SYMMES' THEORY.
JOHN WELD PECK,
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW, CINCINNATI, OHIO.
I want, if I can, to carry you back to
the day when the
West was new, when the outposts of the
nation were on the
Mississippi; when the boundless forests
were scarred but here
and there with clearings; when
Cincinnati, the thriving town
between Third street and the river was
the undoubted and un-
rivaled Queen City of the West. Those
were the days of strong
men. The War of 1812 was just over. The
pioneer, the path-
finder, the surveyor, the Indian
fighter, the Revolutionary vet-
eran-and he of the second British
war-such men as Return J.
Meigs, Duncan McArthur, Jacob Burnet,
Nathaniel Massie and
Robert Lucas were in the high places in
the hearts of the people;
the day when education was scant and
difficult, when schools
were far apart, and colleges were just
beginning to point their
spires to the western sky. In those days
religion found greater
depth in the souls of men than the
shallow soundings of today.
New lands, new settlements, new dangers,
the problems of a new
civilization developed strong minds,
created original intellects
and imaginations not imprisoned by the
four sides of a safe
deposit box nor slipped in between the
thumbed pages of a de-
posit book. And it was in that day of
strength and crudity that
lived the man who promulgated the
daring, ingenious theory of
cosmography, which in the light of
better learning we know
as the absurd, foolish theory of
"Symmes' Hole."
The Theory of Concentric Spheres! We all
remember the
shaft in the park at Hamilton bearing
the globe open through the
poles, commemorating Captain John Cleves
Symmes and his
theory-keeping in memory a man who
believed that the world
is hollow and habitable within, and that
there are great holes at
the poles through which one may get down
on to the inner side !
Captain John Cleves Symmes, he of the
theory of Eccen-
28
Symmes' Theory. 29
tric Spheres was a nephew of that other
of the same name who
was the original proprietor of all the
land hereabouts. Both
were born in the state of New Jersey but
the author of our
theory, after a common school education,
joined in 1804 the
United States Army. He served at the
frontier posts, being
gradually promoted to a first
lieutenancy. He was a man of
spirit as he proved by the code. At a
garrison near Natchez an-
other officer circulated a report that
Symmes was not a gentle-
man, for which Symmes, to demonstrate
the contrary, tweaked
his brother officer's nose publicly on
the parade ground. The
affair came off straightway in which
Symmes grievously wounded
his opponent and himself received a
wound that stiffened his
left wrist for life. He was standing
properly enough, his right
side to his opponent, presenting the
least possible mark, but
carelessly allowing his left arm to
dangle, instead of supporting
it akimbo, hand on hip, as all
authorities on duelling agree should
be done. His opponent's ball went
slightly wild, passed sidewise
through the seat of Symmes' trousers and
pierced the dangling
wrist beyond.
In the war of 1812 Symmes commanded
a company with
bravery, skill and gallantry, especially
at the battle of Lundy's
Lane for which he was honorably
mentioned. At the close of
the war he continued in the army until
about 1816 when he re-
signed to take up life at the frontier
village, at the mouth of
the Missouri known as St. Louis. There
he engaged under the
license of the government, in supplying
the frontier troops and
in trading with the Indians. As becomes
a soldier he married
a soldier's widow-not deterred by her
six children, a flock
that soon grew to ten. And it was while
at the trading post
in the wilderness that he first evolved,
or at least, first announced
the hypothesis of which I write. How
long he had entertained
these views, what length of time he had
devoted to the study
of the subject, what books inspired it
or how or why the mind
of the frontier soldier and trader was
turned to the subject, I
am at a loss to discover. He announced
his idea in no diffident
nor uncertain terms. Listen to this:
30 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
CIRCULAR.
"Light gives light to light
discover ad infinitum.
"ST. Louis, MISSOURI TERRITORY,
NORTH AMERICA, April 10, 1818.
