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Description

December 20, 1961

Yesterday, I was permitted access to the journals of Captain Cyrus Harding. These journals are a matter of tremendous debate among the kaijuzoological community.

What is known for a public fact is that in 1865, Harding - a Union captain in the American Civil War - teamed up with his servant Neb, fellow Union soldier Herbert Brown, and a Union war correspondent named Gideon Spillet, to escape a Confederate prison camp outside Richmond, Virginia using a great balloon. The balloon was one of a handful commissioned by the confederacy as an intended counter against the Union balloon corps, used for reconnaissance missions. Their escape was facilitated by a southern hostage named Pencroft, who bought his life by being the only one who knew how to pilot the craft. It was March 21st when they lifted off.

Their escape was both aided and hindered by the "Titanic Typhoon" of 1865, a gargantuan storm that swept across America in utterly brutal fashion. In fact, the storm blew the balloon so far and high that they rocketed completely across the country in no more than a week. When the five of them dipped below the clouds again, there was no land in sight - only the surface of the Pacific Ocean. After dumping absolutely everything of weight overboard - including the basket itself - they went down in the surf just off the coast of a small, uncharted island. The balloon drifted away without them, and was lost in the gale. By coincidence, shortly after landing, they met with the similarly-stranded Lady Mary Fairchild and her niece, Elena, whose ship was sank in the same storm. They named the place "Lincoln Island", in a fit of patriotism. The island was filled with food - not only were there very large oysters in the waters off the coast, but a population of goats lived in the island's interior, so food and water were not a problem.

What happened next is something of a mystery. The seven castaways sailed into San Francisco bay roughly 12 weeks later, on a derelict vessel that was coming apart at the seams. It broke up in the mouth of the bay, and sank into the sea, but every one of the castaways was ultimately rescued. The initial reports of their time on the island had a number of bizarre and fantastic claims, but later, most of them were recanted when an expedition to Lincoln Island determined that anything that had once been on the island was completely lost beneath a layer of freshly-hardening lava after a volcanic eruption.

The most widely-accepted account of events is that a pirate ship beached itself in the storm, and all hands aboard were lost. The survivors managed to patch the holes in the ship, and sail back to San Francisco. However, some of the castaways' accounts don't entirely add up, and some truly remarkable stories have been retold - that they ran into monsters on the island, that a sunken city lay just off the coast, that Captain Nemo himself used the island as a base after the destruction of Vulcania and the death of his crew. I have read the initial firsthand accounts, and I can now say what's true and what isn't.

According to the journals, Captain Harding indeed had a run-in with a number of remarkable creatures during his time on the island. The first extraordinary encounter was on the island's beach. A gigantic reddish crab, "As wide a small building" rose from beneath the sands and attacked the castaways. Poor Neb was plucked up in one enormous claw, but his friends fought back against the immense crustacean, forcing the crab onto its back with a number of makeshift spears. The beast dropped Neb in confusion. They then used the spears to tip the crab into a nearby geyser, instantly destroying the threat and providing them with an excellent meal.

Note: In light of the fact that the enormous crab was bred to serve as a "miracle food" to feed the hungry of the world, it remains something of a mystery as to what cost-effective solutions Nemo would propose to contain, feed, and slaughter such powerful and potentially dangerous animals.

Notes:

-Smooth external shell, reddish color - red rock crab? Dungeness crab? - Brown Crab!

-Tough shell, repulsed the castaways' spears with ease.

-Large pincers - strong enough to lift a human off the ground.

-More "erect" stance than most large land crabs, keeping main body off the sand - constantly in motion. Strong, but slow and somewhat clumsy.

-Loud clicking and creaking noises made when the crab was alive. Possibly joints?

-Claws' "grip" was not porportionately powerful - aside from a massive bruise, Neb sustained no serious injuries from the crab's claws.

-Reported to be absolutely delicious when boiled.

Reality check: this is the giant crab from the 1961 version of "Mysterious Island". I do not own the rights, etc, etc...

