Mina Harker's MemorandumMINA HARKER'S MEMORANDUM (ENTERED
IN HER JOURNAL) Ground of inquiry.--Count Dracula's problem is to get back
to his own place. (a) He must be brought back by some one. This is evident;
for had he power to move himself as he wished he could go either as man, or wolf,
or bat, or in some other way. He evidently fears discovery or interference, in
the state of helplessness in which he must be, confined as he is between dawn
and sunset in his wooden box. (b) How is he to be taken?--Here a process
of exclusions may help us. By road, by rail, by water? 1. By Road.--There
are endless difficulties, especially in leaving the city. (x) There are
people. And people are curious, and investigate. A hint, a surmise, a doubt as
to what might be in the box, would destroy him. (y) There are, or there
may be, customs and octroi officers to pass. (z) His pursuers might follow.
This is his highest fear. And in order to prevent his being betrayed he has repelled,
so far as he can, even his victim, me! 2. By Rail.--There is no one in charge
of the box. It would have to take its chance of being delayed, and delay would
be fatal, with enemies on the track. True, he might escape at night. But what
would he be, if left in a strange place with no refuge that he could fly to? This
is not what he intends, and he does not mean to risk it. 3. By Water.--Here
is the safest way, in one respect, but with most danger in another. On the water
he is powerless except at night. Even then he can only summon fog and storm and
snow and his wolves. But were he wrecked, the living water would engulf him, helpless,
and he would indeed be lost. He could have the vessel drive to land, but if it
were unfriendly land, wherein he was not free to move, his position would still
be desperate. We know from the record that he was on the water, so what
we have to do is to ascertain what water. The first thing is to realize
exactly what he has done as yet. We may, then, get a light on what his task is
to be. Firstly.--We must differentiate between what he did in London as
part of his general plan of action, when he was pressed for moments and had to
arrange as best he could. Secondly.--We must see, as well as we can surmise
it from the facts we know of, what he has done here. As to the first, he
evidently intended to arrive at Galatz, and sent invoice to Varna to deceive us
lest we should ascertain his means of exit from England. His immediate and sole
purpose then was to escape. The proof of this, is the letter of instructions sent
to Immanuel Hildesheim to clear and take away the box before sunrise. There is
also the instruction to Petrof Skinsky. These we must only guess at, but there
must have been some letter or message, since Skinsky came to Hildesheim. That,
so far, his plans were successful we know. The Czarina Catherine made a phenomenally
quick journey. So much so that Captain Donelson's suspicions were aroused. But
his superstition united with his canniness played the Count's game for him, and
he ran with his favouring wind through fogs and all till he brought up blindfold
at Galatz. That the Count's arrangements were well made, has been proved. Hildesheim
cleared the box, took it off, and gave it to Skinsky. Skinsky took it, and here
we lose the trail. We only know that the box is somewhere on the water, moving
along. The customs and the octroi, if there be any, have been avoided. Now
we come to what the Count must have done after his arrival, on land, at Galatz. The
box was given to Skinsky before sunrise. At sunrise the Count could appear in
his own form. Here, we ask why Skinsky was chosen at all to aid in the work? In
my husband's diary, Skinsky is mentioned as dealing with the Slovaks who trade
down the river to the port. And the man's remark, that the murder was the work
of a Slovak, showed the general feeling against his class. The Count wanted isolation. My
surmise is this, that in London the Count decided to get back to his castle by
water, as the most safe and secret way. He was brought from the castle by Szgany,
and probably they delivered their cargo to Slovaks who took the boxes to Varna,
for there they were shipped to London. Thus the Count had knowledge of the persons
who could arrange this service. When the box was on land, before sunrise or after
sunset, he came out from his box, met Skinsky and instructed him what to do as
to arranging the carriage of the box up some river. When this was done, and he
knew that all was in train, he blotted out his traces, as he thought, by murdering
his agent. I have examined the map and find that the river most suitable
for the Slovaks to have ascended is either the Pruth or the Sereth. I read in
the typescript that in my trance I heard cows low and water swirling level with
my ears and the creaking of wood. The Count in his box, then, was on a river in
an open boat, propelled probably either by oars or poles, for the banks are near
and it is working against stream. There would be no such if floating down stream. Of
course it may not be either the Sereth or the Pruth, but we may possibly investigate
further. Now of these two, the Pruth is the more easily navigated, but the Sereth
is, at Fundu, joined by the Bistritza which runs up round the Borgo Pass. The
loop it makes is manifestly as close to Dracula's castle as can be got by water.
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