1897 October The Beasts Of Tarzan

DATE:  October 1, 1897, through October 7, 1897 

EVENT:  It rained for a week, and Rokoff's trail was obliterated.                                            

SOURCE: "To make things worse a heavy rain set in that lasted for a week which obliterated the spoor he followed." ERB-The Beasts Of Taran.

CHAT: The rain is definitely an ERB-provided dating clue. The events are occurring in  Portuguese Angola where the rainy season begins in October and runs through April. It is hot 

and humid.

The Beasts Of Tarzan

DATE:  October 6, 1897                                              

EVENT:  Rokoff leaves Chief Kaviri's village three days before Tarzan arrives.                        

SOURCE: "Though none of these statements agreed with Kaviri's, that the Russian was but three days gone from the chieftain's village and that his following was much smaller than now stated, Tarzan was in no manner surprised at the discrepancies, for he was quite familiar with the savage mind's strange manner of functioning." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

J. Alen St. John

DATE:  October 7, 1897 

EVENT:  At the forenoon of the seventh day it quits raining. Since he had been traveling 

without the guidance of the sun or stars, Tarzan was lost in the jungle for the first time in his life. 

SOURCE:  "It was forenoon of the seventh day when the rain ended and the sun once more came out. Tarzan was lost in the jungle for the first time in his life." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

Joe Jusko

DATE:   October 9, 1897                                          

EVENT:  (1) Tarzan happened upon the cannibal village and he learned from Chief              M'ganwazam that the party of whites had passed several days before.

(2) Tarzan decides to spend the night there.        

(3) Unknown to Tarzan the chief dispatches two runners to warn Rockoff in his nearby camp. 

(4) After dark Tambudza, the chief's older wife, warned Tarzan about Chief M'ganwazam's plot to capture him. She told the ape-man the baby had died, and the white woman was being held not far away.
(5) She led Tarzan in search of her. 
(6) Rokoff tries to rape Jane and she escapes.
(7) Two runners arrive at Rokoff's camp ahead of Tarzan and the old woman, They warn of the ape-man's escape. 
(8) The natives abandoned the whites, and Rockoff's men mutinied against him. They tried to shoot their former Russian employer. 

(9) Tarzan shows up just as Rokoff dashes into the hut that had confined Jane.
(10) Rokoff escapes using Jane's route.
(11) Tarzan thinks the two are headed for the village and he races ahead of them. 
(12) Once there Tarzan realizes his mistake and returns to Rokoff's camp and picks up the trail.
(13) That night Jane slept in the crotch of a tree. 
SOURCE: (1) "The second day following the cessation of the rain he came upon a native village the inhabitants of which fled into the bush the instant their eyes fell upon him." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. 
(2) "From him Tarzan learned, by dent of much coaxing, that a party of whites had passed through the village several days before." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.
(3) "It was then the runners had entered his  camp." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.
(4) "Who is it," he asked, "that creeps upon Tarzan of the Apes, like a hungry lion out of darkness?" ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. 
(5) "She discovered most of the camp was asleep except for one sentry and he was dozing."  ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. 
(6) "That night she slept in the crotch of a tree, ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

J. Alen St. John

DATE:  October 10, 1897
EVENT:  (1) Early the next morning Jane, now armed with the Sweds rifle, continued on her way.
(2) Late that afternoon Jane unnoticed from a distance sees five apes, including a panther, and a black man traveling together.
(3) A half-mile behind Jane the Russian sees the strange band also undetected.
(4) Jane finds a canoe and Rokoff catches up to her. She escapes the Russian but he finds a second canoe and follows her downriver.
(5) Tarzan comes across Mugambi and the rest of the pack while tracking Rokoff and the white woman.
(6) When Tarzan reached the river's edge he saw the canoe go around a bend with only Rokoff in sight.
(7) A half hour later Tarzan caught up to Rokoff but the ape-man was attacked by a crocodile and the Russian escaped.
SOURCE:  (1) "and early the next morning continued on her way." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. 
(2) "Late that afternoon just as Jane was about to cross a little clearing she came upon an ape making his way from the jungle on the opposite side." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.
(3) "A half-mile behind her following the same trail Rokoff lay frozen with terror behind an aint-hill as the weird band passed close to him." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

Zdenek Burian

DATE:  evening October 10, 1897, through the end of day October 25, 1897:

Event:  (1) Jane traveled down the Ugambi for many days.

