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The Last American
A Fragment from the journal of KHAN-LI, Prince of
Dimph-Yoo-Chur and Admiral in the Persian Navy
presented by J. A. MITCHELL
EDITION DE LUXE Illustrated in Color by F. W. Read
With Decorative Designs by Albert D. Blashfield and Illustrations
by the Author
1889
TO THOSE THOUGHTFUL PERSIANS
WHO CAN READ A WARNING IN THE SUDDEN RISE
AND SWIFT EXTINCTION OF A FOOLISH PEOPLE
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED
A FEW WORDS BY HEDFUL
SURNAMED "THE AXIS OF WISDOM"
Curator of the Imperial Museum at Shiraz.
Author of "The Celestial Conquest of Kaly-phorn-ya," and of
"Northern Mehrika under the Hy-Bernyan Rulers"
The astounding discoveries of Khan-li of Dimph-yoo-chur have thrown
floods of light upon the domestic life of the Mehrikan people. He
little realized when he landed upon that sleeping continent what a
service he was about to render history, or what enthusiasm his
discoveries would arouse among Persian archaeologists.
Every student of antiquity is familiar with these facts.
But for the benefit of those who have yet to acquire a knowledge of
this extraordinary people, I advise, first, a visit to the Museum at
Teheran in order to excite their interest in the subject, and second,
the reading of such books as Nofuhl's "What we Found in the West," and
Noz-yt-ahl's "History of the Mehrikans." The last-named is a complete
and reliable history of these people from the birth of the Republic
under George-wash-yn-tun to the year 1990, when they ceased to exist
as a nation. I must say, however, that Noz-yt-ahl leaves the reader
much confused concerning the period between the massacre of the
Protestants in 1927, and the overflow of the Murfey dynasty in 1940.
He holds the opinion with many other historians that the Mehrikans
were a mongrel race, with little or no patriotism, and were purely
imitative; simply an enlarged copy of other nationalities extant at
the time. He pronounces them a shallow, nervous, extravagant people,
and accords them but few redeeming virtues. This, of course, is just;
but nevertheless they will always be an interesting study by reason of
their rapid growth, their vast numbers, their marvellous mechanical
ingenuity and their sudden and almost unaccountable disappearance.
The wealth, luxury, and gradual decline of the native population; the
frightful climatic changes which swept the country like a mower's
scythe; the rapid conversion of a vast continent, alive with millions
of pleasure-loving people, into a silent wilderness, where the sun and
moon look down in turn upon hundreds of weed-grown cities,--all this
is told by Noz-yt-ahl with force and accuracy.
"Here's Truth. 'Tis a bitter pill but good physic."
ABOARD THE ZLOTUHB IN THE YEAR 2951
10th May
There is land ahead!
Grip-til-lah was first to see it, and when he shouted the tidings my
heart beat fast with joy. The famished crew have forgotten their
disconsolate stomachs and are dancing about the deck. 'Tis not I,
forsooth, who shall restrain them! A month of emptiness upon a heavy
sea is preparation for any folly. Nofuhl alone is without enthusiasm.
The old man's heart seems dead.
We can see the land plainly, a dim strip along the western horizon. A
fair wind blows from the northeast, but we get on with cruel
hindrance, for the Zlotuhb is a heavy ship, her bluff bow and
voluminous bottom ill fitting her for speed.
11th May
Sighted a fine harbor this afternoon, and are now at anchor in it.
Grip-til-lah thinks we have reached one islands mentioned by
Ben-a-Bout. Nofuhl, however, is sure we are further North.
12th May
What a change has come over Nofuhl! He is the youngest man aboard. We
all share his delight, as our discoveries are truly marvellous. This
morning while I was yet in my bunk he ran into the cabin and,
forgetting our difference in rank, seized me by the arm and tried to
drag me out. His excitement so had the better of him that I captured
little meaning from his words. Hastening after him, however, I was
amazed to see such ancient limbs transport a man so rapidly. He
skipped up the narrow stairs like a heifer and, young though I am, it
was faster than I could follow.
But what a sight when I reached the deck! We saw nothing of it
yesterday, for the dusk of evening was already closing about us when
we anchored.
Right ahead, in the middle of the bay, towered a gigantic statue, many
times higher than the masts of our ship. Beyond, from behind this
statue, came the broad river upon whose waters we were floating, its
surface all a-glitter with the rising sun. To the East, where Nofuhl
was pointing, his fingers trembling with excitement, lay the ruins of
an endless city. It stretched far away into the land beyond, further
even than our eyes could see. And in the smaller river on the right
stood two colossal structures, rising high in the air, and standing
like twin brothers, as if to guard the deserted streets beneath. Not a
sound reached us--not a floating thing disturbed the surface of the
water. Verily, it seemed the sleep of Death.
