A CRITICAL EDITION OF JOSEPH CONRAD'S

"AN OUTPOST OF PROGRESS"

by

ROBERT T^DSWORTH HOBSON, B . A . , M.A.

A DISSERTATION

IN

ENGLISH

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Approved

December, 1977

'Xb W- 3U3?

'/5i ., Table of Contents / •

General Introduction iii

Text 1

History of the Text 39

Autograph Manuscript 51

Macmillan Copyright Copy 55

Cosmopolis 62

Tales of Unrest 65

Doubleday Sun-Dial and Concord 72

Reprintings of "Outpost" 74

Textual Apparatus 80

Emendations 81

Textual Notes 9 5

Historical Collation 99

Word-Division Ill

Substantive Alterations in the Manuscript . . . . 112

Bibliography 138

11

General Introduction

"An Outpost of Progress," the second short story in

the Conrad canon, is the author's only work besides Heart

of Darkness to be set in the Belgian Congo. It is about

two novice trading agents who, isolated for several months

in their remote station, gradually succumb to the immoral

"land of darkness and sorrow" and ultimately destory each

other. The forbidding mise-en-scene is organic to the story,

and Conrad enhances the mythic qualities of his central

African setting with such demonic accoutrements as a cor­

rupt native who worships the Evil Spirit, a Stygian river

that has no beginning or end, a tainted trove of ivory tusks,

a bestial river-steamer with a whistle that shrieks like

"some exasperated and ruthless creature," and a cross, which

in this macabre story is a hellish engine of pain and death

rather than a symbol of redemption.

The plot is decidedly melodramatic. The Managing

Director of the Great Trading Company places two of his less

promising agents in charge of an obscure trading post on an

unidentified river in the Congo. It is clear from the first,

however, that Makola, a larcenous native interpreter-scribe-

accountant, actually runs the place. Kayerts, who is made

station chief, has been a city-dwelling bureaucrat for the

iii

iv

past seventeen years. Carlier, his assistant, is a former

noncommissioned officer of cavalry and a chronic misfit.

Both of these amateur mercantilists have hopes of amassing

huge commissions on the ivory trade with a minimum of effort.

A few yards from the station house lies the original chief,

whose grave is marked by a tall cross.

As the months pass the agents begin to miss home.

Even these two habitually torpid creatures become bored with

the monotonous jungle existence, which for them consists of

watching Makola conduct all the company's business transac­

tions (neither Kayerts nor Carlier speaks a syllable of any

African language), of exchanging vapid remarks about novels

they read, and of patting each other on the back for being

heroic harbingers of trade and progress. They condescend

to befriend a local native chief named Gobila, who feels it

is diplomatically prudent to maintain good relations with

white men.

Then, one morning approximately six months after the

agents' arrival, some black ivory traders from the coast

appear at the station. Two mornings later Kayerts and Carlier

awake to find that the ten native workmen belonging to their

station are missing. They are shocked to learn that Makola

has traded them to the coast people for six ivory tusks. To

make matters worse, some of Gobila's people who were sharing

the wine Makola had given the station hands to get them drunk

were also carried off. One of them was shot during the

kidnapping. The agents are morally indignant at first; but

by the following morning they have sufficiently recovered

from their outrage to help Makola weigh the tusks.

Several more months pass, during which the agents

deteriorate rapidly both spiritually and physically. They

agree not to say anything to the Director about the means by

which the tusks were procured. The relief steamer is late.

They no longer receive provisions from Gobila's people and

their stores run low. The agents now suffer from the effects

of solitude, fear, slow starvation, fever, and guilt. One

day they quarrel over the sugar that Kayerts has been holding

in reserve. After a mad chase around the verandah of the

station house Kayerts accidentally shoots Carlier, whom he

mistakenly had thought was also armed. Kayerts' shock at

what he has done is intensified by the eight months of physi­

cal privation he has suffered. A few hours after the shoot­

ing he hears the relief steamer's whistle. Fearful of

punishment by his conscience and by civilization, he stumbles

through the morning mist to his predecessor's grave and hangs

himself from the cross.

Whether the story is as Conrad reported in the

"Author's Note" to Tales of Unrest "true enough in its essen-2

tials" remains doubtful. He apparently told Gerard Jean-

Aubry that the story was presented to him as fact by the agent

Prosper Harou, who had accompanied Conrad on the 200-mile trek 3

from Matadi to Kinchassa in 1890. But in his exhaustive

VI

source study, Norman Sherry finds no record of a murder-4

suicide involving agents in the Congo.

The story was written during Conrad's honeymoon at

lie Grande, Brittany, probably in the first three weeks of

June 1896, in a respite from his frustrating struggle with 5

The Rescuer. Jean-Aubry contends that the arrival via Eng­land of Conrad's trunk from the Congo provided the initial

stimulus for "Outpost." The "large box" (as Jessie Conrad 7

refers to it ) would have contained, Jean-Aubry surmises, the

two little notebooks in which Conrad jotted down some of his g

lurid Congo experiences. Even if the Jessie Conrad and

Jean-Aubry account of "Outpost"'s beginnings is apocryphal,

the story is unquestionably based on these experiences.

While the plot of "Outpost" was probably invented,

certain details of the story are clearly factual. There

actually existed a native chief named Gobila around the time 9

Conrad was in the Congo. That wrecked steamers caused delays

in sending supplies to up-river trading posts is a fact con­

firmed by the author's own experience. The river-steamer

Florida was wrecked shortly before Conrad arrived in Kin­

chassa to assume command of her. Palm-wine, which Makola

used to stupefy the station natives, was (and no doubt still

is) a standard Congolese cordial. The OED records Living­

stone's observation that "this toddy is the juice of the palm-

oil tree . . a sweet clear liquid, not at all intoxicating

while fresh, but, when allowed to stand till afternoon, causes

Vll

inebriation." It may be that Alphonse Kayaerts, an agent

with whom Conrad travelled from Kinchassa to Stanley Falls

in the Roi des Beiges, was to some degree a real-life counter-

12 part of the Kayerts of "Outpost." Finally, Conrad intended

there to be no mistaking the nationality of his two agents.

He told a Polish friend in 1903:

Kayerts is not a French name. Carlier might be, but as soon as I give his name I hastily add that he is an exnoncommissioned cavalry officer of any army which is guaranteed against all dangers by several European pow­ers. I took special pains to make a soldier out of this brute. They are brave Belgians. God bless them: they . .. have been recognized as such here and in Brussels. . . .

R. B. Cunninghame Graham praised the story for its

14

anti-imperialist sentiments, and the Saturday Review pro­

claimed its superiority to Almayer's Folly and An Outcast of

the Islands. But Edward Garnett, who, as Unwin's reader and

Conrad's friend, read the story first, thought the opening

paragraphs unsubtle. Garnett's general disapproval of "Out­

post" was particularly embarrassing to Conrad, since, as the

title page of the autograph manuscript indicates, he had

planned to dedicate the story, and indeed all of the projected

17 Tales of Unrest, to him. Both John D. Gordan and Norman

Sherry observe that most contemporary reviewers found Tales

18 of Unrest inordinately depressing as a whole. One of the

few early critics to mention "Outpost" specifically commented:

The light that Mr. Conrad sheds on the contact of the primitive and civilized man is seldom to the advantage of the latter. Even in his grim sketch of two French colonists on a river settlement in Africa, foredoomed by their incompetency to a miserable end, the writer's compassion is leavened with contempt.-^^

viii

Conrad himself was partial to "Outpost." In the let­

ter which accompanied the typescript he sent to Garnett on

July 22, 1896, Conrad said he was "pleased with it."^^ On

that same day he wrote Unwin, "Upon my word I think it is a

good story—and not so gloomy—not fanciful—alas I I think

it interesting—some may find it a bore! If the Cosmo won't

20 take it (it is as long as the other ) I shall put it by—a

22

day may come for it." Conrad's defensive posture here

imperfectly masked a genuine belief in the story's merit.

But this belief, both in "Outpost" and in his artis­

tic ability, had given way to doubt when, two weeks later,

having heard nothing from Garnett, Conrad prodded his friend

for a critique of the story: "Do you find it very bad? I

can't bear to look at my MS of it. Everything seems so 23 abominable stupid. You see the belief is not in me. . . ."

And upon receipt of Garnett's reply, he appears to agree wirh

the criticism: "You are right in your criticism of Outpost.

The construction is bad. It is bad because it was a matter of

conscious decision, and I have no discrimination--in artistic

sense . . . It's very evident that the first 3 pages kill all

the interest. And I wrote them of set purposeli I thought I

24 was achieving artistic simplicity!1iIi1" It is difficult to

infer from this letter either Conrad's mood or the severity

of Garnett's faultfinding. The author's feelings were prob­

ably mixed, since, as he informs Garnett in the same letter,

Unwin had recently sold the "ghastly masterfolly" to the

IX

25 review Cosmopolis forjLSO. And whatever Garnett said, he

certainly must have made one or two positive comments, for

Conrad continues, "Am I totally lost? Or do the last few

pages save the thing from being utterly contemptible? You

seem to think so—if I read your most kind and friendly let­

ter aright." Significantly, Garnett later praised the story

for its irony in his Academy article of October 15, 1898.

In later years Conrad seems to have remained satis­

fied with "Outpost," if somewhat equivocal and distant about

it. In his brief introduction to the 1906 Grand Magazine

reprinting for its series "My Best Story and Why I Think So,"

Conrad says that despite several "imperfections that stand

there glaring, patent, numerous, and amusing," he is proud of

the "scrupulous unity of tone" he feels the story "almost"

27 achieves. In the "Author's Note" to Tales of Unrest, writ­ten in 1919 for Doubleday, he describes "Outpost" as "the

28 lightest part of the loot I carried off from Central Africa."

By and large, m.ore recent criticism of "Outpost" pro­

ceeds from the assumptions that (1) the story served Conrad

as a sort of proving ground for themes he would return to in

Heart of Darkness and that (2) the omniscient voice which pre­

sents these themes does so with r ^ pellant directness. The

critic is usually content to dash off a quick plot summary,

make a brief comment about theme, perhaps take a verbal pot­

shot at the narrator, quote an ironic passage or two, and be

off to the more pressing business of Conrad's later fiction.

X

Perhaps this approach is partially warranted. "Out­

post" and Heart of Darkness have at least two themes in com­

mon. Both show up the iniquities of economic exploitation

perpetuated in the name of progress and the fecklessness of

learned restraint in a depraved environment. But in discus­

sions of narrative technique, the story of Kayerts and Carlier

suffers from inevitable comparison with the story of Kurtz

and Marlow and from a measure of Henry Jamesian critical bias.

Garnett's early complaints about heavy-handed explicitness

are echoed by Albert Guerard, who says that "the hard-won and

groping intuitions of 'Heart of Darkness' are here presented

by a detached omniscient author with essay-like explicitness."^

Guerard plainly regrets Marlow's absence. More recently,

Lawrence Graver has remarked that, from the outset, Kayerts

and Carlier "are crushed by an irony too easily assumed" and

has objected to the narrator's "generalized, repetitive com-

30 mentary." A. T. Tolley observes that the story "shows the

sort of thing that could be achieved by treating 'head on' the

31 theme of going to pieces in the jungle." And J. I. M.

Stewart says that "in addition to the bare facts of the case,

enough negative criticism is conveyed through the narrator's

tone of voice to support Garnett's complaint that human inter-

32 est is forfeited from the beginning." Stewart regrets that

33

the "initial situation is stated rather than dramatized."

While, clearly, much of the story is narrated rather

than dramatized, one must also observe that the omniscient

xi

narrator is responsible for most of "Outpost"'s ironic effect

and that this effect was never intended to be particularly

subtle. Furthermore, the narrator is not in the story just

to insult Kayerts and Carlier. He occasionally offers broader

views of the agents' situation, as in the following passage:

They were two perfectly insignificant and incapable indi­viduals whose existence is only rendered possible through the high organization of civilized crowds. Few men realize that their life, the very essence of their charac­ter, their capabilities and their audacities are only the expression of their belief in the safety of their sur­roundings. The courage, the composure, the confidence, the emotions and principles, every great and every insig­nificant thought belongs not to the individual but to the crowd—to the crowd that believes blindly in the irresis­tible force of its institutions and of its morals, in the power of its police and of its opinion. But the contact with pure unmitigated savagery, with primitive nature and primitive man brings sudden and profound trouble into the heart. To the sentiment of being alone of one's kind, to the clear perception of the loneliness of one's thoughts, of one's sensations--to the negation of the habitual, which is safe, there is added the affirmation of the unusual, which is dangerous; a suggestion of things vague, uncontrollable and repulsive whose discomposing intrusion excites the imagination and tries the civilized nerves of the foolish and the wise alike. (4.19-5.13)

The passage is direct; it is "essay-like"; but it and similar

statements serve to include Kayerts and Carlier in the "crowd"

of civilization. Thus the narrator creates an ambiguous por­

trait of the protagonists. From one point of view they are

greedy, repulsive, immoral "pioneers of trade and progress,"

who deserve contempt; but from another they are drolly comic

and sometimes pathetic) victims of a corrupt environment for

which social conditioning has left them hopelessly ill-

equipped—weaklings whom the mercantile system, represented by

xii

the Managing Director, is quite willing to sacrifice. The

narrator is also capable of rendering inward views of the

agents without sarcasm: "It was not the absolute and dumb

solitude of the post that impressed them so much as an inar­

ticulate feeling that something from within them was gone,

something that worked for their safety and had kept the wil­

derness from interfering with their hearts" (26.14-18).

There is a suggestion here of the pity Conrad insisted the ^ 34 story possessed.

Control of the omniscient viewpoint in "Outpost" is

a principal unifying feature of the early and later revi­

sions. Most of them distinctly increase in one way or

another the sophistication of the sometimes straightforward,

sometimes ironic voice—increase the effectiveness of that

voice without essentially changing it. Thus they tend to

show that the story's tone is a product of intentions whose

realization often anticipates the devastating irony of The

Secret Agent.

Notes

The passage appears on page 17, line 15 of the

present text. Hereafter, references to "Outpost" are to

this edition and are listed internally.

2 (Garden City: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1926),

VII, ix.

3 Joseph Conrad: Life and Letters (Garden City:

Doubleday, Page & Co., 1927), I, 128, n. 2.

4 Conrad's Western World (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1971), pp. 129-30.

5

Joseph Conrad: The Making of a Novelist (Cam­

bridge: Harvard University Press, 1940), p. 241.

Helen Sebba, trans.. The Sea Dreamer (Garden City:

Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1957), p. 220.

Joseph Conrad as I_ Knew Him (London: William

Heinemann Ltd., 1926), p. 36. q

Richard Curie refers to them as "The Congo Diary"

in his introduction to Last Essays (London: J. M. Dent &

Sons Ltd., 192 6), p. xvi. 9

Conrad's Western World, p. 130.

Jocelyn Baines, Joseph Conrad: A Critical Biography

(New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1960), p. 116; Conrad's Western World, pp. 39-47.

Xlll

XIV

James A. S. Murray, ed., A New English Dictionary

of Historical Principles (Oxford: The Clarendon Press,

1905), VII, 401.

12 Conrad's Western World, p. 21.

13

Zdzislaw Najder, ed., Halina Carroll, trans.,

Conrad's Polish Background (London: Oxford University Press,

1964), pp. 242-43. Conrad says in his July 22, 1896, letter

to Unwin that the story concerns "the life in a lonely station

on the Kassai." But no specific reference to his tributary

of the Congo River appears in "Outpost." 14

C. T. Watts, ed., Joseph Conrad's Letters to R. £.

Cunninghame Graham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

1969) , pp. 19 ff. •^ "Mr. Conrad's Latest Story," 12 February 1898,

p. 211. 16

Edward Garnett, ed., Letters from Joseph Conrad

(1928; rpt., Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.,

1962), p. 66. 17

Letters from Joseph Conrad, p. 67. Conrad finally dedicated the volume to Adolph P. Krieger.

1 8 Gordan, p. 20 3; Conrad: The Critical Heritage

(London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973), p. 14. •"" "Recent Short Stories," Spectator, 13 August 1898,

p. 219.

20 Letters from Joseph Conrad, p. 62.

XV

21

The other story was "The Idiots," which the review

Cosmopolis had twice rejected, partly on the basis of length;

see Gordan, p. 39 3, n. 29 4. 22

A Conrad Memorial Library: The Collection of

George T. Keating (Garden City: Doubleday, Doran & Company,

Inc., 1929), p. 62. 23

Letters from Joseph Conrad, p. 65. 24

Garnett, p. 66. 25

Garnett, p. 67.

^^ The article is number XXXIX of the "Academy Por­

traits" series, pp. 82-83. ^'^ Grand Magazine, 5 (1906) , 87. 28

Kent Edition, p. ix. 99

Conrad the Novelist (Cambridge: Harvard Univer­

sity Press, 1958), p. 64.

Conrad's Short Fiction (Berkeley: University of

California Press, 1969), p. 11 and p. 14.

^^ "Conrad's 'Favorite' Story," Studies in Short

Fiction, 3 (1965-66), 319. ^^ Joseph Conrad (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company,

1968), p. 75. • 33

Stewart, p. 75. ^^ See the July 22 letter to Unwin.

An Outpost of Progress

There were two white men in charge of the trading

station. Kayerts, the chief, was short and fat. Carlier,

the assistant, was tall with a large head and a very broad

trunk perched upon a long pair of thin legs. The third man

on the staff was a Sierra-Leone nigger who maintained that

his name was Henry Price. However for some reason or other

the natives down the river had given him the name of Makola

and it stuck to him through all his wanderings about the

country. He spoke English and French with a warbling

accent, wrote a beautiful hand, understood book-keeping and

cherished in his innermost heart the worship of evil spirits.

His wife was a negress from Loanda, very large and very

noisy. Three children rolled about in sunshine before the

door of his low shed-like dwelling. Makola taciturn and

impenetrable despised the two white men. He had charge of

a small clay storehouse with a dried-grass roof and pretended

to keep a correct account of beads, cotton cloth, red ker­

chiefs, brass wire, and other trade goods it contained.

Besides the store house and Makola's hut there was only one

large building in the cleared ground of the station. It

was built neatly of reeds with a verandah on all four sides.

There were three rooms in it. The one in the middle was the

living room and had two rough tables and a few stools in it.

The other two were the bedrooms for the white men. Each had

a bedstead and a mosquito net for all furniture. The plank

floor was littered with the belongings of the white men:

open half empty boxes, torn wearing apparel, old boots—all

the things dirty, and all the things broken that accumulate

itysteriously round untidy men. There was also another dwell­

ing place some distance away from the buildings. In it under

a tall cross much out of the perpendicular slept the man who

had seen the beginning of all this, who had planned and had

watched the construction of this outpost of progress. He had

been at home an unsuccessful painter who weary of pursuing

fame on an empty stomach had gone out there—through high

protections. He had been the first chief of that station.

Makola had watched the energetic artist die of fever in the

just finished house with his usual kind of "I-told-you-so"

indifference. Then for a time he dwelt alone with his fam­

ily, his account books and the Evil Spirit that rules the

lands under the equator. He got on very well with his god.

Perhaps he had propitiated him by a promise of more v;hite men

to play with by and by. At any rate the Director of the

Great Trading Company, coming up in a steamer that resembled

an enormous sardine box with a flat-roofed shed erected on

it, found the station in good order and Makola as usual

quietly diligent. The Director had the cross put up over the

first agent's grave and appointed Kayerts to the post.

Carlier was told off as second in charge. The Director was

a man ruthless and efficient, who at times, but very imper­

ceptibly, indulged in grim humour. He made a speech to

Kayerts and Carlier pointing out to them the promising aspect

of their station. The nearest trading post was about three

hundred miles away. It was an exceptional opportunity for

them to distinguish themselves and to earn percentages on the

trade. This appointment was a favour done to beginners.

Kayerts was moved almost to tears by his Director's kindness.

He would—he said—by doing his best try to justify the flat­

tering confidence etc etc. Kayerts had been in the admini­

stration of the telegraphs and knew how to express himself

correctly. Carlier, an ex-non-commissioned officer of cav­

alry in an army guaranteed from harm by several European

Powers, was less impressed; if there were commissions to get,

so much the better; and trailing a sulky glance over the

river, the forests, the impenetrable bush that seemed to cut

off the station from the rest of the world, he muttered

between his teeth: "We shall see, very soon."

Next day some bales of cotton goods and a few cases

of provisions having been thrown on shore, the sardine-box

steamer went off not to return for another six months. On

the deck the Director touched his cap to tbe two agents who

stood on the bank waving their hats, and turning to an old

servant of the Company on his passage to head quarters said:

"Look at those two imbeciles. They must be mad at home to

send me such specimens. I told those fellows to plant a veg­

etable garden, build new storehouses and fences and construct

a landing stage. I bet nothing will be done. They won't

know how to begin. I always thought the station on this river

useless—and they just fit the station."

"They will form themselves there" said the old stager

with a quiet smile.

"At any rate I am rid of them for six months" retorted

the Director.

The two men watched the steamer round the bend, then

ascending arm in arm the slope of the bank returned to the

station. They had been in this vast and dark country only a

very short time and as yet always in the midst of other white

men, under the eye and guidance of their superiors. And now

dull as they were to the subtle influences of surroundings

they felt themselves very much alone—when suddenly left

unassisted to face the wilderness, a wilderness rendered more

strange, more incomprehensible by the mysterious glimpses of

the vigorous life it contained. They were two perfectly

insignificant and incapable individuals whose existence is

only rendered possible through the high organization of civ­

ilized crowds. Few men realize that their life, the very

essence of their character, their capabilities and their

audacities are only the expression of their belief in the

safety of their surroundings. The courage, the composure,

the confidence, the emotions and principles, every great and

every insignificant thought belongs not to the individual but

to the crowd—to the crowd that believes blindly in the

irresistible force of its institutions and of its morals, in

the power of its police and of its opinion. But the contact

with pure unmitigated savagery, with primitive nature and prim­

itive man brings sudden and profound trouble into the heart.

To the sentiment of being alone of one's kind, to the clear

perception of the loneliness of one's thoughts, of one's sen­

sations—to the negation of the habitual, which is safe, there

is added the affirmation of the unusual, which is dangerous;

a suggestion of things vague, uncontrollable and repulsive

whose discomposing intrusion excites the imagination and tries

the civilized nerves of the foolish and the wise alike.

