CHAPTER 5 Gédéon de Crochemarre and the 1798 scientific expedition
2045 Words
CHAPTER 5 Gédéon de Crochemarre and the 1798 scientific expeditionHow could he find out more about these mysterious disappearances and deaths? Jules was deep in thought, with his mug of café au lait4 and slices of bread and butter untouched in front of him, when Madame Guillandou roused him from his daydream.
‘You’re awfully quiet this morning, dear! Did you have a bad night?’
‘Oh, no! I slept very well’, he answered, with a forced smile.
‘Oh, you’re bored! The truth is there isn’t a lot to do around here, compared to Paris. I noticed that you are interested in history and you like books. I’m not one to brag but I can tell you that even if it is a small town, a lot of things have happened here. No Pharaohs’ tombs have been discovered, she added with a laugh, but you might enjoy our historical connections. And there are quite a lot of caves around here too.
When he heard that, Jules looked up. He would be able to find the cave at last!
‘Good! It would keep me busy. There are still two months left before the end of the holidays.’
The cook was delighted at the interest her idea aroused and explained:
‘I have a friend who is a clerk at the Town Hall and who is in charge of the town archives as well. I can ask her, if you like. I’m sure she’ll be happy to help you. I’ll ask her this morning on my way to the market.’
‘Jolly good! That’s really nice of you, Madame Guillandou.’
Whereupon she took off her apron, hung it next to the stove, picked up her basket and before she left the kitchen said:
‘Are you coming, Ernestine?’
His mother hurried into the kitchen.
‘Here I am! Morning, sweetheart! Did you sleep well? I’m going to the market with Eglantine’, she said and scurried out after the cook.
Jules couldn’t wait for Madame Guillandou to be back. In order to keep himself busy and as he didn’t want to hang around the house all morning, he decided to set off in search of the dish which Barnabé had mentioned in his letter. But without a description of the object it was like looking for a needle in a haystack!
Logic and method. Jules pondered. Barnabé’s father may have kept sketches or photos. As he knew that nobody would be in his way, he went back into the study. He hadn’t been back since discovering the box. As Barnabé hadn’t destroyed them, the documents about that trip to Egypt were bound to be here somewhere.
It was not a very large room but Gédéon de Crochemarre, a renowned naturalist, had accumulated heaps of documents concerning his ample research. Piles of papers were stacked everywhere – the wooden shelves that went up to the ceiling were overflowing with them!
In the middle of the room stood a square piece of furniture the size of a table, its top covered with green leather. Underneath were a lot of small drawers with brass knobs. Intrigued, Jules opened one. Inside he found numerous glass boxes containing insects of all kinds, but also spiders, scorpions, pinned onto small white pieces of cardboard… He couldn’t believe his eyes!
He began to open all the drawers. A number of species were totally unknown to him. Each bug was meticulously classified by family and carefully pinned with the name of the species to which it belonged. The butterflies had amazing iridescent and metallic colours, as did some beetles. The spiders were of impressive sizes. The scariest of all were the scorpions! As he was examining them, he realized one was missing. The pin was still in place with the following inscription: ‘Androctonus Crassicauda, Egypt?’Could it be the scorpion mentioned by Barnabé and his father? The one from the box. Jules reasoned to himself – it couldn’t be, it had to be dead and reduced to dust after all these years.
He banished the stupid thought from his mind and resumed his investigation. He was here to find clues about the dish. On the shelves there was nothing about the 1798 expedition, but he realized what a great naturalist Gédéon de Crochemarre had been. He had travelled around the world looking for rare species or ones that had not been described yet. He had written accounts of his travels in logbooks illustrated with sketches. So many thrilling adventures to tell his son! His own father also told him about his crossings, the towns where they landed. He felt like he was travelling with him.But it was all gone forever now, he thought gloomily.
So, come on! All that remained for him to do now was to check the desk. He opened all the drawers but they only contained instruments or blank papers. He pulled on the knob of the last drawer. It was locked!
‘It must be here!’ he thought to himself, ‘Otherwise, why lock it? It can’t be anywhere else!’
A tinge of excitement came over him. But how could he open it? He saw a letter opener on the desk and remembered how his father had had to pick the lock of his writing desk one day because he had lost the key. He grabbed it and tried to do the same. However it wasn’t that easy! He had to try again and again. After struggling for at least a quarter of an hour, the lock eventually gave way. Victory! But he was stunned when he found the drawer was … empty!
‘It can’t be!’ he said aloud, angry and very disappointed.
He pulled himself together.
‘Just keep calm and think it over. Who would lock an empty drawer? There has to be something else!’
He started to slide the drawer open. When he pulled it off, he was surprised at its weight as it was supposed to be empty. He put it on the floor.
‘What’s…! Of course!’ he cried, recalling a short story he had read in a newspaper. ‘It must be a false bottom!’
His fingers nervously slipped along the inner edges. At last he felt something. He seized the letter opener and used it as a lever. The wooden bottom came loose.
‘I knew it!’ he said triumphantly.
Inside was a notebook and handwritten sheets. On the first page it said: “Egyptian expedition, Commission des Arts et des Sciences, 1798 by Gédéon de Crochemarre, naturalist”.
