DUST OF THE PAST

Taranaki Daily News, 4 March 1933, Page 13 (Supplement)

DUST OF THE PAST

SOME MEN OF DISCOVERY

(By

“Historicus.”)

Sometimes, probably very seldom, men may wonder how the hieroglyphic of Egypt came to be solved. To the man who first roamed through the land seeking its story the problems, the strange picture writings presented, must have seemed, and indeed were for that matter, hopeless of solution. Without the key the fascinating history of a nation had perforce to remain in the land of the lost.

The finding of that key and the deciphering of it verges on the romantic. In 1798 Napoleon, filled with ambitious dreams of an Eastern Empire, invaded Egypt. ' History fills its chapters mainly with his militaristic schemes; pictures graphically describe the battle of Aboukir and subsequent events to the final downfall at the capture of Alexandria. While all this was going on. however, something was happening which was to endure when Napoleon’s name was but a recollection. It happened that an officer of his army discovered at Rosetta a black basalt slab carved with ancient writing. Two years later when Alexandria fell to the British the stone fell into their possession.

This stone was to prove the key to the problem of the hieroglyphics. It recorded a priestly decree of Memphis in 196 B.C. Its great importance lay in the fact that it bore three versions of the same inscription in hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek script. It was Champollion who turned this to advantage. From it he laid the foundation of an alphabet which he continued to elaborate until it formed the basis of modern Egyptian archaeology. It might justly be regarded as - one of the greatest discoveries ’of the 19th century. It unfolded the story of Egypt. The stone itself was known as the Rosetta stone, and went to the British Museum.

Jean Francois Champoilion, who died on March 4, 1832, was thus the first to read the Egyptian hieroglyphics. He certainly was eminently suited for such a task. When a lad and others were playing games he was studying Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldee and other ancient languages. At 16 he was reading learned papers before the Academy at Grenoble. At. 18 he was a professor of history at that establishment. Before he died he had opened the gates to the wonderful story of Egypt’s mystic past. On March 5, 1496, Henry VII. granted to John Cabot, explorer, a patent empowering him to seek out, subdue and occupy any regions which before had “been unknown to all Christians.” John Cabot sailed accordingly.

The story surrounding the gift of this patent is not uninteresting. Henry was more, than probably led to back this project for the reason that he had already recently lost an opportunity of adding the discovery of new lands to his glory. Columbus had only just discovered America and planted the flag of Spain for all men to see. The annoying part to Henry was the fact that the flag which fluttered so gaily in the sunlight of the New World might have been his, for in the days when Columbus was hawking his inspiration round the courts of Europe Henry had been given the opportunity to father the venture. He did, in fact, approve it, and gathered the necessary cash, but for. some reason or other it got spent on decorations to Hampton Court Palace before Columbus could get near enough to take it. One can almost scent a female hand at the back of the business. Anyway Henry, probably somewhat rattled by the outcome of the affair, seems to have been perfectly willing to allow John Cabot to sail anywhere so long as he found somewhere new to stick a flag. 'So Cabot, dreaming of China—he was one of those rovers of the early days whose mind was filled with one delectable dream of the glittering treasures that lay for the taking in the lands where the sun rose—sailed gaily into the blue with the idea of finding a westward passage.

? Not being wrecked he naturally hit North America at the Island of. Newfoundland. Thus he had the credit of the rediscovery of North America, the Viking having already sailed its coasts. Cabot returned to -.ngland, and received a patent authorising him to lead an expedition out, but died before it sailed. An entry regarding Cabot’s discovery in the King Privy Purse Expenses is illuminating. It reads:—August 10, 1497. To him that found the New Isle £10! Jean. Pierre .Blanchard, aeronaut, died on March .7, 1809. It would be unfair to miss Blanchard from the list of anniversaries. Pioneers get little enough credit as it is, and the pioneer of aeronautics, in the days when ballooning was practically a certain road to suicide, deserves all the recognition that can be accorded him. Besides, as far as can be traced, he seems to have been bne of the first men to cross the Channel, by means other than sailing upon its waters.

It is just about 144 years ago when he ascended at Dover with a Dr. Jeffries and allowed himself to be blown out to sea. When Bleriot made the initial trip by aeroplane it was on the wings of fate whether his machine would stay the course. This was very much the case with Blanchard’s gas bag. About a third of the way across they began to fall and everything that could be discarded to reduce weight was rapidly pitched overboard. They were practically threequarters of the way over when trouble again overtook them. This time' it was more serious and everything had to go, even to part of their clothing. They were proceeding to cut away the car when fate came to their rescue and lifting the balloon high in the air carried it safely to dry land. Blanchard himself was not the only member of his family who succumbed to the fascination of air travel. His wife also made many ascents. She 'must have been a lady as intrepid as her husband, if anything more so, because she eventually met her death in the performance of a display which showed greater courage than intelligence. She ascended at Tivoli one night, and to give the crowd a show for their interest the balloon was surrounded by fireworks. She had probably visualised - quite an effective display in the clouds. What actually happened was that the balloon caught fire and Madame Blanchard paid for her folly. The extraordinary tricks that were being played with balloons for the sole purpose of notoriety seem incredible. Ascents with bulls and horses attached to the bag began to get so common that they had to be stopped in the interests of the animals.