Kayerts and Carlier walked arm in arm—drawing close

to one another as children do in the dark and they had the

same not altogether unpleasant sense of danger which one half

suspects to be imaginary. They chatted persistently in famil­

iar tones. • "Our station is prettily situated" said one. The

other assented with enthusiasm enlarging volubly on the beau­

ties of the situation. Then they passed near the grave.

"Poor devil" said Kayerts.— "He died of fever—didn't he?"

muttered Carlier stopping short.— "V7hy" retorted Kayerts

with indignation—"I've been told that the fellow exposed

himself recklessly to the sun. The climate here—everybody

says—is not at all worse than at home—as long as you keep

out of the sun. Do you hear that Carlier? I am chief here

6

and my orders are that you should not expose yourself to the

sun!" He assumed his superiority jocularly but his meaning

was serious. The idea that he would perhaps have to bury

Carlier and remain alone gave him an inward shiver. He felt

suddenly that this Carlier was more precious to him here in

the centre of Africa than a brother could be anywhere else.

Carlier entering into the spirit of the thing made a military

salute and answered in a brisk tone "Your orders shall be

attended to, chief!"— Then he burst our laughing, slapped

Kayerts on the back and shouted "We shall let life run easily

here! Just sit still and gather in the ivory those savages

will bring. This country has its good points after all!"

They both laughed loudly while Carlier thought: that poor

Kayerts—he is so fat and unhealthy. It would be awful if I

had to bury him here. He is a man I respect . . . Before

they reached the verandah of their house they called one

another "my dear fellow."

The first day tliey were very active—pottering about

with hammers and nails and red calico, to put up curtains,

make their house habitable and pretty; resolved to settle down

comfortably to their life. For them an impossible task. To

grapple effectually with even purely material problems

requires more serenity of mind and more lofty courage than

people generally imagine. No two beings could have been more

unfitted for such a struggle. Society—not from any tender­

ness but because of its strange needs—had taken care of those

two men, forbidding them all independent thought, all initia­

tive, all departure from routine—and forbidding it under

pain of death. They could only live on condition of being

machines. And now released from the fostering care of men

with pens behind the ears or of men with gold lace on the

sleeves, they were like those lifelong prisoners who liber­

ated after many years do not know what use to make of their

freedom. They did not know what use to make of their facul­

ties, being both through want of practice incapable of inde­

pendent thought.

At the end of two months Kayerts often would say.

"If it was not for my Melie you wouldn't catch me here."

Melie was his daughter. He had thrown up his post in the

administration of the telegraphs, tho he had been for seven­

teen years perfectly happy there, to earn a dowry for his

girl. His wife was dead and the child was being brought up

by his sisters. He regretted the streets, the pavements, the

cafes, his friends of many years; all the things he used to

see day after day, all the thoughts suggested by familiar

things—the thoughts effortless, monotonous and soothing of a

government dark; he regretted all the gossip, the small

enmities, the mild venom and the little jokes of government

offices.— "If I had had a decent brother in law" Carlier

would remark--"a fellow with a heart, I would not be here."

He had left the army and had made himself so obnoxious to his

family by his laziness and impudence that an exasperated

8

brother in law had made superhuman efforts to procure him an

appointment in the Company as a second class agent. Having

not a penny in the world he was compelled to accept this means

of livelihood as soon as it became quite clear to him that

there was nothing more to squeeze out of his relations. He

like Kayerts regretted his old life. He regretted the clink

of sabre and spurs on a fine afternoon, the barrack-room wit­

ticisms—the girls of garrison towns; but besides he had also

a sense of grievance. He was evidently a much ill-used man.

This made him moody, at times. But the two men got on well

together in the fellowship of their stupidity and laziness.

Together they did nothing—absolutely nothing—and enjoyed

the sense of the idleness for which they were paid. And in

time they came to feel something resembling affection for one

another.

They lived like blind men in a large room, aware only

of what came in contact with them (and of that only imper­

fectly) but unable to see the general aspect of things. The ••

river, the forest, all the great land throbbing with life were

like a great emptiness. Even the brilliant sunshine disclosed

nothing intelligible. Things appeared and disappeared before

their eyes in an unconnected and aimless kind of way. The

river seemed to come from nowhere and flow nowhither. It

flowed through a void. Out of that void at times came canoes

and men with spears in their hands would suddenly crowd the

yard of the station. They were naked, glossy black, ornamented

with snowy shells and glistening brass wire, perfect of liml:).

They made an uncouth babbling noise when they spoke, moved

in a stately manner and sent quick wild glances out of their

startled never resting eyes. Those warriors would squat in

long rows four or more deep before the verandah while their

chiefs bargained for hours with Makola over an elephant tusk.

Kayerts sat on his chair and looked down on the proceedings,

understanding nothing. He stared at them with his round blue

eyes—called out to Carlier: "Here! look, look at that fellow

there . . . and that other one to the left. Did you ever see

such a face? Oh the funny brute!"

Carlier smoking native tobacco in a short wooden pipe

would swagger up twirling his moustaches and surveying the

warriors with haughty indulgence would say:

"Fine animals. Brought any bone? Yes? It's not any

too soon. Look at the muscles of that fellow . . . third

from the end. I wouldn't care to get a punch on the nose

from him. Fine arms—but legs no good below the knee. Could­

n't make cavalry-men of them . . . " And after glancing dovrn

complacently at his own shanks he always concluded: "Pah!

Don't they stink! You Makola! Take that herd over to the

fetish (the store house was in every station called the fetish

perhaps because of the spirit of civilization it contained)

and give them up some of that rubbish you keep there. I'd

rather see it full of bone than full of rags."

Kayerts approved.

10

"Yes! yes. Go and finish that palaver over there

Mr. Makola. I will come round when you are ready to weigh

the tusk. We must be careful . . . " Then turning to his com­

panion: "This is the tribe that lives down the river—they

are rather aromatic. I remember—they had been once before

here . . .D'ye hear that row? What a fellow has got to put

up with in this dog of a country! . . . My head is split."

Such profitable visits were rare. For days the two

pioneers of trade and progress would look on their empty

courtyard in the vibrating brilliance of vertical sunshine.

Below the high bank the silent river flowed on glittering and

steady. On the sands in the middle of the stream hippos and

alligators sunned themselves side by side. And stretching

away in all directions, surrounding the insignificant cleared

spot of the trading-post, immense forests hiding fateful com­

plications of fantastic life, lay in the eloquent silence of

mute greatness. The two men understood nothing, cared for

nothing but for the passage of days that separated them from

the steamer's return. Their predecessor had left some torn .-

books. They took up these wrecks of novels and, as they had

never read anything of the kind before they were surprised

and amused. Then during long da^s there were interminable

and silly discussions about plots and personages. In the cen­

tre of Africa they made acquaintance of Richelieu and of

d'Artagnan, of Hawk's Eye and of Father Goriot and of many

other people. All these imaginary personages became subjects

11

for gossip as if they had been living friends. They dis­

counted their virtues, suspected their motives, decried their

successes, were scandalized at their duplicity or were doubt­

ful about their courage. The accounts of crimes filled them

with indignation while tender oi: pathetic passages moved them

deeply. Carlier cleared his throat and said in a soldierly

voice "What nonsense!" Kayerts, his round eyes suffused with

tears, his fat cheeks quivering, rubbed his bald head and

declared: "This is a splendid book. I had no idea there were

such clever fellows in the world." They also found some old

copies of a home paper. That print discussed—what it was

pleased to call—"our colonial expansion" in high flown lan­

guage. It spoke much of the rights and duties of civiliza-

tion--of the sacredness of the civilizing work, and extolled

the merits of those who went about bringing light and faith

and commerce to the dark places of the earth. Carlier and

Kayerts read, wondered and began to think better of them­

selves. Carlier said one evening waving his hand about. "In

a hundred years there will be perhaps a town here. Quays and

warehouses and barracks . . . and . . . and . . . billiard

rooms. Civilization my boy, and virtue . . . and all. And

then, chaps will read that tv/o good fellows, Kayerts and

Carlier, were the first civilized men to live in this very

spot."— Kayerts nodded "Yes it is a consolation to think of

that." They seemed to forget their dead predecessor; but

early one day Carlier went out and replanted the cross firmly.--

12

"It used to make me squint whenever I walked that way"—he

explained to Kayerts over the morning coffee—"It made me

squint leaning over so much. So I just planted it upright.

And solid, I promise you. I suspended myself with both hands

to the cross-piece. Not a move. Oh I did that properly."

At times Goblia came to see them. Gobila was the

chief of the neighbouring villages. He was a gray-headed

savage thin and black, with a white cloth round his loins and

a mangy panther skin hanging over his back. He came up with

long strides of his skeleton legs swinging a staff as tall as

himself and entering the common room of the station would

squat on his heels to the left of the door. There he sat

watching Kayerts and now and then making a speech which the

other did not understand. Kayerts without interrupting his

occupation would from time to time say in a friendly manner:

"How goes it you old image?" and they would smile at one

another. The two whites had a liking for that old and incom­

prehensible creature and called him Father Gobila. Gobila's

manner was paternal and he seemed really to love all white

men. They all appeared to him very young, indistinguishably

alike (except for stature) and he knew that they were all

brothers and also immortal. The death of the artist—who was

the first white man whom he knew intimately—did not disturb

this belief because he was firmly convinced that the white

stranger had pretended to die and got himself buried for some

mysterious purpose of his own into which it was useless to

13

inquire. Perhaps it was his way of going home to his own

country. At any rate these were his brothers—and he trans­

ferred his absurd affection to them. They returned it in a

way. Carlier slapped him on the back and recklessly struck

off matches for his amusement. Kayerts was always ready to

let him have a sniff at the ammonia bottle. In short they

behaved just like that other white creature that had hidden

itself in a hole in the ground. Gobila considered them atten­

tively. Perhaps they were the same being with the other—or

one of them was. He couldn't decide—clear up that mystery,

but he remained always very friendly. In consequence of that

friendship the women of Gobila's village walked single file

through the reedy grass bringing every morning to the station

fowls, and sweet potatoes and palm wine and sometimes a goat.

The Company never provisicis the stations fully and the agents

required those local supplies to live. They had them through

the goodwill of Gobila and lived well. Now and then one of

them had a bout of fever and the other nursed him with

gentle devotion. They did not think much of it. It left them

weaker and their appearance changed for the worse. Carlier

was hollow-eyed and irritable. Kayerts showed a drawn flabby

face above the rotundity of his ctomach which gave him a

weird aspect. But being constantly together they did not

notice the change that took place gradually in their appear­

ance and also in their dispositions.

Five months passed in that way.

14

Then, one morning, as Kayerts and Carlier lounging

in their chairs under the verandah talked about the approaching

visit of the steamer a knot of armed men came out of the

forest and advanced towards the station. They were strangers

to that part of the country. They were tall, slight, draped

classically from neck to heel in blue fringed cloths and

carried percussion muskets over their bare right shoulders.

Makola showed signs of excitement and ran out of the store­

house (where he spent all his days) to meet these visitors.

They came into the courtyard and looked about them with steady,

scornful glances. Their leader, a powerful and determined

looking negro with bloodshot eyes, stood in front of the veran­

dah and made a long speech. He gesticulated much and ceased

very suddenly.

There was something in his intonation, in the sounds

of the long sentences he used that startled the two whites.

It was like a reminiscence of something not exactly familiar

and yet resembling the speech of civilized men. It sounded

like one of those impossible languages which sometimes we hear

in our dreams.

"What lingo is that?" said the amazed Carlier. "In

the first moment I fancied the fellow was going to speak

French. Anyway it is a different kind of gibberish to what we

ever heard."

"Yes" replied Kayerts. "Hey, Makola, what does he say?

Where do they come from? Who are they?"

15

But Makola who seemed to be standing on hot bricks

answered hurriedly: "I don't know. They come from very far.

Perhaps Mrs. Price will understand. They are perhaps bad men."

The leader after waiting for a while said something

sharply to Makola who shook his head. Then the man after

looking round noticed Makola's hut and walked over there. The

next moment Mrs. Makola was heard speaking with great volubil­

ity. The other strangers--they were six in all—strolled

about with an air of ease, put their heads through the door of

the store room, congregated round the grave, pointed under- "

standingly at the cross and generally made themselves at home.

"I don't like those chaps . . . and, I say, Kayerts

they must be from the coast, they've got firearms" observed

the sagacious Carlier.

Kayerts also did not like those chaps. They both for

the first time became aware that they lived in conditions

where the unusual may be dangerous—and that there was no power

on earth outside of themselves to stand between them and the

unusual. They became uneasy, went in and loaded their revolv­

ers. Kayerts said: "We must order Makola to tell them to go

av;ay before dark."

The strangers left in the afternoon after eating a

meal prepared for them by Mrs. Makola. The immense woman was

excited and talked much with the visitors. She rattled away

shrilly, pointing here and there at the forests and at the

river. Makola sat apart and watched. At times he got up and

16

whispered to his wife. He accompanied the strangers across

the ravine at the back of the station-ground and returned

slowly looking very thoughtful. When questioned by the white

men he was very strange, seemed not to understand, seemed to

have forgotten French—seemed to have forgotten how to speak

altogether. Kayerts and Carlier agreed that the nigger had

had too much palm wine.

There was some talk about keeping a watch in turn but

in the evening everything seemed so quiet and peaceful that

they retired as usual. All night they were disturbed by a

lot of drumming in the villages. A deep rapid roll near by

would be followed by another far off--then all ceased. Soon,

short appeals would rattle out here and there, then all mingle

together, increase, become vigorous and sustained; would

spread out over the forest, roll through the night, unbroken

and ceaseless, near and far, as if the whole land had been

one immense drum booming out steadily an appeal to heaven.

And through the deep and tremendous noise sudden yells that

resembled snatches of songs from a madhouse darted shrill and

high in discordant jets of sound which seemed to rush far

above the earth and drive all peace from under the stars.

Carlier and Kayerts slept badly. They both thought

they had heard shots fired during the night—but they could not

agree as to the direction. In the morning Makola was gone

somewhere. He returned about noon with one of yesterday's

strangers and eluded all Kayerts' attempts to close with him.

17

Had become deaf apparently. Kayerts wondered. Carlier who

had been fishing off the bank came back and remarked while he

showed his catch. "The niggers seem to be in a deuce of a

stir. I wonder what's up. I saw about fifteen canoes cross

the river during the two hours I was there fishing." Kayerts,

worried, said: "Isn't this Makola very queer to-day."

Carlier advised, "Keep all our men together in case of some

trouble."

There were ten station men who had been left by the

Director. Those fellows, having engaged themselves to the

Company for six months (without having any idea of a month in

particular and only a very faint notion of time in general),

had been serving the cause of progress for upwards of two

years. Belonging to a tribe from a very distant part of the

land of darkness and sorrow they did not run away, naturally

supposing that as wandering strangers they would be killed by

the inhabitants of the country. In which they were right.

They lived in straw huts on the slope of a ravine overgrown

with reedy grass, just behind the station buildings. They

were not happy, regretting the festive incantations, the sor­

ceries, the human sacrifices of their own land, where they

also had parents, brothers, sisters, admired chiefs, respected

magicians, loved friends, and other ties supposed generally

to be human. Besides, the rice rations served out by the Com­

pany did not agree with them, being a food unknown to their

land and to which they could not get used. Consequently they

18

were unhealthy and miserable. Had they been of any other

tribe they would have made up their minds to die—for nothing

is easier to certain savages than suicide—and so have escaped

from the puzzling difficulties of existence. But belonging,

as they did, to a warlike tribe with filed teeth they had

more grit and went on stupidly living through disease and sor­

row. They did very little work and had lost their splendid

physique. Carlier and Kayerts doctored them assiduously with­

out being able to bring them back into condition again. They

were mustered every morning and told off to different tasks--

grass cutting, fence building, tree-felling etc etc, which no

power on earth could induce them to execute efficiently. The

two whites had practically very little control over them.

In the afternoon Makola came over to the big house

and found Kayerts watching three heavy columns of smoke ris­

ing above the forests. "IVhat is that?" asked Kayerts. "Some

villages burn" answered Makola who seemed to have regained

his wits. Then he said abruptly: "We have got very little

ivory. Bad six months trading. Do you like get a little

more ivory?"

"Yes" said Kayerts eagerly. He thought of percentages

which were low.

"Those men who came yesterday are traders from Loanda

who have got more ivory than they can carry home. Shall I

buy? I know their camp."

"Certainly" said Kayerts. "What are those traders?"

19

"Bad fellows" said Makola indifferently. "They fight

with people and catch women and children. They are bad men

and got guns. There is a great disturbance in the country.

Do you want ivory?"

"Yes" said Kayerts. Makola said nothing for a while.

Then: "Those workmen of ours are no good at all" he muttered

looking round. "Station in very bad order, sir. Director

will growl. Better get a fine lot of ivory—then he say

nothing."

"I can't help it; the men won't work" said Kayerts.

"When will you get that ivory?"

"Very soon" said Makola. "Perhaps to-night. You

leave it to me, and keep indoors sir. I think you had better

give some palm wine to our men to make a dance this evening.

Enjoy themsleves. Work better to-morrow. There's plenty palm

wine—gone a little sour . . . "

Kayerts said yes and Makola with his own hands carried

the big calabashes to the door of his hut. They stood there

till the evening and Mrs. Makola looked into every one. The

men got them at sunset. When Kayerts and Carlier retired a

big bonfire was flaring before the men's huts. They could hear

their shouts and drumming. Some men from Gobila's village had

joined the station hands and the entertainment was a great

success.

In the middle of the night Carlier waking suddenly

heard a man shout loudly, then a shot was fired. Only one.

20

Carlier ran out and met Kayerts on the verandah. They were

both startled. As they went across the yard to call Makola

they saw shadows moving in the night. One of them cried "Don't

shoot. It's me—Price." Then Makola appeared close to them.

"Go back! go back please" he urged. "You spoil all."—

"There are strange men about" said Carlier. "Never mind—I

know" said Makola. Then he whispered. "All right. Bring

ivory. Say nothing. I know my business." The two white men

reluctantly went back to the house but did not sleep. They

heard footsteps, whispers, some groans. It seemed as if a

lot of men came in, dumped heavy things on the ground—squab­

bled a long time—then went away. They lay on their hard

beds and thought: this Makola is invaluable. In the morning

Carlier came out very sleepy and pulled at the cord of the

big bell. The station hands mustered every morning to the

sound of the bell. That morning nobody cam.e. Kayerts turned

out also yawning. Across the yard they saw Makola come nut

of his hut, a tin basin of soapy water in his hand. Makola,

a civilized nigger, was very neat in his person. He threw

the soapsuds skilfully over a wretched little yellow cur he

had, then turning his face to the agents' house he shouted

from the distance: "All the men gone, last night!"

They heard him plainly but in their surprise they

both yelled out together: "What!" .Then they stared at one

another. "We are in a proper fix now" growled Carlier.—

"It's incredible!" muttered Kayerts.— "I will go to the huts

21

and see" said Carlier striding off. Makola coming up found

Kayerts standing alone.

"I can hardly believe it"—said Kayerts tearfully.

"We took care of them as if they had been our children."

"They went with the coast people" said Makola after a

moment of hesitation.

"What do I care with whom they went—the ungrateful

brutes!" exclaimed the other. Then with sudden suspicion and

looking hard at Makola he added "What do you know about it?"

Makola moved his shoulders looking down on the ground.

"What do I know? I think only . . . Will you come and look

at the ivory I've got there? It is a fine lot. You never saw

such."

He moved towards the store. Kayerts followed him

mechanically, thinking about the incredible desertion of the

men. On the ground before the door of the fetish lay six

splendid tusks.

"What did you give for it?" asked Kayerts after sur­

veying the lot with satisfaction.

"No regular trade" said Makola. "They brought the

ivory and gave it to me. I told them to take what they most

wanted in the station. It is a beautiful lot. No station can

show such tusks. Those traders wanted carriers badly—and our

men were no good here . . . No trade--no entry in books—all

correct . . . "

22

Kayerts nearly burst with indignation. "Why" he

shouted "I believe you have sold our men for these tusks!

. . . " Makola stood impassive and silent. " . . . I . . . I

will . . . I . . ." stuttered Kayerts. " . . . You fiend!" he

yelled out.

"I did the best for you and the Company" said Makola

imperturbably—"Why you shout so much? Look at this tusk."

"I dismiss you! I will report you . . . I won't look

at the tusk. I forbid you to touch them. I order you to throw

them into the river. You! . . . you! . . . "

"You very red Mr. Kayerts . . . If you are so irrita­

ble in the sun you will get fever and die . . . like the

first chief" pronounced Makola impressively.

They stood still, contemplating one another with

intense eyes, as if they had been looking with effort across

immense distances. Kayerts shivered. Makola had meant no

more than he said but his words seemed to Kayerts full of

ominous menace. He turned sharply and went away to the house;

Makola retired into the bosom of his family: and the tusks

left lying by the store looked very large and valuable in the

sunshine.

Carlier came back on the verandah. "They're all gone,

hey?" asked Kayerts from the far end of the common room in a

muffled voice. "You did not find anybody?" —"Oh yes" said

Carlier "I found one of Gobila's people lying dead before the

huts--shot through the body. We heard that shot last night."

23

—Kayerts came out quickly. He found his companion staring

grimly over the yard at the tusks away by the store. They

both sat in silence for a while. Then Kayerts related his con­

versation with Makola. Carlier said nothing. At the midday

meal they ate very little. They hardly exchanged a word that

day. A great silence seemed to lie heavily over the station

and press on their lips. Makola did not open the store. He

spent the day playing with his children. He lay full length

on a mat outside his door and the youngsters sat on his chest

and clambered all over him. It was a touching picture. Mrs.

Makola was busy cooking all day as usual. The white men made

a somewhat better meal in the evening. Afterwards Carlier

smoking his pipe strolled over to the store; he stood for a

long time over the tusks; touched one or two with his foot,

even tried to lift the largest one by its small end. He came

back to his chief who had not stirred from the verandah, threw

himself in the chair and said:

"I can see it. They were pounced upon while they slept

heavily after drinking all that palm wine you've allowed Makola

to give them. A put up job. See? The worst is, some of

Gobila's people were there and got carried off too, no doubt.

The least drunk woke up and got shot for his sobriety. This

is a funny country. What will you do now?"

