Date: September 1, 1894
Event: Tarzan sailed from New York City.
Source: The exact date that Tarzan sailed from New York to France is untold by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, so therefore it will never be known. Although we will never know the exact sailing date a sound logical figuring date can be deduced. We have already concluded in earlier writings that Tarzan was born on September 1, 1872. Therefore, if the ape-man meets Countess Olga de Coude at age twenty-two the meeting had to occur on or after September 1, 1894.
One must keep in mind that the events of The Return Of Tarzan occur over a span of one year. In The Return Of Tarzan's end, the jungle lord is still twenty-two when he marries Jane. To have enough time for all the events in The Return Of Tarzan to occur the ape-man would have to leave New York City as soon as possible after his twenty-second birthday.
I revealed in Tarzine #62 that Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, had a habitual knack for inserting true life dates, names, and events into his fictional stories. Keeping to that tradition and following his habit, I have also tried to follow that lead. For a working date, I have deducted Tarzan would have sailed from New York City on September 1, 1894, which is the ape-man's and Edgar Rice Burroughs', the author's, birthday. Theoretically speaking, Tarzan, now twenty-two, met the Countess de Coude on September 3, 1894. Although this working date may not be the exact date, it does agree with Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author's, descriptions and it provides us with a figuring point.
Date: the morning of September 4, 1894
Event: The twenty-year-old Countess Olga de Coude sees Tarzan for the first time.
Source: "Her husband again buried himself in his book, but not without a mild wonderment that three days out from New York his countess should suddenly have realized an admiration for the very buildings she had but recently characterized as horrid." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: On this day Countess Olga de Coude makes the statement. "Oh, nothing at all my dear. I was but recalling with admiration those stupendous skyscrapers, as they call them, of New York." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. The oldest skyscraper in New York City is the twenty-one-story Flatiron Building on 23rd Street where Broadway crosses 5th Avenue. Completed in 1902., it is built in the shape of a triangle.
In an 1872 chronology, we would have to say that Countess Olga de Coude saw large and wondrous buildings, but no skyscrapers. Does this prove that the 1872 chronology is wrong? Of course not. As I have pointed out many times in my writings the Tarzan series was actually written by two men. John Carter's great-nephew, the narrator from Virginia, obtained the information to chronicle Tarzan's early to midlife while in England. John Carter's great-nephew was in an old monastery gathering the information that eventually became The Outlaw Of Torn when the Greystoke's story was discovered and confirmed.
After John Carter's great-nephew returned to America he somehow or another met Edgar Rice Burroughs from Chicago, Ill. Since Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author began writing Tarzan Of The Apes on December 1, 1911, we know that meeting occurs before that date. Also, in December 1907 there are records that show Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, obtained four books, or so, from local book dealers and the public libraries that could have been a reference for Tarzan Of The Apes. Therefore, the pair's meeting probably occurred just prior to that event, in Chicago.
John Carter's great-nephew and Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, somehow or another teamed up to write magazine articles for All-Story Magazine. When they wrote these stories, they did it in such a way as to protect those involved. The team first produced Under The Moons Of Mars which was about the narrator's uncle John Carter and his adventures off the Earth. The second magazine story was The Outlaw Of Torn which occurred between 1243 and 1264. The third magazine article was Tarzan Of The Apes. This story was much different than the first two.
John Carter's adventures mostly took place off the earth, and the average person wouldn't believe the events anyway so protecting John Carter's identity was only minimal. The Outlaw Of Torn occurred in the middle 1200's so protecting their identities was no problem at all thanks to history. Tarzan Of The Apes was a big problem, however. The events were not all that old, so how could the two tell the story without exposing the Greystokes?
When John Carter's great-nephew, the narrator, agreed to let Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, pin Tarzan Of The Apes, The Return Of Tarzan, The Beasts Of Tarzan, Jungle Tales Of Tarzan, and Tarzan And The Jewels Of Opar it was agreed that Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, would take steps to protect the true Greystoke's identity. Keeping his part of the bargain Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, modernized the story by sixteen years, added obvious contradictions, added his true-life experiences, etc. Thus, you have the false sailing date of 1888, the false 1908 date in Jane's letter, the false description of automobiles, and the purposeful mentioning of "skyscrapers" and "limousines."
Date: the evening of September 4, 1894
Event: Tarzan meets Count Raoul de Coude, Nickolas Rokoff and Alexis Paulvitch for the first time. The ape-man is going by the name Jean C. Tarzan and prevents Rockoff and Paulvitch from setting up Count Raoul de Coude as a card cheat.
