The Last American A Fragment from The Journal of Khan-li, Prince of Dimph-Yoo-Chur and Admiral in the Persian Navy   By: John Ames Mitchell (1845-1918)

By J. A. Mitchell

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[Illustration: " In the soft earth was the imprint of human feet!"]

The Last American

A Fragment from The Journal of KHAN LI, Prince of Dimph Yoo Chur and Admiral in the Persian Navy

Presented by J. A. MITCHELL

EDITION DE LUXE Illustrated in Color by F. W. Read With Decorative Designs by Albert D. Blashfield and Illustrations by the Author

NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS

1889 By Frederick A. Stokes and Brother

1902 By Frederick A. Stokes Company

TO THOSE THOUGHTFUL PERSIANS WHO CAN READ A WARNING IN THE SUDDEN RISE AND SWIFT EXTINCTION OF A FOOLISH PEOPLE THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED

A FEW WORDS BY HEDFUL

SURNAMED "THE AXIS OF WISDOM"

Curator of the Imperial Museum at Shiraz. Author of "The Celestial Conquest of Kaly phorn ya," and of "Northern Mehrika under the Hy Bernyan Rulers"

The astounding discoveries of Khan li of Dimph yoo chur have thrown floods of light upon the domestic life of the Mehrikan people. He little realized when he landed upon that sleeping continent what a service he was about to render history, or what enthusiasm his discoveries would arouse among Persian archæologists.

Every student of antiquity is familiar with these facts.

But for the benefit of those who have yet to acquire a knowledge of this extraordinary people, I advise, first, a visit to the Museum at Teheran in order to excite their interest in the subject, and second, the reading of such books as Nofuhl's "What we Found in the West," and Noz yt ahl's "History of the Mehrikans." The last named is a complete and reliable history of these people from the birth of the Republic under George wash yn tun to the year 1990, when they ceased to exist as a nation. I must say, however, that Noz yt ahl leaves the reader much confused concerning the period between the massacre of the Protestants in 1927, and the overflow of the Murfey dynasty in 1940.

He holds the opinion with many other historians that the Mehrikans were a mongrel race, with little or no patriotism, and were purely imitative; simply an enlarged copy of other nationalities extant at the time. He pronounces them a shallow, nervous, extravagant people, and accords them but few redeeming virtues. This, of course, is just; but nevertheless they will always be an interesting study by reason of their rapid growth, their vast numbers, their marvellous mechanical ingenuity and their sudden and almost unaccountable disappearance.

The wealth, luxury, and gradual decline of the native population; the frightful climatic changes which swept the country like a mower's scythe; the rapid conversion of a vast continent, alive with millions of pleasure loving people, into a silent wilderness, where the sun and moon look down in turn upon hundreds of weed grown cities, all this is told by Noz yt ahl with force and accuracy.

"Here's Truth. 'T is a bitter pill but good physic."

ABOARD THE ZLOTUHB IN THE YEAR 2951

10th May

There is land ahead!

Grip til lah was first to see it, and when he shouted the tidings my heart beat fast with joy. The famished crew have forgotten their disconsolate stomachs and are dancing about the deck. 'T is not I, forsooth, who shall restrain them! A month of emptiness upon a heavy sea is preparation for any folly. Nofuhl alone is without enthusiasm. The old man's heart seems dead.

We can see the land plainly, a dim strip along the western horizon. A fair wind blows from the northeast, but we get on with cruel hindrance, for the Zlotuhb is a heavy ship, her bluff bow and voluminous bottom ill fitting her for speed.

The land, as we near it, seems covered with trees, and the white breakers along the yellow beach are a welcome sight.

11th May