"We can't touch it of course" said Kayerts.

"Of course not" assented Carlier.

24

"Slavery is an awful thing" stammered out Kayerts in

an unsteady voice.

"Frightful . . . the sufferings . . . " grunted Carlier

with conviction.

They believed their words. Everybody shows a respect­

ful deference to certain sounds that he and his fellows can

make. But about feelings people really know nothing. We talk

with indignation, or enthusiasm, we talk about oppression,

cruelty, crime, devotion, self sacrifice, virtue—and we know

nothing real beyond the words. Nobody knows what suffering

or sacrifice mean—except, perhaps, the victims of the myste­

rious purpose of these illusions.

Next morning they saw Makola very busy setting up in

the yard the big scales used for weighing ivory. By and bye

Carlier said: "What's that filthy scoundrel up to?" and

lounged cut into the yard. Kayerts followed. They stood

watching. Makola took no notice. When the balance was swung

true, he tried to lift a tusk into the scale. It was too

heavy. He looked up helplessly without a word and for a min­

ute they stood around that balance as mute and still as three

statues. Suddenly Carlier said "Catch hold of the other end

Makola you beast!" and together they swung the tusk up.

Kayerts trembled in every limb. He muttered: "I say. O! I

say!" and putting his hand in his pocket found there a dirty

bit of paper and the stump of a pencil. He turned his back

on the others as if about to do something tricky and noted

25

stealthily the weights which Carlier shouted out to him with

unnecessary loudness. When all was over Makola whispered to

himself: "The sun's very strong here for the tusks." Carlier

said to Kayerts in a careless tone: "I say chief I might just

as well give him a lift with this lot into the store."

As they were going back to the house Kayerts observed

with a sigh: "It had to be done." And Carlier said: "It's

deplorable but the men being Company's men the ivory is Com­

pany's ivory. We must look after it."— "I will report to

the Director of course"—said Kayerts. "Of course—let him

decide" approved Carlier.

At midday they made a hearty meal. Kayerts sighed

from time to time. Whenever they mentioned Makola's name

they always added to it an opprobrious epithet. It eased

their conscience. Makola gave himself a half-holiday and

bathed his children in the river. No one from Gobila's vil­

lages came near the station that day. No one came the next

day . . . and the next . . . nor for.va whole week. Gobila's

people might have been dead and buried for any sign of life

they gave. But they were only mourning for those they had

lost by the witchcraft of white men who had brought wicked

people into their country. The v:icked people were gone, but

fear remained. Fear always remains. A man may destroy every­

thing within himself: love and hate, and belief—and even

doubt; but as long as he clings to life he cannot destroy fear;

the fear subtle, indestructible and terrible, that pervades

26

his being, that tinges his thoughts, that lurks in his heart,

that watches on his lips the struggle of his last breath. In

his fear the mild, old Gobila offered extra human sacrifices

to all the evil spirits that had taken possession of his white

friends. His heart was heavy. Some warriors spoke about

burning and killing but the cautious old savage dissuaded

them. Who could foresee the woe those mysterious creatures—

if irritated—might bring? They should be left alone. Per­

haps in time they would disappear into the earth as the first

one had disappeared. His people must keep away from them and

hope for the best.

Kayerts and Carlier did not disappear but remained

above on this earth that, somehow, they fancied had become

bigger and very empty. It was not the absolute and dumb soli­

tude of the post that impressed them so much as an inarticu­

late feeling that something from within them was gone,

something that worked for their safety and had kept the wil­

derness from interfering with their hearts. The images of

home, the memory of people like them, of men that thought and

felt as they used to think and feel receded into distances

made indistinct by the glare of unclouded sunshine. And out

of the groat silence of the surrounding wilderness its very

hopelessness and savagery seemed to approach them nearer, to

draw them gently, to look upon them, to envelop them with a

solicitude irresistible, familiar and disgusting.

27

Days lengthened into weeks, then into months. Gobila's

people drummed and yelled to every new moon as of yore but

kept away from the station. Makola and Carlier tried once in

a canoe to open communications but were received with a shower

of arrows and had to fly back to the station for dear life.

That attempt set the country up and down the river into an

uproar that could be very distinctly heard for days. The

steamer was late. At first they spoke of delay jauntily, then

anxiously, then gloomily. The matter was becoming serious.

Stores were running short. Carlier cast his lines off the

bank but the river was low and the fish kept out in the stream.

They dared not stroll far away from the station to shoot.

Moreover there was no game in the impenetrable forest. Once

Carlier shot a hippo in the river. They had no boat to secure

it and it sank. When it floated up it drifted away and

Gobila's people secured the carcass. It was the occasion for

a national holiday but Carlier had a fit of rage over it and

talked about the necessity of exterminating all the niggers

before the country could be made habitable, Kayerts mooned

about silently—spent hours looking at the portrait of his

Melie. It represented a little girl with long bleached tresses

and a rather sour face. His legs were much swollen and he

could hardly walk. Carlier, undermined by fever, could not

swagger any more but kept tottering about, still V7ith a devil-

may-care air, as became a man who remembered his crack regi­

ment. He had become hoarse, sarcastic and inclined to say

28

unpleasant things. He called it: "being frank with you."

They had long ago reckoned their percentages on trade includ­

ing in them that last deal of "this infamous Makola." They

had also concluded not to say anything about it. Kayerts hesi­

tated at first—was afraid of the Director.

"He has seen worse things done on the quiet" main­

tained Carlier with a hoarse laugh. "Trust him! He won't

thank you if you blab. He is no better than you or me. Who

will talk if we hold our tongues? There is nobody here."

That was the root of the trouble! There was nobody

there; and being left there alone with their weakness they

became daily more like a pair of accomplices than like a

couple of devoted friends. They had heard nothing from home

for eight months. Every evening they said. "To-morrow we

shall see the steamer." But one of the Company's steamers

had been wrecked and the Director was busy with the other

relieving very distant and important stations on the main

river. He thought that the useless station and the useless

men could wait. Meantime Kayerts and Carlier lived on rice

boiled without salt and cursed the Company, all Africa, and

the day they were born. One must have lived on such diet to

discover what ghastly trouble the necessity of swallowing

one's food may become. There was literally nothing else in

the station but rice and coffee. They drank the coffee with­

out sugar. The last fifteen lumps Kayerts had solemnly locked

away in his box together with a half-bottle of Cognac; "in

29

case of sickness" he explained. Carlier approved. "VThen

one is sick"—he said—"any little extra like that is cheer­

ing. "

They waited. Rank grass began to sprout over the

courtyard. The bell never rang now. Days passed silent,

exasperating and slow. Vhen the two men spoke, they snarled;

and their silences were bitter as if tinged by the bitterness

of their thoughts.

One day after a lunch of boiled rice Carlier put down

his cup untasted and said "Hang it all! Let's have a decent

cup of coffee for once. Bring out that sugar Kayerts!"

"For the sick" muttered Kayerts without looking up.

"For the sick" mocked Carlier. "Bosh! Well! I am

sick."

"You are no more sick than I am, and I go without"

said Kayerts in a peaceful tone.

"Come! out with that sugar you stingy old slave-

dealer . "

Kayerts looked up quickly. Carlier was smiling with

marked insolence. And suddenly it seemed to Kayerts that he

had never seen that man before. Who was he? He knew nothing

about him. What was he capable of? There was a surprising

flash of violent emotion within him as if in the presence of

something undreamt-of, dangerous and final. But he managed to

pronounced with composure.

"That joke is in very bad taste. Don't repeat it."

30

"Joke!" said Carlier hitching himself forward on his

seat. "I am hungry, I am sick, I don't joke. I hate hypo­

crites. You are a hypocrite. You are a slave-dealer, I am a

slave-dealer—there's nothing but slave-dealers in this cursed

country. I mean to have sugar in my coffee to-day, anyhow!"

"I forbid you to speak to me in that way" said

Kayerts with a fair show of resolution.

"You! . . . What?" shouted Carlier jumping up.

Kayerts stood up also. "I am your chief" he began,

trying to master the shakiness of his voice.

"What?" yelled the other. "Who's chief? There's no

chief here. There's nothing here. There's nothing but you

and I. Fetch the sugar—you pot-bellied ass."

"Hold your tongue. Go out of this room" screamed

Kayerts. "I dismiss you—you scoundrel!"

Carlier swung a stool. All at once he looked danger­

ously in earnest.

"You flabby, good-for-nothing civilian . . . take

that!" he howled.

Kayerts dropped under the table, and the stool struck

the grass inner wall of the room.. Then as Carlier was trying

to upset the table Kayerts in desperation made a blind rush,

head low, like a cornered pig would do, and overturning his

friend bolted along the verandah and into his room. He locked

the door, snatched his revolver and stood panting. In less

than a minute Carlier was kicking at the door furiously,

31

howling "If you don't bring out that sugar I will shoot you

at sight like a dog. Now then . . . one . . . two . . . three

. . . You won't? . . . I will show you who's the master."

Kayerts thought the door would fall in, and scrambled

through the square hole that served for a window in his room.

There was then the whole breadth of the house between them.

But the other was apparently not strong enough to break in the

door and Kayerts heard him running round. Then he also began

to run laboriously on his swollen legs. He ran as quickly as

he could, grasping the revolver, and unable yet to understand

what was happening to him. He saw in succession Makola's

house, the store, the river, the ravine and the low bushes—

and he saw all those things again as he ran for the second

time round the house. Then again they flashed past him . . .

That morning he could not have walked a yard without a groan.

And now he ran. He ran fast enough to keep out of

sight of the other man.

Then, as, weak and desperate, he thought: before I

finish the next round I shall die---he heard the other man

stumble heavily, then stop. He stopped also. He had the back

and Carlier the front of the house as before. He heard him

drop into a chair cursing, and suddenly his own legs gave way

and he slid down into a sitting posture with his back to the

wall. His mouth was as dry as a cinder and his face was wet

with perspiration—and tears. What was it all about? He

thought it must be a horrible illusion; he thought he was

32

dreaming; he thought he was going mad! . . . After a while

he collected his senses. What did they quarrel about? That

sugar. How absurd! He would give it to him.—Didn't want it

himself . . . And he began scrambling to his feet with a sud­

den feeling of security. But before he had fairly stood

upright a common sense reflexion occurred to him and drove him

back into despair. He thought: If I give way now to that

brute of a soldier, he will begin this horror again to-morrow—

and the day after—every day—raise other pretensions; trample

on me; torture me; make me his slave--and I will be lost!

Lost! The steamer may not come for days—may never come . . .

He shook so that he had to sit dovm on the floor again. He

shivered forlornly. He felt he could not, would not move any

more. He was completely distracted by the sudden perception

that the position was without issue—that death and life had

in a moment become equally difficult and terrible.

All at once he heard the other push his chair back;

and he leaped to his feet with extreme facility. He listened

and got confused . . . must run again . . . right or left?

He heard footsteps . . . He darted to the left grasping his

revolver and at the very same instant, as it seemed to him,

they came into violent collision. Both shouted with surprise.

A loud explosion took place between them; a roar of red fire,

thick smoke—and Kayerts deafened and blinded rushed back

thinking: I am hit—it's all over. He expected the other to

come round—to gloat over his agony. He caught hold of an

33

upright of the roof . . .All over! . . . Then he heard a

crashing fall on the other side of the house, as if somebody

had tumbled headlong over a chair . . . Then silence. Noth­

ing more happened. He did not die. Only his shoulder felt

as if it had been badly wrenched—and he had lost his revolver.

He was disarmed and helpless! He waited for his fate. The

other man made no sound. It was a stratagem. He was stalk­

ing him, now . . . Along what side? . . . Perhaps he was tak­

ing aim this very minute! . . .

After a few moments of an agony frightful and absurd

he decided to go out and meet his doom. He was prepared for

every surrender. He turned the corner steadying himself with

one hand on the wall, made a few paces—and nearly swooned.

He had seen on the floor protruding past the other corner a

pair of turned up feet. A pair of white naked feet in red

slippers. He felt deadly sick and stood for a time in pro­

found darkness. Then Makola appeared before him saying

quietly: "Come along Mr. Kayerts. He is dead." He burst

into tears of gratitude; a loud, sobbing fit of crying. After

a time he found himself sitting in a chair and looking at

Carlier who lay stretched on his back. Makola was kneeling

over the body.

"Is this your revolver?" asked Makola getting up.

"Yes!" said Kayerts, then he added very quickly: "He

ran after me to shoot me—you saw!"

34

"Yes, I saw" said Makola. "There is only one

revolver. Where's his?"

"Don't know" whispered Kayerts in a voice that had

become suddenly very faint.

"I will go and look for it" said the other gently. He

made the round along the verandah while Kayerts sat still and

looked at the corpse. Makola came back empty handed; stood

in deep thought, then stepped quietly into the dead man's room

and came out directly with a revolver which he held up before

Kayerts. Kayerts shut his eyes. Everything was going round.

He found life more terrible and difficult than death. He had

shot an unarmed man.

After meditating for a while Makola said softly,

pointing at the dead man who lay there with his right eye

blown out.

"He died of fever."

Kayerts looked at him with a stony stare. "Yes"

repeated Makola thoughtfully, stepping over the corpse. "I

think he died of fever. Bury him to-morrow."

And he went away slowly to his expectant wife leaving

the two white men alone on the verandah.

Night came and Kayerts sat unmoving on his chair. He

sat quiet as if he had taken a dose of opium. The violence

of the emotions he had passed through, produced a feeling of

exhausted serenity. He had plumbed in one short afternoon the

depths of horror and despair and now found repose in the

35

conviction that life had no more secrets for him—neither had

death! He sat by the corpse thinking—thinking very actively,

thinking very new thoughts. He seemed to have broken loose

from himself altogether. His old thoughts, convictions, likes

and dislikes, things he respected and things he abhorred

appeared in their true light at last!—appeared contemptible

and childish, false and ridiculous. He revelled in his new

wisdom while he sat by the man he had killed. He argued with

himself about all things under heaven with that kind of wrong-

headed lucidity which may be observed in some lunatics. Inci­

dentally he reflected that the fellow dead there had been a

noxious beast anyway; that men died every day in thousands;

perhaps in hundreds of thousands—who could tell?—and that,

in the number, that one death could not possibly make any dif­

ference, couldn't have any importance—at least to a thinking

creature. He, Kayerts, was a thinking creature. He had been

all his life—till that moment—a believer in a lot of non­

sense like the rest of mankind—who are fools—but now he

thought—he knew—he was at peace—he was familiar with the

highest wisdom! Then he tried to imagine himself dead and

Carlier sitting in his chair watching him; and his attempt met

with such unexpected success, that in a very few moments he

became not at all sure who was dead and who was alive. This

extraordinary achievement of his fancy startled him however

and by a clever and timely effort of mind he saved himself

just in time from becoming Carlier. His heart thumped and he

36

felt hot all over at the thought of that danger . . . Carlier!

What a beastly thing! . . . To compose his now disturbed

nerves—and no wonder!—he tried to whistle a little . . .

Then, suddenly, he fell asleep—or thought he had slept . . .

but at any rate there was a fog—and somebody had whistled in

the fog.

He stood up. The day had come and a heavy mist had

descended upon the land; the mist penetrating, enveloping and

silent; the morning mist of tropical lands, the mist that

clings and kills, the mist white and deadly, immaculate and

poisonous. He stood up; saw the body; and threw his arms

above his head with a cry like that of a man who waking from

a trance finds himself immured for ever in a tomb.

"Help! My God!"

A shriek inhuman, vibrating and sudden pierced like a

sharp dart the white shroud of that land of sorrow. Three

short, impatient screeches followed—and then, for a tir. 3,

the fog-wreaths rolled on, undisturbed, through a formidable

silence. Then many more shrieks rapid and piercing, like tne

yells of some exasperated and ruthless creature, rent the air.

Progress was calling to Kayerts from the river. Progress, and

civilization and all the virtues. Society was calling to its

accomplished child, to come, to be taken care of, to be

instructed, to be judged, to be condemned; it called him to

return to that rubbish-heap from which he had wandered away—

so that justice could be done.

37

Kayerts heard and understood. He stumbled out of the

verandah leaving the other man quite alone for the first time

since they had been thrown there together. He groped his way

through the fog calling in his ignorance upon the invisible

heaven to undo its work. Makola flitted by in the mist, shout­

ing as he ran.

"Steamer! Steamer! They can't see. They whistle for

the station. I go ring the bell. Go down to the landing,

sir. I ring . . . "

He disappeared. Kayerts stood still. He looked

upwards; the fog rolled low over his head. He looked round

like a man who has lost his way; and he saw a dark smudge, a

cross-shaped stain upon the shifting purity of the mist. As

he began to stumble towards it, the station bell rang in a

tumultuous peal its answer to the impatient clamour of the

steamer.

The Managing Director of the Great Civilizing Company

(since we know that civilization follows trade) landed first—

and incontinently lost sight of the steamer. The fog down by

the river was exceedingly dense. Above at the station the bell

rang, unceasing and brazen.

The Director shouted loudly to the steamer.

"There is nobody down to meet us. There may be some­

thing wrong tho they are ringing. You had better come, too."

38

And he began to toil up the steep bank. The captain

and the engine-driver of the boat followed behind. As they

scrambled up the fog thinned and they could see their Direc­

tor a good way ahead. Suddenly they saw him start forward

calling to them over his shoulder: "Run! Run to the house.

I've found one of them. Run, look for the other."

He had found one of them! And even he, the man of

varied and startling experience, was somewhat discomposed by

the manner of this finding. He stood and fumbled in his

pockets (for a knife) while he faced Kayerts who was hanging

by a leather strap from the cross. He had evidently climbed

the grave—which was high and narrow—and after tying the end

of the strap to the arm had swung himself off. His toes were

only a couple of inches above the ground. His arms hung

stiffly down. He seemed to be standing rigidly at attention

but with one purple cheek playfully posed on the shoulder.

And, irreverently, he was putting out a swollen tongue at his

Managing Director.

History of the Text

Between 1896 and 1923, "An Outpost of Progress"

evolved through six stages--holograph manuscript, corrected

typescript, serial form, first English book form, and two

collected editions, the Doubleday Sun-Dial and the Doubleday

Concord. Among these successive versions of the story only

the typescript has not survived. And since that document

was closely approximated in substantives by the extant Ameri­

can copyright copy, which was set from uncorrected proof

prepared from the typescript, the textual history of "Out­

post" can be traced with reasonable accuracy. This history

is valuable both for what it reveals about the author's

creative method and for its influence upon textual decisions

made in the preparation of an authoritative edition of the

story.

As Jessie recalls, Conrad wrote "Outpost" in the

first three weeks of July, 1896. On July 22 he sent to

2 Edward Garnett a typed copy which Jessie had prepared. In

the accompanying letter he invited Garnett to make comments 3

and asked him to forward the story to Fisher Unwin. John D

Gordan suggests that the dates on the title page of the

autograph manuscript, "17-21st July," indicate the period

during which "Outpost" underwent final preparation for

39

40

Garnett and Unwin, its first readers.^ And, certainly, the

hundreds of cancellations and additions which appear on the

autograph manuscript are evidence of the vigorous reworking

which, in the letter to Garnett, the author described as

"polishing, perfecting, simplifying." On August 14 Conrad

announced to Garnett that the review Cosmopolis had accepted

the story.

Unwin sent unrevised proof of "Outpost" to Macmillan

in America on October 7 of the same year. Macmillan, with

whom Unwin had originally negotiated to publish what was

later to become the Tales of Unrest collection, reset the

story and secured the American copyright for Unwin on Octo­

ber 28, 189 6. While it has no textual authority, having

been printed on a foreign press without Conrad's supervision,

the Macmillan pamphlet is significant, because it helps

resolve questions about the missing typescript. Since Conrad

did not revise Unwin's proofs of the story before they were

dispatched to Macmillan, and since these proofs were

undoubtedly set from the typescript, the pamphlet must have

closely resembled the typescript in substantives, compositor-

ial intervention by Macmillan notwithstanding. Furthermore,

collation shows that there are over 150 substantive variants

between the pamphlet and the autograph manuscript, suggest­

ing that revision of the typescript had been completed before

the Unwin proofs were prepared. For there are less than

twenty such variants between the pamphlet and the serial form,

41

which is the next version of "Outpost" on the line of descent

from the autograph manuscript.

As was the case with "The Idiots" and "The Lagoon,"

two stories whose textual histories closely parallel that of

"Outpost," the printer's copy for the serial version was prob-

ably the revised typescript. Conrad's reference to the "2nd

proof of story for Cosmopolis" in his November 21 letter to

E. L. Sanderson indicates that the author had opportunity to

correct both first proof and revises before the story was 7

finally published in June and July of 1897. But these

changes were few; collation reveals that only sixteen sub­

stantives separate the Cosmopolis version from the Macmillan

pamphlet, which was also based upon the revised typescript.

The most obvious change introduced into serial proof

was the story's bipartite division. Both the autograph

manuscript and the Macmillan pamphlet are continuous narra­

tives. In two letters to Sanderson, the November 21 letter

already m.entioned and another dated January 27, 1897, the

author regretted, with typical Conradian hyperbole, the fact

that the Cosmopolis editors thought the story too long for

one number: I told the unspeakable idiots that the thing halved would be as effective as a dead scorpion. There will be a part without a sting,—and the part with the sting,—and being separated they will be both harmless and disgusting.

The sting of the thing is in its tail,--so that the first installment, by itself, will appear utterly

42

meaningless,—and, by the time the second number comes out, people would have forgotten all about it and would wonder at my sudden ferocity.^

Interestingly, the Saturday Review seemed to share the author's

misgivings when it commented in a brief note on the June num­

ber of Cosmopolis, "So far it looks as if Mr. Conrad's story

must lose as much as Mr. Kipling's gained by the division in 9

two parts." (The Kipling story, published the previous March

and April, was "Slaves of the Lamp.") "Outpost" retains a

vestigial Roman numeral division in Tales of Unrest.

Placed third in Unwin's Tales of Unrest, in the company

of "Karain: A Memory," "The Idiots," "The Return," and "The

Lagoon," "Outpost" had been intended for this volume from

the outset. In 189 6 Conrad even predicted to Garnett that the

collection might be entitled Outpost of Progress and Other

Stories. His only alternative at the time. Idiots and

Other Stories, was, he told Garnett, not to his liking. But

even as late as November of 189 7 Conrad specified to Unwin

that "If one of the stories is to give the title to the whole

then: An Outpost of Progress must be first."