‘There were numerous sketches of animals, insects. When he leafed through it, Jules saw the sketch of the missing scorpion. It looked exactly like the one he had captured! Under the sketch there were annotations: “Androctonus Crassicauda, species belonging to the Buthidae (Arachnida) family. What’s it doing here, in Egypt? Species indigenous to Iran (Persia). Must check it when I get back”. Clearly that business about a scorpion pursued him! He, who had no particular love for those bugs!
From his pocket he took out the sheet of paper where he jotted down each new clue and wrote: “Scorpion?”. Then he put it away and continued leafing through the notebook. There weren’t any sketches on the last pages. They were handwritten, like a logbook, and dated May 1801.
May 1st, 1801
After the discovery of the Rosetta stone last year the Commission des Sciences et des Arts was asked to continue the excavations across the Nile Delta. The English have stolen the stone from us, so it is essential for the Consulate that we make a new and as significant a discovery. We went as far as Bubastis and this morning we found the entrance to a tomb that has never been recorded until now.
We may be on the brink of a major discovery?
May 2nd, 1801
Late in the afternoon yesterday we managed to go inside the tomb. What a formidable feeling it is to know we are the first to go into a place that has been locked up for so many years! Now I understand what my fellow archaeologists feel.
It’s absolutely fabulous! The tomb was actually dedicated to cats. I knew cats were considered sacred animals in Egypt and that they were entitled to funeral rituals when they died. However the mummies found here testify to a very special interest in them.
The frescoes painted on the walls tell their story. It seems they played a prominent part in sending a kind of monster back into its world. We haven’t been able to decipher everything yet, it’s been a long night.
As for Ernest, he has found two rather strange objects that don’t seem to belong here. They are much older and probably come from Persia. We’ll have to ask our fellow archaeologists to confirm it. I’ll draw sketches of all of our findings tomorrow.
May 3rd, 1801
We had to stop excavating the site. Ernest is in a very bad way indeed. It seems he has contracted the plague which is now spreading all over Egypt. He doesn’t show any of the symptoms, though. He cut himself quite badly with one of the artefacts we found yesterday – probably with a horn of the antelope at the bottom of the rhyton, a kind of drinking vessel used for animal sacrifices. This morning I had a look at the wound which has become very infected. We are to see a doctor this afternoon. I’m really worried about Ernest. He’s running a very high temperature and is delirious. He has started talking to us in another language, which sounds like Avestan. But he knows nothing about it!
May 4th, 1801
The doctor couldn’t save Ernest. He died an atrocious death last night. His face remained rigid with a look of abject terror. It was horrible. When he passed away, he yelled that he didn’t want her to take him away. He was delirious again because of the high temperature. But in a final moment of lucidity he grabbed me by my shirt, looking terrified. I had never seen a man so frightened, even when facing death. He uttered this sentence that I will never forget: ‘I beg you, don’t let that monster take my soul! Have mercy, Gédéon! Help me!’. I was about to urge him to calm down when he gave a yell of terror and it was over.
Strangest of all – but I must have imagined it – was the light that seemed to come out of his mouth when he died. And then there was also a fly, belonging to the Calliphora Vomitoria species, which flew out of his mouth. A naturalist worthy of the name should not feel that way, but for the first time in my life I found that insect hideous and repelling!
I have asked to go back to France ahead of schedule. My request has been accepted. I’m leaving tomorrow. In exchange, the Commission has asked me to bring back all of the objects Ernest and I have found and to study them, particularly the two artefacts. Perhaps I shouldn’t bring them back…
May 5th, 1801
This morning, before boarding the ship, I had a strange encounter. An Egyptian came to see me. He said that he wanted to warn me, that I shouldn’t bring home the two artefacts that were not Egyptian.
I asked him how he knew about them. He answered that it didn’t matter, but if I didn’t want to end up like my friend, I’d better give him the objects. He seemed to be sincere but some soldiers saw him talking to me and drove him away. I heard him shouting that I mustn’t translate the inscriptions engraved on them and that I had to destroy them.
I don’t know what to think anymore! My scientific reasoning tells me not to listen to that man … they’re just ancient beliefs … but I must confess that I have a feeling of foreboding.
The diary ended there. Jules closed the notebook. The further he progressed in his investigation, the more ominous the whole story became! He was roused from his dark thoughts by the voice of the cook who was looking for him. It was noon already! He had lost track of time.
After sliding the bookcase back in place, he went down to join Madame Guillandou and his mother in the kitchen. The former was emptying the contents of her basket on the table.
‘I saw my friend and it’s agreed. You can spend the afternoon at the archives. Tell her I sent you. The records room is in the town hall. Are you pleased?’ she asked cheerfully.
‘Yes, very! Thanks a lot, Madame Guillandou!’ he answered, delighted.
‘You can call me Eglantine, dear.’
‘All right! Can I help you?’
‘Yes please, dear! I’m running late and I’ve got to cook lunch …We’ll make a meat and potato pie!’
Jules was already looking forward to it.
4
white coffee
- Writer