I declare the earth is hollow, habitable
within; containing a num-
ber of solid concentrick spheres; one
within the other, and that it is
open at the pole twelve or sixteen
degrees. I pledge my life in support
of this truth, and am ready to explore
the hollow if the world will
support and aid me in the undertaking.
JOHN CLEVES SYMMES OF OHIO,
Late Captain of Infantry.
"N. B. I have ready for the press a
treatise on the principles of
Matter, wherein I show proofs of the
above proposition, account for
various phenomina, and disclose Dr.
Darwin's 'Golden Secret.'
"My terms are the patronage of this
and the new world, I dedi-
cate to my wife and her ten children.
"I select Dr. S. L. Mitchell, Sir
H. Davy and Baron Alexander Von
Humbolt as my protectors. I ask one
hundred brave companions, well
equipped to start from Siberia, in the
fall season, with reindeer and
sledges, on the ice of the frozen sea; I
engage we find a warm and rich
land, stocked with thrifty vegetables
and animals, if not men, on reaching
one degree northward of latitude 82; we
will return in the succeeding
spring. J. C. S."
This modest document was mailed to all
institutions of learn-
ing in America and to many in Europe and
generally circulated
as well. It is to be noted that Symmes
had apparently already
worked out his theory in detail as
afterwards published. His
statement of the extent of the polar
opening, his proposed point
and season of departure, his promise to
find good lands and life
one degree north of 82°, all
agree with the detail of his system
as published later and show that he did
not make his announce-
ment first and then manufacture his
argument to support it. He
followed his circular with several
newspaper articles elaborating
his theory. Soon afterward and during
the same year he moved
to Newport, Ky., and continued to devote
himself to the preach-
ing of his doctrine. In 1824 he moved to
Hamilton. He found
not a few believers as time went on
among whom the foremost,
he who became Symmes patron and his
collaborator, was James
McBride, of Hamilton.
Symmes' Theory. 31
James McBride was no ordinary man. He
was highly re-
spected and held many positions of trust
in his community. He
was one of the commissioners for the
laying out of the Miami
and Erie Canal. He had gathered together
a library that was
enormous, for the West in those days,
said to have contained
6,ooo volumes. He was a member of the
board of trustees of
Miami University and years later, at the
time of his death, he
was president of the board. He had
literary ability of a high
order, as shown by his sketches of the
lives of some of the
pioneers of the locality.
James McBride became a convert to the
doctrine of Symmes
and used his able pen in arranging and
elaborating Symmes
somewhat disorderly argument. The result
was a little treatise
on the subject from the press of Morgan,
Lodge and Fisher,
Cincinnati, 1826.
"Symmes Theory of Concentric
Spheres, demonstrating that
the earth is hollow, habitable within
and widely open about the
poles-by A Citizen of the United
States."
"There are more things in heaven
and earth, Horatio, than
are dreamt of in your philosophy,"
quotes the title page from
Shakespeare.
The author undertakes to set forth the
theory without assert-
ing its truth, disclaiming scientific
ability to pass upon it, inviting
criticism, but requesting any who assert
its fallacy to furnish some
other rational and satisfactory
explanation of the facts advanced.
For an audience the author pleads that
the unknown in-
spires the known in nature; that a space
of 40° of our planet is
unknown; that formerly the ancients
considered the torrid zone
to be an impassable, uninhabited waste;
that an all-wise Provi-
dence would not have created so vast a
surface to be perpetually
clothed with mountains of ice; that
Galileo's discoveries were
received as heresies, those of Newton as
the ravings of a mad
man. And the author wonders if we, in
our own day, are not
under something of the same influence
that brought earlier
philosophers to the torture and the
prison.
And now let us look at the theory
itself. Let us view it not
as we would the work of an erudite,
trained scientist; but let
32
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
us remember it was the offspring of the
brain of the frontier
soldier.
