, therefore, am only able to state
generally that the currents drifted us in towards the land,
and that when the wind found us again, we reached our port in
twenty-four hours afterwards.
discipline of a ship (as all seafaring persons know)
becomes relaxed in a long calm. discipline of my ship
became relaxed. gentlemen among the passengers got some
of the smaller boats lowered, and amused themselves by rowing about,
and swimming, when the sun at evening time was cool enough
to let them divert themselves in that way. boats when done
with ought to have been slung up again in their places.
of this they were left moored to the ship's side.
with the heat, and what with the vexation of the weather,
neither officers nor men seemed to be in heart for their duty while
the calm lasted.
the third night, nothing unusual was heard or seen by the watch on deck.
the morning came, the smallest of the boats was missing--and the three
were next reported to be missing, too.
these men had stolen the boat shortly after dark (which have
no doubt they did), we were near enough to the land to make it vain
to send in pursuit of them, when the discovery was made in the morning.
have no doubt they got ashore, in that calm weather (making all due
allowance for fatigue and clumsy rowing), before day-break.
reaching our port there learnt, for the first time,
the reason these passengers had for seizing their opportunity
of escaping from the ship. could only make the same statement
to the authorities which have made here. considered me
to blame for allowing the discipline of the vessel to be relaxed.
have expressed my regret on this score to them, and to
my owners.
that time, nothing has been heard to my knowledge of the three .
have no more to add to what is here written.
of . (1850)
( a letter to . )
you any recollection, my dear sir, of a semi-savage person whom
you met out at dinner, in , in the autumn of 'forty-eight?
me to remind you that the person's name was ,
and that you and he had a long conversation together after dinner.
talk related to an , called the ,
and to a conspiracy then in existence to get possession of the gem.
that time, have been wandering in .
have drifted back to the scene of some of my past
adventures in the north and north-west of . a
fortnight since, found myself in a certain district or province
(but little known to ) called .
an adventure befel me, in which (incredible as it may appear)
you are personally interested.
the wild regions of (and how wild they are, you will understand,
when tell you that even the husbandmen plough the land, armed to the
teeth), the population is fanatically devoted to the old religion--
to the ancient worship of and . few families,
thinly scattered about the villages in the interior, are afraid to taste
meat of any kind. even suspected of killing that sacred animal,
the cow, is, as a matter of course, put to death without mercy in these parts
by the pious neighbours who surround him. strengthen the religious
enthusiasm of the people, two of the most famous shrines of pilgrimage
are contained within the boundaries of . of them is ,
the birthplace of the god . other is the sacred city
of --sacked, and destroyed as long since as the eleventh century,
by the conqueror, of .
myself, for the second time, in these romantic regions,
resolved not to leave , without looking once more on
the magnificent desolation of . the place where
planned to do this, was (as nearly as could calculate it)
some three days distant, journeying on foot, from the sacred city.
had not been long on the road, before noticed that other people--
by twos and threes--appeared to be travelling in the same direction
as myself.
such of these as spoke to me, gave myself out as a -,
from a distant province, bound on a pilgrimage. is needless to say
that my dress was of the sort to carry out this description. , that
know the language as well as know my own, and that am lean enough
and brown enough to make it no easy matter to detect my origin--
and you will understand that passed muster with the people readily:
not as one of themselves, but as a stranger from a distant part of their
own country.
the second day, the number of travelling in my direction
had increased to fifties and hundreds. the third day, the throng
had swollen to thousands; all slowly converging to one point--
the city of .
trifling service which was able to render to one of my
fellow-pilgrims, during the third day's journey, proved the means
of introducing me to certain of the higher caste.
these men learnt that the multitude was on its way
to a great religious ceremony, which was to take place on a hill
at a little distance from . ceremony was in honour
of the god of the ; and it was to be held at night.
crowd detained us as we drew near to the place of celebration.
the time we reached the hill the moon was high in the heaven.
friends possessed some special privileges which enabled them
to gain access to the shrine. kindly allowed me to accompany them.
we arrived at the place, we found the shrine hidden from our view
by a curtain hung between two magnificent trees. the trees a flat
projection of rock jutted out, and formed a species of natural platform.
this, stood, in company with my friends.
back down the hill, the view presented the grandest
spectacle of and , in combination, that have ever seen.
lower slopes of the eminence melted imperceptibly into
a grassy plain, the place of the meeting of three rivers.
one side, the graceful winding of the waters stretched away,
now visible, now hidden by trees, as far as the eye could see.
the other, the waveless ocean slept in the calm of the night.
this lovely scene with tens of thousands of human creatures,
all dressed in white, stretching down the sides of the hill,
overflowing into the plain, and fringing the nearer banks
of the winding rivers. this halt of the pilgrims
by the wild red flames of cressets and torches, streaming up
at intervals from every part of the innumerable throng.
the moonlight of the , pouring in unclouded
glory over all--and you will form some idea of the view
that met me when looked forth from the summit of
the hill.
strain of plaintive music, played on stringed instruments,
and flutes, recalled my attention to the hidden shrine.
turned, and saw on the rocky platform the figures of three men.
the central figure of the three recognised the man to whom
had spoken in , when the appeared on the terrace at
's house. other two who had been his companions on
that occasion were no doubt his companions also on this.
of the spectators, near whom was standing, saw me start.
a whisper, he explained to me the apparition of the three
figures on the platform of rock.
were (he said) who had forfeited their caste
in the service of the god. god had commanded that their
purification should be the purification by pilgrimage. that night,
the three men were to part. three separate directions,
they were to set forth as pilgrims to the shrines of .
more were they to look on each other's faces.
more were they to rest on their wanderings, from the day
which witnessed their separation, to the day which witnessed
their death.
those words were whispered to me, the plaintive music ceased.
three men prostrated themselves on the rock, before the curtain
which hid the shrine. rose--they looked on one another--
they embraced. they descended separately among the people.
people made way for them in dead silence. three different
directions saw the crowd part, at one and the same moment.
the grand white mass of the people closed together again.
track of the doomed men through the ranks of their fellow mortals
was obliterated. saw them no more.
new strain of music, loud and jubilant, rose from the hidden shrine.
crowd around me shuddered, and pressed together.
curtain between the trees was drawn aside, and the shrine was disclosed
to view.
, raised high on a throne--seated on his typical antelope,
with his four arms stretching towards the four corners of the earth--
there, soared above us, dark and awful in the mystic light of heaven,
the god of the . there, in the forehead of the deity,
gleamed the yellow , whose splendour had last shone on me
in , from the bosom of a woman's dress!
! after the lapse of eight centuries, the looks forth once more,
over the walls of the sacred city in which its story first began.
it has found its way back to its wild native land--by what accident,
or by what crime, the regained possession of their sacred gem,
may be in your knowledge, but is not in mine. have lost sight of it
in , and (if know anything of this people) you have lost sight of it
for ever.
the years pass, and repeat each other; so the same events revolve
in the cycles of time. will be the next adventures of the ?
can tell?