G-G-G-G-Ghost Ship!
When it comes to the mysteries of the sea, she is the
epicenter. One of the most famous ghost
ships of all time, she is second only to the Flying Dutchman. She is the Mary Celeste...
In December of 1872 an American merchant brig, was found
adrift midway between Portugal and the Azores.
Everyone aboard the Mary Celeste,
from the Captain, to the Captain's wife and child, along with all the crew, had
vanished. Nothing onboard was devastatingly
amiss, there were no signs of any disastrous occurrence, the ship was still
sound and she was not in danger or sinking.
Only the lifeboat was missing, along with the Captain's papers, charts
and navigation equipment. Something
happened, but in over one hundred years, no one has been able to figure out
what that might be. Still, every few
years, another theory crops up, purporting to solve the mystery...
J. Habakuk Jephson's
Statement was written by Arthur Conan Doyle and published anonymously in Cornhill Magazine. At the time, Doyle was a ship's surgeon
aboard a whaling vessel and the legend of the Mary Celeste must have been well known to him. Here was a story ripe for the writing, begging
to be written, having all the mysterious elements ready and waiting to be exploited. All it needed was a tiny little name change, Mary becoming Marie.
The story that emerged was Doyle's imaginative solution to the puzzle, involving the American Civil War, slavery, deception, murder and a strangely carved stone that the protagonist was prudent in keeping and safeguarding. What is truly intriguing about Doyle's story, aside from criticism that it's some sort of racist diatribe, is the impact it had on the contemporary media. Newspapers actually re-published this made-up tale, re-printed as factual proof in regards to the Mary Celeste and the demise of her crew...much to Doyle's surprise.
The story that emerged was Doyle's imaginative solution to the puzzle, involving the American Civil War, slavery, deception, murder and a strangely carved stone that the protagonist was prudent in keeping and safeguarding. What is truly intriguing about Doyle's story, aside from criticism that it's some sort of racist diatribe, is the impact it had on the contemporary media. Newspapers actually re-published this made-up tale, re-printed as factual proof in regards to the Mary Celeste and the demise of her crew...much to Doyle's surprise.
I did not find the story offensive. I thought it was creative and original. If the author was trying to insert some sort
of subversive and negative message about Black folks, I did not see it, nor did
I feel it while enjoying the tale. It's
not as good as his later work, but it's still a good read. I have to laugh at the English though, their
lack of knowledge concerning American History brings a wry smile to my
face...Doyle got the timeline wrong when it comes to the Civil War...the Battle
of Gettysburg took place after Antietam...
Here's a first edition of Cornhill Magazine featuring J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement
In 1913, The Strand
Magazine published another "true" account of how Mary lost her crew...this time it comes from
"the papers" of the ship's lone survivor, Abel Fosdyk. It was a hoax, but the story makes for interesting
reading, especially the part about all those hungry sharks...