Early
February 1877 Captain Darling found himself restless and at a loose end after
viewing the grand launch of the USLS Lexington. This situation didn’t suit him
he was a man of action a ‘do it now’ sort of Victorian Gentleman Officer! What
with there being no wars in which to garner glory in raging or local insurrections
around Her Glorious Majesty’s Empire in need of quelling he turned his mind to
adventure and roaming!
After
completeing the mind-numbing trip north from Virginia he enjoyed his leisure spending
a relaxing Saturday afternoon in lower Manhattan at a small Beverage Emporium
named after its Native American owner, Chief Little StarBuck. As he sipped his
tasty beverage he pondered on whether it would be possible to brew
the same tasting coffee in many different outlets around the vast globe selling
it to the masses thereby creating a virtual coffee empire… He discussed it with
the owner for a while and then while settling back into his comforatable chair his continued thoughts
on a “coffee empire” were interrupted as he noticed an article in the New York Exhibitionist
a tawdry paper he regularly read the steam engine articles in eulogizing on the
mysteries of Easter Island a small speck of barren land located in the remote
vastness of the Pacific Ocean….so with his caffeine driven gander up he decided
on the spot that he must travel to Easter Island and post haste!
Unfortunately
for the good Captain there were no regular services by any reputable shipping
company that visited Easter Island. No problem he thought he’d charter a boat
and include ‘rounding the horn’ in this his latest escapade! To further add to
the adventure the vessel he chartered for the voyage captained by Edgar Tuthill
was the Mary Celeste, he commented off handedly to an attractive woman friend, “This’ll
tickle the interest of those bounders from my London Club!”
So
travelling light with just 12 trunks and two native porters Captain Darling’s
voyage of discovery began late February 1877!
To
cut a long story short dear reader what seemed an exciting idea in a Manhattan
Beverage Emporium turned out to be a long sea voyage filled with average
victuals (mind you washed down with very good reds from trunk #2), endless
views of the ocean, no stop nausea and the tedious company of the ship’s
Captain and crew punctuated with a brief but enthralling stay on Easter Island
itself and then a long passage back to Manhattan with the exact same
experiences of the outward journey.
Little
detail is known of this trip of Captain Darlings as his personal papers are still
held in confidence and the Mary Celeste’s log was lost when she foundered in
suspicious circumstances several years later.
All
that has come to light from this period is a single picture Darling took of
himself using his camera on a steady tripod and triggered off by a water driven
timing device (his knowledge of Classical Greece and the works of Ctesibius
being very helpful here!)…
Captain Darling's 1877 'selfie' posing by one of the Moai stone idols found on Easter Island
Next
time – most probably an AAR but I still have some other scratch building stuff
to write up too…
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