The Isle of Devils (63 page)


        
Lucy’s mother died of diphtheria, as did Victor Trevor’s sister (
The ‘Gloria Scott’
), which nowadays has been essentially eliminated due to universal vaccination.


        
Lucy’s quote, “Alas, the storm is come again!... I will here shroud till the dregs of the storm be past” is derived from
The Tempest
, Act Two, Scene Two.

CHAPTER XXI: THE EVIDENCE OF THE FRENCH LAWYER


        
It is clear from the Canon that Watson is fluent in French, as he has no problem following along and reporting Holmes’ not infrequent use of French phrases. In this manner, his education was similar to that of Ms. Violet Hunter, who accomplishments included “a little French, a little German” (
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
). It is most evident near when Watson reports in 1881 that he was reading a French novel,
Vie de Boheme
, that was not translated into English until 1888 (Chapter V,
A Study in Scarlet
). Dubois’ comment, ‘
L’homme n’est rien, l’oeuvre tout,’
translates as ‘the man is nothing, the work is everything.’ Coincidentally, Holmes says the same thing after the capture of Mr. John Clay (
The Red-Headed League
). Watson’s retort, ‘
Battre le fer pendant qu'il est chaud,’
translates as ‘To strike when the iron is hot.’


        
We can find on evidence that there was a fire at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco in 1880. It is highly probable that Dubois is lying. If Dubois actually stayed at the Palace, built in 1875, he was clearly flush for money, for it was at the time one of the largest and most expensive hotels in the world.


        
Dubois’ description of the murdered man as ‘
Un véritable sauvage’
echoes Jules
Vibart’s
depiction of the Ho. Philip Green (
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
).


        
Thaddeus Sholto echoed the expression that Dubois used,
‘Le mauvais goût mène au crime’
which translates to ‘Bad taste leads to crime’ (Chapter IV,
The Sign of the Four
).


        
Watson’s first literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, once accused Watson of “never show(ing) one gleam of humour or mak(ing) a single joke” in his book
Memories and Adventures
. This only goes to show how little Sir Arthur actually read Watson’s words, for Holmes clearly states that Watson has a “certain unexpected vein of pawky humour” (Chapter I,
The Valley of Fear
). 

CHAPTER XXII: THE LIST OF EVIDENCE


        
The Mayor of St. George’s in 1880 was William C.J. Hyland (1817 – 1892), a post which he ably served, since on the 3rd of October 1892, he was elected unanimously for the twelfth time in a row!


        
Watson encountered others plagued by consumption, such as Godfrey Staunton’s tragically expired wife (
The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
), the aforementioned fictional lady at Reichenbach, and his first literary agent’s wife, Louisa Hawkins Conan Doyle.


        
This literary agent has not attempted to verify Watson’s claim that a bottle of Madeira poured into an orchid would result in the death of the plant within forty-eight hours. I did not wish to purposefully murder an orchid (which
in my experience
die handily enough on their own) and I certainly did not wish to waste a fine Madeira!


        
Watson’s most famous list, of course, is the “Twelve Limits” of his new roommate Sherlock Holmes (Chapter II,
A Study in Scarlet
).


        
Watson speaks authoritatively on the possibilities of
monomania
, specifically the
idée fixe
, when he and Holmes encounter the smashing of the Napoleonic busts. Many of his ideas are unchanged from this discussion with Dunkley (
The Adventure of The Six Napoleons
). He also talks about calling in an alienist to deal with the strange case of Professor Presbury (
The Adventure of the Creeping Man
).


        
The
Arabian Nights
, more properly known as
One Thousand and One Nights
, was probably first encountered by Watson in the form of the c.1840 sanitized translation of Edward William Lane. The more famous eroticized version of Sir Richard Francis Burton was not available
until c.1888. We know that Watson read it because he refers to it twice in the Canon (
The Adventures of the Noble Bachelor and Three Gables
).

