In Search of the Unknown

Search of the Unknown, by
Robert W. Chambers

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Title: In Search of the Unknown
Author: Robert W. Chambers
Release Date: June 23, 2006 [EBook #18668]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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SEARCH OF THE UNKNOWN ***

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[Illustration: SHE STARTED TOWARD THE DOOR]

IN SEARCH OF THE UNKNOWN

BY ROBERT W. CHAMBERS
AUTHOR OF "THE MAIDS OF PARADISE" "THE
MAID-AT-ARMS" "CARDIGAN" "THE CONSPIRATORS" ETC.

NEW YORK AND LONDON HARPER & BROTHERS
PUBLISHERS 1904

Copyright, 1904, by ROBERT W. CHAMBERS.
All rights reserved. Published June, 1904.

TO MY FRIEND E. LE GRAND BEERS
MY DEAR LE GRAND,--You and I were early drawn together by a
common love of nature. Your researches into the natural history of the
tree-toad, your observations upon the mud-turtles of Providence
Township, your experiments with the fresh-water lobster, all stimulated
my enthusiasm in a scientific direction, which has crystallized in this
helpful little book, dedicated to you.

Pray accept it as an insignificant payment on account for all I owe to
you.
THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE
It appears to the writer that there is urgent need of more "nature
books"--books that are scraped clear of fiction and which display only
the carefully articulated skeleton of fact. Hence this little volume,
presented with some hesitation and more modesty. Various chapters
have, at intervals, appeared in the pages of various publications. The
continued narrative is now published for the first time; and the writer
trusts that it may inspire enthusiasm for natural and scientific research,
and inculcate a passion for accurate observation among the young.
THE AUTHOR.
April 1, 1904.

Where the slanting forest eaves, Shingled tight with greenest leaves,
Sweep the scented meadow-sedge, Let us snoop along the edge; Let us
pry in hidden nooks, Laden with our nature books, Scaring birds with
happy cries, Chloroforming butterflies, Rooting up each woodland
plant, Pinning beetle, fly, and ant, So we may identify What we've
ruined, by-and-by.

IN SEARCH OF THE UNKNOWN
I
Because it all seems so improbable--so horribly impossible to me now,
sitting here safe and sane in my own library--I hesitate to record an
episode which already appears to me less horrible than grotesque. Yet,

unless this story is written now, I know I shall never have the courage
to tell the truth about the matter--not from fear of ridicule, but because I
myself shall soon cease to credit what I now know to be true. Yet
scarcely a month has elapsed since I heard the stealthy purring of what
I believed to be the shoaling undertow--scarcely a month ago, with my
own eyes, I saw that which, even now, I am beginning to believe never
existed. As for the harbor-master--and the blow I am now striking at the
old order of things--But of that I shall not speak now, or later; I shall
try to tell the story simply and truthfully, and let my friends testify as to
my probity and the publishers of this book corroborate them.
On the 29th of February I resigned my position under the government
and left Washington to accept an offer from Professor Farrago--whose
name he kindly permits me to use--and on the first day of April I
entered upon my new and congenial duties as general superintendent of
the water-fowl department connected with the Zoological Gardens then
in course of erection at Bronx Park, New York.
For a week I followed the routine, examining the new foundations,
studying the architect's plans, following the surveyors through the
Bronx thickets, suggesting arrangements for water-courses and pools
destined to be included in the enclosures for swans, geese, pelicans,
herons, and such of the waders and swimmers as we might expect to
acclimate in Bronx Park.
It was at that time the policy of the trustees and officers of the
Zoological Gardens neither to employ collectors nor to send out
expeditions in search of specimens. The society decided to depend
upon voluntary contributions, and I was always busy, part of