02 - Lost Continent (Beyond Thirty) by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Originally published as Beyond Thirty, this gripping novel transports readers to the year 2137, where the haunting shadows of World War I have reshaped the world. In this dystopian future, Europe has spiraled into chaos and barbarism, while the Western Hemisphere remains an isolated sanctuary untouched by devastation. The title, Beyond Thirty, alludes to the mysterious line of longitude that the inhabitants of this sheltered region are strictly forbidden to cross. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter two of the Lost Continent. This LibriVox recording is
in the public domain recording by Lucy Lefaro The Lost
Continent by Edgar Riisburrough's Chapter two. What could it mean?
I had left Alvarez in command? He was my most

(00:21):
loyal subordinate. It was absolutely beyond the pale of possibility
that Alvarez should desert me. No, there was some other explanation.
Something occurred to place my second officer, Porphyrio Johnson in command.
I was sure of it. But why speculate? The futility

(00:44):
of conjecture was only too palpable. The cold water had
abandoned us in mid ocean. Doubtless none of us would
survive to know why. The young man at the wheel
of the power boat had turned her about as it
became evident that the ship intended passing over us, and

(01:05):
now he still held her in futile pursuit of the
cold water. Bring her about, Snyder, I directed, and hold
her due east. We can't catch the cold water, and
we can't cross the Atlantic. In this our only hope
lies in making the nearest land, which, unless I am mistaken,

(01:28):
is the Silly Islands off the southwest coast. Of England.
Ever heard of England? Snyder? There's a part of the
United States of North America that used to be known
to the ancients as New England. He replied, Is that
where you mean, sir, No, Snyder, I replied. The England

(01:49):
I referred to was an island off the continent of Europe.
It was the seat of a very powerful kingdom that
flourished over two hundred years go. A part of the
United States of North America and all of the Federated
States of Canada once belonged to this ancient England Europe,

(02:13):
breathed one of the men, his voice tense with excitement.
My grandfather used to tell me stories of the world
beyond thirty. He had been a great student, and he
had read much from forbidden books, in which I resemble
your grandfather, I said, for I too have read more

(02:37):
even than naval offices are supposed to read. And as
you men know, we are permitted a greater latitude in
a study of geography and history than men of other professions.
Among the books and papers of Admiral Porter Turk, who
lived two hundred years ago and from whom I am descended,

(03:00):
many volumes still exist, and are in my possession, which
deal with the history and geography of ancient Europe. Usually
I bring several of these books with me upon a cruise,
and this time, among others, I have maps of Europe
and her surrounding waters. I was studying them as we

(03:21):
came away from the cold water this morning, and luckily
I have them with me. You are going to try
to make Europe, sir, asked Taylor, the young man who
had last spoken. It is the nearest land, I replied,
I have always wanted to explore the forgotten lands of
the Eastern Hemisphere. Here is our chance. To remain at

(03:44):
sea is to perish. None of us ever will see
home again. Let us make the best of it and
enjoy while we do live that which is forbidden, the
balance of our race, the adventure and the mystery which
lie beyond thirty Taylor and el Carte seize the spirit

(04:04):
of my mood. But Snyder, I think was a trifle skeptacal.
It is treason, Sir, I replied, But there is no
law which compels us to visit punishment upon ourselves. Could
we return to Pan America. I should be the first
to insist that we face it, But we know that's

(04:27):
not possible, even if this craft would carry us. So
far we haven't enough water or food for more than
three days. We are doomed, Snyder, to die far from
home and without ever again looking upon the face of
another fellow countryman than those who sit here and now

(04:50):
in this boat. Isn't that punishment sufficient for even the
most exacting judge? Even Snyder had to admit that it
was very well? Then let us live while we live,
and enjoy to the fullest, whatever of adventure or pleasure

(05:13):
each new day brings, since any day may be our last,
and we shall be dead for a considerable while. I
could see that Snyder was still fearful, but Taylor and
el Carte responded with a hearty aye ay, sir. They
were of different mold. Both were sons of naval officers.

(05:37):
They represented the aristocracy of birth, and they dared to
think for themselves. Snyder was in the minority. And so
we continued toward the east, beyond thirty and separated from
my ship. My authority ceased. I held leadership, if I

(06:01):
was to hold it at all, by virtue of personal
qualifications only. But I did not doubt my ability to
remain the director of our destinies in so far as
they were amenable to human agencies. I have always led,
while my brain and brawn remain unimpaired. I shall continue

(06:25):
always to lead. Following is an art which Turks do
not easily learn. It was not until the third day
that we raised land dead ahead, which I took from
my map to be the Isles of Scilly. But such

(06:46):
a gale was blowing that I did not dare attempt
to land, and so we passed to the north of them,
skirted Land's end, and entered the English Channel. I think
that up to that moment I had never experienced such
a thrill as passed through me when I realized that
I was navigating these historic waters. The lifelong dreams that

(07:11):
I never had dared hope to see fulfilled were at
last a reality. But under what forlorn circumstances? Never could
I return to my native land. To the end of
my days, I must remain in exile. Yet even these

(07:31):
thoughts failed to dampen my ardor my eyes scanned the waters.
To the north, I could see the rock bound coast
of Cornwall. Mine were the first American eyes to rest
upon it. For more than two hundred years in Vain.
I searched for some sign of ancient commerce, that, if

(07:54):
history is to be believed, must have dotted the bosom
of the channel with why sails and blackened the heavens
with the smoke of countless funnels. But as far as
the eye could reach, the tossing waters of the channel
were empty and deserted. Toward midnight, the wind and sea abated,

(08:18):
so that shortly after dawn I determined to make inshore
in an attempt to effect a landing, for we were
sadly in need of fresh water and food. According to
my observations, we were just off ram Head, and it
was my intention to enter Plymouth Bay and visit Plymouth.