Collation indicates that thirty-five substantive

variants and some thirty accidentals separate the Unv/in Talcs

of Unrest version of "Outpost" from the serial version. The

first American edition of Tales, which Macmillan declined to

publish because Almayer's Folly had- sold badly, was published

instead by Scribner's. Comparison of the Scribner's Tales

with Unwin yields no substantive variants so far as "Outpost''

43

is concerned. So when one speaks of the first book form of

"Outpost," there is, with the exception of two accidentals,

indeed only one such form, even though, under the conditions

of the Chace Copyright Act, the first English edition and its

American counterpart were printed separately, the Scribner's

volume of Tales appearing on March 26, 1898, and the Unwin

12 volume on April 4, 189 8.

Since Tales of Unrest retains the two-part division

of "Outpost," it is reasonable to assume that copies of the

serial proofs were used to set the Unwin book edition. But

it is also possible that the revised typescript, updated to

include the serial proof revisions, was used. Moreover,

Conrad probably made the thirty-five substantive revisions

in proof and seems-to have introduced no revisions after

13

Unwin sent the revised proof to America. Subsequent to its

appearance in 1898, the Unwin Tales went through three more

impressions during Conrad's lifetime, in 1909, 1921, and

1923. The Scribner's TaJes was reprinted in 1914 and 1915.

Towards the end of Conrad's life, the publishers

Doubleday and Heinemann printed collected editions of his

works. The versions of "Outpost" in the 1920 Doubleday Sun-

Dial edition and the 1921 Heinemann limited edition derive

from the Unwin Tales of Unrest. The Sun-Dial varies from

Unwin in seven substantives, five of them presumably autho­

rial, two of them probably compositorial errors, and in some

thirty-five accidentals, the largest group of these consisting

44

of American spellings. The Heinemann varies from Unwin in no

substantives and some twenty accidentals. None of the Sun-

Dial variants agree with any of the Heinemann variants. The

1923 Concord issue of the Doubleday collected works, which is

the last printing of "Outpost" supervised by Conrad, retains

the five substantive revisions contained in Sun-Dial, corrects

the two apparent errors in Sun-Dial, and repeats nearly all of

the Sun-Dial accidentals, deleting only one comma and adding

three sets of quotation marks in passages introduced by such

phrases as "He thought."

Accounting for the differences amongst the Sun-Dial,

Concord, and Heinemann texts of "Outpost" entails a degree of

speculation. Conrad had carefully supervised the Doubleday

Sun-Dial printing. It has been agreed that the Heinemann edi­

tion would be prepared from proofs of the Sun-Dial corrected

by Conrad. Obviously, however, the corrected Sun-Dial proofs

of "Outpost" did not reach Heinemann in time for them to be

used for that edition, because it has been shown that the

Heinemann "Outpost" is based entirely on the first English

book text, repeating none of the Sun-Dial variants from the

first book text.

One can conjecture that since Almayer's Folly and

Tales were to comprise volume one of the edition, Heinemann's

schedule could not wait for Conrad to send the corrected

Sun-Dial proofs. There was also apparently some delay either

in Doubleday's getting the proof sheets to Conrad or in

45

Conrad's completing his corrections, for he says in a letter

to his literary agent J. B. Pinker, dated May 31, 1920, "I

had a letter from Heinemann asking for more copy for his

limited Edition. I can't however send him more because he

sets up from the American corrected proof. ""'• Confronted with

these several obstacles, then, perhaps Conrad simply told

Heinemann to set from the Unwin edition. If this were indeed

the case, and it seems the only logical conclusion to draw,

the Heinemann "Outpost" cannot be considered an authority.

Moreover, since the Concord version of "Outpost" is an issue

prepared from revised plates of the Sun-Dial edition, and since

because of this it is the last printing of the story super­

vised by Conrad, it must be considered the final authority

for substantives.

Unsupervised reprintings of "Outpost" during Conrad's

lifetime are all based on the 189 8 Unwin Tales of Unrest.

They contain nonauthorial changes. They are the 1898 Tauch-

nitz reprinting of Tales, the Nash's Famous Fiction Library

reprinting of Tales, the Ladysmith Treasury reprinting of

"Outpost" in 1900, and the Grand Magazine reprinting of "Out­

post" in 1906. No translations of "Outpost" appeared during

Conrad's lifetime. Mercure de France had planned to publish

in the winter of 1907 French translations of "Karain," "The

Lagoon," "Outpost," and Heart of Darkness, all of which Conrad

was to have supervised, but "Karain" was the only part of

this project actually completed.

46

The transmission of accidentals from the autograph

manuscript through Cosmopolis probably occurred in four

stages. In all likelihood, Conrad corrected mistakes in the

manuscript as he prepared the typescript and probably revised

the typescript prior to the Unwin printing. Unwin's composi­

tors undoubtedly house-styled the typescript before sending

"Outpost" to press, and it can be assumed that, several months

later, Cosmopolis also made some adjustments in accidentals.

Since there are over 600 accidental variants between Cosmo­

polis and the autograph manuscript, one can conclude that the

disposition of accidentals in the serial reflects publishers'

house-styling more faithfully than it reproduces Conrad's

punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.

The Cosmopolis punctuation is quite a bit heavier

than that of the m.anuscript. In the serial, commas regularly

appear between independent clauses joined by a conjunction,

between verb-direct object combinations linked by conjunctions,

and after such introductory elements as adverb clauses, modi­

fying phrases, and transition words. Moreover, commas are

regularly employed to set off nonrestrictive adjective clauses,

parallel prepositional phrases joined by conjunctions, partic­

ipial modifiers, and vocatives. Cosmopolis also occasionally

uses semicolons, instead of commas or dashes, to set off long

syntactical units in series, adjective clauses, long apposi-

tive phrases, and independent clauses. Though punctuation in

the autograph manuscript is not consistent, Conrad much less

47

often employs commas or semicolons in tliese situations.

Albert Guerard has complained that in this story "the most

personal voice of the early Conrad, with its unpunctuated

running rhythms and overloaded syntax, is rarely heard, and

15 never speaks with distinction." One might reply to this

criticism by noting that Conrad's "personal voice" in "Out­

post" is sometimes choked by regularization superimposed upon

the story by its publishers.

Other probable examples of house-styling in Cosmo­

polis are the frequent use of commas both to introduce and

conclude lines of dialogue and to set off the last item in

series of words or phrases. Moreover, Cosmopolis usually

substitutes periods and dashes for ellipses and usually sub­

stitutes commas for Conrad's dashes. Besides making three

changes in paragraphing and adding a score of exclamation

marks, the serial adopts British spellings, most often by

altering Conrad's z's to s 's, and makes more extensive use

of the hyphen. Also reflected in the Cosmopolis text is the

routine correction of spelling errors, together with the

addition of omitted quotation marks, periods, and question

marks. However, most of these omissions and misspellings were

probably rectified by Conrad himself when he and Jessie pre­

pared the typescript.

Subsequent house-styling of "Outpost" for Tales of

Unrest and the later collected editions resulted in only slight

modification of the Cosmopolis accidentals. The Tales of

48

Unrest version adds six commas, deletes five commas, intro­

duces some changes in word division, and makes a few minor

alterations involving dashes and ellipses. Besides returning

to American spelling, Sun-Dial makes several changes in word

division, adds five commas, and deletes nine commas, while

Heinemann, sharing none of the Sun-Dial variants, introduces

some changes in word division, adds six commas, deletes one

comma, and attempts to regularize the introduction of dialogue

by substituting colons for commas and dashes. Finally, Con­

cord, retaining the Sun-Dial alterations, deletes one comma

and adds a few quotation marks.

Since it is the only extant text which unquestionably

reflects authorial intentions as to accidentals, this edition

employs the autograph manuscript as copy-text rather than any

of the subsequent printed versions. While the typescript

prepared from this document probably contained some authori?.l

changes, such as spelling corrections and some additional

quotation marks, periods, and commas, the absence of this

typescript renders Conrad's manuscript the authority for most

accidentals. The hundreds of changes in capitalization,

spelling, and punctuation contained in the Cosmopolis version,

which follows the typescript on the ancestral line, probably

result more from house-styling than from authorial revision.

And v/hile Conrad is known to have corrected the serial proofs,

it is doubtful that he would have challenged the editors on

accidentals. Moreover, it is even less likely that Conrad

49

corrected accidentals in subsequent texts on the line of

descent from the manuscript—the Unwin Tales of Unrest and

the Doubleday Sun-Dial and Concord editions.

For the sake of clarity, the present edition inter­

venes on several occasions to emend accidentals in the auto­

graph manuscript. Although Conrad took great pains inscribing

and revising his manuscript, the fact remains that Garnett

and Unwin read the story in typescript rather than holograph.

Because he undoubtedly had intended to prepare a typescript

for these first readers all along, it is likely that Conrad

postponed the final correction of minor errors involving both

substantives and accidentals until he dictated the manuscript

to Jessie. In view of the probability, then, that the manu­

script does not reflect all of the "polishing, perfecting,

simplifying" Conrad mentioned in the July 22 letter to Gar­

nett, limited adjustments of accidentals in the copy-text

seems warranted. Care has been taken, however, to preserve

Conrad's lighter rhetorical punctuation, V7hich distinguishes

the autograph manuscript from Cosmopolis and later editions.

Conrad's practice of skipping a line to indicate a

new paragraph has been abandoned in favor of conventional

indentation. Obvious misspellings have been corrected,

although obsolete spellings—"dark," "tho," "reflexion"—have

been retained. Periods and question marks have been added

where Conrad seems to have inadvertently omitted them, and

periods have been added after the abbreviations Mr and Mrs.

50

Some misleading quotation marks have been deleted and some

clearly necessary ones supplied. Dashes preceding indented

passages of dialogue in the autograph manuscript have been

discarded. And since Conrad's practice of varying the number

of periods in ellipsis marks serves no discernible purpose,

all ellipses have been limited to three periods. Normal

spacing has been employed between the final period and the

next sentence unless the ellipsis occurs within a passage of

dialogue or dramatic monologue, in which case the ellipsis

is centered between the elements it separates. Moreover,

the quotation mark which Conrad placed directly above the

first period in each ellipsis terminating a line of dialogue

has been moved to the end of the ellipsis so that the mark

encloses the entire line.

Conrad often failed to set off participial phrases

with commas and occasionally omitted commas before and after

appositives, before and after nominative absolutes, before

and after phrases within inverted syntactical arrangements,

and between nouns and phrases in series. VJherever the omis­

sion of punctuation endangers clarity, the mark has been sup­

plied. Usually the authority for such emendations is

Cosmopolis, whose authority is strengthened by repetition of

the accidental in the first English book edition of Tales.

As previously shown, collations reveal that substan­

tive changes were introduced into "Outpost'* in each of the six

stages in its history. Most were made prior to serial

51

publication, but several appear for the first time in Tales

of Unrest and a few were introduced during preparation of

the Sun-Dial and Concord collected editions. Because these

variant readings occur in editions of the story personally

supervised by Conrad, they must be considered authorial cor­

rections and as such have been admitted into the copy-text.

The following discussion reviews changes which appear in the

six stages of textual revision and also considers the two

reprintings of "Outpost" independent of Tales.

Autograph Manuscript

The hundreds of cancellations and interlined passages

which appear in the autograph manuscript were probably all

completed before Jessie prepared the typescript. It can be

assumed that they are contemporaneous with the July writing

and reworking process, inasmuch as, with one probably coin­

cidental exception, there are no instances of a manuscript

revision appearing for the first time in a text more distant

in the line of descent from the manuscript than the Macmillan

1 6 printing. Although the revisions are numerous, none of

them radically alters structure, characterization, or point

of view. \^ile necessary changes in verb tense (particularly

past perfect and present perfect), together with the occa­

sional outright deletion or addition of details, account for

many of the manuscript revisions, many more show that Conrad

was preoccupied during those five days mainly with syntacti­

cal adjustment for the sake of clarity, euphony, economy, and

52

tonal control. Predictably, the most extensive revisions

cluster between lines of omniscient commentary.

The following excision may be compared with Conrad's

rewrite, which immediately follows it in the manuscript:

And gingerly they took them up. They had never read

before practically and found the books rather amusing.

They took up these wrecks of novels and, as they had

never read before they were surprised and amused.

(10.20-22)

Besides improving the syntax with the removal of "practi­

cally," Conrad unified the thoughts by employing a subordi--

nate clause in the revision to specify that the agents were

"surprised and amused" because reading fiction was a new

experience for them.

Conrad took special pains with his more involved

commentary. The following excerpt is typical. (Symbols are

keyed thus: parenthesis for cancelled passage, italics for

interlined passage, "x" for illegible deleted letter.)

They believed their words. Everybody (believes) shows

a respectful deference to certain sounds that he and his

fellows can make. (People) But about feelings people

really know nothing. (People talk) We talk with indig­

nation, or enthusiasm, we talk about oppression, cruelty,

atrocity, crime, devotion, self sacrifice, virtue—(and

53

nobody knows anything—) and we know nothing real

beyond the words. Nobody knows what they mean xxxxxx—

except, perhaps, the victims of the mysterious purpose

of these illusions. (24.5-12)

The alterations elucidate the point being made here about the

tendency of words to insulate men against realities. The

original oppositions between "believes" and "knows," between

"talk" and "feelings," are amplified by the addition of

"respectful deference," "indignation," "enthusiasm," "words,"

and the repetition of "talk" on one side, balanced on the

other by the antithetical "real" and a repetition of the verb

"to know." Conrad improves the rhythm by expanding the last

sentence into four balanced independent clauses beginning

"We talk," "we talk," "we know nothing," and "Nobody knows."

Other manuscript revisions show Conrad filing the

teeth of his irony. For example, he reworks part of the

early description of Makola:

Then for a time (in the intervals of book-keeping he

communed for a time alone with the Evil) h£ dwelt alone

with his family, his account books and with [over "the"]

the Evil Spirit that rules the lands under the equator.

(2.17-19)

The parallel series "family," "account books," "Evil Spirit"

produces an effect more consistent with this initial tongue

54

in cheek description. Later in the story, on the morning

after the brutal murder and kidnappings, Makola takes his

customary bath, apparently content to wash his hands of the

entire incident. Conrad accentuates the bitter incongruity

between the native's punctilious regard for personal hygiene

and the previous night's atrocities by interlining the sar­

donic observation that "Makola, a civilized was very neat in

his person" (20.18-19).

Ironic touches are also added to the assessment of

Kayerts and Carlier's reactions to characters in the novels

they discovered. Conrad subjected this passage to the fol­

lowing alterations:

They (admired) discounted their virtues, discussed

their motives, decried their successess; were scandal­

ized at their duplicity or (grew enthusiastic over)

were doubtful about their courage. (11.1-4)

The substitution of "discounted" and "were doubtful about"

transforms what originally described a naive first reaction

to literature into a sarcastic rendering of the agents' mis­

guided confidence in their moral superiority.

Adjustment of verb tense and addition or deletion of

details account for most of the other manuscript alterations.

A particularly effective revision of Kayerts' awakening to

the steamer's whistle is the transmutation of "slept" and

"whistled" to "had slept" and "had whistled" (36.4-5). Since

55

the agent's thoughts are being discussed in the past tense,

both his previous night's sleep and his half-conscious experi­

ence of the steamer's whistle seconds earlier can correctly be

referred to only in the past perfect tense. Moreover, the

steamer which in this final scene has just screeched so

eloquently was described as having sounded "like a masterful

exasperation" before Conrad substituted the more specific

comparison "like an exasperated and fabulous animal" and

finally emended this to the forbidding simile "like an exas­

perated and ruthless creature" (36.19-20).

Obviously, the process of "polishing, perfecting,

simplifying" the story was extensive. Considering the number

and variety of the manuscript revisions, one finds Elmer

Ordonez' observation that "the copy is relatively free of

cancelled words and lines" and Garnett's praise of the docu-

17 ment's "remarkable beauty" somewhat misleading.

Macmillan Copyright Copy

Since the typescript and the Macmillan pamphlet were

probably quite close in substantives, an analysis of the

scores of variants between the pamphlet and the manuscript is

largely a study of those changes introduced into "Outpost"

just prior to the first printing by Unwin. The changes,

which resemble in kind those contained in. the manuscript,

show Conrad sharpening thematic focus or intensifying the

irony, adjusting verb tense or replacing certain verbs,

56

introducing or altering details, avoiding repetitive word

selection, and correcting grammatical errors not involving

verbs.

The lengthiest variant is the omitted manuscript pas­

sage that originally formed part of the omniscient comment

cited in the General Introduction:

The individuals remain steady because of the equili­

brium of the mass, and they feel and are safe just

because of their individual insignificance which they

understand instinctively cannot affect the general

order of things and the foreseen course of their own

fate. The average individual can bear solitude easily

enough, could live an hermit's life in a desert with­

out losing his moral balance for solitude by itself is

only a negation; its whispers as such can be disbelieved;

and in undisturbed memory there is always a refuge from

the torments of the imagination. (5.4)

The first two clauses might have been thought unnecessary

because they repeat what the narrator has already said about

the insignificant individual's finding shelter in "civilized

crowds." The remaining clauses, which minimize the threat

of "solitude by itself," contradict some of the narrator's

later observations, particularly his remark, "That was the

root of the trouble! There was nobody there" (28.10-11).

Both sentences were no doubt cancelled during preparation or

57

revision of the typescript. Also in this stage, Conrad

deleted the clause, "for the mystery of the tropical life is

too great to be solved at a glance" (8.21). The author may

have had second thoughts about allowing any hope of the

mystery's being solved at all. In a later passage the asso­

ciation of racial genocide and progress was amplified by the

alteration of "He wanted to exterminate all the niggers" to

"and talked of the necessity to exterminate all the niggers

before the country could be made habitable" (27.17-19).

Conrad introduced an effective ironic touch to a

description of the bond between Kayerts and Carlier when he

changed "They had really a strong affection for one another"

to the slightly more skeptical "And in time they came to feel

18 something resembling affection for one another" (8.13-14).

Makola and the Evil Spirit, on the other hand, appear some­

what better suited to each other. Indeed, the native's

piety is placed above question in the added comment that "He

got on very well with his god" (2.19).

When not concerned with heightening an ironic effect

or clarifying themes, Conrad often altered images to make

them more precise, factual, or consistent. The phrase "caught

an upright of the roof" became "caught hold of an upright of

the roof" (32.36-33.1). In one instance a revision moved the

six stolen tusks from some remote location "in the distance"

to a place "away by the store" (23.2). The station itself,

originally situated "six hundred miles" from any other trading

58

post, for the sake of credibility was brought three hundred

miles closer to its nearest neighbor (3.5). And one time

reference was altered from "seven" to "eight" months (28.14),

probably because Conrad establishes earlier in the story that

several months had elapsed since Makola's transaction with

the Loanda people in the sixth month after the steamer's

departure. In the manuscript, the steamer leaves "cases of

provisions" for the two white men, but the Macmillan copy

for the first time specifies that only "a few cases of pro­

visions" were deposited on the riverbank (3.20-21). The

original "cases," with its suggestion of quantity, is less

consistent with a later observation that Kayerts and Carlier

depended on Gobila for almost all their food.

Finally, a less than felicitous change is made in

the scene which depicts the weighing of the ivory. According

to the printed texts, Kayerts "turned his back on the others,

as if about to do something tricky" before stealthily record­

ing the weight of the first tusk with a stubby pencil on a

dirty little piece of paper. But in the manuscript, rather

than "something tricky," the chief agent seems "about to do

something indecent" (24.26). One might speculate that the

association of material wealth and scatology here (surely, in

the manuscript, Kayerts looked as though he were going to

urinate), while symbolically convincing, was, upon reconsid­

eration, found to be indelicate and for this reason was

expurgated.

59

Inseparable from Conrad's interest in maintaining

thematic consistency, control of tone, and accuracy of detail

is the treatment of action in the story. One finds Conrad

often discarding earlier choices to substitute more specific

verbs. Thus "promised him" becomes "had propitiated him by

a promise of" (2.20); "spoke much" is altered to "chatted

persistently" (5.17); "went" is changed to "walked" (12.1);

"he remained" is substituted for "was" (13.11); "went away"

becomes simply "left" (15.22); and "talked" becomes "squab­

bled" (20.11-12). In the clause, "there was no power on

earth outside of themselves to come between them and the

unusual," the verbal "to stand" is substituted for "to come"

(15.17-19). The change more clearly describes the "power"

as a shield against the unusual.

Unfortunately, the publication of Almayer's Folly

brought Conrad's difficulties with verb forms to no sudden

end. And, as was apparently the case with his first novel,

som.e of the changes in "Outpost" may have been suggested by

19 Garnett or W. H. Chesson, Unwin's other reader. In the

manuscript Conrad confused lie and lay (23.6) and shall and

will (6.12), two of which errors are corrected in the printed

texts= On one occasion the auxilliary "can," denoting capa­

bility, was exchanged for "may," denoting contingency

(25.23). And the omission of "have" in a present perfect

construction was rectified by adding the contraction "'ve"

to form "they've got" (15.13).

60

There are a few instances in which Conrad corrected

Makola's grammar. "'VJe got very little ivory'" was changed

to "'We have got very little ivory'" (18.19); the past per­

fect auxiliary "had" (itself an addition in the manuscript)

was altered to present perfect "have" in what originally had

been "'Those men who came yesterday are traders from Loanda

who had got more ivory that they can carry home'" (18.23-24);

finally, "'Sun very strong'" was provided with the linking

verb "is" in contracted form to produce "'Sun's very strong'"

(25.3). It is tempting to speculate that these modifica­

tions of the native's dialect were prompted by the author's

recollection that Makola's ability to speak fluent English

and French had been included among the native's more sig­

nificant accomplishments. But this theory is undermined by

the fact that several of Makola's verbal eccentricities were

allowed to stand: for example, "'Better get a fine lot of

ivory—then he say nothing'" (19.8-9); "'They are bad men

and got guns'" (19.2-3); "'Do you like get a little more

ivory?'" (18.19-20).