I was lost in wonder.
As we looked, a strange bird, like a heron, arose with a hoarse cry
from the foot of the great image and flew toward the city.
"What does it all mean?" I cried. "Where are we?"
"Where indeed!" said Nofuhl. "If I knew but that, O Prince, I could
tell the rest! No traveller has mentioned these ruins. Persian history
contains no record of such a people. Allah has decreed that we
discover a forgotten world."
Within an hour we landed, and found ourselves in an ancient street,
the pavements covered with weeds, grass, and flowers, all crowding
together in wild neglect. Huge trees of great antiquity thrust their
limbs through windows and roofs and produced a mournful sight. They
gave a welcome shade, however, as we find the heat ashore of a
roasting quality most hard to bear. The curious buildings on either
side are wonderfully preserved, even sheets of glass still standing in
many of the iron window-frames.
We wandered along through the thick grass, Nofuhl and I, much excited
over our discoveries and delighted with the strange scene. The
sunshine is of dazzling brightness, birds are singing everywhere, and
the ruins are gay with gorgeous wild flowers. We soon found ourselves
in what was once a public square, now for the most part a shady grove.
(Afterward ascertained to be the square of the City Hall.)
As we sat on a fallen cornice and gazed on the lofty buildings about
us I asked Nofuhl if he was still in ignorance as to where we were,
and he said:
"As yet I know not. The architecture is much like that of ancient
Europe, but it tells us nothing."
Then I said to him in jest, "Let this teach us, O Nofuhl! the folly of
excessive wisdom. Who among thy pupils of the Imperial College at
Ispahan would believe their venerable instructor in history and
languages could visit the largest city in the world and know so little
about it!"
"Thy words are wise, my Prince," he answered; "few babes could know
less."
As we were leaving this grove my eyes fell upon an upturned slab that
seemed to have a meaning. It was lying at our feet, partly hidden by
the tall grass, having fallen from the columns that supported it. Upon
its surface were strange characters in bold relief, as sharp and clear
as when chiselled ten centuries ago. I pointed it out to Nofuhl, and
we bent over it with eager eyes.
It was this:
ASTOR HOUSE
"The inscription is Old English," he said. "'House' signified a
dwelling, but the word 'Astor' I know not. It was probably the name of
a deity, and here was his temple."
This was encouraging, and we looked about eagerly for other signs.
Our steps soon brought us into another street, and as we walked I
expressed my surprise at the wonderful preservation of the stone work,
which looked as though cut but yesterday.
"In such an atmosphere decay is slow," said Nofuhl. "A thousand years
at least have passed since these houses were occupied. Take yonder
oak, for instance; the tree itself has been growing for at least a
hundred years, and we know from the fallen mass beneath it that
centuries had gone by before its birth was possible."
He stopped speaking, his eyes fixed upon an inscription over a
doorway, partly hidden by one of the branches of the oak.
Turning suddenly upon me with a look of triumph, he exclaimed:
"It is ours!"
"What is ours?" I asked.
"The knowledge we sought;" and he pointed to the inscription,
NEW YORK STOCK EXC....
He was tremulous with joy. "Thou hast heard of Nhu-Yok, O my Prince?"
I answered that I had read of it at school.
"Thou art in it now!" he said. "We are standing on the Western
Continent. Little wonder we thought our voyage long!"
"And what was Nhu-Yok?" I asked. "I read of it at college, but
remember little. Was it not the capital of the ancient Mehrikans?"
"Not the capital," he answered, "but their largest city. Its
population was four millions."
"Four millions!" I exclaimed. "Verily, O Fountain of Wisdom, that is
many for one city!"
"Such is history, my Prince! Moreover, as thou knowest, it would take
us many days to walk this town."
"True, it is endless."
He continued thus:
"Strange that a single word can tell so much! Those iron structures,
the huge statue in the harbor, the temples with pointed towers, all
are as writ in history."
Whereupon I repeated that I knew little of the Mehrikans save what I
had learned at college, a perfunctory and fleeting knowledge, as they
were a people who interested me but little.
"Let us seat ourselves in the shade," said Nofuhl, "and I will tell
thee of them."
We sat.
