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Steamship "Pioneer"

From: Ian Thompson <ithompson~at~ges.gla.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 21:47:02 -0000
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

In Le Rayon vert, Helena Campbell, her uncles and company leave Oban at 8 am on the steamship PIONEER, visiting Iona and Staffa (where the climax of the novel takes place in Fingal's Cave). Knowing the date of Verne's arrival in Scotland in July 1879, I have searched the archives of Caledonian MacBrayne (the company that sailed this route round the island of Mull). I found that the steamer which operated the service at this date was indeed the PIONEER, and she sailed at 8 am, with stops at Iona and Staffa. The PIONEER had been a ferry on a variety of routes but in 1875 she was lengthened and given a deck saloon (protection against the weather) and a second funnel (to reduce the amount of smoke affecting passengers) which made her suitable for excursion sailing round the island of Mull.
The route alternated on a daily basis between a clockwise route stopping first at Iona, and anti-clockwise, stopping first at Staffa. Knowing when Verne arrived at Edinburgh on the St Michel III, allowing a few days for excursions and the voyage (like Helena Campbell) on the Columba steamer to Oban, and taking into account the alternation of the Mull route, we can propose Friday 18th July as the date of Verne's excursion to Iona and Staffa. Moreover, the local press tells us that the weather was very good on that day which means that Verne would have been able to land on Staffa (not always possible) and also account for his letter to Hetzel alluding to the calm seas in the Sound of Mull.
In summary, Verne's choice of the name of the vessel in Le Rayon vert matched his own excursion on the PIONEER and the stops at Iona and Staffa (approximately one and a half hours each) gave him the opportunity to experience the two key sites in the novel.
This example demonstrates how Verne transformed his own voyages into fiction, using the notes of his journeys to provide accurate local detail.
Ian Thompson.
Received on Thu 09 Feb 2006 - 23:45:58 IST

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