The fundamental thought or idea seems to
have been that
unformed matter in rotation tends to
form itself into concentric
spheres. It is argued that centrifugal
force has a tendency to
throw rotating matter from the axis;
while gravity, on the other
hand, has a tendency to hold the mass
together. The result must
be that the matter is projected on all
sides a certain distance from
the axis, when the projecting
centrifugal force will be overcome
by the force of gravity, and a balance
established. This balance
between centrifugal force and gravity
will hold or sustain all
parts of the revolving mass at a certain
distance from the axis
on which it revolves. Therefore a
nebular mass in rotation, as
our earth during its formation, will not
assume the form of a
solid sphere, but rather of a hollow
one. That if the matter
be thus laterally thrown from the axis
it follows that the sphere
formed must be open at the ends of the
axis or poles. That,
therefore, assuming matter to have been
at one time whirling
masses of unformed substance it must
have assumed the form
of hollow spheres open at the poles.
That not only would there
be hollow spheres open about the poles
but the same principle
would tend to create hollow spheres
within hollow spheres.
This theory Symmes applies not only to
our earth but to
the entire universe. Space is filled
with microscopically invisible
hollow spheres of aether--which by their
elasticity hold the
planets of the universe in place. In
other words we live in a
sort of a rubber ball universe in which
the elastic hollow spheres
of aether are so pushed as by their
elasticity to hold in place the
heavenly bodies. This expansive quality
in the molecules which
constitutes the aerial fluid creates a pushing
instead of a pulling
power which is the real principle of gravity. Two years ago
in a budget read before the Cincinnati
Literary Club the author
of a paper referred to gravity as a
power of repulsion rather than
of attraction. At that time the author
of that paper did not
know that the same idea had been put
forth by Symmes nearly
a century ago. If gravity is a force of
mutual attraction,
Symmes argues, what holds the bodies of
this universe apart?
Why do they not all in obedience to
their natural tendency rush
Symmes' Theory. 33
together? But be gravity a theory of
attraction or of repulsion,
it matters not to Symmes' theory of the
universe. It will work
equally well upon either hypothesis.
The earth when revolving in a state of
chaos threw off the
heavier materials first and farthest
-for with them the centri-
fugal force would overcome gravity to
the greatest extent. That
centrifugal force will overcome gravity
the author demonstrates
by such familiar experiments as a bucket
of water swung about
in the air, or the stone thrown from the
sling-shot of a boy. The
concentric tendency of rotating matter
is illustrated by water
poured on a revolving grindstone. A cup
of sand revolved, will
shape itself into concentric rings.
Steel filings on a paper drawn
to a magnet held underneath the paper
will form concentric
circles. Meteors falling to the earth
give evidence of having
been concentric spheres. One noted by
Professor Silleman of
Yale College which fell in Connecticut
in 1807,
made three dis-
tinct leaps and gave three violent
reports and some of its frag-
ments were concave. Evidently it was a
triple concentric sphere,
each bound and report indicating the
bursting of one of its
constituent globes.
Symmes points to the fact that nature is
an economist of
matter. That she uses hollow materials
where they serve her
purpose as well as solid. Is not the
stalk of the grain, the quill
of the pinion, the bone of the animal,
even each hair of the
head, hollow?
To those who see something of the
sacrilegious in thus un-
dermining God's footstool, the author
says: "I can not discover
anything derogatory from His infinite
power, wisdom, or divine
economy, in the formation of a hollow
world and concentric
spheres any more than that of solid
ones. I should rather be
of the opinion that a construction of
all the orbs in creation on
a plan corresponding with Symmes'
theory, would display
the highest possible degree of
perfection, wisdom and goodness,
the most perfect system of creative
economy-and, (as Dr.
Mitchell expresses it), a great saving
of stuff."
The Dr. Mitchell referred to is probably
the same whom
Symmes selected as a patron, along with
Davy and Von Hum-
Vol. XVIII-3.
34
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
boldt; the New York scientist and
miscellaneous writer of the
first quarter of the last century, and
editor of the New York
Repository. No doubt this facetious
remark is quoted from some
article in his magazine.
