Steinhaueser met Burton in India in 1846 and soon became one of his most valued friends. He later served as resident civil surgeon at Aden, and treated Burton and Speke after they were both seriously injured on the coast of Berbera in 1855. Burton subsequently asked him to join the quest for the source of the Nile, an invitation Steinhaueser was keen to accept but, in the end, was forced to turn down. In 1860, he and Burton travelled together around America. This is one of the most obscure periods of Burton’s life. Not long afterwards, Steinhaueser died, quite suddenly, of a brain embolism.
COUNT SOBIESKI (1833—?)
Real name Michael Ostrog, he was a Russian-born fraudster and thief. In 1889, he was named as a suspect in the Jack the Ripper killings, but was later discovered to have been in a French prison at the time of the murders.
THE SOLAR STORM OF 1859
Also known as the Carrington Event, this was the most powerful solar storm in recorded history, which caused, on September 1st and 2nd of that year, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm. Aurorae appeared around the world and telegraph systems failed, shocked their operators, caused spontaneous fires, and in some cases mysteriously sent and received messages despite having been disconnected.
ABRAHAM “BRAM” STOKER (1847—1912)
Born in Dublin, Ireland, 12-year-old Stoker was still at school in 1859. In adulthood, he became the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London. On 13th August 1878, Stoker met Sir Richard Francis Burton for the first time, and described him as follows: “The man riveted my attention. He was dark and forceful, and masterful, and ruthless. I have never seen so iron a countenance. As he spoke the upper lip rose and his canine tooth showed its full length like the gleam of a dagger.” Stoker’s novel Dracula was published in 1897.
WILLIAM STROYAN (?—1855)
A lieutenant in the Indian Navy, Stroyan was a talented astronomer and surveyor. He was killed by a spear-thrust, on the coast of Berbera, during Burton’s ill-fated expedition to Harar in 1855.
ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE (1837—1909)
During 1859, Swinburne was temporarily rusticated from Balliol College, Oxford, for having publicly supported Felice Orsini’s attempted assassination of Napoleon III. He spent much of the year at Wallington Hall, mixing with Lady Pauline Trevelyan’s intellectual circle. It was not, however, until December 1862 that he joined Lady Pauline and her guests on a trip to Tynemouth where, according to William Bell Scott, the poet recited the as yet unpublished Hymn to Proserpine and Laus Veneris.
HENRY JOHN TEMPLE, 3RD VISCOUNT PALMERSTON (1784—1865)
Lord Palmerston lost his seat in government when Lord Melbourne was defeated in the general election of 1841. Though out of office for five years, he returned as foreign secretary under Lord John Russell and served in that capacity until 1852, when he became home secretary in the Earl of Aberdeen’s government. In 1855, he became prime minister. International intrigues forced him to resign three years later, but after just twelve months he was re-elected and served as a very popular premier until his death in 1865.
THE TOWER OF LONDON
In October 1841, a serious fire destroyed parts of the tower, including the Grand Armoury.
LADY PAULINE TREVELYAN (1816—1866)
An English painter, Paulina Jermyn Jermyn was married to Sir Walter Calverley Trevelyan in May 1835. She made Wallington Hall in Northumberland a focal point for Victorian artists and intellectuals, counting among her frequent guests Swinburne and other members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Mark Hodder is a time traveler of limited capacity. He is restricted to forward momentum and cannot alter his speed, which is set at the breakneck pace of sixty seconds per minute. Despite these constraints, he is able to achieve the feat without mechanical assistance, though he fears this may change if he goes too far.
Mark’s voyage began on November 28th, 1962—embarkation point: Southampton, England—and has currently reached the year 2013 and Valencia, Spain. So far, the experience has not resulted in any ill-effects, other than a phenomenon wherein increased familiarity with the sensation of time travel has caused Mark’s mind to falsely report an ongoing increase in velocity.
Entertainments enjoyed during the excursion have included vast amounts of reading, writing, and studying; a good deal of contact with other time travelers; various degrees of involvement with radio, television, and film production; and an immoderate amount of eating and drinking.
Mark was at one point skilled in the operation of a bow and arrow (location: university) but has since transferred his attention to more complex technologies. He has employed the latter to create accounts that might possibly continue onward in some form after the cessation of his journey. They are: The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack (winner of the Philip K. Dick Award, 2011); The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man; Expedition to the Mountains of the Moon; A Red Sun Also Rises; and the volume you are currently holding in your hands, viewing on your device, listening to, or having streamed directly into your mind.
The aforementioned works are not instruction manuals, and Mark would like to remind his fellow time travelers that, in cases of emergency, they should consult with one another at the earliest opportunity.