(2) Mbonga and his hideous horde chased Rockoff downriver for days. 

Source:  "After Jane Clayton with rifle leveled at the breast of Rockoff had succeeded in holding him off until the dugout in which she had taken refuge had drifted out upon the bosom of the Ugambi beyond the man's reach, she had lost no time in paddling to the swiftest sweep of the channel, nor did she for long days and weary nights cease to hold  her craft to the most rapidly moving part of the river, except when during the hottest hours of the day she had been wont to drift as the current would take hrt, lying prone in the bottom of the canoe, her face sheltered from the sun with a great leaf." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

(2) "The nightmare of that flight down the Ugambi with the hideous horde racing after him by day and by night, now abreast of him, now lost in the mazes of the jungle far behind for hours and once for a whole day, only to appear again upon his trail." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

CHAT:  With descriptions like "many days", "down river for days", "for long days and weary nights",  and "by day and by night", it is impossible to date the exact time travel from the Waguwazan cannibal village to the mouth of the Ugambi River. This said it is not impossible to come up with a working date based on information we already have. The information I am talking about is how long it took for Jane, Rokoff, and Tarzan to travel up to the cannibal village. 

Joe Jusko

August 12, 1897,      

Jane escapes the Kincaid around midnight.

August 13, 1897, 

Jane leaves the Mosulas village early in the day.

August 13, 1897                                                          

The Swede purchases a native canoe.

August 14, 1897                                                           

Canoe travel ends.

August 16, 1897                       

Jane reaches Chief M'ganwazam's village after two days of land travel.

                                                                                          

CHAT: Although Jane and the Swede were on the run for approximately three months after escaping the Kincaid they were traveling on land fighting the jungle and making very little actual headway up the Ugambi. The two only had a couple of days of canoe travel to make any real-time.                         

August  8, 1897, through August 13, 1897              
Tarzan is stranded on Jungle Island.
September 9, 1897, through October 10, 1897      
Tarzan's travel upriver.
October 10, 1897,  through October 12, 1897       
Tarzan loses Rokoff's trail for two days.    
October 13, 1897                                                    
Tarzan rescues the Swede.
October 14, 1897, through October 21, 1897, 

Tarzan lost time because of a seven-day rain. 
October 23, 1897

Tarzan reaches Chief M'ganwazam's village  

CHAT:  If Tarzan's actual travel up the Ugamb was counted, excluding delays

the trip was approximately nine days. Naturally, Tarzan travels faster than anyone else but I think it is safe to say Tarzan was at most two weeks canoe time up the Ugambi. Studying Jane's travels does not reveal exactness like Tarzan's does, but again it is quite clear she was at most two weeks up the Ugambi.

    Although I have no real proof I do have a well-thought-out logical theory that agrees with ERB's provided information on all counts. For work date purposes only, the Waguwazan village was a two-week canoe travel up the Ugambi.

Zdenek Burian

DATE:  end of day October 25, 1897
EVENT:  (1) Jane reached the Kincaid two hours ahead of the Russian.
(2) Rokoff reached the mouth of the Ugambi and the Kincaid was there at anchor. 
(3) When the Russian started to board the ship Jane turned him away with a rifle.
(4) At the end of the day Jane sees a ship's boat approaching.
(5) Mugambi and the jungle horde reached the mouth of the Ugambi but on the opposite bank as Rokoff.
SOURCE: (1) "So although starting almost at the same time Jane reached the bay full two hours ahead of the Russian," ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. 
(4) "At the end of the day Jane was alarmed by Rokoff shouting from the opposite bank." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.
CHAT:  It is at this point that ERB gives a description of the Kincaid. "He had sent the little steamer away to coal while he had gone up the river, leaving Paulvitch in charge of her." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. "The terrified Russian could not figure out why no one answered on board but he continued on until he bumped against the timbers of the Kincaid." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. A wood-sided coal steamer fits an 1897  description. How does this description fit in 1913?

J. Alen St. John

DATE:  after dark October 25, 1897                            

EVENT:  (1) Tarzan reached the bay where the Kincaid lay in anchor, but it was so dark he could not see the lightless ship.                                        

(2) Rokoff regrouped with his men.                          