It is interesting to know that Symmes is
not the only one
who has believed this planet a series of
concentric spheres. Ed-
mund Halley, the celebrated English
astronomer of the early
eighteenth century, averred the
probability of an inner sphere.
Leonhardt Euler, the great mathematician
of Basle, who died in
1783, accepted Halley's theory and went
further in asserting that
the inner sphere might be luminous and
thus light and warm
the inner surface of the outer crust,
and he further inferred
that the interior might be inhabited.
Whether the works of
these writers came to Symmes' knowledge
before he announced
his theory from the frontier town is not
known. That they
were known to James McBride appears in
his book; but he
was a bookworm-he had a considerable
library at command
and it is probable that Symmes first
heard of Euler's and
Halley's theories after McBride had
become a convert to his
own and had delved into all the
available books on the subject.
But neither Halley nor Euler had
conceived the polar openings.
The credit for that conception is due
Symmes alone.
Now applying his theory to our own
planet Symmes argued
it to be a series of five spheres of
which our crust is the out-
ermost. The opening at the north pole is
four thousand miles
across, that at the south pole is six
thousand. The outer crust
of the earth is about a thousand miles
thick giving a wide rim
or verge some 1500 miles around.
The rim or verge being so
wide, and its curvature being gradual,
would not be apparent
to the voyager, who might pass from the
outer side of the
earth over the rim and down upon the
inner side a great dis-
tance before becoming aware of the fact
at all. The polar rim
is not cut off square at the top and
bottom of the planet but
at a slight angle to the perpendicular
with our axis- about
twelve degrees. In other words the rim
is higher on one side
than on the other. North of Lapland at
about 9o° is the highest
point of the northern rim, and the
lowest is in Alaska. A curious
but seemingly essential part of the
theory is that the meridians
Symmes' Theory.
35
of latitude upon reaching the verge must
wind around the rim
converging on the highest point. The
verge or rim is marked
by certain distinguishing features.
Along the verge is the re-
gion of the highest tides, as those of
Labrador, for instance.
These are obviously caused by the
simultaneous rise of the tide
of the inner and the outer ocean, and
the meeting of the two.
The rim is also marked by a zone of ice
and snow, by that im-
possible Arctic belt beyond which men
imagine all to be a frozen
waste. Here is the zone where no
vegetation but moss exists.
Here is also to be noted a belt of
volcanoes encircling the globe,
including those of Alaska and Iceland.
When a high northern latitude is reached
the Aurora
Borealis appears to the southward as
many explorers have tes-
tified. The voyager is then upon or
within the verge. The
compass then forsakes the star and
varies so that at times the
needle turns nearly round, for the verge
is the region of mag-
netic attraction. Each of the various
spheres is inhabited both
upon its inner and its outer side;
warmed, lighted and watered.
This is what the author argues our
planet should be on the
principles of centrifugal force and
gravity (using neither his
own or Newton's). He then adduces his
evidence to show that
it is so.
First he reasons by analogy to the other
planets of our sys-
tem. Saturn has his concentric rings.
Does not their existence
demonstrate the principle of
concentricity in nature beyond a
peradventure? Mars exhibits concentric
circles at the poles-
they are alternately light and dark
-unquestionably the verges
and intervening spaces of the concentric
spheres of that planet.
In the horns of Venus the author has
also evidence of his
principle. While Jupiter never presents
his poles to us he dis-
plays four belts, dark and light
alternately, and what can they
be but the shadows cast on the spaces
between the polar open-
ings of each sphere and the adjoining
one?
The sun never shows his poles, but the
spots on the sun
may be accounted for by fractures of the
outer crust through
which the inner sphere shines less
brilliantly.
How else can you account for these
things? On what theory
36
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
then is it possible to explain the horns
of Venus, the belts of
Jupiter, the circle of Mars and the
rings of Saturn?