The fourth category of corrections made at the type­

script stage seems calculated to avoid repetitive word

selection. When, for example, the author changed the phrase

"with a flat-roofed shed on it" to "with a flat-roofed shed

erected on it" (2.23-24), he also substituted the verbal "put

up" for "erected" in the next sentence. In an effort to avoid

both repetitive wording and redundance of imagery, Conrad

61

struck the adjective "black" in a description of the sta­

tion's customers (8.25). The next sentence establishes that

their complexions are "glossy black." This same distaste

for repetitiveness probably motivated the rewording of a

phrase in the weighing scene from "fumbled in his pockets"

to "putting his hand in his pocket" (24.24): in the story's

final paragraph, the reader is told that the Director "fum­

bled in his pockets."

Other substantive variations from the manuscript are

corrections of various grammatical errors and rephrasing of

unidiomatic usage. Conrad, again perhaps with some editorial

assistance, eliminated two instances of doubtful pronoun

reference (4.1; 24.10-11). One adjective was altered to its

adverbial form (31.9), and the word "also" was removed from

the redundant phrase "He also like Kayerts" (8.5-6). The

substandard prepositional usage "They came in the courtyard"

was corrected by the substitution of "into" for "in" (14.10).

And the phrase "behaved as if they v/ere at home" was dis­

carded for the more idiomatic "made themselves at home"

(15.11).

It is, of course, impossible to ascertain precisely

how many of the changes involving grammar were made at the

typescript stage. In some instances the Macmillan pamphlet

and Cosmospolis may agree simply because obvious errors were

coincidentally corrected in the separate printings. One

instance of variation between the pamphlet and the serial

62

suggests that the Macmillan staff might have independently

corrected a verb tense error. The auxiliary "have" (in con­

tracted form) was removed from the sentence, "'We've heard

that shot last night'" (22.26). Since Cosmopolis repeats the

incorrect manuscript reading "'We've'" (subsequently "'We'"

in English and American printings), it is possible that the

error was not caught during preparation of the rough proof by

Unwin and that Macmillan silently corrected it. Such an

editorial adjustment would not have been without precedent

in the house of Macmillan, whose grammarian in residence

had frequently, and often with less cause, made his presence

2 0 felt in the first American edition of Almayer's Folly.

Cosmopolis

Sixteen instances of substantive variation separate

Cosmopolis from the Macmillan printing. In eleven of these,

the pamphlet and manuscript readings coincide, indicating

that the emendations were introduced after Unwin had prepared

his unrevised proofs. There are three or four substitutions

of words or phrases to eliminate repetitive wording, one

omission of an improperly placed adverb (16.22), one substi­

tution of shall for will (31.19), and one deletion of an

unnecessary particle (36.12). The rest are minor changes in

^ 4- -1 21

detail.

Four authorial changes appearing for the first time

in Cosmopolis seem to have resulted from Conrad's continuing

63

effort to purge "Outpost" of repetitive words and phrases.

The awkward phrase "that that fellow" is altered to "that the

fellow" (35.11), and the phrase "eloquent silence of mute

greatness" is substituted for "eloquent silence of mute

immensity" (10.16-17) , probably because the adjective "immense"

is used previously in the same sentence. By substituting

"this very minute" for "now" in the sentence "Perhaps he was

taking aim now!" (33.9), Conrad not only avoids repeating

the adverb "now," which he uses in the preceding line, but

also stresses Kayerts' fear of death's immediacy. Finally,

the infinitive phrase "to gather in percentages" becomes "to

earn percentages" (3.7), perhaps both because "gather in the

ivory" appears several pages later and because "earn" is

more precise.

Conrad also introduces some minor changes in detail.

Kayerts' remark, "Did you ever see such a nose?" becomes

"Did ycu ever see such a face?" (9.10-11), and, in the account

of the Director's discovery of Kayerts' suicide, "start into

a run" is replaced by "start forward" (38.4). The substitu­

tion of "neck" for "shoulder" in the phrase "draped classi­

cally from shoulder to heel" might have been designed either

to clari fy this description of the Loanda natives or to avoid

using "shoulder[s]" twice in the same sentence. Perhaps the

most significant of these alterations of detail is the adjust­

ment of Kayerts' cry "'Oh! My God!'" to "'Help! . . . My

God!'" (36.14). The Cosmopolis reading more clearly depicts

64

the call as a plea for divine intercession.

Three instances in which the manuscript, the pam-

plet, and the serial all disagree seem to represent succes­

sive stages of revision. The manuscript phrase "He wanted to

exterminate" is "and talked about the necessity to extermi­

nate" in Macmillan, and in Cosmopolis is "and talked about the

necessity of exterminating" (27.18). Idiomatic usage prefers

"necessity of." Gobila, a "wise old man" in the manuscript,

has become a "cautious old savage" in the serial version.

But in the meantime he had been a "sagacious old savage"

(26.6). The alliterative intermediate reading is less pre­

cise, because Gobila's decision not to kill the agents was

more conservative than intelligent. Finally, the manuscript

depicts Kayerts "calling in his ignorance upon the impassi­

ble heaven to undo its work." Although the Macmillan read­

ing "impassive heaven" perhaps conveys more clearly the

notion of an apathetic deity, the final change to "invisible

heaven" completely removes God from this demonic setting

22 (37.4).''^

Were it not for the Macmillan "Outpost" one would be

free to speculate that Carlier's warning at the end of part I

i^ Cosmopolis and all subsequent editions (17.7-8) was altered

to build suspense. In the manuscript Carlier's words are

"Keep all our men together to-day,"-while in Cosmopolis he

more provocatively admonishes, "Keep all our men together in

case of some trouble." But the Macmillan and serial readings

65

are identical. Apparently, Conrad had made the change before

he learned of the plans to divide the story. There seems to

have been no special tailoring for publication in two parts.

While they are improvements of the texts, the substan­

tive changes presumably introduced to the serial proofs are

neither extensive nor particularly dramatic. Perhaps Conrad

had gone a little stale on "Outpost." Whatever the case,

corrections made in the proofs for Tales of Unrest seem to

have been occasioned by a fresh rereading of the story.

Tales of Unrest

23

The thirty-five substantive revisions introduced

into the story while it was being prepared for the Tales of

Unrest collection fall into several categories which roughly

correspond to the earlier groupings: adjustment of rhetori­

cal distance, removal of ungrammatical or ineffective verbs,

avoidance of redundant and repetitive word selection, and

introduction or alteration of details.

Conrad seems to have digested by this time some of

Garnett's early criticisms. Three deletions in the book ver­

sion tone down the derision leveled at Kayerts and Carlier by

the Director and the narrator. The Director's comment, "The

two most useless men I ever saw" (4.4), is, in the earlier

texts, lodged between several other sarcastic references to

the agents' incompetence. It does not appear in the book edi­

tions. And several sentences later, the word "useless" was

66

omitted from the omniscient description of Kayerts and

Carlier as they watch the steamer's departure (4.10). Finally,

an observation that the agents "were well paid" for doing

nothing wa§ also changed (8.13). By removing "well" Conrad

softened to a degree the contemptuous tone of the passage.

Garnett had objected to the first several paragraphs for their

explicitness. And since he is known to have corrected proof

of Tales, one might theorize that Garnett personally influ­

enced these changes.

But these slight modulations of distance were not

part of any general plan to blunt the ironic treatment of

Kayerts and Carlier, to remove "Outpost"'s scorpion sting.

On the contrary, two other emendations have the opposite

effect in that they increase distance. The "tremendous explo­

sion" which takes place when the agents collide on the veran­

dah becomes in the book editions a "loud explosion" (32.23).

Conrad's second thought here probably was that, given the

droll slapstick quality of the scene to this point, the cul­

minating detonation was rather noisy than fraught with sig­

nificance. The other change was made in the passage which

describes the agents engaged in character assassination of

fictional personages they encounter in novels (previously

cited in the discussion of the manuscript). The manuscript,

Macmillan, and Cosmopolis texts read, "discounted their vir­

tues, discussed their motives, decried their successes [suc­

cessess AMS]; [comma AMS] were scandalised [scandalized AMS]

67

at their duplicity or were doubtful about their courage."

Because it is inconsistent with faultfinding, the verb "dis­

cussed" was replaced by "suspected" in Tales of Unrest.

Conrad made a change in one other verb series which

apparently necessitated a further change to avoid repetition.

In the clause "He stood still, saw the body, and threw his

arms up with a cry" (35.11-12), the phrase "stood still" is

incompatible with the transitive verbs of action "saw" and

"threw." And Kayerts has been standing motionless for several

moments. Conrad seems to have addressed himself to the prob­

lem by substituting "stood up" for "stood still," a change

that risks redundance (Kayerts "stood up" several lines

earlier) for the sake of rendering a smoothly flowing series

of actions. Then, presumably to avoid repeating the adverb,

Conrad altered "threw his arms up" to "threw his arms above

his head."

On tv70 occasions errors in verb usage were corrected.

In the first instance, the auxiliary "was" was removed from

"all the things he was used to see" (7.18).- and in the second,

the auxiliary "have" in contracted form was excised from

"We've heard that shot last night" (22.26). The latter cor­

rection had previously appeared in the Macmillan pamphlet.

Unaccountably, however, two other verb tense inconsistencies

were left untouched here and in all. other extant texts. The

past perfect tense does not seem warranted in Kayerts'

remark, "I remember, they had been once before here" (10.5-6).

68

And in the clause "who was the first white man whom he knew

intimately" (12.22-23), the past perfect would seem to have

been preferrable to the simple past tense.

Conrad reasserted his characteristic aversion to

redundance and repetitive wording in the revisions of Tales.

The sentence "Everyone called him by it"—the pronoun "it"

referring to Price's nickname—does not appear in the book

editions (1.9). The change was made probably because the

immediately preceding sentence has already established that

the name Makola "stuck to him through all his wanderings."

Conrad may also have thought the wording somewhat awkward.

More puzzling is the alteration of Makola's Christian name

from Jim to Henry (1.6). One can only guess here that Con­

rad's use of the name Jim for protagonists in The Nigger of

25

the Narcissus and "Jim, a Sketch" (begun early in 1898 )

may have influenced the substitution. Another deletion is

the removal of the phrase "handfuls of" from "with handfuls

of spears in their hands" (8.25). The change eliminates

repetitious wording but in doing so sacrifices the detail

that each native carried several spears.

No less intriguing than the previous group of correc­

tions are Conrad's efforts to sharpen the focus of images or

render them more consistent with their contexts. In the

manuscript, the Macmillan version, and Cosmopolis Kayerts

looks "with stony eyes" at the lifeless body of his sometimes

colleague. The change to "with a stony stare" (34.17)

69

elucidates the image to some extent, but it may be that Con­

rad wished to avoid repeating an image that he also used in

another of the Tales of Unrest. In the final paragraph of

"The Lagoon" Arsat is described as staring "with stony eyes"

at the newly risen sun. Conrad also alters the lurid picture

of Carlier reposing on the verandah "with half his face blown

away." The substituted phrase "with his right eye blown out"

(34.14-15) both pinpoints and understates the wound. The

author may have at the same time bethought himself that such

massive damage as he originally described was excessive for a

sidearm, even when fired at close range.

The equally grotesque condition of Kayerts' corpse as

it dangles from the cross likewise becomes more anatomically

specific through revision. The reader of the earlier texts

is told that the agent's "feet" nearly touched the ground.

In the Tales of Unrest version the author substituted "toes"

for "feet" (38.13), placing Kayerts in the appropriate atti­

tude of a superannuated marionette. And Kayerts' young daugh­

ter Melie has "long tresses" in the three earliest versions

of "Outpost," but becomes a seductive blond with "long

bleached tresses" in the book editions (27.21).

The sentence which describes Kayerts' impressions at

the moment he runs into his partner and discharges the

revolver underwent syntactical revision. The reader of the

story as it appeared in the Macmillan pamphlet would have been

told, "He darted to the left, grasping the revolver, and it

70

seemed to him, that very same instant, they came into vio­

lent collision" (32.20-22). Ambiguously, the elliptical

phrase "that very same instant" can be read either as a prep­

ositional phrase modifying "seemed" ("at. that very same

instant") or as part of the subordinate elliptical clause

which follows it ("that at that very same instant"). Conrad

reworded the latter portion of the sentence: "and at the

very same instant, as it seemed to him, they came into vio­

lent collision." The point of the change apparently was to

emphasize that Kayerts bumped into Carlier as soon as he made

his unfortunate turn to the left, and to deemphasize the

comparatively unimportant detail that Kayerts was aware at

the time that the collision had occurred.

Conrad also demonstrates concern for factual accuracy

and authenticity in these revisions. In the earlier texts,

the leader of the Loanda traders is described as "a deter­

mined-looking man" (14.11-12). Probably to make it clear

that the leader is a native and not a white man the author

substituted "negro" for "man" in the book editions. More­

over the storehouse in Tales of Unrest has a "dried-grass"

instead of a "palm-leaf" roof because presumably one v/ould

sooner find a "palm-leaf" roof in a Malayan jungle than in

the grassy environs of an African river station (1.16).

Finally, the incorrectly used adjective "harmless" was emended

to "from harm" in the phrase "guaranteed harmless by several

European Powers" (3.14). In the letter cited earlier, Conrad

71

explains that the specific army he had had in mind when he

wrote the story was that of Belgium, historically neutral

and protected by treaty.^

Among the less dramatic changes introduced at this

stage of revision are six alterations involving "the." One

is a change of "the savages" to "those savages" (6.11).

Three are omissions: "in the sunshine" becomes "in sunshine"

(1.13); "of the delay" is altered to "of delay" (27.8); and

"of the civilised crowds" becomes "of civilised crowds"

(4.21-22). On two other occasions "the" is added: "in elo­

quent silence" becomes "in the eloquent silence" (10.16);

"of idleness" is changed to "of the idleness" (8.13). The

Cosmopolis readers are told that Kayerts and Carlier "enjoyed

the sense of idleness for which they were well paid." Pos­

sibly Conrad felt that "the idleness" more clearly showed

that the adjective clause "for which they were paid ["well"

excised]" modified "idleness" rather than "sense." Because

Conrad miakes such changes involving articles and demonstra­

tive pronouns in the manuscript, one assumes these also are

authorial revisions.

Other alterations include the adjustment of "could

be habitable" to "could be made habitable" (27.19); "subtle

influence of surroundings" to "subtle influences of surround­

ings" (4.15), "nearly fainted" to "nearly swooned" (33.13),

and the substitution of "nowhither" for "nowhere" (8.23).

Both "nowhither" and "in the eloquent silence" are manuscript

72

readings that the Macmillan pamphlet and the serial did not

repeat.

Conrad also made five successive substitutions of

"mist" for "fog" in Kayerts' awakening scene, which follows

the murder of Carlier (36.7-10). The choice of "mist" was

perhaps influenced by the author's memories of the overland

journey to Kinchassa. In his diary Conrad used the word

"mist" rather than "fog."^^

With the exception of some tampering by editors in

1900 and 1906, the 1898 Tales of Unrest version of "Outpost"

remained intact for twenty-two years. The 19 20 Doubleday

and the 1921 Heinemann editions of the story are its direct

descendants.

Doubleday Sun-Dial and Concord

The Sun-Dial "Outpost" contains seven one-word vari­

ations from the first book text, five of which are retained

by Concord. They are difficult to justify and could have

as easily have resulted from house-styling as from authorial

correction. The pronoun "all" was deleted from "might have

all been dead and buried" (25.19), and "the" was removed from

"made the acquaintance of" (10.24). The phrase "pointing

here and pointing there" becomes "pointing here and there"

(15.25), and "the" replaces the demonstrative pronoun in

"this land of darkness and sorrow" (17.14-15). Finally, "stood

by watching" becomes "stood watching" (24.16-17).

73

Two of the Sun-Dial variants do not reappear in the

Concord issue. The first reverses a change seen for the

first time in the 1898 Tales by deleting "the" from "of the

idleness" (8.13). And in the other change, "torn wearing

apparel" becomes "town wearing apparel" (2.5). Though the

difference in meaning produced by the article "the" is debat­

able, "town" and "torn" stand in more vivid contrast. Had

Conrad intended to describe only the agents' arrival at their

trading post in these first several hundred words of the

story, the fact that they had brought "town" clothing would

have underscored their inexperience. In point of fact, how­

ever, when the story opens, Kayerts and Carlier have been

living at the station for some months. Hence the word "torn"

is more in keeping with the impression of neglect and deteri­

oration that the author is attempting to convey in this

initial description. The chronological telling does not

begin until midway through the opening paragraph. The Sun-

Dial reading of "town," then, is both at odds with all pre­

vious texts and inconsistent with its context. Moreover,

since neither "of idleness" nor "town wearing apparel" is

repeated in the 1923 Concord impression, it is probable that

both variants are compositorial errors rather than authorial

revisions.

74

Reprinting of "Outpost" Independent of Tales

According to its editor J. Eveleigh Nash, the col­

lection of sixteen stories entitled The Ladysmith Treasury

was printed to garner relief funds for the inhabitants of

Ladysmith in Natal, South Africa, when the siege of that

town was lifted in February, 1900. The editor's note reads

in part:

The profits on the sale of this book will be sent to the Mayor of Ladysmith, and will be devoted to reliev­ing distress in the town.

Suffering and want follow in the train of a long siege; and I hope that all who admire the way in which the people of Ladysmith held out in trying days, will show their practical sympathy by purchasing this volume.

With the exception of Mr Joseph Conrad's An Outpost of Progress, and Mr Gabriel Setoun's The Last of the Six o'Clock Bell, all the stories included are printed for the first time in book form; and I have to thank the Authors whose names herein appear, for so gener­ously sending me their contributions without fee. . . .

Conrad had been against the South African War from the begin­

ning, and his selection of "Outpost" for this volume was

perhaps tinged with irony. The "scramble for loot" is a

dominant theme of both the story and the Boer controversy.

"Outpost" is particularly out of tone with the epigraph to

the volume--V7illiam Collins' familiar ode which begins "How

sleep the brave." Although it is impossible to be certain,

the two substantive variations from Tales contained in this

printing—a change of "one another" to "each other" (5.15)

and a substitution of "in" for "on" (9.7)—are probably not

authorial.

75

A mutilated version of "Outpost" appeared in a 1906

number of the Grand Magazine. This periodical had been fea­

turing a series it called "My Best Story and Why I Think So,"

for which each contributor wrote an essay introducing his

work. Conrad's brief why-I-think-so discussion follows an

editorial prelude:

Though fictitious, the grim tragedy recounted in this powerful story has continually of late years had its counterpart in fact. With consummate skill the author enables us to realise in the most vivid manner how eas­ily the so-called "civilised" man, without the sheet anchor that intellectual or moral culture gives, may sink far below the level of the "savage" he has been taught to despise. Mr. Conrad says of his own work:

"This story, for which I confess a preference, was difficult to write, not because of what I had to write, but of what I had firmly made up my mind not to write into it. What I have done is done with. No words, no regrets can atone now for the imperfections that stand there glaring, patent, numerous, and amusing. The story was written some ten years ago. And yet I remem­ber perfectly well the inflexible and solemn resolve not to be led astray by my subject. I aimed at a scrupulous unity of tone, and it seems to me that I have almost attained it there. It is possible that I am deceiving myself, and that I have missed even that qualified success. But the story is endeared to me by the well-remembered severity of discipline and by one or two moments of flattering illusion.

"And all this cannot possibly matter anything to the most benevolent soul amongst the readers of stories."

The cutting and revising of the story for this reprinting was

probably not supervised by Conrad. None of the changes is

repeated in the collected editions, and the surviving proofs,

now in a private collection, are uncorrected. Moreover, it

is almost unthinkable that Conrad would have personally lined

out such passages as the one which describes the agents'

novel reading or the benighted Kayerts' remark about the

76

missing station hands, "We took care of them as if they had

been our children."

Notes

- Joseph Conrad as I Knew Him, p. 38. 2 Conrad, p. 109; Gordan, p. 241.

3 Letters from Joseph Conrad, p. 62.

4 Gordan, p. 24 0.

5

I am grateful to Dr. William Cagle of the Lilly

Library at Indiana University for furnishing me with partic­

ulars of the Macmillan printing.

Joseph Conrad: Life and Letters, I, 197. By

September 22 Unwin also had in hand proofs of "The Idiots"

and "The Lagoon." And while those of "The Idiots" would per­

haps not have been ready for the October, 1896, Savoy print­

ing, those of "The Lagoon," published in January of 1897,

certainly were. Conrad, however, sent Cornhill the type­

script instead. (See Garnett's note on the typescripts in

Letters from Joseph Conrad, pp. 55 and 65.) •7

Joseph Conrad: Life and Letters, I, 197.

^ Aubry, pp. 197 and 201.

^ "Reviews and Magazines," 19 June 1897, p. 698.

Letters from Joseph Conrad, p. 67.

•^•^ Unpublished letter to Unwin dated 24 November 1897

(Duke University Library).

•^ Theodore G. Ehrsam, A Bibliography of Joseph Conrad

(Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1969), p. 315. 77

78 13

It is impossible to say whether the absence of

variants between the texts is due to coincidence or to pre-

arrangement by Unwin and Scribner's. 14

The letter is in the Berg collection of the New York Public Library.

15 Guerard, p. 65.

The exception is "the," interlined before "eloquent"

in the autograph manuscript but appearing in no printed text

until the Unwin Tales of Unrest (10.16). 17

Elmer A. Ordonez, "Early Joseph Conrad: Revisions

and Style," Philippine Social Sciences and Humanities Review,

33 (March 1968), p. 21; Letters from Joseph Conrad, p. 62, n. 1 18

In a similar revision of the autograph manuscript,

"Gobila loved the two white men" is replaced by "he seemed

really to love all white men" (12.19-20).

See Ugo Mursia, "The True 'Discoverer' of Joseph

Conrad's Literary Talent and Other Notes on Conradian Bib­

liography: With Three Unpublished Letters," Conradiana, 4

(1972), 10.

See Floyd Eugene Eddleman, David Leon Higdon, and

Robert W. Hobson, "The First Editions of Joseph Conrad's

Almayer's Folly," in Proof 4_, ed. Joseph Katz (Columbia, S.D.: J. Faust & Co., 1975), pp. 98-99.

91

The other two substantive variants in Macmillan—

the substitution of "beliefs" for "belief" (4.24) and of

"We've" for "We"—may have been introduced by Macmillan's

79

compositors.

22 The v7ord "impassive" could have been, instead, a

substitution of Macmillan's.