(3) Rockoff attacked Jane on the Kincaid.              

(4) Tarzan heard shots fired and swam towards the Kincaid.   

(5) Mugambi and the jungle horde heard shots fired and they searched for a means to reach the Kincaid.                            

(6) Tarzan boards the Kincaid and rescues Jane.  

(7) Rokoff and men mount a second attack but Mbonga and horde arrive in time to rescue Tarzan and Jane.                                    

(8) Sheeta killed Nickolas Rokoff.                          

(9) All of Rokoff's men were killed but five, Paulvitch was unaccounted for, and the four others agreed to pilot the Kincaid in exchange for their lives.

SOURCE: (1) "So it happened that he came to the bay and within sight of the ocean just after darkness had fallen upon the same day that Jane and Rokoff ended their flight from the interior." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

(7) "So all that night Sheeta feasted upon Nikolas Rokoff and all that was left the following morning was gnawed and broken bones." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.   

Zdenek Burian

DATE:  next day October 26, 1897

EVENT:  (1) Tarzan wanted to return his animal friends to Jungle Island but the sea was rough.

(2) Tarzan learned the dead baby was not Jack Clayton.

(3) Unknown to everyone Alexander Paulvitch was watching them from the shore at that very minute.    

(4) Paulvitich raced to the Mosula village and stole a canoe.                                  SOURCE: (1) "Tarzan planned to return to Jungle Island but the next morning the sea was so rough they dared not set out so they delayed it for a day. 

Joe Jusko

DATE:  that night October 26, 1887

EVENT:  Paulvitch snuck aboard the Kincaid and set a hidden bomb.                  

SOURCE:  "It was night by the time Paulvitch reached the Kincaid and hearing no noise aboard he made his way to the ship's side and climbed aboard." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

Zdenek Burian

DATE:  shortly after the break of day October 27, 1987
EVENT:  The Kincade sailed out of the Ugambi into the Atlantic.                              

SOURCE:  Sortly after the break of day Tarzan was on deck checking out the weather which was perfect." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

Zdenek Burian

About The Author

James Michael Moody Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines over a span of forty-five years. He also manages an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled, Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody. There the researcher chronologies the Tarzan books starting in May 1872 (known as the pushback theory) instead of the more excepted date May 1888.

James Michael Moody is also the author of the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, and Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022. Swordsman On Unium is going through the publishing process.

1897 September The Beasts Of Tarzan

DATE: September 9, 1897

EVENT:  Tarzan, Mugambi, and Beast's friends sailed ten hours to the African coast.              SOURCE:  "sailed ten hours" ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.                                                        CHAT:  It took Rokoff three days to travel from Jungle Island to the West African shore of Portuguese Angola in his rented steamer. It took Tarzan's canoe ten hours to cover the same distance.

Russ Manning

DATE:  during the night of September 9, 1897       

EVENT:  They reached shore during the night and Tarzan and the panther hunted.                    SOURCE:  "It was far too dark to distinguish whether they had approached close to the mouth of the Ugambi or not, so Tarzan ran in through the surf at the closest point to await the dawn." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

Russ Manning

DATE:  at dawn September 10, 1897                   

EVENT:  At dawn the following morning the apes and Mugambi were led to the kill.

SOURCE:  "Shortly after dawn they awoke and ate again, and then returned to the beach that Tarzan might lead the balance of the pack to the kill." ERB-The Beasts Of Taran.

Frank Frazetta

DATE:  September 10, 1897                

Event:  Tarzan searched and found the Ugambi River

Source:  The same day.

Joe Jusko

About The Author

James Michael Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines, over a span of forty-five years. He also manages an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled, Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody. There the researcher chronologies the Tarzan books starting in May 1872 (known as the pushback theory) instead of the more excepted date May 1888.

James Michael Moody is also the author of the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, and Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022. Swordsman On Unium is going through the publishing process.

1897 August The Beasts Of Tarzan

DATE:  August 8, 1897

EVENT:  Tarzan was put ashore on Jungle Island. The ape-man made contact with the apes of  Akut.     

SOURCE:  "The following day, the hatch was removed from Tarzan's cell, and as he looked      up he saw Paulvitch's head framed in the shade of light above him." ERB-The Beasts Of  Tarzan.

