The narrative begins on February 15, 1850, aboard the yacht Falcon, becalmed between the Canaries and Madeira Islands<sup class='text_citation' source_id='1' start_phrase='It occurred as far back as February 15, 1850. It hap-pened on that day that the yacht Falcon lay becalmed upon the ocean between the Canaries and the Madeira Islands' end_phrase='Madeira Islands'>. Lord Featherstone, the owner, along with Dr. Congreve, Noel Oxenden, and Otto Melick, discover a copper cylinder floating in the ocean<sup class='text_citation' source_id='1' start_phrase='In the midst of this Featherstone's attention was drawn to the dark spot already mentioned as the goal of the race. Pull up, lads, a little ; let's see what it is. It doesn't look to me like a spar. The others, always on the lookout for some new object of interest, were attracted by these words, and looked closely at the thing in question. The men pulled. The boat drew nearer. It's some sort of floating vessel, said Oxenden. It's not a spar, said Melick, who was at the bow. And as he said this he reached out and grasped at it. He failed to get it, and did no more than touch it. It moved easily and sank, but soon came up again. A second time he grasped at it, and with both hands. This time he caught it, and then lifted it out of the water into the boat. These proceedings had been watched with the deepest interest ; and now, as this curious floating thing made its appearance among them, they all crowd-ed around it in eager excitement. It looks like a can of preserved meat, said the doc-tor. It certainly is a can, said Melick, for it's made of metal ; but as to preserved meat, I have my doubts. The article in question was made of metal, and was cylindrical in shape. It was soldered tight, and evi-dently contained something. It was about eighteen inches lonor and eisrht wide. The nature of the metal was not easily perceptible, for it was coated with slime, and covered over about half its surface with barnacles and sea-weed. It was not heavy, and would have floated higher out of the Avater had it not been for these encum-brances' end_phrase='these encum-brances'>. Inside, they find a message in English, French, and German, and a manuscript<sup class='text_citation' source_id='1' start_phrase='Melick drew them forth, and the contents of the mysterious copper cylinder resolved themselves into two packages. The sight of these packages only served to inten-sify their curiosity. If it had been some species of food it would at once have revealed itself, but these packages suggested something more important. What could they be? One of the packages was very much larger than the other. It was enclosed in wrappers made of some coarse kind of felt, bound tight with strong cords. The other w^as ranch smaller, and was folded in the same material without being bound. This Melick seized and began to open, Wait a minute, said Featherstone. Let's make a bet on it. Five guineas that it's some sort of jew-els ! Done, said Oxenden. Melick opened the package, and it was seen that Featherstone had lost. There were no jewels, but one or two sheets of something that looked like pa-per. It was not paper, however, but some vegetable product which was used for the same purpose. The surface was smooth, but the color was dingy, and the lines of the vegetable fibres were plainly discernible. These sheets were covered with writing. Halloa! cried Melick. Why, this is English ! At this the others crowded around to look on, and Featherstone in his excitement forgot that he had lost his bet. There were three sheets, all covered with writing — one in English, another in French, and a third in German. It was the same message, written in these three different languages. But at that mo-ment they scarcely noticed this. All that they saw was the message itself, with its mysterious meaning. It was as follows: To the finder of this: Sir,—I am an Englishman, and have been carried by a series of incredible events to a land from which escape is as impossible as from the grave. I have written this and committed it to the sea, in the hope that the ocean currents may bear it within the reach of civilized man. Oh, unknown friend ! whoever you are, I entreat you to let this message be made known in some way to my father, Henry IMore, Keswick, Cumberland, England, so that he may learn the fate of his son. The MS. accompanying this contains an account of my adventures, which I should like to have forwarded to him. Do this for the sake of that mercy which you may one day wish to have shown to yourself. Adam More' end_phrase='Adam More'>. The message identifies the author as Adam More, an Englishman, who has been carried to a land from which escape is impossible<sup class='text_citation' source_id='1' start_phrase='To the finder of this: Sir,—I am an Englishman, and have been carried by a series of incredible events to a land from which escape is as impossible as from the grave. I have written this and committed it to the sea, in the hope that the ocean currents may bear it within the reach of civilized man. Oh, unknown friend ! whoever you are, I entreat you to let this message be made known in some way to my father, Henry IMore, Keswick, Cumberland, England, so that he may learn the fate of his son. The MS. accompanying this contains an account of my adventures, which I should like to have forwarded to him. Do this for the sake of that mercy which you may one day wish to have shown to yourself. Adam More' end_phrase='Adam More'>.

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Discovery of the Manuscript

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