23

G. W. Whiting's list of nine substantive variants

in his essay "Conrad's Revisions of Six of His Short Stories"

(PMLA, 48, 1933, p. 553) is incomplete; Ordonez' count of

fourteen is also inaccurate (Ordonez, p. 48).

Gordan, p. 22 5; Letters from Joseph Conrad, p. 128

^^ Baines, 212.

Conrad's Polish Background, p. 243.

^^ Last Essays, pp. 241, 243, 252.

Textual Apparatus

80

Emendations

All substantive and accidental emendations intro­

duced into the copy-text are recorded. To the left of the

bracket appears the reading of the present edition. It is

followed immediately by the authority for that reading. To

the right of the semicolon appears the copy-text reading.

A wavy dash ^v^ represents the same word that appears before

the bracket and is used in recording variants in punctua­

tion. An asterisk indicates that the reading is discussed

in the textual notes. A caret indicates that the punctuation

is absent in the particular text. The abbreviation V indi­

cates a new reading.

AMS Autograph Manuscript M Macmillan Copyright Copy, 1896 S Cosmopolis, 1897 U T. Fisher Unwin, 1898: First English Edition of Tal es Sc Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898: First American Edition

of Tales L Ladysmith Treasury, 1900 G Grand Magazine, 1906 SD Doubleday, Page, 1920: Sun-Dial Edition HC Heinemann, 1921: Heinemann Collected Edition CO Doubleday, Page, 1923: Concord Edition

*An Outpost of Progress] S; A Victim of Progress

*1.1 There] V; no ^

1.3 assistant] S; second

1.6 Henry] U; James

1.6 for] S; omit

81

82

1.9 omit] U; Everybody called him by it.

1.13 in sunshine] U; in the sunshine

1.16 dried-grass] U; palm-leaf

1.17 cloth] S; cloths

2.2 for the white] S; for white

2.3 and] S; with

2 . 4 men: ] S; "- A

2.5 boots—all the] S; boots—the

2.6 and all the] S; and the

2.10 seen the beginning] S; created

2.14 of that] S; of the that

2.16 -so"] S; --N^

2.18 and the] S; and with the

2.19 He . . . god.] S; omit

2.20 had . . . of] S; promised him

2.21 by and by] S; omit

2.22 Company,] S; r- ^

2.2 3 erected] S; omit

2.25 diligent] S; efficient

2.2 5 put up] S; erected

3.1 in charge] S; omit

3.2-3 very imperceptibly] S; not very perceptibly

3.5 The next nearest] S; The nearest

3.5 three] S; six

3.6 av/ay] S; o f f

3.7 earn] S; gather in

83

^'^ a p p o i n t m e n t ] S; a p p o i n t e e

3 . 1 1 e t c . ] S; --— A

3.14 from harm] U; harmless

3.15 Powers, ] S; ^^^ A

*3.20 fi Next] V; skip two lines, no cj

3.20 a few] S; omit

3.23 touched his cap] S; took his cap off

4.1 those fellows] S; them

4.2 build] S; built

4.4 omit] U; The two most useless men I ever saw.

4.5 station."] S; "^-^^ A

4.10 two men] U; two useless men

4.10 bend,] S;

4.15 influences] U; influence

4.17 unassisted] V; unassissted

4.21-22 of civilized] U; of the civilized

4.25 their surroundings] S; human institutions

4.25 courage,] S; --'v

4.26 emotions and principles] S; emotions, principles

5.1 belongs] S; belong

5.1 the individual] S; individuals

5.4 omit] S; The individuals remain steady because of the equilibrium of the mass, and they feel and are safe just because of their individual insignificance which they understand instinctively cannot affect the general order of things and the foreseen course of their own fate. The average individual can bear solitude easily enough, could live an hermit's life in a desert without losing his moral balance for

84

solitude by itself is only a negation; its whis­pers as such can be disbelieved; and in undisturbed memory there is always a refuge from the torments of the imagination.

5.8 thoughts,] S; '>^

5.8-9 sensations—to] S,V; sensations, of one's feelings--to

5.9 habitual, which is safe,] S; habitual and of the safe

5.10-11 unusual, which is dangerous; a] S; unusual, of the repulsive a

5.12 intrusion,] S; ^-^ A

5.17 chatted persistently] S; spoke much

5.23 "I've] S; - w A

6.2 jocularly] S; jokingly

6.9 laughing,] S; ^^

6.11 those] U; the ,

6.12 will] S; shall

6.20 house] S; home

6.2 5 such a] S; any

7.4 from the fostering] S; from fostering

7.5 with gold lace] S; with lace

7.9 faculties,] S; " ^

7.9 want of practice] S; misuse

7.18 he used] U; he was used

7.18-19 to see] S; to do r [or ?] see

8.5 out of] S; from 8.5-6 He like] S; He also like 3^13 of the idleness] CO; of idleness

85

8.13 were paid] U; were well paid

8.13-14 And . . . resembling] S; They had really a strong

8.19 forest] S; forests

8.21 intelligible. Things] S; intelligible, for the mystery of the tropical life is too great to be solved at a glance. Things

8.22 an] S; omit

8.25 and men] S; and black men

8.25 with spears] U; with handfuls of spears

8.26 naked] S; riddles

9.1-2 limb . . . moved] S; limb, uncouth in speech, moving

9.3 sent] S; sending

9.4 never resting] S; ever moving

9.5 rows] S; ranks

9.8 nothing. He] S; nothing. And he

9.11 face] S; nose

9.11 brute!"] S; '!^

9.24-25 I'd rather] S; I rather

10.2 Makola.] S;'-^,

10.4 companion: "This] S;^—:" "•—^

10.6 . . . D'ye] V; " . . . ^-^ A

10.7 split."] S; " ^ ^

10.15 fateful] S; incomprehensible

10.17 greatness] S; immensity

10.21 anything of the kind] S; omit

10.22 Then] S; And

10.23-24 In the centre of Africa] S; omit

86

10.24 made acquaintance] SD; made in their way the acquaintance

10.25 Eye] S; eye

10.25-26 Goriot . . . All] S; Goriot and also of Atala. All

11.2 suspected] U; discussed

11.3 successes] V; successess

11.4 accounts] S; account

11.5 while] S; and

11.7

11.8

11.17

11.22

11.23

12.1

12.2

12.12

Kayerts, ] S; ^"^^

quivering,] S; ^

Kayerts^] S; f"^-^

fellows, ] S; -- A

Carlier,] S; "-^-^^ A

walked] S; went

"It] S; r^

heels to the] S;

12.14-15 without . . . occupation] S; omit

13.9 with the other] S; with that other

13.10 mystery,] V; "v-' A

13.11 he remained] S; was

13.11 friendly. In] S; friendly and in

13.11-12 of that friendship] S; omit

13.21 hollow-eyed and] S; hollow-eyed, weak and

13.25 dispositions] S; disposition

14.6 classically] V; classicaly

14.6 neck] S; shoulder

87

14.8-9 storehouse] S; store

14.10 came into the] S; came in the

14.11 glances] S; eyes

14.11 leader,] S; r^^ A

14.12 negro] U; man

14.15 intonation,] S; ''•'• A

14.18-19 men. It sounded like] S; men. Something like

14.21 the amazed] S; omit

14.23 French] S; french

14.25 say?^ ] S; "^7"

15.11 made themselves] S; behaved as if they were

15.13 they've got] S; they got

15.18 stand] S; come

15.22 left] S; went away

15.25 shrilly,] S; '"^

15.25 and there] SD; and pointing there

16.7 wine.] S; ^ ^ A

16.8-9 but in the] S; but the in the

16.9-10 that they retired] S; that retired

16.11 A deep] S; A a deep

16.15 forest] S; forests

16.19 songs] S; song

16.22 both thought] S; both even thought

16.26 Kayerts'] S; . v ^

17.6 "Isn't] S; ^-^^

17.6 to-day."] S; -"v " .

88

17.7-8 in . . . trouble."] S; to-day "

17.10 fellows,] S; "^^^

17.12 general),] S;'-v.-) A

17.14-15 of the land] SD; of this land

17.20-21 sorceries, the] S; sorceries and the

18.2 minds] S; mind

18.3 so have escaped] S; so escaped

18.6 stupidly] S; omit

18.9 back] S; omit

18.11 building,] S; '""-^

18.11 etc,] V;^^.

18.12 efficiently] S; omit

18.13 very . . . them] S; given them up

18.18 We have got] S; We got

18.24 who have got] S; who had got

18.24 ivory than they] S; ivory that they

18.25 buy?] S; -^ .

18.25 camp. "] S; '^.

18.26 Kayerts.] S; ^-^,

19.10 "I] S; -v^

19.0 work"] S; \

19.11 ivory?"] S; •^.

19.12 Makola.] S;'- - ,

*19.15 to-morrow] V; to morrow

19.21 was flaring] S; blazed

19.21-22 hear their] S; hear before falling asleep their

89

19.26 man shout loudly] S; loud shout

20.4 Price."] S;^^ "

20.11 of men came] S; mane had come

20.11 in,] S; "^ At

20.11-12 squabbled] S; talked

20.13 beds] S; bedsteads

20.16 morning] S; day

20.17 yard they saw] S; yard the saw

20.18 hut,] S; '"---

20.17 civilized nigger, was] S; civilized was A

20.19 person.] S; - ^

20.22 from the distance] S; down the yard

20.22 "All] S; r^ A

20.22 night!"] S; ^ I^

21.3 tearfully.] S; ^--^ A

21.4 children."] S;^^.^

21.10 ground.] S; '--

21.15 mechanically,] S; -^^^^ A

21.19 satisfaction.] S; -^^^^

22.4 I . . ."] V;-^. . . .

22.5 out.] S;^^^ A

22.13 impressively.] S; '^^

22.14 still,] S; " ^

22.15 eyes,] S; ^^^

22.20 large and valuable] S; valuable and solid

22.26 Ve heard] U; We've heard

90

23.2 away by the store] S; in the distance

23.6 lie] S; lay

2 3.8 length] V; lenght

23.9-10 chest and clambered] S; chest, clambered

23.13 stood for a] S; stood a

23.25 "Of] S; <^^

24.1 "Slavery] S; --^

24.9 cruelty, crime] S; cruelty, atrocity, crime

24.10-11 what suffering or sacrifice mean] S; what they mean

24.15 to?"] S; "^-^ "

24.16-17 stood watching] SD; stood by watching

24.19 word and for] S; word. For

24.19-20 a minute] S; a few minutes

24.23 say. ] V; vx'

24.24 putting . . . pocket] S; fumbled in his pockets. He

24.26 others] S; balance

24.26 tricky] S; indecent

25.2 whispered to] S; whispered as if to

25.3 sun's very] S; sun very .

25.3 for the tusks] S; for these tusks

25.5 store."] S; ^ . A

25.14 opprobrious] V; opprobrius

25.15 conscience] S; consciences

25.19 have been dead] S; have been all dead

25.23 remains. A man] S; remains. Man

91

25.23 may] S; can

26.6 cautious old savage] S; wise old man

26.13 on this earth] S; on the earth

26.16 feeling that] S; feeling an absurd and obstinate feeling that

26.18 their hearts] S; their very hearts

2 6.19 them, of men that] S; them, that

26.24 them gently] S; them to itself gently

26.24 them,] S; ^^^ A

27.3 once] S; omit

27.6 set the country] S; set miles of country

27.8 of delay] U; of the delay

27.17 holiday but Carlier] S; holiday. Carlier

27.17-19 it . . . habitable. Kayerts] S; it. He wanted to exterminate all the niggers. Kayerts

27.21 Melie] S; 'Mellie A

27.21 long bleached tresses] U; long tresses

27.22 His legs were] S; His were

27.23 earlier,] S ; -^ A

27.23 undermined] S; tried

27.23 fever,] S; ^-^^

28.1 "being] S;^->w

28.1 you."] S;/-w".

28.3 them that last] S; them the last

2 8.3 of "this infamous] S; of "that infamous

28.3 Makola."] S;-^".

28.7 hoarse] S; horse

92

28.9

28.14

29.2

29.13

29.14

29.19

30.9

30.10

30.11

30.11

30.15

31.9

31.12

31.19

32.9

32.21-22

32.23

32.26

33.9

33.13

33.13

33.23

33.24

34.9

34.13

tongues] S; tongue

eight] S; seven

"any] S; ^^--

Carlier.] S; ^^^ A

sick."] S; ^ " A

dealer."] S; - ^ " A

began,] S

voice.] S

"Who's] S

chief?] S

Kayerts. ] S; '^^ A

quickly] S; quick

house, ] S; ^"^^-^ A

shall] S; will after—] S; '•v . revolver . . . they] U; revolver and it seemed to him--that the very same instant--they

loud] U; tremendous

caught hold of an] S; caught an

this very minute] S; now

wall, ] V; ^^^ A

swooned] U; fainted

this] S; that

he] S; omit revolver which] S; revolver in his hand which

softly,] S; ^.

93

34.14-15 his . . . out] U; half his face blown away

34.16 fever."] S; ^^^"

34.17 with . . . stare] U; with stony eyes

34.22 unmoving on his] S; unmoving in his

34.22-23 He sat quiet] S; He felt quiet

34.24 feeling] S; kind

34.26 now found] S; now he found

convictions,] S; ^ -' A

that the fellow] S; that that fellow

heavy mist] U; fog

mist] U; fog

morning mist] U; morning fog

the mist] U; the fog

36.10 mist] U; fog

36.11 stood up] U; stood still

36.11-12 arms above his head with] U; arms up with

36.12 waking from] S; waking up from

36.14 Help] S; Oh 36.1 5 inhuman,] S; - ^

37.4 invisible] S; impassible

37.7 see] S; -'^

*37.13 shifting] S; stifling

37.22 loudly] S; omit

37.2 2 to] S; toward

38.4 forward] S; into a run

38.9 fumbled in his] S; fumbled in in his

3 5 ,

35 ,

36 .

36 ,

36.

36.

.4

. 1 1

.7

.8

.9

.9

94

38.10 pockets] S; pocket

38.13 of the strap] S; of his strap

38.13 toes] U; feet

Textual Notes

An Outpost of Progress] Conrad changed his mind about the

title at least once and probably twice before finally decid­

ing upon "An Outpost of Progress," which appears on the title

page of the AMS. The original designation, "A Victim of

Progress," appears on page one of the AMS; and, curiously,

in the top left margin of page five is inscribed the phrase

Two V. of P.. Conrad seems to have jotted down this second

thought at the moment it occurred to him.

1.10 book-keeping] In the AMS Conrad appears to distinguish

end-of-line division between syllables (or even of_ syllables)

from end-of-line division of hyphenated compounds by using

an equals sign for the former and a hyphen for the latter.

Hence "sta= tion," "crea= ted," "inva= luable," "beca= me,"

etc., and "book- keeping," "tree- felling," "slave- dealer,"

"rubbish- heap."

1.16 storehouse] No regularization of the spelling is war­

ranted by statistical evidence since Conrad writes

"storehouse [s]" twice (1.16, 4.2) and "store house" twice

(1.19, 9.22).

3.20 Next] Rather than skipping two lines to indicate a new

paragraph as Conrad does in the AMS, the present text merely

indents here and at 1.1, 4.6, 4.8, 4.10, 5.14, 6.18, 7.11,

95

96

8.16, 9.12, 9.15, 9.26, 10.1, 10.8, 12.6, 13.26, 14.1, 14.15,

14.21, 14.25, 15.1, 15.4, 15.12, 15.15, 15.22, 16.8, 16.22,

17.9, 18.14, 18.21, 18.23, 18.26, 19.1, 19.5, 19.10, 19.12,

19.17, 19.25, 20.23, 21.3, 21.5, 21.7, 21.10, 21.14, 21.18,

21.20, 22.1, 22.6, 22.8, 22.11, 22.14, 22.22, 23.18, 23.24,

23.25, 24.1, 24.3, 24.5, 24.13, 25.6, 25.12, 26.12, 27.1,

28.6, 28.10, 29.4, 29.9, 29.12, 29.13, 29.15, 29.17, 29.19,

29.26, 30.1, 30.6, 30.8, 30.9, 30.11, 30.14, 30.16, 30.18,

30.20, 31.4, 31.16, 31.18, 32.17, 33.10, 33.23, 33.24, 34.1,

34.3, 34.5, 34.13, 34.16, 34.17, 34.20, 34.22, 36.7, 36.14,

36.15, 37.1, 37.7, 37.10, 37.17, 37.23, 37.25, 38.7.

5.21 Conrad occasionally inserts a dash between sentences

to indicate shifts from one speaker to another or to separate

dialogue from narration. Because these marks bring a sense

of movement and informality to the story they have been

retained.

9.19 them . . ."] In the AiMS ellipses range in length from

two to seven periods. Here and throughout the V text,

ellipses have been normalized to the conventional three period

length. Conrad uses the mark to indicate interruptions in

dramatically rendered thought or in lines of dialogue and

occasionally to separate interior monologue from exposition

(32.1, 32.4, 32.11, 33.1, 33.9, 36.1).

15.3 Mrs.] Here and elsewhere the V text adds a period

after xMrs and M£.

97

17.10 Director] Inexplicably, S, U, Sc, G, SD, HC, and CO

capitalized "Director" consistently through part II but never

in part I. M and L use the small case "d" exclusively.

19.15 to-morrow] Here and throughout the AMS Conrad writes

"to morrow" (28.14, 32.8, 34.19). To avoid possible confu­

sion, V hyphenates the word.

22.15 eyes,] Although in this instance V adopts the punctua­

tion of S, it may well be that Conrad intended the "as if"

clause to modify "contemplating" rather than "still," in

which case the comma should be omitted.

37.13 shifting] The AMS reads "stifling," although the word,

part of a revision, is inscribed in such a way as to resemble

"shifting." (See table of autograph manuscript emendations.)

It is possible that during preparation of the typescript

"stifling" was misread as "shifting." The visual impression

of the dark cross against a misty white background is success­

fully evoked by "shifting," but "stifling" is consistent with

the moral suffocation Kayerts is experiencing. If "shifting"

is a mistake, however, one must ask why Conrad never returned

to the original reading in subsequent revisions.

37.24 tho] The Heinemann edition makes the bizarre addi­

tion of a dash after "though." So in that text it is the

ringing of the station bell rather than the peculiar absence

98

Kayerts and Carlier which surprises the Director. Since the

bell was habitually used for morning muster, it is difficult

to see the logic of the HC reading.

Historical Collation

The following records all substantive variants

between editions. The reading of the present edition (and

of all texts agreeing with it) appears to the left of the

semicolon, followed immediately by the variant reading or

readings.

An Outpost of Progress] M-CO; A Victim of Progress AMS

1.3 assistant] M-CO; second AMS

1.6 Henry] U-CO; James AMS-S

1.6 for] M-CO; omit AMS

1.9 omit] U-CO; Everybody called him by it. AMS; Everyone called him by it. M,S

1.13 in sunshine] U-CO; in the sunshine AMS-S

1.16 dried-grass] U-CO; palm-leaf AMS-S

1.17 cloth] S-CO; cloths AMS

2.2 for the white] M-CO; for white AMS

2.3 and] M-CO; with AMS

2.5 torn] AMS-G, HC,CO; town SD

2.5 boots—all the] M-CO; boots—the AMS

2.6 and all the] M-CO; and the AMS

2.10 seen the beginning] M-CO; created AMS

2.14 protections] AMS-L, SD-CO; protection G

2.14 of that] M-CO; of the that AMS

99

100

2.18 and the] M-CO; and with the AMS

^•^^ He . . . god.] M-L, SD-CO; omit AMS; He had got on very well with his god. G

2.20 had . . . of] M-CO; promised him AMS

2.21 by and by] M-CO; omit AMS

2.23 erected] M-CO; omit AMS

2.25 diligent] M-CO; efficient AMS

2.25 put up] M-CO; erected AMS

3.1 in charge] M-CO; omit AMS

3.23 very imperceptibly] M-CO; not very perceptibly AMS

3.5 The next nearest] M-CO; The nearest AMS

3.5 three] M-CO; six AMS

3.6 away] M-CO; off AMS

3.7 earn] S-CO; gather in AMS, M

3.8 appointment] M-CO; appointed AT S

3.11 etc etc] AxMS-L, SD-CO; and so on G

3.14 from harm] U-CO; harmless AMS-S

3.15-19 if . . . soon] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

3.20 a few] M-CO; omit AMS

3.23 touched his cap] M-CO; took his cap off AMS

4.1 those fellows] M-CO; them AMS

4.2 build] M-CO; built AMS

4.4 omit] U-CO; The two most useless men I ever saw. AMS-S

4.6 there] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

4.10 two men] U-CO; two useless men AMS-S

101

4.15 influences] U-CO; influence AMS-S

4.21-22 of civilized] U-CO; of the civilized AMS-S

4.24 belief] AMS, S-CO; beliefs M

4.25 their surroundings] M-CO; human institutions AMS

4.26 emotions and principles] M-CO; emotions; principles AMS

5.1 belongs] M-CO; belong AMS

5.1 the individual] M-CO; individuals AMS

5.4 omit] M-CO; The individuals remain steady because of the equilibrium of the mass, and they feel and are safe just because of their individual insignif­icance which they understand instinctively cannot affect the general order of things and the foreseen course of their own fate. The average individual can bear solitude easily enough, could live an her­mit's life in a desert without losing his moral balance for solitude by itself is only a negation; its whispers as such can be disbelieved; and in undisturbed memory there is always a refuge from the torments of the imagination. AMS

5.7-13 To . . . alike] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

5.8-9 sensations—to] M-L, SD-CO; sensations, of one's feelings--to Af4S

5.9 habitual, which is safe,] M-L, SD-CO; habitual and of the safe AMS

5.10-11 unusual, which is dangerous; a] M-L, SD-CO; unusual, of the repulsive a AMS

5.15 one another] AMS-Sc, G-CO; each other L

5.17-20 They . . . situation] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

5.17 chatted persistently] M-L, SD-CO; spoke much AMS

5.24-26 The . . . sun] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

5.1 my . . . not] AT'IS-L, SD-CO; I forbid you to G

5.2 jocularly] M-CO; jokingly AMS

6.3-4 The . . . shiver] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

6.5 suddenly] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

6.5 this] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

6.9-12 Then . . . all] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

6.11 those] U-L, SD-CO; the AMS-S

6.12 will] M-L, SD-CO; shall AMS

6.20 house] M-CO; home AMS

6.25 such a] M-CO; any AMS

7.4 from the fostering] M-CO; from fostering AxMS

" •5 or of men with gold lace] M-L, SD-CO; or of men with lace AMS; or gold lace G