Source: "Tarzan's thoughts drifted from the past to the future. He tried to look forward with pleasurable sensations to his return to the jungle of his birth and boyhood: the cruel, fierce jungle in which he had spent twenty of his twenty-two years." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: Tuesday afternoon September 5, 1894
Event: Tarzan rescues Countess Olga de Coude from Nikolas Rokoff and Alexis Paulvitch.
Source: "It was not until late the following afternoon that Tarzan saw anything more of the fellow passengers into the midst of whose affairs his love of fair play had thrust him." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: after dinner that evening until after dark, Tuesday, September 5, 1894
Event: Tarzan spends time with the second officer.
Source: "After dinner that evening Tarzan strolled forward, where he remained until after dark, in conversation with the second officer," ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: after dark, Tuesday, September 5, 1894
Event: Tarzan rescues Countess Olga de Coude from Nikolas Rokoff and Alexis Paulvitich a second time.
Source: "But they will think it a fine story, and so will all your friends when they read of it at breakfast on-let me see, this is Tuesday-yes, when they read of it at breakfast next Friday morning." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: When Tarzan rescued Countess Olga de Coude the statement is made. "Without hesitating to question those within, the ape-man threw his giant shoulder against the frail panel, and in a shower of splintered wood he entered the cabin, dragging Rokoff after him." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. If you will note Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, says nothing about how that splintered door gets fixed before the Count de Coude comes home that night. Although left unsaid it is most likely that Tarzan persuaded his friend, the ship's second officer, to quickly and quietly replace the door for an undisclosed sum, or favor.
Date: late in the afternoon Thursday, September 7, 1894
Event: Tarzan happens upon Countess Olga de Coude while taking a stroll.
Source: "Tarzan saw nothing further of any of the actors in the little drama that he had caught a fleeting glimpse of until late in the afternoon of the last day of the voyage," ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "She greeted him with a pleasant smile, speaking almost immediately of the affair he had witnessed in her cabin two nights before," ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "I trust monsieur has not judged me," she said, "by the unfortunate occurrence of Tuesday evening." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: Friday morning September 8, 1894
Event: The French ocean liner arrives at France and Tarzan makes his way to Paris.
Source: "He did not see her again that day, and in the rush of landing on the following morning he missed her entirely," ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: Friday, September 8, 1894
Event: Tarzan goes to the apartments of Lieutenant Paul d'Arnot.
Source: "On his arrival in Paris, Tarzan had gone directly to the apartments of his old friend, D'Arnot," ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: September 8 through September 22, 1894
Event: Tarzan renews his former brief acquaintance with Paris.
Source: "Tarzan spent the two following weeks renewing his former brief acquaintance with Paris." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: September 22, 1894
Event: Tarzan's fight at the Rule Maule, third-floor room twenty-seven.
Source: "He was sitting in a music hall one evening, sipping his absinthe and admiring the art of a certain famous Russian dancer, when he caught a passing glimpse of a pair of evil black eyes upon him." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "With shrieks of pain the men escaped into the hallway as quickly as they could: but even before the first one staggered, bleeding and broken, from the room, Rokoff had seen enough to convince him that Tarzan would not be the one to lie dead in that house this night, and so the Russian had hastened to a nearby den and telephoned the police that a man was committing murder on the third floor of Rue Maule, 27." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, provides us with very little information for dating the fight at the Rue Maule. The author from Chicago simply says, "one evening". That doesn't sound like much to work with but let's do some deducting.
- Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, tells us about events occurring in an orderly quick sequence.
- From reading the events as they happen, it is clear the fight at the Rue Maule occurs very shortly after Tarzan reaches Paris.
- Since the ape-man had been at the music hall, it was most likely a Friday or Saturday. Therefore, I theoretically chose September 22, 1893, as a working date for the fight at the Rue Mule.
Chat: On the way home from the fight it is stated, "As he stood directly beneath a brilliant arc light, waiting for a limousine that was approaching to pass him, he heard his name called in a sweet feminine voice." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. The word "limousine" did not come into being until 1902. Therefore, its use in an 1872 chronology would not be correct since it occurred in 1893. I have explained in previous writings that the word use of "limousine" is one of the modernizations added by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, to protect Greystoke's identity.
Date: the morning of September 23, 1894
Event: Tarzan narrated to Lieutenant Paul d'Arnot the events of the Rue Maule.