"For eleven centuries the cities of this sleeping hemisphere have
decayed in solitude. Their very existence has been forgotten. The
people who built them have long since passed away, and their
civilization is but a shadowy tradition. Historians are astounded that
a nation of an hundred million beings should vanish from the earth
like a mist, and leave so little behind. But to those familiar with
their lives and character surprise is impossible. There was nothing to
leave. The Mehrikans possessed neither literature, art, nor music of
their own. Everything was borrowed. The very clothes they wore were
copied with ludicrous precision from the models of other nations. They
were a sharp, restless, quick-witted, greedy race, given body and soul
to the gathering of riches. Their chiefest passion was to buy and
sell. Even women, both of high and low degree, spent much of their
time at bargains, crowding and jostling each other in vast marts of
trade, for their attire was complicated, and demanded most of their
time."
"How degrading!" I exclaimed.
"So it must have been," said Nofuhl; "but they were not without
virtues. Their domestic life was happy. A man had but one wife, and
treated her as his equal."
"That is curious! But as I remember, they were a people of elastic
honor."
"They were so considered," said Nofuhl; "their commercial honor was a
jest. They were sharper than the Turks. Prosperity was their god, with
cunning and invention for his prophets. Their restless activity no
Persian can comprehend. This vast country was alive with noisy
industries, the nervous Mehrikans darting with inconceivable rapidity
from one city to another by a system of locomotion we can only guess
at. There existed roads with iron rods upon them, over which small
houses on wheels were drawn with such velocity that a long day's
journey was accomplished in an hour. Enormous ships without sails,
driven by a mysterious force, bore hundreds of people at a time to the
farthermost points of the earth."
"And are these things lost?" I asked.
"We know many of the forces," said Nofuhl, "but the knowledge, of
applying them is gone. The very elements seem to have been their
slaves. Cities were illuminated at night by artificial moons, whose
radiance eclipsed the moon above. Strange devices were in use by which
they conversed together when separated by a journey of many days. Some
of these appliances exist to-day in Persian museums. The superstitions
of our ancestors allowed their secrets to be lost during those dark
centuries from which at last we are waking."
At this point we heard the voice of Bhoz-ja-khaz in the distance; they
had found a spring and he was calling to us.
Such heat we had never felt, and it grew hotter each hour. Near the
river where we ate it was more comfortable, but even there the
perspiration stood upon us in great drops. Our faces shone like
fishes. It was our wish to explore further, but the streets were like
ovens, and we returned to the Zlotuhb.
As I sat upon the deck this afternoon recording the events of the
morning in this journal Bhoz-ja-khaz and Ad-el-pate approached, asking
permission to take the small boat and visit the great statue.
Thereupon Nofuhl informed us that this statue in ancient times held
aloft a torch illuminating the whole harbor, and he requested
Ad-el-pate to try and discover how the light was accomplished.
They returned toward evening with this information: that the statue is
not of solid bronze, but hollow; that they ascended by means of an
iron stairway into the head of the image, and from the top looked down
upon us; that Ad-el-pate, in the dark, sat to rest himself upon a nest
of yellow flies with black stripes; that these flies inserted stings
into Ad-el-pate's person, causing him to exclaim loudly and descend
the stairs with unexpected agility; that Bhoz-ja-khaz and the others
pushed on through the upraised arm, and stood at last upon the bronze
torch itself; that the city lay beneath them like a map, covering the
country for miles away on both sides of the river. As for illuminating
the harbor, Bhoz-ja-khaz says Nofuhl is mistaken; there are no
vestiges of anything that could give a light--no vessel for oil or
traces of fire.
Nofuhl says Ja-khaz is an idiot; that he shall go himself.
13th May
A startling discovery this morning.
By landing higher up the river we explored a part of the city where
the buildings are of a different character from those we saw
yesterday. Nofuhl considers them the dwellings of the rich. In shape
they are like bricks set on end, all very similar, uninteresting, and
monotonous.
We noticed one where the doors and shutters were still in place, but
rotting from the fantastic hinges that supported them. A few hard
blows brought down the outer doors in a dusty heap, and as we stepped
upon the marble floor within our eyes met an unexpected sight.
Furniture, statues, dingy pictures in crumbling frames, images in
bronze and silver, mirrors, curtains, all were there, but in every
condition of decay. We knocked open the iron shutters and let the
light into the rooms sealed up for centuries. In the first one lay a
rug from Persia! Faded, moth-eaten, gone in places, it seemed to ask
us with dying eyes to be taken hence. My heart grew soft over the
ancient rug, and I caught a foolish look in Lev-el-Hedyd's eye.
