A Hypertext Edition of Charles Hoy Fort's Book
Edited and Annotated by Mr. X
HORSES erect in a blizzard of frogs -- and the patter of worms on umbrellas. The hum of ladybirds in England -- the twang of a swarm of Americans, at Templemore, Ireland. The appearance of Cagliostro -- the appearance of Prof. Einstein's theories. A policeman dumps a wild man into a sack -- and there is alarm upon all continents of this earth, because of a blaze in a constellation --
That all are related, because all are phenomena of one, organic existence -- just as, upon August 26th, 1883, diverse occurrences were related, because all were reactions to something in common.
August 26th, 1883 -- people in Texas excitedly discussing a supposed war in Mexico -- young men in Victoria, Australia, watching a snowstorm, the first time in their lives -- crowds of Chinamen hammering [334/335] on gongs -- staggering sailors in a vessel, off the Cape of Good Hope.
I have data for thinking that, somewhere beyond this earth, and not enormously far away, there was, before these occurrences, an eruption. About August 10th, of this year 1883, at various places, appeared "afterglows" that cannot be traced to terrestrial eruptions. Upon the 13th of August, an afterglow was reported from Indiana, and ten days later, from California (Monthly Weather Review, 1883-289).(1) Upon the 21st and 22nd, "afterglows" appeared in Natal, South Africa (Knowledge, 5-418).(2)
There was no known eruption upon this earth, by which to explain these atmospheric effects, but there was a disturbance upon this earth, and the circumstances were similar to those in Italy, in April, 1872. The volcano Krakatoa, in Java, was in a state of minor activity. It was not considered alarming.
Upon the 25th of August, a correspondent to the Perth (Western Australia) Inquirer -- see Nature, 29-388 -- was travelling far inland, in Western Australia.(3) He was astonished to see ashes falling from the sky, continuing to fall, all afternoon. If this material came from regions external to this earth, it came down, hour after hour, as if to a point upon a stationary earth. An attempt to explain was that there may have been an eruption in some little known part of Australia. In Australian newspapers, there is no mention of an eruption in Australia, at this time; and in my own records, there is only one instance, and that one doubtful, of an eruption in Australia, at any time. I am not here including New Zealand. There was, at this time, no eruption in New Zealand.
Krakatoa was in a state of minor activity. Wisemen from Batavia, localizing, like the wisemen at Vesuvius, in April, 1872, were studying only Krakatoa. Consid- [335/336] ered as a thing in itself, out of relation with anything else, conditions here were not alarming. The natives were told that there was no danger -- and natives -- Columbia University, or east side, west side, New York City -- or Java -- believe what the wisemen tell them.
April 19th, 1872 -- the dust if unknown origin that fell from the sky -- it preceded, by one day, the eruption of Vesuvius.
August 25th, 1883 -- the ashes of unknown origin that fell from the sky --(4)
August 26th -- Krakatoa exploded. It was one of this world's biggest noises, and surrounding mountains doffed their summits. Or, like a graduating class at Annapolis, they fired off their peaks, which came down, as new reefs in the ocean. The bombs that shot out were like meteors. The mountain was a stationary meteor-radiant, and shot out Krakatoatids. Had the winds gone upwards, the new meteor stream would have been also of houses and cattle and people. The explosion shatered shores so that all charts were useless.(5)
Early in the morning of the 27th, the Straits of Sunda went up. The unit of its slaughters were villages. 95 villages went up, in waves that were 90 feet high, 100 feet high, 120 feet high. From the 95 villages, tens of thousands of humans were recruited, and they went dead into warring confusions. In the gigantic waves, armies of the dead were flung upon each other. There was no more knowledge of w