Source: "Your Paris is more dangerous than my savage jungles, Paul," concluded Tarzan, after narrating his adventures to his friend the morning following his encounter with the Apaches and police in the Rue Maule." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan,
Date: the morning of September 23, 1894
Event: Lieutenant Paul d'Arnot takes Tarzan to turn himself into the authorities.
Source: "Together they entered the office of the police official a half hour later." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. The policeman remembered Tarzan from the visit the two had made him several months prior in the matter of fingerprints.
Date: the afternoon of September 23, 1894
Event: Lieutenant Paul d'Arnot received a letter from William Cecil Clayton. It stated he and Jane would be married in London in about two months.
Source: "On their return to Paul D'Arnot's apartments the lieutenant found a letter awaiting him from an English friend, William Cecil Clayton, Lord Greystoke." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "They are to be married in London in about two months," said D'Arnot, as he completed his perusal of the letter." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: the evening of September 23, 1894
Event: Lieutenant Paul d'Arnot and Tarzan attended the opera. While there the ape-man runs into the Countess Olga de Coude and she invites him to her home the following day at five.
Source: "That evening they attended the opera." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: five o'clock September 24, 1894
Event: Tarzan pays Countess Olga de Coude a visit.
Source: "I can not tell you here, but tomorrow I shall be at home to Monsieur Tarzan at five," ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: September 24, 1894, through October 24, 1894
Event: For a month Tarzan becomes a regular visitor of Countess Olga de Coude.
Source: "For a month Tarzan was a regular and very welcome devotee at the shrine of the beautiful Countess de Coude." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. Here Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, tells us again that the jungle lord is twenty-two years old. "Twenty is shy in exchanging confidences with forty. Tarzan was but two years her senior." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: October 25, 1894
Event: Nikolas Rokoff sets Tarzan and Countess Olga de Coude up and Count Raoul de Coude catches them together.
Source: "For days they watched the papers as well as the movements of De Coude and Tarzan." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: During this event, Tarzan says a most interesting thing. "Until I was fifteen, I had never seen a human being." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. This is very contradictory to what Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author, told us in chapter nine of Tarzan Of The Apes. "Thus, at eighteen, we find him, and English lordling, who could speak no English, and yet who could read and write his native language. Never had he seen a human being other than himself, for the little area traversed by his tribe was watered by no great river to bring down the savage natives of the interior." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.
After many unbiased attempts and combinations, at forming a chronology based on Tarzan being fifteen when he sees his first man; I must stick with him being eighteen as told in Tarzan Of The Apes. My most successful attempt left two unexplainable time gaps.
Edgar Rice Burroughs again lets us know Tarzan has been out of Africa for two years. "Two years is too short a time in which to attempt to work the change in an individual that it has taken countless ages to accomplish in the white race." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: the morning of October 26, 1894
Event: Tarzan told Lieutenant Paul d'Arnot about the Count Raoul de Coude incident.
Source: "Tarzan did not disturb him, but the following morning he narrated the happenings of the previous evening, omitting not a single detail." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: eleven o'clock November 3, 1894
Event: Count Raoul de Coude challenged Tarzan to a duel.
Source: "A week later an Monsieur Flaubert was announced about eleven in the morning, as D'Arnot and Tarzan were breakfasting," ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: two o'clock November 3, 1894
Event: Lieutenant Paul d'Arnot goes to visit Monsieur Flaubert and work out the details of the duel.
Source: "And so it was arranged that D'Arnot was to call on Monsieur Flaubert at two that afternoon," ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: daylight November 4, 1894
Event: Count Raoul de Coude and Tarzan duel.
Source: "Tomorrow morning at daylight - there is a secluded spot on the road not far from Stamps." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: November 4, 1894, through November 15, 1894
Event: Tarzan lays in bed and recovers from his gunshot wounds.
Source: "The ape-man was confined to his bed for several days." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. The dating of this event to the exact day is impossible but by logic, we can again derive a working date. We all know Tarzan is a quick healer and I can't imagine him being bedfast very long. For a working date, I used seven days.
Date: November 15, 1894
Event: Count Raoul de Coude got Tarzan a job as a special agent in the service of the ministry of war.
Source: "It was the first day that Tarzan was permitted to go out that he received a message from De Coude requesting him to call at the count's office that afternoon." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: November 16, 1894
Event: Tarzan left Paris in route for Marseilles and Oran.
Source: "And so it came that on the following day Tarzan left Paris in route for Marseilles and Oran." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan
Date: November 22, 1894
Event: Tarzan arrives at Oran, Algeria.