CHAPTER XXIII: A POSSIBLE SOLUTION


        
All of the tales of treasure recounted by Constable Dunkley are verifiable Bermudian legends. Dunkley’s prediction that more Spanish treasure will be found in Bermuda will come true, thanks in large part to the work of the diver Teddy Tucker. His most famous find is considered one of the most valuable pieces of sunken treasure ever found. The emerald-studded 22-karat gold Tucker Cross was discovered in 1955. It is believed to have come from ‘San Pedro’, a Spanish galleon which was lost on the reefs in 1594.


        
Dunkley’s envisioning of how the sea-glass played into the mystery must have drawn on knowledge about the activities of a local branch of the KKK, perhaps remnants of Confederate sympathizers after the war? It is similar to how other branches utilized warnings “sent to the marked man in some fantastic but generally recognizable shape – a sprig of oak-leaves in some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others” (
The Five Orange Pips
).


        
Dunkley’s prediction that more caves remained to be found in Bermuda also came true. The most famous one, Crystal Caves, was discovered in 1905, when two young teenagers named Carl Gibbons and Edgar Hollis were engaged in a spirited game of cricket and lost their ball down a hole. Exploring further led to a previously hidden natural wonder.


        
Paul Bert published
La Pression B
arométrique
, providing the first systematic understanding of the causes of decompression sickness in 1878.


        
Longfellow’s translation of
The Inferno
was published in 1867. His actual translation of the final line was ‘Thence we came forth to
rebehold
the stars.’ While Longfellow’s version in general is quite beautiful, that particular line sounds a bit odd to modern ears.


        
The astute reader will recognize echoes herein of Watson’s introduction to “Part 2 – The Scowrers” (Chapter VII,
The Valley of Fear
). Much of what follows in Chapter XXIV reads like a prototype to the full novellas that serve as interludes and explanations for the mysteries of
A Study in Scarlet
and
The Valley of Fear
.

CHAPTER XXIV: AN EXTRAORDINARY TALE


        
Watson’s telling of the final hours in the life of Commandant Iain Harrier are far too detailed for it to be conceivable that he could have simply dreamt up all of these details. It seems likely that he misrepresented his reminiscences here with an amalgam of what he actually said on that night at the Globe Hotel supplemented with details that must have been admitted by Lucy later that evening.


        
Harrier’s recollection of the French intervention in Mexico and the brief reign of Emperor Maximilian are essentially accurate. The French Foreign Legion became part of the world consciousness due to their defensive stand at the Battle of Camar
ó
n (1863), in which sixty-five men held off a force of over two thousand for an entire day, until only two unwounded survivors remained. Like Thermopylae (480 BCE), the Alamo (1836), and many others before it, there is something mythical about a doomed stand. 


        
Generals Miramon and Mejía never abandoned their loyalty to Maximilian. They died seconds after him, executed by the same firing squad, the last words on their tongues, “Long live the Emperor!” Colonel Lopez, on the other hand, proved less trustworthy. In May 1867, Lopez was bribed by the Republican Army to open a gate into Santiago de Querétaro, albeit after first obtaining their agreement that Maximilian would be allowed to escape. Of course, the Republicans failed to hold their side of this devil’s bargain after the city fell. Maximilian’s attempt to break through the Republican lines via a cavalry charge led by Felix
Salm-Salm
failed, and Maximilian was captured.


        
Many of the gemstones in Maximilian’s coffer resemble those found in the Rajah’s iron box carried by the pretend merchant Achmet (Chapter XII,
The Sign of the Four
). Of course Maximilian’s treasure would never contain rubies and sapphires, since they are not found in South America. The emerald and diamond necklace and the twenty-one carat Maximilian Emerald Ring eventually made their way into the possession of the American heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887 – 1993) by unclear means. She was a great collector and art connoisseur and it seems likely that she obtained them in Paris, where she had the ring’s emerald reset by Cartier into a new ring flanked by baguette diamonds. She eventually donated both items, plus many others, to the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of Natural History.