(08:41):
From my map it appeared that this city lay back
from the coast a short distance, and there was another
city given as Devonport, which appeared to lie at the
mouth of the river Tamar. However, I knew that it
would make little difference which city we entered, as the

(09:02):
English people were famed of old for their hospitality towards
visiting mariners. As we approached the mouth of the bay,
I looked for the fishing craft which I expected to
see emerging thus early in the day for their labors.
But even after we rounded Ramhead and were well within

(09:23):
the waters of the bay, I saw no vessel. Neither
was there buoy, nor light, nor any other mark to
show larger ships the channel, and I wondered much at this.
The coast was densely overgrown, nor was any building or

(09:44):
sign of man apparent from the water up the bay
and into the River Tamar. We motored through a solitude
as unbroken as that which rested upon the waters of
the channel. For all we could see, there was no
indication that man had ever set his foot upon this
silent coast. I was nonplussed, and then for the first

(10:08):
time there crept over me an intuition of the truth.
Here was no sign of war as far as this
portion of the Devon coast was concerned. That seemed to
have been over for many years. But neither were there
any people. Yet I could not find it within myself

(10:30):
to believe that I should find no inhabitants in England.
Reasoning thus, I discovered that it was improbable that a
state of war still existed, and that the people all
had been drawn from this portion of England to some
other where they might better defend themselves against an invader.

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But what of their ancient coast defenses? What was there
here in Plymouth Bay to prevent an army landing in
force and marching where they wished nothing. I could not
believe that any enlightened military nation, such as the ancient
English are reputed to have been, would have voluntarily so

(11:17):
deserted an exposed coast and an excellent harbor to the
mercies of an enemy. I found myself becoming more and
more deeply involved in quandary. The puzzle which confronted me
I could not unravel. We had landed, and I now

(11:41):
stood upon the spot where, according to my map, a
large city should rear its spires and chimneys. There was
nothing but rough, broken ground, covered densely with weeds and
brambles and tall rank grass. Had a city ever stood there,
no sign of it remained. The roughness and unevenness of

(12:03):
the ground suggested something of a great, massive debris, hidden
by the accumulation of centuries of undergrowth. I drew the
short cutlass with which both officers and men of the
navy are as you know, armed out of courtesy to
the traditions and memories of the past, and with its point,
dug into the loam about the roots of the vegetation,

(12:27):
Going at my feet. The blade entered the soil for
a matter of seven inches when it struck upon something
stone like. Digging about the obstacle, I presently loosened it,
and when I had withdrawn it from its sepulcher, I
found the thing to be an ancient brick of clay
baked in an oven. Del Carte we had left in

(12:52):
charge of the boat, but Snyder and Taylor were with me, and,
following my example, each engaged in the fascinating sport of
prospecting for antiques. Each of us uncovered a great number
of these bricks, until we commenced to weary of the
monotony of it. When Snyder suddenly gave an exclamation of excitement,

(13:16):
and as I turned to look, he held up a
human skull for my inspection. I took it from him
and examined it. Directly in the center of the forehead
was a small round hole. The gentleman had evidently come
to his end defending his country from an invader. Snyder

(13:37):
again held aloft another trophy of the search, a metal
spike and some tarnished and corroded metal ornaments they had
lain close beside the skull. With the point of his cutlass,
Snyder scraped the dirt and verdigree from the face of
the larger ornament inscription, he said, and handed the thing

(14:02):
to me. They were the spike and ornaments of an
ancient German helmet. Before long we had uncovered many other
indications that a great battle had been fought upon the
ground where we stood. But I was then and still
am at loss to account for the presence of German

(14:23):
soldiers upon the English coast so far from London, which
history suggests would have been the natural goal of an invader.
I can only account for it by assuming that either
England was temporarily conquered by the Teutons, or that an
invasion of so vast proportions was undertaken, that German troops

(14:47):
were hurled upon the England coast in huge numbers, and
that landings were necessarily effected at many places simultaneously. Subsequent
discovery tend to strengthen this view. We dug about for
a short time with our cutlasses, until I became convinced

(15:08):
that a city had stood upon the spot at some
time in the past, and that beneath our feet crumbled
and dead lay ancient Devenport. I could not repress a
sigh the thought of the Havoc War had wrought in
this part of England. At least farther east, nearer London,
we should find things very different. There would be the

(15:32):
civilization that two centuries must have wrought upon our English cousins,
as they had upon us. There would be mighty cities,
cultivated fields, happy people. There we would be welcomed as
long lost brothers. There would we find a great nation
anxious to learn of the world beyond their side of thirty,

(15:55):
as I had been anxious to learn of that which
lay beyond our side of the day dead line. I
turned back toward the boat. Come then, I said, we
will go up the river and fill our casks with
fresh water, search for food and fuel, and then to
morrow be in readiness to push on toward the east.

(16:16):
I am going to London. End of Chapter two