Source: "At Oran he spent a day wandering through the narrow, crooked alleys of the Arab quarter enjoying the strange, new sights." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: In The Return Of Tarzan ERB, the author, does not inform us how long Tarzan's journey from France to Algeria is. In Tarzan Alive Phil Farmer also does not reveal how long the voyage took. In Alan Hanson's A Chrono-log Of ERB's Tarzan Series his research indicates the voyage took seven days. Tarzan is on a mission, so in my opinion, the ape-man would not be wasting time unnecessarily. ERB, the author, hints at no delays so I believe Tarzan's travel was constant and normal for the day. Since I have no way to research the ship's sailing time, I will depend on Alan Hanson's research.
Date: November 23, 1894
Event: Tarzan arrives at Sidi-bel-Abbes, Algeria.
Source: "The next day found him at Sidi-bel-Abbes." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: November 23, 1894, through December 23, 1894
Event: Tarzan spends a month in Sibi-bel-Abbes. The ape-man then sets out by train, with Lieutenant Gernois, for Bou Saada.
Source: "For a month nothing of moment occurred." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: December 24, 1894
Event: The Gernois detachment arrives at Bouira.
Source: At Bouira the detachment detrained, and the balance of the journey was made in the saddle." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. ERB, the author, does not tell us how long that train trip takes. Since I have no way of researching that train ride I will agree with Alan Hanson's research in A Chrono-log Of ERB'S Tarzan Series and use one day.
Date: shortly after noon on December 25, 1894
Event: Tarzan catches up to the Gernois detachment at Sidi Aissa.
Source: "Although Tarzan was called early the following morning, the company of spahis was on the march before he had finished his breakfast." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "He did not overtake them until he reached Sidi Aissa shortly after noon, where the soldiers had halted for an hour's rest." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "It was market day at Sidi Aissa, and the numberless caravans of camels coming in from the desert, and the crowds of bickering Arabs in the market place, filled Tarzan with a consuming desire to remain for a day that he might see more of these sons of the desert. Thus, it was that the company of spahis marched on that afternoon toward Bou Saada without him. He spent the hours until dark wandering about the market in company with a youthful Arab, one Abdual, who had been recommended to him by the innkeeper as a trustworthy servant and interpreter," ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: after eight on December 25, 1894
Event: Tarzan rescues Sheik Kadour ben Saden's daughter, The Ouled-Nail of Sisi Aissa.
Source: "It was after eight, and the dancing was in full swing as Tarzan entered." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: the morning of December 26, 1894
Event: Sheik Kadour ben Saden and party travel to Bou Saada.
Source: "It was decided that although three of them would have to ride after practically no sleep, it would be best to make an early start in the morning, and attempt to ride all the way to Bou Saada in one day." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "It seemed to Tarzan that he had not closed his eyes before he was awakened, and in another hour the party was on its way south toward Bou Saada." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "Thus, seven guns strong, they entertained little fear of attack by day, and if all went well they should reach Bou Saada before nightfall." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: December 27, 1894, through 28, 1894
Event: Kadour ben Saden and his party remain in Bou Saada for two days and Tarzan stays in the Hotel de Petit Sahara.
Source: "Two days later, Kadour ben Saden, with his daughter and followers, rode south through the pass below Bou Saada, bound for their home in the far wilderness." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "During these two days Tarzan had spent practically all his time with Kadour ben Saden and his daughter." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Date: December 29, 1894, through January 18, 1895
Event: Tarzan remains in Bou Saada for three weeks hunting. ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. "That he might keep up with the appearance of the character he was playing, Tarzan spent considerable time hunting in the vicinity of Bou Saada." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan.
Chat: While in Bou Saada Tarzan often went hunting to support his cover but never killed. ERB, the author, then states something very contradictory. "In fact, Tarzan had never killed for `pleasure', nor to him was the pleasure in killing." ERB-The Return Of Tarzan. The reason this passage is contradictory is that in Tarzan Of The Apes, when the ape-man is eighteen, it is stated, "He killed for food most often, but, being a man, he sometimes killed for pleasure, a thing which no other animal does; for it has remained for man alone among all creatures to kill senselessly and wantonly for the mere pleasure of inflicting suffering and death." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Michael Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Over the past forty-five years, Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines. 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 accepted date, May 1888.
James Michael Moody also authorizes the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022, and, Swordsman On Unium published on July 15, 2024.
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