Description

December 20, 1961

Yesterday, I was permitted access to the journals of Captain Cyrus Harding. These journals are a matter of tremendous debate among the kaijuzoological community.

What is known for a public fact is that in 1865, Harding - a Union captain in the American Civil War - teamed up with his servant Neb, fellow Union soldier Herbert Brown, and a Union war correspondent named Gideon Spillet, to escape a Confederate prison camp outside Richmond, Virginia using a great balloon. The balloon was one of a handful commissioned by the confederacy as an intended counter against the Union balloon corps, used for reconnaissance missions. Their escape was facilitated by a southern hostage named Pencroft, who bought his life by being the only one who knew how to pilot the craft. It was March 21st when they lifted off.

Their escape was both aided and hindered by the "Titanic Typhoon" of 1865, a gargantuan storm that swept across America in utterly brutal fashion. In fact, the storm blew the balloon so far and high that they rocketed completely across the country in no more than a week. When the five of them dipped below the clouds again, there was no land in sight - only the surface of the Pacific Ocean. After dumping absolutely everything of weight overboard - including the basket itself - they went down in the surf just off the coast of a small, uncharted island. The balloon drifted away without them, and was lost in the gale. By coincidence, shortly after landing, they met with the similarly-stranded Lady Mary Fairchild and her niece, Elena, whose ship was sank in the same storm. They named the place "Lincoln Island", in a fit of patriotism. The island was filled with food - not only were there very large oysters in the waters off the coast, but a population of goats lived in the island's interior, so food and water were not a problem.

What happened next is something of a mystery. The seven castaways sailed into San Francisco bay roughly 12 weeks later, on a derelict vessel that was coming apart at the seams. It broke up in the mouth of the bay, and sank into the sea, but every one of the castaways was ultimately rescued. The initial reports of their time on the island had a number of bizarre and fantastic claims, but later, most of them were recanted when an expedition to Lincoln Island determined that anything that had once been on the island was completely lost beneath a layer of freshly-hardening lava after a volcanic eruption.

The most widely-accepted account of events is that a pirate ship beached itself in the storm, and all hands aboard were lost. The survivors managed to patch the holes in the ship, and sail back to San Francisco. However, some of the castaways' accounts don't entirely add up, and some truly remarkable stories have been retold - that they ran into monsters on the island, that a sunken city lay just off the coast, that Captain Nemo himself used the island as a base after the destruction of Vulcania and the death of his crew. I have read the initial firsthand accounts, and I can now say what's true and what isn't.

According to the journals, Captain Harding indeed had a run-in with a number of remarkable creatures during his time on the island. The first extraordinary encounter was on the island's beach. A gigantic reddish crab, "As wide a small building" rose from beneath the sands and attacked the castaways. Poor Neb was plucked up in one enormous claw, but his friends fought back against the immense crustacean, forcing the crab onto its back with a number of makeshift spears. The beast dropped Neb in confusion. They then used the spears to tip the crab into a nearby geyser, instantly destroying the threat and providing them with an excellent meal.

Note: In light of the fact that the enormous crab was bred to serve as a "miracle food" to feed the hungry of the world, it remains something of a mystery as to what cost-effective solutions Nemo would propose to contain, feed, and slaughter such powerful and potentially dangerous animals.

Notes:

-Smooth external shell, reddish color - red rock crab? Dungeness crab? - Brown Crab!

-Tough shell, repulsed the castaways' spears with ease.

-Large pincers - strong enough to lift a human off the ground.

-More "erect" stance than most large land crabs, keeping main body off the sand - constantly in motion. Strong, but slow and somewhat clumsy.

-Loud clicking and creaking noises made when the crab was alive. Possibly joints?

-Claws' "grip" was not porportionately powerful - aside from a massive bruise, Neb sustained no serious injuries from the crab's claws.

-Reported to be absolutely delicious when boiled.

Reality check: this is the giant crab from the 1961 version of "Mysterious Island". I do not own the rights, etc, etc...