Symmes then brings forward some curious
facts in regard
to the migration of animals - for which
he refers to and
cites the published narratives of
travelers and Arctic explorers.
These all go to prove that there is a
land beyond the frozen
Arctic belt, whither some beasts, fowls
and fish go at the ap-
proach of winter and whence they return
in the spring sleek
and fat. Whales, mackerel and herring
come down from the
north in the spring in schools at their
best and fattest--but
are never known to go north again--at
least not in shoals.
The frozen zone could not produce nor
sustain them. Ob-
viously they came over the rim from the
fair country within the
earth! Why does the seal go north twice
a year, once to pro-
duce its young and again to complete its
growth? If to the
frozen waste, why does it come back fat?
Reindeer come
down from the north in great droves in
the early spring in
good condition. In October they recede
to the northward.
The musk oxen and the polar bear also
retreat northwardly in
winter - indeed even the northernmost
Indians do not know
the winter haunts of the latter. But in
the spring they come
south bringing their young with them.
The same is true of
the Arctic fox.
For these facts the author is careful to
cite his authorities.
They prove to him that there must be
land and food within
the pole--better land than ours, for is
not the reindeer the
largest of deer and the polar bear the
largest of bear? He
calls to witness also the blue geese
that lay and hatch beyond
the icy barrier in a region no man
knows. Witness also the
open polar sea known to exist beyond
latitude 80°. The Baffin
Bay Indians discovered by Captain Ross,
pointed to the north-
ward as their home and were under the
evident impression that
the south was a region of great cold.
One of the most ingenious arguments of
the work is that
founded upon the Magellanic clouds. They
are two in num-
ber-or perhaps one is so divided that
three may fairly be
counted. They are apparent only at night
and from the South
Atlantic, or the region of the Straits
of Magellan, whence their
Symmes' Theory. 37
name. These are, of course, now known to
be merely two
cloud like patches of nebulous stars in
the pole of the Milky
Way. They were first scientifically
studied by Sir J. F. Her-
schel.in 1834, and their nature was
accordingly unknown at the
time of Symmes' announcement. They are,
according to
Symmes, irregular in shape, seen in the
South Atlantic ocean,
perpetually fixed, luminous because seen
only at night. These
are, he says, the reflections in the sky
of New Zealand, New
Holland and Van Dieman's land seen across
the rim! As the
planets reflect light so do these great
continental islands. They
are located just about on the southern
verge or rim. To one
stationed in the South Atlantic at or
near the Straits of Magel-
lan looking across the verge or polar
opening the reflections of
these lands in the sky present the
phenomena known as the
Magellanic clouds. While these clouds
are visible only at night
in the South Atlantic, the sun is then
shining on the great
islands on the opposite side of the rim,
and hence their reflec-
tion in the sky.
How
can the variation of the needle be explained by
Symmes' theory? By it assuming the polar verge to be
the region of attraction it is obvious
that when the verge is
reached the needle will swing. And so
Parry, the explorer,
found it to point at one place within 14°
degrees of south.
The question most asked of Symmes by his
hearers was,
no doubt, how the interior of the earth
was to be provided with
light and heat. His answer to that is
most ingenious. The
opening at the north pole is four
thousand one hundred and
fifty miles in width at an angle of 12°
to the perpendicular to
the earth's axis. Therefore the sun's
rays would fall within
as far as 18° on the inner
surface of the high side. But when
the sun is at the northern tropic its
rays would slant 23½° more,
or a total of 411/2° within.
So that there would only be 26° be-
tween that and the equator, which would
not receive direct
light. Then the twilight zone itself is
15°-which would
bring light almost to the equator
without the aid of reflection
or refraction. The southern polar
opening being much larger,
the sun would fall within 101/2° of
the equator when it is at the
tropic of Capricorn. But direct light is
unnecessary for the in-
38 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
terior would be illuminated by a soft,
brilliant light by reflec-
tion from the concave side and the inner
sphere. The interior
light would in quality resemble
moonlight, but would be equal
to 36,000 "moon-power." In
fact the reader is rather im-
pressed with the idea that the light on
the interior must be too
bright for comfort and that blue glasses
would be an excellent
article of commerce to take to the inner
side upon the first voy-
age. If a north window in which the sun
never falls will il-
luminate a room why not the great north
and south windows
the interior of the globe?
