Book Review: "A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder" by James De Mille

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Four wealthy, learned men become becalmed aboard a yacht between the Canaries and the Madeira Islands. To while away the time, they hold a mock race with whatever they can find. In doing so, they come across a copper cylinder floating in the water. Once retrieved, the cylinder proves to contain a letter with a manuscript which the letter says is to be brought to the author’s father so he may know the fate of his son. The rest of the book is the four men taking turns reading the manuscript aloud to each other, though one or another breaks in every few chapters to add his “scholarly” comments and evaluation of the author’s adventures. The author of the cylinder manuscript is one Adam More who was mate of the ship Trevelyan (Bennet, master) chartered by the British government to bring convicts to Van Dieman’s Land (that is, Tasmania) in 1843. Through some foolishness and some misfortune, More and the second mate, Agnew, are separated from the ship on the ice in Antarctica and find themselves adrift in a small boat. But all is not lost. They find humans living there. More sees them as repugnant. They welcome the two, offering More and Agnew food and shelter. Agnew believes them to be not such a bad lot after all and joins them on a hunting trip. Before long, More hears gunfire and sees Agnew fleeing back toward the boat—it seems he was the object of the hunt! He warns More to make for the boat. He is done for! More escapes just in time and heads down the river into a subterranean world that is warmed by a volcano. Here he finds not savages, but an advanced society. They’re just a little…odd. Being rich is the greatest misfortune, being poor the greatest success, with the exception of dying honorably in battle. Any man and woman who fall in love must immediately separate. And there is that cannibalism thing. This is a little hard to understand at first. What to make of all this odd stuff like the four oh-so-serious yachtsmen? Is the author being serious? It takes a while—this is a nineteenth century book, so everything takes a while—but it all becomes clear at the end, which, abrupt as it was, left me chuckling. It’s hard for me to recommend, however, since it does take a lot of patience. I found the payoff worth it, however. Author James De Mille was a Canadian academic who published juvenile fiction that was quite popular during his lifetime. It is no longer read. A Strange Manuscript was published posthumously remains what his is most remember for. This story is available from Project Gutenberg: ------ Title: A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder Author: James De Mille (1833-1880) First published: 1888 Source: ISFDB *An earlier version of this review appeared on another site. It has been updated and expanded for its inclusion on ML*