A few
shepherds and cadets at up-country stations had, indeed, tried to follow
in my father's footsteps, during the time when his book was still being
taken seriously; but they had most of them returned, unable to face the
difficulties that had opposed them. Some few, however, had not returned,
and though search was made for them, their bodies had not been found.
When he reached Erewhon on his second visit, my father learned that
others had attempted to visit the country more recently--probably quite
independently of his own book; and before he had himself been in it many
hours he gathered what the fate of these poor fellows doubtless was.
Another reason that made it more easy for Erewhon to remain unknown, was
the fact that the more mountainous districts, though repeatedly
prospected for gold, had been pronounced non-auriferous, and as there was
no sheep or cattle country, save a few river-bed flats above the upper
gorges of any of the rivers, and no game to tempt the sportsman, there
was nothing to induce people to penetrate into the fastnesses of the
great snowy range. No more, therefore, being heard of Erewhon, my
father's book came to be regarded as a mere work of fiction, and I have
heard quite recently of its having been seen on a second-hand bookstall,
marked "6d. very readable.
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