Symmes was true to the consecration of
his life to the
theory announced in his first paper. He
wrote, traveled, lec-
tured, petitioned the legislature and
congress for aid to demon-
strate his ideas, and suffered poverty
in its behalf. During his
residence in Newport he devoted himself
entirely to its study,
and in 1820 made a lecture tour. He spoke
in Cincinnati, Lex-
ington, Frankfort, Hamilton, Zanesville
and probably elsewhere.
As a lecturer he was far from a success.
The arrangement
of his subject was illogical, confused,
and dry, and his delivery
was poor. However, his earnestness and
the interesting novelty
of his subject secured him attentive
audiences wherever he
spoke.
In January, 1823, there was
presented to congress by Rep-
resentative J. T. Johnson, of Kentucky,
a petition wherein the
subscribing citizens respectfully showed
that the national honor
and public interest might be promoted by
the equipping of an
exploring expedition for the purpose of
penetrating the Polar
region, beyond the limits already known,
with a view not only
of making new discoveries in geography,
natural history and
geology, but of opening new sources of
trade and commerce.
The petitioners were further of the
opinion that Captain
John Cleves Symmes, late of the United
States Army, who
professed a new theory of the earth,
which might be verified
by a voyage to the north, would be a
suitable person, with
scientific assistants, to lead the
expedition. That independently
of the truth or error of Symmes' theory,
there appear to be
many extraordinary circumstances or
phenomena pervading the
Symmes' Theory. 39
Arctic and Antarctic regions that
indicate something beyond
the polar circles worthy of research.
Mr. Johnson moved to refer the memorial
to the committee
on foreign relations, while Mr. Farelly,
of Pennsylvania, moved
to lay on the table. Mr. Johnson hoped
it would not be laid
on the table as it had many respectable
signatures, and some-
thing useful might come of it, and the
motion to lay on the table
was lost. A Mr. Arden suggested a
reference to the com-
mittee on commerce, the object of the
memorialists being to
establish a commerce with the interior
inhabitants. The mo-
tion to refer was lost on a roll call
and there the matter ended.
Other petitions from various parts of
the country to the
same end were presented at the same
session. In February one
was offered by sundry inhabitants of
Charleston, South Caro-
lina, showing that there were Symmesites
there, although I do
not find that Symmes ever lectured in
the South. Another
memorial came from Greenville, Ohio, and
still another was
presented by a Mr. Brown from
Huntington, Pa., and later
Mr. Ross, of Ohio, offered three more.
All however were
consigned to lie upon that repository of
the unburied dead, the
table. Benjamin Ruggles, senator
from Ohio, also presented
a petition to the upper branch of
Congress at the same session
with the same disheartening result.
There were evidently many scattered
about the country,
who believed in Symmes, and many more
who, while uncon-
vinced, were sufficiently well inclined
to wish to see the idea
put to the practical test. In 1824 a benefit for
the expedition
was given at the Cincinnati Theatre. An
original poem by
Moses Brooks was part of the programme.
It was recited by
Mr. Collins, and ended with the
inspiring lines:
"Has not Columbia one aspiring son
By whom the unfading laurel may be won?
Yes! History's pen may yet inscribe the
name
Of Symmes to grace her future roll of
fame."
But the one aspiring son with the money
to finance the
project did not step forward.
The succeeding year Symmes, according to
McBride, made
40 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
application to the Russian government to
accompany a polar
expedition about to start under Count
Romanzoff. He received
the permission, but for want of money
was compelled to stay
at home at last. During the college year
1826-27 he delivered
a series of lectures at Union College to
the faculty and students.
