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OF APES AND ADVENTURE
The Crystal Sceptre (1901) is one of my favorite obscure adventure novels. It's a one-off so there isn't a whole Burroughsian pile of them but I'd love to write a sequel for it. Or a comic book adaptation. The plot concerns a man who is dumped in the jungle and finds himself part of a tribe of red gorilla-like creatures he dubs "Links". Their rival tribe of black links offer plenty of violence and trouble. The sceptre in the title refers to a crystal-topped stick that is the ruling king's mace, a prize the narrator wins in the end, then surpasses, as he tries to find a way to escape the jungle with a fortune in gold. Not surprising, he also finds love in a woman who, like himself, has been stranded for many months.
What makes Mighels' book so great is he never pushes credibility too far. His style is wonderfully readable, like a lost H. R. Rider or E. R. Burroughs novel. His influences are quite obvious: he has the hero escape from a balloon ala Jules Verne's Mysterious Island and the fights with the black links and ou-ranga-tangs are bloody and brutal like a good Haggard tale (see "Allan's Wife"(1889) with the babboon girl Henrika or Heu Heu, or The Monster (1923) .
I've often wondered if the book influenced Burroughs' Cave Girl but the evidence seems to be lacking. It's hard to believe ERB never read it or at least heard of it. Mighels' biography is scanty. He worked as a newspaper man in NYC as well as in silent pictures. He died young. There are many stylistic faults with the book perhaps but they are not important as the tale is an an exciting adventure that I re-read every so often. Fun, fun, fun!
Tarzan and the Mangani Dum-dum -- so similar... |