7.6 those lifelong] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

7.8-10 They . . . thought] AlAS-L, SD-CO; omit G

7.9 want of practice] M-L, SD-CO; misuse A.MS

7.18 he used] U-CO; he was used AMS-S

7.18-19 to see] M-CO; to do r [or ?] see AMS

8.5 out of] M-CO; from AMS

8.5-6 He like] M-CO; He also like AMS

8.9-10 He . . . times] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

8.10 But the two] AMS-L, SD-CO; The two G

8.12-13 Together . . . paid] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

8.13 of the idleness] U-L, HC, CO; of idleness AMS-S, SD

8.13 were paid] U-L, SD-CO; were well paid AMS-S

8.13-14 And . . . resembling] M-L, SD-CO; They had really a strong AMS; omit And G

8.19 forest] M-CO; forests AMS

102

103

8.21 Intelligible. Things] M-CO; intelligible, for the mystery of the tropical life is too great to be solved at a glance. Things AMS

8.22 an] M-CO; omit AMS

8.2 3 nowhither] AMS, U-CO; nowhere M, S

8.25 and men] M-CO; and black men AMS

8.25 with spears] U-CO; with handfuls of spears AMS-S

8.26 naked] M-CO; riddles AMS

9.1-2 limb . . . moved] M-CO; limb, uncouth in speech, moving AMS; substitute bubbling for babbling G

t

9.3 sent] M-CO; sending AMS

9.4 never resting] M-CO; ever moving AMS

9.5 rows] M-CO; ranks AMS

9.7 on] AMS-Sc, G-CO; in L

9.8 nothing. He] M-CO; nothing. And he AMS

9.11 face] S-CO; nose A.MS, M

9.11 Oh . . . brute] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

9.24-25 I'd rather] M-CO; I rather AMS

10.1-7 Yes . . . split] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

10.15 fateful] M-CO; incomprehensible A.MS

10.16 in the eloquent] AMS, U-CO; in eloquent M, S

10.17 greatness] S-CO; immensity AMS, M

10.18 but for the] AMS-L, SD-CO; but the G

10.21 anything of the kind] M-CO; omit A.MS

10.22 Then] M-CO; And AMS

10.23-24 In the centre] M-CO; omit AMS

10.24 made acquaintance] SD, CO; made in their way the acquaintance AxMS; omit in their way M-G, HC

104

10.25-26 Goriot . . . All] M-CO; Goriot and also of Atala. All

10.26- All . . . courage] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G 11.4

11.2 suspected] U-L, SD-CO; discussed AMS-S

11.4 accounts] M-CO; account AMS

11.5 while] M-CO; and AMS

12.1 walked] M-CO; went AMS

12.12 heels to the] M-CO; heels on the AMS

12.14-15 without . . . occupation] M-CO; omit AMS

12.21 knew that they] AMS-L, SD-CO; knew they G

13.9 with the other] M-CO; with that other AMS

13.11 he remained] M-CO; was AMS

13.11 friendly. In] M-CO; friendly and in AMS

13.11-12 of that friendship] M-CO; omit AMS

13.16-17 They . . . well] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

13.21 hollow-eyed and] M-CO; hollow-eyed, weak AMS

13.25 dispositions] M--CO; disposition AMS

14.6 neck] S-CO; shoulder AI4S, M

14.8-9 storehouse] M-CO; store AMS

14.10 came into the] M-CO; came in the AMS

14.11 glances] M-CO; eyes AMS

14.11 powerful and determ.ined] AMS-L, SD-CO; powerful, determined G

14.12 negro] U-CO; man AI4S-S

14.12-13 of the verandah] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

14.18-19 men. It sounded like] M-CO; men. Something like AMS

105

14.21 the amazed] M-CO; omit AMS

15.11 made themselves] M-CO; behaved as if they were AMS

15.13 they've got] M-CO; they got AMS

15.18 stand] M-CO; come AMS

15.22 left] M-CO; went away AMS

15.25 and there] SD, CO; and pointing there AMS-G, HC

16.8-9 but in the] M-CO; but the in the AMS

16.9-10 that they retired] M-CO; that retired AMS

16.11 A deep] M-CO; A a deep AMS

16.15 forest] M-CO; forests AMS

16.19 songs] M-CO; song AMS

16.2 2 both thought] S-CO; both even thought AMS, M

17.7-8 in . . . trouble] M-CO; to-day AMS

17.9 ^ There] AMS, M; This paragraph begins part II in S-CO

17.14-15 of the land] SD, CO; of this land AMS-G, HC

17.18-19 They . . . buildings] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

17.20-21 sorceries, the] M-CO; sorceries and the MAS

18.2 minds] M-CO; mind MAS

18.3 so have escaped] M-CO; so escaped MAS

18.6 stupidly] M-CO; omit AMS

18.9 back] M-CO; omit AMS

18.11 grass . . . etc] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

18.12 efficiently] M-CO; omit AMS

18.13 very . . . them] M-CO; given them up AMS

18.18 We have got very] M-L, SD-CO; omit have A.MS; omit got G

106

18.19 six months] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

18.21 eagerly. He thought] AMS-L, SD-CO; eagerly, think­ing G

18.2 3 who came] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

18.23 are] AMS-L, SD-CO; were G

18.24 who have got] M-CO; who had got AMS

18.24 ivory than they] M-CO; ivory that they AMS

19.6-7 he muttered looking round] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

19.21 was flaring] M-CO; blazed AMS

19.21-22 hear their] M-CO; hear before falling asleep their AMS

19.2 6 man shout loudly] M-CO; loud shout AMS

20.11 of men came] M-CO; mane had come AMS

20.11-12 squabbled] M-CO; talked AMS

20.13 beds] M-CO; bedsteads AMS

20.16 morning] M-CO; day AMS

20.17 yard they saw] M-CO; yard the saw AMS

20.19 nigger] M-CO; omit AMS

20.22 from the distance] M-CO; down the yard AMS

20.25-26 We . . . Kayerts] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

21.2-4 I . . . children] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

22.9 tusk] MAS-L, SD-CO; tusks G

22.9 I order you to] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

22.13 pronounced] AMS-L, SD-CO; said G

22.20 large and valuable] M-CO; valuable and solid AMS

22.26 We heard] M, U-CO; We've heard AMS, S

2 3.2 away by the store] M-CO; in the distance AMS

107

23.6 lie] M-CO; lay AMS

23.9-10 chest and clambered] M-CO; chest, clambered AMS

2 3.13 stood for a] M-CO; stood a AMS

23.24-25 We . . . Carlier] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

24.9 cruelty, crime] M-CO; cruelty, atrocity, crime AMS

24.10-11 what suffering or sacrifice mean] M-CO; what they mean AMS

24.16-19 stood watching] SD, CO; stood by watching AMS-G, HC

24.19 word and for] M-CO; word. For AMS

24.19-20 a minute] M-CO; a few minutes AMS

24.24 putting . . . pocket] M-CO; fumbled in his pockets. He AMS

24.26 others] M-CO; balance A.MS

24.26 tricky] M-CO; indecent MAS

25.2 whispered to] M-CO; whispered as if to AMS

25.3 sun's very] M-CO; sun very AMS

25.3 for the tusks] M-CO; for these tusks AMS

25.10-11 Of . . . Carlier] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

25.15 conscience] M-CO; consciences AMS

25.18 and] AMS-L, SD-CO; nor G

25.19 have been dead] SD, CO; have been all dead AMS; have all been dead M-G, HC

25.23 remains. A man] M-CO; remains. Man AMS

25.23 may] M-CO; can AMS

26.6 cautious old savage] S-CO; wise old man AMS; sagacious old savage M

2 6.13 on this earth] M-CO; on the earth ^.MS

108

26.16 Feeling that] M-CO; feeling an absurd and obsti­nate feeling that AMS

26.18 their hearts] M-CO; their very hearts AMS

26.19 them, of men that] M-CO; them, that AMS

26.24 them gently] M-CO; them to itself gently AMS

2 7.3 once] M-CO; omit AMS

27.6 set the country] M-CO; set miles of country AMS

27.8 of delay] U-CO; of the delay AMS-S

27.17 holiday but Carlier] M-CO; holiday. Carlier AMS

27.17-19 it . . . habitable] U-CO; it. He wanted to exterm­inate all the niggers AMS; it and talked about the necessity to exterminate all the niggers before the country could be habitable M; omit made S

27.21 long bleached tresses] U-CO; long tresses AMS-S

27.22 His legs were] M-CO; His were AMS

27.2 3 undermined] M-CO; tried AMS

2 8.3 them that last] M-CO; them the last AMS

28.3 of "this infamous] M-CO; of "that infamous AMS

2 8.7 hoarse] M-CO; horse AMS

28.9 tongues] M-CO; tongue AMS

2 8.14 eight] M-CO; seven AMS

25.18 station] AMS-L, SD-CO; stations G

2 8.19 Meantime] AMS-L, SD-CO; Meanwhile G

29.13 mocked] AMS-L, SD-CO; muttered G

31.9 quickly] M-CO; quick AMS

31.19 shall] S-CO; will MAS, M

32.21-22 revolver . . . they] U-CO; revolver and it seemed to him—that the very same instant—they AMS; revolver and it seemed to him, that very same instant, they M, S

109

32.23 loud] U-CO; tremendous AMS-S

32.26 caught hold of an] M-CO; caught an AMS

33.9 this very minute] S-CO; now AMS, M

33.13 swooned] U-CO; fainted AMS-S

33.2 3 this] M-CO; that AMS

33.24 he] M-CO; omit AMS

34.9 revolver v/hich] M-CO; revolver in his hand which AMS

34.14-15 his . . . out] U-CO; half his face blown away AMS-S

34.17 with . . . stare] U-CO; with stony eyes AMS-S

34.22 unmoving on his] M-CO; unmoving in his AMS

34.22-23 He sat quiet] M-CO; He felt quiet AMS

34.24 feeling] M-CO; kind AMS

34.26 now found] M-CO; now he found AMS

35.11 that the fellow] S-CO; that that fellow AMS, M

36.7 heavy mist] U-CO; fog AMS-S

36.8 mist] U-CO; fog AxMS-S

36.9 morning mist] U-CO; morning fog A 4S-S

36.9 the mist] U-CO; the fog AMS-S

36.10 mist] U-CO; fog AMS-S

36.11 stood up] U-CO; stood still AMS-S

36.11-12 arms above his head with] U-CO; arms up with AMS-S

36.12 waking from] S-CO; waking up from AMS, M

36.14 Help] S-CO; Oh AMS, M

37.2 quite] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

37.4 in his ignorance] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

110

37.4 invisible] S-CO; impassible AMS; impassive M

37.5 in the mist] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

37.10 still. He looked] AMS-L, SD-CO; still and looked G

37.13 shifting] M-CO; stifling AMS

37.14 station] AMS-L, SD-CO; omit G

37.14-15 in . . . its] AI-IS-L, SD-CO; a tumultuous G

37.22 loudly] M-CO; omit AMS

37.22 to] M-CO; toward AMS

38.4 forward] S-CO; into a run AMS, M

38.9 fumbled in his] M-CO; fumbled in in his AMS

38.10 pockets] M-CO; pocket AMS

38.13 of the strap] M-CO; of his strap AMS

38.13 toes] U-CO; feet MASS

Word-Division

The following list records words which appear in the

copy-text in both hyphenated and two-word forms at the ends

of lines. The form in which the word has been transcribed in

V, listed below, represents Conrad's practice in the AMS.

See also textual note 1.10.

1.10 book-keeping

18.11 tree-felling

30.4 slave-dealer

36.25 rubbish-heap

111

Substantive Alterations in the

Autograph Manuscript

The following records all substantive alternations

in the autograph manuscript. The V text reading appears

to the left of the bracket; to the right of the bracket

appears the AMS alteration. An asterisk indicates that the

V text passage varies from the final AMS reading. Such var­

iations are recorded immediately after the bracket. Illegi­

ble deleted or written-over single letters are not shown.

Where there is doubt about a cancellation the word or words

in question are followed by a question mark. References to

Conrad's brackets are to curve lines with which the author

partially enclosed some of his additions.

1.3-4 A large . . . upon] interlined above deleted a very large trunk and a large head on; perched upon bracketed

1.6 for] deleted

1.7 down the river] interlined with bracket

1.9-10 spoke . . . accent] interlined with bracket

1.11 cherished . . . of] interlined above deleted in his innermost heart cherished the worship of

1.12 negress] preceded by deleted ver [very]

1.13 about] preceded by deleted before the

1.14 taciturn and] interlined, partially in left margin, above deleted impenet [impenetrable]

112

113

impenetrable] final e superimposed over y

two] preceded by deleted white

storehouse] interlined above deleted building

and pretended to] interlined, partially in left margin, above deleted and

^ interlined with caret

brass] preceded by deleted and

and . . . contained] interlined above deleted which were the stock for trade

It] over Th[?]

built] preceded by deleted the

neatly] preceded by deleted of

with . . . sides] interlined above deleted and had a large verandah

belongings] preceded by deleted open boxes

men] follov/ed by deleted who were untidy

things dirty] preceded by illegible two-word deletion

that . . . men] interlined above deleted having no inducement to be otherwise

2.8-9 under . . . perpendicular] interlined and partially bracketed above deleted The working hands of the station; tall added with caret

2.10 this] is over at

2.11-12 had . . . home] interlined with bracket above deleted was

2.12 painter] followed by illegible one-word deletion

2.14 that] added in left margin

2.15 the energetic artist] interlined above deleted him

2.16 just finished] interlined above deleted new

1 .

1 ,

1 ,

1 .

1 .

1,

1,

1.

1.

1 .

1.

2 .

2 .

2 .

2 ,

,15

,15

,16

, 1 6 - 1 7

.17

.18

.18

.20

. 2 1

. 2 1

. 2 1

.4

.4

.6

. 6 - 7

114

2.16 I] over all

*2.17-18 for . . . Evil] add with before the Evil; interlined above deleted in the intervals of book-keeping he communed for a time alone with the Evil; for a time added above line with caret, then deleted; second with over the

2.22 up] over in; followed by deleted in a steamer the shape and solidity of a sardine box; interlined resembling in shape also deleted

2.22 in] added in left margin

2.22 resembled] followed by deleted and was about as strong which is in cancelled parentheses; all deleted with pencil scribble

2.2 3 flat-roofed] preceded by deleted the roof on it; the interlined

2.25 quietly] followed by deleted efficient. The Director left Kayerts and Carlier in charge. He and; He followed by illegible one-word deletion

2.26 first] interlined with caret

2.26 Kayerts] followed by deleted and Carlier

3.2 ruthless] attached ly deleted

3.2 and] interlined

3.4 pointing] preceded by illegible deleted word [describing ?]

*3.5 nearest] add next before nearest; next interlined

3.11 had] over was

3.14 army] followed by deleted guaranteed not to fight between which and any enemy that

3.15 impressed. If] i over I

3.20 cotton] preceded by deleted goods

3.22 On] O over T

4.11 ascending] ing over ed

115

^•^2 station] followed by deleted They V7ere left alone face to face with a wilderness

4.12 this] followed by deleted country only

4.16 suddenly] interlined with caret

4.18-19 glimpses . . . life] interlined above deleted shape of the life

4.20 and incapable] interlined with caret

4.21 high] interlined with caret

4.21-22 civilized] preceded by deleted crowds

4.23-24 and their audacities] interlined with bracket

*4.24-25 their . . . their surroundings] substitute human institutions for their surroundings; interlined with bracket above deleted safe institutions

4.26 every] preceded by deleted the

4.26-5.1 great and every] great added in left margin; and every interlined above illegible deleted letters

5.1 thought] preceded by deleted daily

*5.1 belongs not to] omit final s iri belongs; interlined above deleted are not of; interlined passage fol­lowed by deleted individuals

5.2 to the crowd] to over of

5.2 to the crowd] to over of

5.2-3 that . . . force] interlined above deleted believing in the; the followed by illegible word

5.3 institutions and] and interlined with caret

5.3-4 in the power of] interlined with bracket above deleted in

5.4 police and] and interlined with caret

The following series consists of revisions in the long passage deleted some time prior to the Macmillan printing. The passage is recorded in the historical collation.

116

because] followed by deleted the mass

their] followed by deleted particular worthlessness

order of things and the] inserted below deleted safety of the universe; the followed by deleted safety of

The average] added above deleted Such

individual] attached s deleted

could . . . balance] interlined with bracket; could followed by deleted be a [hermit ?]

^^^5 PJ^eceded by deleted and

undisturbed] interlined with caret

5.4 But] followed by deleted when the negation of soli­tude is complicated by the affirmation of unusual conditions; conditions followed by two illegible deleted words

5.6 brings] preceded by deleted discomposes

5.12 discomposing intrusion] discomposing interlined above deleted tormenting; intrustion interlined above deleted intrustion presence discomposes the ideas; deleted intrusion was added to left margin; presence and the ideas cancelled with wavy line, intrusion and discomposes with horizontal line

5.13 civilized nerves] interlined above deleted stead­fastness

5.16 same] followed by deleted sense

5.22 stopping] followed by deleted short

6.2 meaning] preceded by deleted meaning

6.5-6 that . . . else] interlined with bracket above deleted that he loved Carlier more than a brother; 1^ the added passage Carlier is followed by deleted iri the centre

6.10 Kayerts] preceded by deleted Carlier

6.13 loudly] interlined with caret

117

6.16 reached] preceded by deleted had

6.21 For them an] interlined with bracket above deleted An

6.22 grapple] interlined above deleted grapple [?]

6.24 have been] interlined above deleted be

7.3 could] preceded by illegible deleted word

7.7 do] attached n deleted

*7.9 through . . . practice] substitute misuse for want of practice; interlined with bracket

7.11 At the end] interlined above deleted Kayerts often said

7.18 cafes] preceded by deleted noise of

7.19 see] added in left margin; preceded by r [or ?]

7.19 familiar] preceded by deleted the

7.21 he regretted] interlined with bracket

7.22 mild] interlined above deleted little

8.17 of] interlined

8.21 solved] iii the deleted clause (see historical colla­tion) solved i^ preceded by deleted ans [answered ?]

8.25 in their hands] interlined with bracket

9.6 over] followed by deleted the

*9.8-9 He . . . Carlier] add initial And; interlined above deleted But such visits were rare [and not made only Y] them. would shout to Carlier

9.10 Did] preceded by deleted \^at brutes

9.11 Oh the funny] interlined with bracket above deleted What B

9.11 brute] e over es

9.13-14 the warriors] the interlined above deleted with; warriors preceded by deleted hau [haughty]

118

9.19 after] interlined with caret

9.20 he] followed by deleted went

9.22 fetish] followed by deleted terminal parenthesis

9.23 spirit] preceded by deleted wonder

9.2 6 Kayerts approved] added above deleted But such pro­fitable visits were rare. For days

10.9 trade] preceded by deleted p [progress ?]

10.9 their empty] interlined above deleted empty, which is preceded by an illegible word; above deleted phrase, another their i_s interlined and deleted

10.10 courtyard] followed by deleted filled only; above deleted phrase, the word in is_ interlined and deleted

10.10 in] added in left margin; followed by deleted by

10.11 Below the high] interlined above deleted The river flowed glitter

10.11 silent] interlined with caret

10.12 sands] followed by illegible deleted word [bar ?; bank?] ; in. space between, over connecting loop, is the letter s

10.13 And] followed b^ deleted on all sides of the

10.14 cleared] preceded by deleted spot

10.16 lay in the] lay followed by deleted in, which is followed by mute in the, v/hich is interlined with . caret alid deleted; second in the i£ interlined

10.17 The . . . nothing] interlined above deleted that cannot find expression for its secrets

10.20 They took up] interlined above deleted And gingerly, which is followed on the next two lines by deleted they took them up. They had never read before prac­tically and found the books rather amusing. They read those novels

*10.24 made acquaintance] add in their way the after made; interlined above deleted became acquainted with

119

10.24-25 of d'Artagnan] of interlined

10.25 of Hawk's] of preceded by deleted with

10.25 of Father] of interlined above deleted with

*10.25 and of] add also after and; of interlined above

deleted with

10.26 personages] interlined

11.1-2 discounted] preceded by deleted admired 11.3-4 were doubtful about] interlined above deleted grew

enthusiastic over

*11.4 The accounts of crimes] substitute account for accounts; interlined above deleted and amazed and shocked at the impunity of their crimes

11.5 or] preceded by deleted and

11.10 clever] interlined

11.14 civilizing] interlined with caret

11.14 extolled] interlined wj.jth caret

11.15-16 about . . . to] interlined above deleted spreading enlightenment in

11.23 very] interlined with caret

11.26 early one day] interlined above deleted one morning early

11.26 out] interlined with caret

12.6 them] added above line with bracket

12.7 of] f over n

12.7 the] interlined with caret

12.8 thin] preceded by deleted with a

12.9 hanging] preceded by deleted on his back

12.17 The] preceded by deleted Gobila loved the two white men

120

12.19 all] interlined with caret after deleted the

12.21 were] followed by deleted immortal

12.23 knew intimately] interlined above deleted saw and patronized

12.25-26 for . . . own] interlined with caret above deleted to attain mysterious ends

13.4-5 and . . . amusement] interlined with bracket

13.6 him] followed by deleted smell

13.6-7 In . . . behaved] interlined with bracket; period added after bottle, which originally preceded just

13.16-17 through . . . Gobila] interlined with bracket

13.18 the other] the interlined

13.21 a] originally an; n deleted

13.23 aspect] interlined above deleted appearance

13.23 being] interlined above deleted living

14.2 talked] preceded by deleted discussed

14.3 a knot of] interlined above deleted some

14.3 out] o over u [up ?]

14.7 over . . . shoulders] interlined above deleted in their hands

14.10 courtyard] court added in left margin

14.12 stood] interlined above deleted make a standing [belov/ ?]

14.13 and] interlined with caret

14.13 gesticulated] preceded by deleted used

14.14 very] v over s [suddenly ?]

14.16 long] preceded by deleted wo [words ?]

14.23 it] interlined above deleted he [?]