As we climbed the mouldering stair to the floor above I expressed
surprise that cloth and woodwork should hold together for so many
centuries, also saying:
"These Mehrikans were not so unworthy as we think them."
"That may be," said Lev-el-Hedyd, "but the Persian rug is far the
freshest object we have seen, and that perchance was ancient when they
bought it."
On this floor we entered a dim chamber, spacious and once richly
furnished. When Lev-el-Hedyd pushed open the shutters and drew aside
the ragged curtains we started at the sight before us.
Upon a wide bed in the centre of the room lay a human form, the long,
yellow hair still clinging to the head. It was more a mummy than a
skeleton. Around, upon the bed, lay mouldering fragments of the once
white sheets that covered it. On the fingers of the left hand
glistened two rings which drew our attention. One held a diamond of
great price, the other was composed of sapphires and diamonds most
curiously arranged. We stood a moment in silence, gazing sadly upon
the figure.
"Poor woman," I said, "left thus to die alone."
"It is more probable," said Nofuhl, "she was already dead, and her
friends, departing perhaps in haste, were unable to burn the body."
"Did they burn their dead?" I asked. "In my history 'twas writ they
buried them in the earth like potatoes, and left them to rot."
And Nofuhl answered: "At one time it was so, but later on, as they
became more civilized, the custom was abandoned."
"Is it possible?" I asked, "that this woman has been lying here almost
a thousand years and yet so well preserved?"
"I, also, am surprised," said Nofuhl. "I can only account for it by
the extreme dryness of the air in absorbing the juices of the body and
retarding decay."
Then lifting tenderly in his hand some of the yellow hair, he said:
"She was probably very young, scarce twenty."
"Were their women fair?" I asked.
"They were beautiful," he answered; "with graceful forms and lovely
faces; a pleasure to the eye; also were they gay and sprightly with
much animation."
Thereupon cried Lev-el-Hedyd:
"Here are the first words thou hast uttered, O Nofuhl, that cause me
to regret the extinction of this people!" There is ever a place in my
heart for a blushing maiden!"
"Then let thy grief be of short life," responded Nofuhl, "for
Mehrikan damsels were not of that description. Blush-ing was an art
they practised little. The shyness thou so lovest in a Persian maiden
was to them an unknown thing. Our shrinking daughters bear no
resemblance to these Western products. They strode the public streets
with roving eyes and unblushing faces, holding free converse with men
as with women, bold of speech and free of manner, going and coming as
it pleased them best. They knew much of the world, managed their own
affairs, and devised their own marriages, often changing their minds
and marrying another than the betrothed."
"Bismillah! And men could love these things?" exclaimed Lev-el-Hedyd
with much feeling.
"So it appears."
"But I should say the Mehrikan bride had much the freshness of a dried
fig."
"So she had," said Nofuhl; "but those who know only the dried fig have
no regret for the fresh fruit. But the fault was not with the maidens.
Brought up like boys, with the same studies and mental development,
the womanly part of their nature gradually vanished as their minds
expanded. Vigor of intellect was the object of a woman's education."
Then Lev-el-Hedyd exclaimed with great disgust:
"Praises be to Allah for his aid in exterminating such a people!" and
he walked away from the bed, and began looking about the chamber. In a
moment he hastened back to us, saying:
"Here are more jewels! also money!"
Nofuhl eagerly took the pieces.
"Money!" he cried. "Money will tell us more than pages of history!"
There were silver coins of different sizes and two small pieces of
copper. Nofuhl studied them closely.
"The latest date is 1957," he said; "a little less than a thousand
years ago; but the piece may have been in circulation some years
before this woman died; also it may have been coined the very year of
her death. It bears the head of Dennis, the last of the Hy-Burnyan
dictators. The race is supposed to have become extinct before 1990 of
their era."
I then said;
"Thou hast never told us, O Nofuhl! the cause of their disappearance."
"There were many causes," he answered. "The Mehrikans themselves were
of English origin, but people from all parts of Europe came here in
vast numbers. Although the original comers were vigorous and hardy the
effect of climate upon succeeding generations was fatal. They became
flat-chested and thin, with scanty hair, fragile teeth, and weak
digestions. Nervous diseases unknown to us wrought deadly havoc.
Children were reared with difficulty. Between 1945 and 1960, the last
census of which any record remains, the population decreased from
ninety millions to less than twelve millions. Climatic changes, the
like of which no other land ever experienced, began at that period,
and finished in less than ten years a work made easy by nervous
natures and rapid lives. The temperature would skip in a single day
from burning heat to winter's cold. No constitution could withstand
it, and this vast continent became once more an empty wilderness."