CHAT:  It is here that ERB informs us, "The two  years that had elapsed since Tarzan had  come out of the savage forest with his rescued mate had witnessed a slight diminution of the 

mighty powers that had made him the invincible lord of  the jungle." ERB-The Beasts Of  Tarzan.

    We also discover that the ape-man has taken up boxing and/or other forms of martial arts. He most probably learned them while in Algeria with the French Foreign Legion. "With a low snarl the beast now hurled himself at Tarzan, but the ape-man had found, among other things in the haunts of civilized man, certain methods of scientific warfare that are unknown to the jungle folk.

    Whereas, a few years since, he would have met the brute rush with brute force, he now sidestepped his antagonist’s headlong charge, and as the brute hurtled past him swung a mighty right to the pit of the ape’s stomach. With a howl of mingled rage and anguish the great anthropoid bent double and sank to the ground, though almost instantly he was again struggling to his feet." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

J. Alen St. John

DATE:  August 11, 1897, through August 14, 1897

EVENT:  Jane was locked up for several days and saw no one except the ship's cook Seven Anderssen.

SOURCE:  "He went on the deck then, locking the cabin door upon his prisoner, and for several  days she did not see him." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

CHAT:  Although ERB gives us the vague description of 'several days' in this passage we 

know in reality it was only three actual days. The events describe Jane seeing Tarzan put  ashore on Jungle Island, and then ERB tells us three days later the Kincaid came to anchor in the mouth of the Ugambi River

J. Alen St. John

DATE:  August 11, 1897

EVENT:  Three days from Jungle Island, where Tarzan had been marooned, the Kincaid came to anchor in the mouth of the Ugambi River.

SOURCE:  "Three days from the spot where Tarzan had been marooned the Kincaid came to anchor in the mouth of a great river, and presently Rokoff came to Jane Clayton's cabin."  ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

Kincade

DATE: noonday August 11, 1897

EVENT:  After being physically attacked by Rokoff Jane is saved by the Swede cook, Sven Anderssen, with her noonday meal.

SOURCE:  "Outside the door, Sven Anderssen paused with the noonday meal he had been carrying to Lady Greystoke." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. 

CHAT: The question here is, where is the location of the Ugambi River? Is the name Ugambi a real river, or is it coded to protect Tarzan's identity? ERB described the Ugambi 'as a great river that flowed into the ocean', 'broad', 'broad stream', large watercourse', and 'has tributaries'. Despite this description of a large broad watercourse, I was looking for a Ugambi River in Africa. Therefore, the name is either fictitious or Ugambi is the river's Waziri name, thus not printed by that name on white men's maps. Since ERB's given name, Ugambi River, could not be found I studied the other great rivers of Africa that flowed into the sea. Through a list of deductions based on ERB's provided information, the most logical location for the Ugambi on European maps would be the Belgian Congo. The reason I believe this is because of three statements ERB makes.

(1) "After long thought Tarzan decided to continue toward the northeast in the general

direction of German East Africa until he came upon some natives he could question," ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

(2) "From the direction of Anderssen's flight with Jane and the child Tarzan was convinced  that the man had purposed attempting the tremendous feat of crossing the continent to 

Zanzibar; but whether Rokoff would dare so dangerous a journey or not was the question." 

ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.    

(3) "Tarzan questioned the fellow closely, and learned that Rokoff and his safari were in terror-stricken retreat in the direction of the far East Coast." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. If you 

study a map of Africa you will quickly discover the Belgian Congo lies directly west of  German East Africa and Zanzibar. If the events in The Beasts Of Tarzan occur in the Belgian Congo the native Ugambi River is what we know as the Congo River. If you follow the main course of the Congo it runs into Lake Tanganyika which is just west of  Zanzibar. This is the same route Henry M. Stanley followed in 1874-1877 except from east to west.  In this 1872 chronology. I will continue using ERB's Ugambi River which is not listed on real-life maps, with the location being in Portuguese Angola.

Zdenek Burian

DATE:  evening of August 11, 1897

EVENT:  When the Swede brought Jane's supper he informed her he would help her escape that night.

SOURCE:  "She saw no more of Rokoff that day, nor of any other until Sven came with her evening meal." The Beasts Of Tarzan.