Deep interest was taken in the subject
by some, at least, of
the students. One of these students was
a gentleman named
Clark, who, in 1873, in an article
published in the Atlantic
Monthly of April of that year, was able
to reconstruct and set
forth Symmes' theory in considerable
detail, entirely from the
notes he had taken in the lecture room
at college, forty-five
years before. What impression he had
carried may be inferred
from the closing paragraph of his
article as follows:
"Time, the great revealer of
secrets, will soon determine
whether this startling theory is true,
in whole or in part, and
whether its author was a visionary
enthusiast or a profound
philosopher whose name will be honored
among men, like that
of Franklin or Newton, as a benefactor
of his race, and an
honor to the country which gave him
birth."
During the year after that spent at
Union College Symmes,
in company with one J. N. Reynolds, a
graduate of Ohio Uni-
versity, started on a lecture tour.
Symmes went on to Phila-
delphia, New York, Boston, Maine and
into Canada, but Rey-
nolds left him early in the journey.
Concerning this Reynolds,
Howe is responsible for a most
remarkable biography. He quotes
from the "History of Clinton
County," a work which I have
been unable to find. He states that
Jeremiah N. Reynolds
traveled and lectured with Symmes until
the latter took sick and
died (which we know is not correct), and
that Reynolds per-
severed, lectured in the east to full
houses at fifty cents admis-
sion, made money, with which, and the
backing of Messrs. Rush
and Southard of John Quincy Adams'
Cabinet, fitted out a na-
tional ship, to sail to the south pole
to test the theory. But the
government support was withdrawn by
Andrew Jackson when
he came into office. That then a Dr.
Watson of New York took
the matter up and furnished money. A
vessel, the "Annawan,"
N. B. Palmer captain, sailed from New
York October, 1829, for
the southern polar opening--that they
reached land at high
Symmes' Theory. 41
south latitude (82°), and tried landing
in long boats; got lost;
nearly starved; killed a sea lion
weighing 1700 pounds and were
saved; found their vessel and started
for home. That the sea-
men mutinied off the coast of Chili;
marooned Reynolds and
Watson, and put to sea as a pirate ship.
The account there
goes on to say that Reynolds traveled on
foot, fell in with the
unconquerable Araucanian Indians, became
a leader of these
Ancient enemies of the Incas, led them
in an Indian war, was
wounded, but finally reached Valparaiso,
when he shipped
aboard the U. S. frigate Potomac, as
secretary to the captain, after
which he returned to New York, studied
and practiced law with
success, organized a Mexican mining
company, became rich and
died in 1858 at fifty-nine years of age.
Howe goes on to add a description of
this most remarkable
man from personal recollection. He
describes him as a short,
stout, broad faced man, a Henry Clay
Whig, a monotonous
speaker in favor of protection with a
sad delivery, as though
he had something heavy upon his heart,
which won the sym-
pathy of his hearers. How much of truth
and how much of
pure fiction there is in this romance of
Reynold's voyage is dif-
ficult to determine.
That a J. N. Reynolds and a Watson went
on an exploring
expedition in a vessel called the
Annawan in 1829 is undoubtedly
true. But whether that was the same
Jeremiah N. Reynolds
who lectured with Symmes is most
doubtful. In Balch's An-
tartica it is said that Captain N. B.
Palmer certainly made some
unrecorded voyages to the south polar
zone and that in 1829-30
he and Captain B. Pendleton, commanding
the "Seraph" and
the "Annawan" made a cruise
north and west of Palmer's Land,
and that some scientists went on the
expedition among whom
were Messrs. John N. Reynolds and
Watson. The voyager was
undoubtedly the same who made the
journey round the world
in the U. S. Frigate "Potomac"
in 1831-4,
but his name was
John and not Jeremiah. He wrote a book describing the
journey
round the world published in New York in
1835- and none of
Howe's startling facts appear in it. The
joining of the vessel
at Valparaiso could not have been upon
that voyage at least.
