‘Aepyornis Island’, often stylized as ‘Æpyornis Island’, is a captivating short story penned by H. G. Wells (1866-1946) in 1894. This narrative first appeared in the Pall Mall Budget on December 27, 1894. In many ways, it embodies the essence of a Robinsonade, featuring a protagonist stranded on a deserted island, reminiscent of the classic tales of survival and discovery.
Summary
The story unfolds through a framed narrative, enhancing its authenticity and drawing readers into the central tale. The narrator engages in conversation with a scarred man, known as Butcher, about orchids. This seemingly innocuous discussion soon shifts to a fascinating yet tragic account of an extinct flightless bird called the Aepyornis.
Butcher recounts his expedition to a remote island in the Indian Ocean, where he found himself abandoned by the natives who had initially brought him there. In a moment of panic, he shoots one of the natives, who falls overboard. Butcher manages to drift away in a canoe with the remaining native. However, after falling asleep, he awakens to discover the native dead in the canoe. He tosses the body overboard and begins a harrowing ten-day drift across the ocean, enduring the scorching sun.
Survival becomes a matter of ingenuity as Butcher subsists on biscuits and the limited water supply in the canoe, supplemented by one of the Aepyornis eggs he had discovered on the island. Eventually, he reaches an atoll and paddles ashore to find another island where fresh water springs forth. Yet, boredom soon sets in, and his tranquility is shattered when a sudden thunderstorm wrecks his canoe. Butcher ingeniously constructs a storm shelter from the remnants of the vessel.
In a remarkable turn of events, the last remaining Aepyornis egg hatches, and Butcher welcomes the newly born bird, which initially resembles a hen. He affectionately names the Aepyornis ‘Man Friday’, drawing an allusion to the character from Robinson Crusoe. To mark his territory, he spells out the name of the island, ‘Aepyornis Island’, using shells and sea-urchins, and observes the bird as it grows. For a time, Butcher enjoys this idyllic existence, although he yearns for some tobacco to smoke.
However, this peaceful life is short-lived. As food becomes scarce, the Aepyornis grows restless and aggressive, ultimately attacking Butcher and leaving a lasting scar on his face. In a desperate attempt to escape, he swims across a nearby lagoon and climbs a palm tree to evade the furious bird. Eventually, he devises a plan to capture the restless creature, using a makeshift fishing line of seaweed to ensnare it. With determination, he manages to subdue the bird and, using a knife, ends its life. The carcass is consumed by fish, leaving nothing behind but the bones.
Butcher’s ordeal concludes when a yacht arrives, rescuing him from the island. He later informs the narrator that he sold the bird’s bones to a man named Winslow, who subsequently named the species Aepyornis vastus.
Analysis
‘Aepyornis Island’ invites comparison with another of Wells’ significant island narratives, specifically his 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. Both stories share an island setting and explore the blurred lines between humanity and animality. In ‘Aepyornis Island’, the once-extinct bird emerges as a formidable presence, challenging Butcher’s dominance.
Flightless birds on islands, such as the infamous Dodo, have often succumbed to extinction following human arrival and hunting. The Aepyornis is no exception, facing a similar fate, yet not before it poses a genuine threat to Butcher, who must grapple with his own mortality. While he ultimately reasserts human superiority, the bird’s aggression serves as a potent reminder of nature’s power and unpredictability.
Wells’ narrative illustrates this dynamic effectively when Butcher describes his method for capturing the bird: “However, I hit on a way of settling him at last. It is a South American dodge. I joined all my fishing-lines together with stems of seaweed and things, and made a stoutish string, perhaps twelve yards in length or more, and I fastened two lumps of coral rock to the ends of this. It took me some time to do, because every now and then I had to go into the lagoon or up a tree as the fancy took me. This I whirled rapidly round my head, and then let it go at him. The first time I missed, but the next time the string caught his legs beautifully, and wrapped round them again and again. Over he went.”
Moreover, ‘Aepyornis Island’ can be juxtaposed with another Wells story published just a few months earlier, ‘In the Avu Observatory’. Although set in a Bornean observatory, it shares a similar premise: a solitary man confronting the perils of exotic surroundings and the danger posed by an unknown creature, ultimately fighting for his survival.