J. Alen St. John

DATE: midnight August 12, 1897

EVENT:  The Swede helped Jane and the baby, who she can't see for darkness, escape the Kincaid.

SOURCE:  "She swore a dozen times that she would not leave the Kincaid without her baby, and yet she remained clothed long past her usual hour of retiring, and her blankets were neatly rolled and bound with stout cord when about midnight there came a stealthy scratching upon the panels of her door." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. "Anderssen rowed on as though quite sure of his ground, and when after an hour the moon broke through the clouds there was revealed upon their left the mouth of a tributary running into the Ugambi. Up this narrow channel, the Swede turned the prow of the small boat." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. "Even though the moon was full, the surface of the small river was quite dark." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

CHAT:  It is here that ERB provides us with an excellent dating tool. The author informs us in the above three passages that 'the moon was full'. If we are on the right track our chronology should agree with ERB's description. I checked with the U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department's Phases Of The Moon and there is indeed a full moon which occurred on August 12, 1897.

https://aa.usno.navy.mil/calculated/moon/phases?date=1896-10-14&nump=50&format=p&submit=Get+Data

The Beasts Of Tarzan

DATE:  three o'clock A.M. August 12, 1897

EVENT:  The Swede, Jane, and the baby reach a Mosulas village where they sleep.

SOURCE:  "It must have been three o'clock in the morning that Andersen brought the boat's nose to the shore before a clearing where could be dimly seen in the waning moonlight a cluster of native huts encircled by a thorn boma," ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

J. Alen St. John

DATE:  morning August 12, 1897

EVENT:  Upon awakening in the light of day Jane discovered the baby was not little Jack. She fainted from shock. After she collected herself Jane, the baby, Sven, and six Mosula barriers fled upstream.

SOURCE:  "After warding off the attack Tarzan learns Rokoff attacked the natives three moons ago." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.

Frank Frazetta

DATE:  August 12, 1897, through October 9, 1897

EVENT:  For many days the Swede, Jane, and the baby fled. 

SOURCE:  "The days and nights of torture that the young woman suffered were so merged into one long, unbroken nightmare of hideousness that soon lost all track of time. Whether they had been wandering for days or years she could not tell." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

    For some time their progress inland was extremely slow. Word came to them from time to time through natives passing from the coast on hunting excursions that Rokoff had not yet guessed the direction of their flight." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan. 

    "They had commenced to make a little better progress when word reached them that Rokoff was but a few marches behind them, and that he had, at last, discovered the direction of their flight." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

The Beasts Of Tarzan

DATE:  August 13, 1897

EVENT:  Jane and company flee from Chief Kaviri's village. 

SOURCE:  "After several hours of questioning and cross-questioning the ape-man learned that another party had preceded the Russian by several days - three whites - a man, a woman, and a little man-child. with several Mosulas." ERB-The Beasts Of Tarzan.

The Beasts Of Tarzan

DATE:  August 13, 1897

EVENT:  Upon reaching the first native village along the bank of the Ugambi, Rokoff attacks it, and forces natives to paddle his boat. 

SOURCE:  "After warding off the attack Tarzan learns Rokoff attacked the natives three moons ago." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes..

Joe Jusko

DATE:  August 13, 1897, through August 17, 1897

EVENT:  Tarzan weaved a bark sailcloth. 

SOURCE:  "The next few days Tarzan devoted to the weaving of a barkcloth sail with which to equip the canoe, for he despaired of being able to teach the apes to wield the paddles, though he did manage to get several of them to embark in the frail craft which he and Mugambi paddled about inside the reef where the water was quite smooth" ERB-The Beasts Of  Tarzan. These dates are working dates only and are not provided by ERB.

Joe Jusko

DATE:  August 17, 1897, through September 9, 1897

EVENT:  Tarzan got the apes used to riding on the water. 

SOURCE:  These are working dates only and are not provided by ERB.

Thomas Yeates

About The Author

James Michael Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines, over forty-five years. He also manages an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled, Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody. There the researcher chronologies the Tarzan books starting in May 1872 (known as the pushback theory) instead of the more excepted date May 1888.

James Michael Moody is also the author of the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, and Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022. Swordsman On Unium is going through the publishing process.