121

14.26 "Where . . . they?"] inserted below previous line

15.3 understand] terminal quotation mark deleted

15.5-6 after . . , Makola's] after , . , noticed interlined above deleted walked over; Makola's preceded by illegible deleted word [by ?; to ?]

15.7 great] preceded by deleted great

*15.17-19 there . , . unusual] substitute come for stand; interlined above deleted they [now?] would have to cope themselves with it

15.19 went] preceded by deleted and

15.19 loaded] preceded by illegible deleted word [each?], above which is interlined illegible deleted word [both ?]

*15.22 left] substitute went away for left; went followed by deleted befor

15.24 much] preceded by deleted wit [with]

16.6 nigger had] followed by deleted too

16.8 There] preceded by deleted Still

16.10 usual] followed by deleted after all

16.10 All night] interlined

16.10 disturbed] preceded by deleted much on_ previous line

16.10-11 a lot of] interlined above deleted unusual

16.12 Soon] interlined above deleted Then

16.13 out] interlined with caret

16.18 sudden] interlined above deleted sharp

16.20 rush] interlined above deleted ascend

16.21 drive . . . from] interlined above deleted filled all the space

16.21 stars] followed by deleted Carter came out and [swore ?] Carter and Kayerts slept badly

122

16.22 Carlier] lier over ter

16.22 both] interlined with caret

16.25 somewhere] interlined with caret

17.5 the two] the interlined

17.12 general] interlined above deleted particular

17.14 Belonging] longing over ing

*17.14-15 the land] substitute this for the; is over at

17.15-16 did . . . be] naturally added; wandering added with caret; be followed by deleted naturally; the passage is interlined above deleted were afraid to run away, being afraid of being killed as strangers

a] interlined above deleted the

overgrown] preceded by deleted near the

festive] interlined with caret

the sorceries] the interlined with caret

loved] preceded on previous line by deleted and

supposed] interlined above deleted considered

to be] interlined above illegible deleted i.etters [as ?]

out] interlined above deleted to them

made . . . die] omit final s from minds; made up their mind to interlined with bracket; attached final d i£ deleted from die

* 18.3-4 and . . . existence] omit have; interlined above deleted death being an act of will simply, without the agency of any instrument

18.6 more] interlined above deleted much

18.10 tasks] interlined above deleted occupations

18.19 trading] terminal quotation mark deleted

18.19 like] interlined above deleted want

1 7 . 1 8

1 7 . 1 8

1 7 . 2 0

1 7 . 2 0 -

1 7 . 2 3

1 7 . 2 3

1 7 . 2 4

1 7 . 2 4

* 1 8 . 2

•21

123

*18.2 4 have got] substitute had for have; had added in left margin

18.24 home] interlined with bracket

18.26 What . . . traders] final s deleted from What; are those traders interlined above deleted this smoke [then ?; there ?]

19.1 Bad fellows] interlined above deleted Burn villages

19.1 They] added above deleted Those traders

19.2 with people] added in left margin

19.2 men] interlined with caret

19.3 a great] a interlined with caret

19.5 Makola] followed by illegible deleted word

19.7 order] terminal quotation mark deleted

19.8-9 fine . . . nothing] added in space below previous line

19.10 it;] terminal quotation mark deleted; period altered to semicolon

19.10 the . . . work] added above line with bracket

19.11 that] interlined with caret

19.12-13 You . . . sir] added above line with bracket

19.13 you] interlined

19.14 this evening] interlined

19.15 to-morrow] no hyphen; interlined above deleted afterward

19.18 hut] preceded by deleted house

19.21 could] preceded by deleted he [hear ?]

19.24 success] followed by deleted In

20.6 There] preceded by deleted I see men there

124

20.6 mind] terminal quotation mark deleted

*20.10-11 It . . . in] substitute mane had come for of men came; interlined above deleted A lot of men seemed to come

20.12 went] added in right margin after illegible deleted letters

20.12 on] o over i

20.12 hard] interlined with caret

every morning] substitute day for morning; inter­lined above deleted in the morning

That morning] interlined above deleted This morning

turned out] turned interlined above deleted came; out added in left margin before deleted out

Across] preceded by deleted They rousted

Makola . . . person] omit nigger; interlined, par­tially in left margin, with bracket before He threw

from the distance] substitute down the yard; inter­lined with bracket

coast] interlined above deleted Loanda

other] preceded by deleted white man

21. C with sudden] with interlined; sudden followed by deleted attached ly and deleted with

21.10 down] interlined with caret

21.12 there?] terminal quotation mark deleted

21.16 six] preceded by deleted f [five ?; four ?]

21.18 give] followed by deleted them

21.21 ivory and] and interlined above deleted and

21.21 most] interlined

21.24 books—] terminal quotation mark deleted

22.8 dismiss] interlined above deleted will report

* 2 0 .

2 0 .

2 0 .

2 0 ,

* 2 0 .

*20:

2 1 ,

21 ,

15

16

, 1 6 -

,17

. 1 8 -

. 2 2

. 5

.8

•17

-19

125

22,11 Kayerts] terminal quotation mark deleted

22,11-12 are so irritable] interlined above deleted get so angry

22,13 first] followed by deleted chief and an illegible word

22.15 been looking] been added in left margin; ing in_ looking inscribed over ed

22.16 no] attached thing deleted

22.17 than] interlined above deleted but what

22.18 turned] followed by deleted an [and ?]

22.20 looked] interlined above deleted remained looking

*22.20 large and valuable] substitute valuable and solid; valuable added below deleted obtrusive

22.22 on the verandah] added above line with bracket

22.22 all] interlined

22.23 far end] interlined above deleted bottom

22.25-26 dead . . . huts] dead interlined above deleted betwee; huts followed by deleted dead

22.26 shot] terminal quotation mark deleted

2 3.2 over the yard] added in left margin

*23.6 lie heavily] substitute lay for lie; lay added in left margin; heavily interlined above deleted descend

23.8 the] interlined above deleted that

23.8 lay] followed by deleted on

23.9 outside his door] interlined with caret

23.13 he] h over H

2 3.15 He] over the; preceded by deleted When

2 3.18 were . . . they] interlined v/ith bracket

126

23.23 do] followed by deleted question mark

24.5 They] preceded by two arrows presumably to indicate that too much space had been skipped after previous line

24.5-6 shows . . . to] interlined with bracket above deleted believes

24.7 But] preceded by deleted People

24.7 really] added in left margin

24.7-8 We . . . we talk] interlined with bracket above deleted People talk

24.9-10 and . . . Nobody knows] real inserted above nothing beyond; passage interlined above deleted and nobody knows anything

*24.10-11 what . . . mean] substitute they for suffering and sacrifice; added in left margin with bracket above illegible deleted word [really ?; himself ?]

24.13 very busy] interlined

24.13 up] followed by deleted the bi [big ?]

24.14 ivory] followed by deleted They [insulted ?] him from the distance

24.15 Carlier] followed by deleted lounged out into the yard; yard followed by illegible deleted word begin­ning whi

*24.16 stood] add by after stood; interlined

24.19 helplessly] interlined with caret

*24.19-20 and for a minute] substitute For a few minutes; added above line with bracket

24.20 three] interlined with caret

*24.26 as . . . tricky] substitute indecent for tricky; interlined with caret

25.4 in . . . tone] ijiterjUji^ itjh bracl^

25.5 lot] interlined above deleted bone

2 5 .

2 5 ,

* 2 5 ,

2 5 .

2 5 ,

. 15

.17

.19

.20

,20

127

25.12 At midday] added above deleted That day

25.12 hearty] interlined above illegible deleted word [better ?]

25.14 they always added to it] interlined above deleted it was always with "

half-] interlined with caret

that day] interlined with bracket

have been] add all after been; all interlined with bracket

only] interlined

for] interlined

*25.23-24 A . . . himself] substitute Man can for A man may; interlined above deleted All passes in life

25.24 love] attached s cancelled

25.24 hate] attached s cancelled

25.24 belief] interlined; followed by deleted doubts, which is interlined above deleted inactivity

25.25 doubt] interlined above deleted beliefs

25.25 he clings to life] he followed by; deleted can, above which is interlined and deleted will; clings to life interlined above deleted draw breath

26.2 that . . . breath] interlined above deleted to the very last beat; a partially illegible phrase endj.ng in last breaths i_s_ interlined and cancelled; the whole is separated from the next sentence by conven­tional brackets placed back to back

26.2-3 In . . . the] interlined with bracket above deleted The

26.4 all the] interlined with caret

26.5 His] preceded by deleted Some

26.6 burning] interlined above deleted firing

26.8 left] interlined

128

26.10 one] interlined

26.10 disappeared] preceded by illegible deleted word [done ?] ""

26.12-13 did . . . above] added above deleted lived lonely and

26.14 dumb] interlined above deleted dead

, 26.15 of the post] interlined

26.15 an] interlined above deleted the

*26.16 feeling] after feeling add an absurd and obstinate feeling; absurd and interlined with bracket

26.18 from] preceded by deleted away

26.19 memory] interlined above deleted thoughts

26.20-21 into . . . of] into follov/ed by interlined and deleted a; terminal s in distances added; mad"e indistinct by interlined with bracket; e in. the over at; attached d iii glare cancelled; of interlined above deleted in the

26.22-23 the great . . . seemed] interlined above deleted the savage land its very wilderness see=; interlined hopelessness followed by deleted deprav'ity and men-ace; savagery and see of_ seemed "added iri left margin

26.24 to look upon them, to] added in left margin with bracket

26.25 irresistible . . . disgusting] interlined above deleted familiar and disgusting

27.2 and yelled] preceded by deleted and Days; Conrad apparently moved the initial line of this AMS page, which begins with Days, up one space

27.4 communications] communication followed by attached s

27.4 a shower] interlined above deleted a fury, which had been inscribed over arrows [?]

*27.6 set the country] substitute set miles of country; the after set deleted; miles of interlined above deleted the; country followed bv deleted for miles

129

27.7 very distinctly] interlined with caret

27.8 jauntily] interlined above deleted jocularly

27.10 cast his lines] interlined above deleted fished

27.14 in the river] interlined

27.16-17 for a] interlined with caret after deleted of

27.17 rage] followed by deleted of

*27,22 His . . . swollen] omit legs; His over He; were much swollen interlined above deleted had sores on his legs

27.22 he] interlined with caret

*27.23 undermined by fever] substitute tried for undermined, interlined with bracket

27.24 but] followed by deleted to [tottered ?]

28,2 on trade] interlined

28.6 He] H over h; preceded by deleted It seems to me that

28.6-7 maintained Carlier] interlined above deleted assured Carlier; affirmed added above assured and deleted

28.9 will] interlined above deleted would

2 8.10 the root of] interlined V7ith bracket

28.11 their weakness] interlined above deleted themselves

28.12 daily] interlined

28.12 like] interlined

28.16 had been] had interlined above deleted wa [was ?]

28.17-18 very . . . river] interlined above deleted very dis­tant stations

28.19 Kayerts] K over C

2 8.20-21 and . . . and the] interlined with bracket above deleted and cursed the

130

2 8.21 born] follov/ed by asterisk to indicate added sen­tence in top margin o_f this AMS page. Interlined with brackets after asterisk and above the next line, which begins There was i^ the cancelled and partially illegible sentence have lived on such diet to what a ghastly trouble the necessity for eating [food ?] may become; have and what preceded by illegible deleted words

28.21-23 One . . . become] added in top margin of AMS page; One must added above deleted Unless you

28.25 lumps] interlined above deleted pieces

29.1 explained] interlined above deleted said

29.2 is sick] is preceded by deleted has

29.2 extra] added below deleted thing, above which is interlined and deleted comfort

29.5 now] interlined

29.6 the two men] interlined above deleted they

29.7 were . . . if] interlined above deleted were

29.7 bitterness] interlined above deleted enmity

29.10 his] followed by deleted coffee

29.13 Well!] added above line with bracket

29.19-20 with marked insolence] added above deleted insol­ently

29.22 him] followed by deleted really

29.23-24 surprising flash] surprise preceded by deleted secon; flash interlined above deleted second

29 25-26 dangerous . . . composure] interlined above deleted terrible and ghastly. He managed to say with com­posure

30.1 hitching] added above deleted hitching

30.3 You] u over ur

30.5 country] added iia left margin before deleted station

131

30.13 you] u over ur

30.15 dismiss you] terminal quotation mark after you deleted

30.18-19 You . . . howled] added above deleted "Take that you flabby, good for nothing Civilian" he howled

30.20 and the] added above deleted The

30.21-22 Then . . . table] interlined above deleted Carlier danced about shouting

30.22 a blind] interlined v/ith caret before deleted a

30.23 head low] interlined with bracket

30.23 overturning] interlined above deleted upsetting

30.24 locked] interlined above deleted shut

31.4 thought . . . and] added above line v/ith bracket

31.5 square] added above line V7ith caret

31.5 window] preceded by deleted hole

31.6 then] interlined vzith caret

31.7 But the] But inserted before the, which was origi­nally The

31.7 apparently] interlined with bracket

31.7 in] interlined with caret

31.9 run laboriously] added above line, partially in. left margin, above deleted run

31.13 all] interlined wijth caret.

31.13-14 ran . . . house] interlined above deleted made the second round

31.15 he] followed by deleted thought; deleted he begins next line

31.15 have] interlined

31 16-17 fast . . . man] attached er after fast deleted; enough . man added above deleted than the other man

132

31.22 own] interlined with caret

31.24 mouth . . . his] mouth interlined after His; was as dry as a cinder and his interlined, partially in l^ft margin, with bracket; first as added —

31.26 thought . , , illusion] interlined above deleted was horrified ~~"

32.2 senses] interlined above deleted thoughts

32.4 scrambling] preceded by deleted to; ing over ed

32.4 feet] interlined above deleted legs

32.4-5 sudden] preceded by deleted great sense

32.6 common sense] preceded by deleted glimmer

32.6 reflexion . . , and] interlined above deleted con­sideration

32.7 now] interlined above deleted to day

32.8 this horror] interlined with bracket

32.9 the day] interlined above deleted then

32.9 every day] added in left margin

32.10 torture me] interlined with bracket

32.13-14 He felt . . . more] added above line with bracket; not after could added above attached n't, which is deleted

32.14 sudden perception] interlined above deleted thought

32.15-16 had . . . become] interlined with bracket above deleted were

32.16 difficult] preceded by deleted terrible

*32.21 at . . . him] substitute it seemed to him—that the very same instant; interlined above deleted the next instant—it seemed to him; deleted it preceded by deleted th [they ?]; very i^ the interlined passage was added

32.22 surprise] followed by deleted There was between

133

32.2 3-24 a . . . think] interlined with bracket above deleted red fire; and deleted before thick

32.26 caught] interlined above deleted held to

33.1 roof] followed by deleted banging his head

33.2 of . . . if] interlined above deleted as of

33.3 had tumbled] had interlined with caret; ed in tumbled over ing

33.3-4 Nothing more happened] interlined above deleted He did not die

33.4 He . . . die] interlined above deleted Nothing more happened; more interlined with caret

33.4 Only] preceded by deleted His sho [shoulder ?]

33.5 been badly] been interlined above deleted had a; ly inserted between bad and wrenched

33.7 a stratagem] a interlined with caret

33.7-8 stalking him, now] interlined above deleted creeping, creeping; now added above deleted Kayerts, which had been added above second creeping

*33.8-9 was . . . minute] subsiitute now for this very minute; added below previous AMS line

33,10 a few moments] added above deleted half an hour

33.14 on the floor] interlined with caret

33.15 turned up] interlined with caret

33.19 of gratitude] interlined with bracket

33.21 stretched] added in left margin

33.21 kneeling] interlined above deleted bending

34.3-4 in . , . faint] added above deleted in a faint voice

34.5 and] interlined with caret

34.7 Makola] interlined above illegible deleted letters

134

34.18-19 I think] interlined above deleted Yes

34,19 fever] terminal quotation mark deleted

34,19 bury him to-morrow] him to morrow added below line

34,21 alone] preceded by; deleted alone on

*34,26 now found repose] add he after now, now followed by deleted rested, which is followed by; he; e in he over is; he followed by deleted soul; found inter­lined above soul; response followed by attached and deleted final d

35,4 likes] preceded by deleted respected

35.6 at last!] interlined

35.7 and childish, false] and interlined above deleted or; false preceded by deleted or

35,7 He revelled] below interlined and deleted Inciden­tally, he

35.7 new] interlined with caret

35.9 about . . . heaven] interlined v/ith bracket

35.9 of] interlined

35.10 which] interlined above deleted that

35.10-11 Incidentally he] intei-'lined above deleted He

35.11-12 had . . . anyway] interlined above deleted was noxi­ous creature; a having been interlined with caret before deleted noxious, was retained in the inter­lined passage

35.16 Kayerts] interlined with bracket

35.17 a believer in] interlined above deleted believing

35.19 was at] was added in left margin

35.19 peace] followed by deleted with

35.21 him] interlined

135

35.21-22 his . . . unexpected] interlined with bracket above deleted he did it with such; his preceded by attached and deleted t; attempt inserted above deleted intellectual and follovjed by deleted attempt, which is inserted above deleted effort

35.22 a very] interlined above deleted a

35.24 achievement] interlined above deleted accomplishment

35.24 him] interlined above deleted him a little

35.25 a clever] a interlined with caret

35.26 thumped] interlined above deleted beat quickly

36.1 felt] preceded by deleted prespired

36.2 now] interlined above deleted now [?]

36.4 had slept] had interlined

36.5 had v/histled] had interlined with caret

36.9 morning] added in left margin

*36.11-12 up . . . cry] substitute still for up; interlined, partially with bracket in left margin, above deleted up with a; interlined with a followed in left margin by illegible deleted word

36.14 God] G over g

36.15 inhuman] interlined above deleted long

36.16 that] at over is

36.17 for] preceded by deleted the

36.18 on, undisturbed, through a] on inserted in right mar-gin; undisturbed, through a added below series of deletions: on in; over the scene; on through the station in

36.19 many] interlined with bracket

36.19-20 the yells] the interlined

36.20 some . . . creature] added above deleted a masterful exasperation; some added above deleted an; and ruthless creature added above deleted and fabulous animal

136 36.20 rent] interlined above deleted followed

36.24-25 it . . . return] interlined above deleted to come back •

36.25 which] preceded by deleted he

36.25 he . . . away] interlined above deleted he had come

37.3 thrown there] interlined above deleted living

*37.4-5 in . . , work] substitute invisible for impassible; interlined with bracket above deleted to heaven to undo its work; upon inserted below first to and deleted "

37,5-6 shouting] preceded by deleted He cried

37,7 They can't see] added above line with bracket

37,11 fog] interlined above deleted mist

37.11 low] preceded by deleted in

37.12 a , , . way] interlined above deleted a man lost

37.12 and he] and added in left margin; h over H

*37.13 stain , , , purity] substitute stifling for shifting; stain followed by attached and deleted ed; upon the stifling purity interlined" above~deleted on the pur­ity; stifling, which is written in such a_ way as to resemble shifting, i_s followed by deleted ethereal

37.14 station] interlined above deleted deep

37,14-15 in a tumultous] interlined above deleted a joyous

37.15 its] interlined above deleted in

37.15 the impatient clamour] interlined above deleted the steamers appeals

omit] The director; inscribed and deleted two spaces below previous AT S line

37.17 Managing] interlined above deleted Director

37.18 we know that] v/e added in right margin; know that added in left margin

137

37.20 Above . , , station] added above line with bracket

37.21 unceasing and brazen] added above deleted uninter­ruptedly; added just above uninterruptedly is deleted out continuous —

*37.22 to] substitute toward; V7ard is inserted between to and the

38,1 toil up] added above deleted ascend

38.3 scrambled up] interlined above deleted ascended

38.4 him] interlined

*38,9 his] substitute this; attached t added (and deleted ?) '

38.9 and] interlined

38.9 fumbled in his] ed iii fumbled over ing; in followed on next line by deleted his pocket for a knife before Kayerts who faced him; deleted passage followed by another in; his preceded by deleted attitudi

38.10 was] added in left margin

38.11 evidently] interlined

38.12 was] interlined

38.12 tying] interlined above deleted fixing

38.13 were] interlined above deleted nearly tou [touched]

38.14 a couple] interlined above deleted about an

38,14 above] interlined above deleted off

38,16 one purple cheek] interlined above deleted his head

38.16 posed] interlined with caret

38.17 putting] interlined above deleted putting and to right of illegible deleted word

B i b l i o g r a p h y

138

Bibliography

i. Editions

"An Outpost of Progress." Autograph Manuscript, (Yale Uni­

versity)

This document consists of thirty-seven folio leaves. The text is paginated 1-36. The title page is unnum­bered and transcribes: An Outpost of Progress. I To Edward Garnett. I 36pp. 9.500 words. I 17th-21st July. 1896. H e Grande.

"An Outpost of Progress." New York: The Macmillan Company,

1896, (Lilly Library copy, Indiana University)

This pamphlet is one of two deposited for the American copyright on October 28, 189 6.

"An Outpost of Progress." Cosmopolis, 6 (June 1897), [609]-

-620,

First serial printing. Part I.

"An Outpost of Progress," Cosmopolis, 7 (July 1897), 1-15.

First serial printing. Part II,

Tales of Unrest. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 189 8.

First English edition of Tales, published on April 4.

Tales of Unrest. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 189 8.

First American edition of Tales, published on March 26,

"An Outpost of Progress." The Ladysmith Treasury. Ed. J.

Eveleigh Nash. London: Sands & Company, 1900.

The profits on sales of this short story collection were donated to the relief fund established for the besieged town of Ladysmith in Natal, South Africa. Conrad submitted "Outpost" without fee.

139

140

"An Outpost of Progress." Grand Magazine, 5 (1906), 87-103.

"Outpost" was Conrad's choice for Grand's "My Best Story and Vlhy 1 Think So" series.

Almayer' s Folly-T^l_es of Unrest. Sun-Dial edition of collected

works, vol. I, Garden City, New York: Doubleday,

Page & Company, 1920.

Almayer's Folly-Tales of Unrest. Heinemann's limited edition

of collected works, vol. I. London: William Heine­

mann, 19 21,

Tales of Unrest, Concord edition of collected works, vol. 17.

Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1923.

ii. Letters

Garnett, Edward, ed. Letters from Joseph Conrad. 1928; rpt.

Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1962.

Gee, John A., and Paul J. Sturm, eds. Letters of Joseph

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