Much more of the same nature he told us, but I am too sleepy to write
longer. We explored the rest of the mansion, finding many things of
interest. I caused several objects to be carried aboard the Zlotuhb.
(These objects are now in the museum of the Imperial College, at
Teheran.)
14th May
Hotter than yesterday.
In the afternoon we were rowed up the river and landed for a short
walk. It is unsafe to brave the sun.
The more I learn of these Mehrikans the less interesting they become.
Nofuhl is of much the same mind, judging from our conversation to-day,
as we walked along together. It was in this wise:
Khan-li.
How alike the houses! How monotonous!
Nofuhl
So, also, were the occupants. They thought alike, worked alike, ate,
dressed and conversed alike. They read the same books; they fashioned
their garments as directed, with no regard for the size or figure of
the individual, and copied to a stitch the fashions of Europeans.
Khan-li.
But the close-fitting apparel of the European must have been sadly
uncomfortable in the heat of a Mehrikan summer.
Nofuhl
So probably it was. Stiff boxes of varying patterns adorned the heads
of men. Curious jackets with tight sleeves compressed the body. The
feet throbbed and burned in close-fitting casings of un-yielding
leather, and linen made stiff by artificial means was drawn tightly
about the neck.
Khan-li
Allah! What idiots!
Nofuhl
Even so are they considered.
Khan-Ii.
To what quality of their minds do you attribute such love of needless
suffering?
Nofnhl.
It was their desire to be like others. A natural feeling in a vulgar
people.
15th May
A fair wind from the West to-day. We weighed anchor and sailed up
the Eastern side of the city. I did this as Nofuhl finds the upper
portion of the town much richer in relics than the lower, which seems
to have been given up to commercial purposes. We sailed close under
one of the great monuments in the river, and are at a loss to divine
its meaning. Many iron rods still dangle from the tops of each of the
structures. As they are in a line, one with the other, we thought at
first they might have been once connected and served as a bridge, but
we soon saw they were too far apart.
Came to anchor about three miles from the old mooring. Up the river
and down, North, South, East, and West, the ruins stretch away
indefinitely, seemingly without end.
Am anxious about Lev-el-Hedyd. He went ashore and has not returned.
It is now after midnight.
16th May
Praise Allah! my dear comrade is alive! This morning we landed early
and began our search for him. As we passed before the building which
bears the inscription
. . . DORF ASTORIA
upon its front, we heard his voice from within in answer to our calls.
We entered, and after climbing the ruined stairway found him seated
upon the floor above. He had a swollen leg from an ugly sprain, and
various bruises were also his. While our friends were constructing a
litter on which to bear him hence we conversed together. The walls
about us bore traces of having once enclosed a hall of some beauty. In
idling about I pulled open the decaying door of an old closet and saw
upon the rotting shelves many pieces of glass and earthenware of fine
workmanship. Taking one in my hand, a small wine-cup of glass, I
approached my comrade calling his attention to its slender stem and
curious form. As his eyes fell upon it they opened wide in amazement.
I also observed a trembling of his hand as he reached forth to touch
it. He then recounted to me his marvellous adventure of the night
before, but saying before he began:
"Thou knowest, O Prince, I am no believer in visions, and I should
never tell the tale but for thy discovery of this cup. I drank from
such an one last night, proffered by a ghostly hand."
I would have smiled, but he was much in earnest. As I made a movement
to sit beside him, he said:
"Taste first, O my master, of the grapes hanging from yonder wall."
I did so, and to my great surprise found them of an exquisite flavor,
finer even than the cultivated fruit of Persia, sweeter and more
delicate, of a different nature from the wild grapes we have been
eating. My astonishment appeared to delight him, and he said with a
laugh:
"The grapes are impossible, but they exist; even more absurd is my
story!" and he then narrated his adventure.
It was this:
WHAT LEV-EL-HEDYD SAW.
Yesterday, after nightfall, as he was hastening toward the Zlotuhb he
fell violently upon some blocks of stone, wrenching his ankle and much
bruising himself. Unable to walk upon his foot he limped into this
building to await our coming in the morning. The howling of wolves and
other wild beasts as they prowled about the city drove him, for
safety, to crawl up the ruins of the stairway to the floor above. As
he settled himself in a corner of this hall his nostrils were greeted
with the delicious odor from the grapes about his head. He found them
surprisingly good, and ate heartily. He soon after fell into a sleep
which lasted some hours, for when he awoke the moon was higher in the
heavens, the voices of the wolves were hushed and the city was silent.