It seems to me probable that the sending
out of the pri-
42 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
vate south polar exploring expedition of
the "Seraph and An-
nawan" was for the purpose of
testing Symmes' theory--
either incidentally or primarily. This I
infer from the time
when the voyage was made, just after the
Symmes agitation,
and from the great probability of some
foundation in fact for
Howe's quoted statement. But there is
nothing that I can find
to prove the connection. This
voyage of the Seraph and An-
nawan is mentioned in one or two other
books on south polar
exploration, but without comment. In
Mills' Siege of the South
Pole it is spoken of as the "infant
expedition." The author
states that John N. Reynolds had urged a
survey of the south
and that Congress considered the matter
in 1828, and that the
secretary of the navy (then Samuel L.
Southard) appointed
the Peacock to go. This was probably the
expedition stopped
in 1829
by Andrew Jackson, according to Howe's
narration.
However, in "Fanning's
Voyages" will be found the master's
report to Edmund Fanning, agent for the
expedition.
The two brigs left New York October, 1829,
went south,
January, 1830, "for the discovery
of lands to the westward of
Palmer's land and search for land said
to have been seen by
Captains May and Gardner." That is
all that is authentically
revealed as to the purpose of the voyage
of the Annawan and
Seraph. What else the promoters had in
mind is conjectural.
However, the voyagers saw no land. They
did not kill the sea
lion. The crews were attacked by scurvy
and it was consid-
ered best to bear up to Chili.
Valparaiso was reached in May
and part of the crew, who had been
insubordinate, were de-
livered to the U. S. Consul there. The
vessels then ran to
Araucania for furs where they landed
Reynolds and Watson
of the scientific corps. Reynolds and
Watson were friendly
with the natives and later rejoined the
vessels. Thus the meet-
ing, marooning and pirate ship stories
must be dismissed. What-
ever may have been the purpose of this
exploration certainly
no other was ever made to find Symmes
Cavity. After his
lecture tour in the east and Canada,
Symmes health broke down
and he went to his old home in New
Jersey to die in May, 1829.
And so ends the story of the bold,
ingenious theory of a brave
and persistent frontier soldier.
SYMMES' THEORY.
JOHN WELD PECK,
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW, CINCINNATI, OHIO.
I want, if I can, to carry you back to
the day when the
West was new, when the outposts of the
nation were on the
Mississippi; when the boundless forests
were scarred but here
and there with clearings; when
Cincinnati, the thriving town
between Third street and the river was
the undoubted and un-
rivaled Queen City of the West. Those
were the days of strong
men. The War of 1812 was just over. The
pioneer, the path-
finder, the surveyor, the Indian
fighter, the Revolutionary vet-
eran-and he of the second British
war-such men as Return J.
Meigs, Duncan McArthur, Jacob Burnet,
Nathaniel Massie and
Robert Lucas were in the high places in
the hearts of the people;
the day when education was scant and
difficult, when schools
were far apart, and colleges were just
beginning to point their
spires to the western sky. In those days
religion found greater
depth in the souls of men than the
shallow soundings of today.
New lands, new settlements, new dangers,
the problems of a new
civilization developed strong minds,
created original intellects
and imaginations not imprisoned by the
four sides of a safe
deposit box nor slipped in between the
thumbed pages of a de-
posit book. And it was in that day of
strength and crudity that
lived the man who promulgated the
daring, ingenious theory of
cosmography, which in the light of
better learning we know
as the absurd, foolish theory of
"Symmes' Hole."
The Theory of Concentric Spheres! We all
remember the
shaft in the park at Hamilton bearing
the globe open through the
poles, commemorating Captain John Cleves
Symmes and his
theory-keeping in memory a man who
believed that the world
is hollow and habitable within, and that
there are great holes at
the poles through which one may get down
on to the inner side !
Captain John Cleves Symmes, he of the
theory of Eccen-
28