New-York tribune., 1902-06-25
A POETS IRA VEL S.
THE EXTRAORDINARY RECORD OF JEAN
ARTHUR RIMBAUD.
from The Contemporary Review.

From The Contemporary Review.
Rinbaud having put mis- visionary dream into
''Une Saison en- Enfer." like tombstone over
his poetical creation. started the long wandering
which lasted till his death. Where did he not
After having published and destroyed 'Une
Saison en- Enfer' in Brussels. ne went once more
to Paris, toward the end of 1913. but only 1or
a short time. Almost the whole Of the year 1914
he spent in London, where he lived by giving
lessons in French and studied English. Al the
beginning of 1919 he went TO Stuttgart Where
Veraine visited him, and found him very correct
and rangt studying in libraries. After four
months work ne knew the German language
thoroughly; he then sold all he possessed and
started, fer the first time, for the East Al
Altdorf at the foot Of the St Gothard, his
money came to end; he crossed the Alps or
foot and reached Milan half dead with hunger
| and fatigue. There, sheltered by some one, he
| took advantage OF a months rest TO learn the
! Italian language. Having recovered his strength.
! he started foot for Brindisi, but was sun
! struck between Siena and Livorno. He was
| cured in the hospital at IAvorno, and then sent
| by the French consul to Marseilles, where he
worked hard for d living. There some one per
suaded him to join the Carlist army; he received
a certain sum OF money on account, and having
first of all satisfied the demands OF MS stomach,
he suddenly bethought him of all the miseries
| OF war and instead Of going TO his destination
| left for Paris and thence went home
In 1876 he made another attempt to reach the
| East this time going through Vienna. Farna
and the Black Sea Ia Vienna he was robbed OF
everything ne possessed, and was obliged 10
work with his hands for living, until owing
to a conflict with the police-for humanitarian
reaSODS-he sent under escort OF a geICaffne
| to the German frontier, and thence in the same
| manner to StrasbUrg, from which place he went
home on foot He was not, however, discour-
aged by all this. and by way of new method
| of getting to the Orient he Joined the Dutch
army and sent TO Java. Once there, how
! ever he could endure the military discipline,
and disguSted with the cruelties daily prac-
tised the aborigines, and, having come to
the conclusion that it was impossible for him as
soldier TO visit the fabulous country of vol
canoes. he deserted, in hiding for month
| in the virgin forest, and finally was received on
board an English ship and landed at Dieppe.
| After a month OF rest in the Ardennes, where lie
/ was thinking continually how to go East he
took service, under an assumed name, as
/ cruiting sergeant for the Dutch army in one of
/ the cities the German frontier. Having thus
! earned a good sum of money, he went TO Ham
burg in order to start from there But he
| squandered all he had earned in the gay city,
and obliged to accept the position of in
terpreter and cashier in the Losset Circus: in
/ that capacity he visited Copenhagen and Stock
holm. But he could not stand the monotony
! of his occupation. and being constantly tor
/ mented by the desire to see tropical countries,
| he gave up his position, and with the help Of
/ the French consul went to Chareville this time
! by railway.
/ From 1873 onward his ardent desire began 10
be partly realized. 4 certain Hamburg firm sent
him to Alexandria. Thence he went to the
! island of Cyprus as manager of marble and
! granite quarry After six months of Sojourn in
a hot, unhealthy, treeless locality he contracted
malignant fever, and was obliged to return home,
where he remained for year. In March, 1880,
he was again in the island of Cyprus in the
pacity of superintendent of the building of the
! Governors palace Mount TrOOdOS. Although
! this latter position would have assured him
/ independence for the future he strongly
possessed by the desire to other countries,
where he could put forth broader and more in
dependent activity, that he left his post after
few months took passage on board a ship
going through the Red Sea, visited Suakim,
Massowa and Hodeida. and landed in Alden. At
/ first he worked there in the office of some
French commercial company then he was sent
TO Harrara to represent the same company. In
/ 1885 he started business for himself and dis
played extraordinary activity in the way Of
travels colonization and civiliza tion not forget
ting purely mental work. He studied mechanical
engineering and ordered books and instruments
| from Europe. He endeavored to instil into the
aborigines all that good in European
| civilization. In the while he treated
them with justice and benevolence, and tried to
/ induce the European pioneers who visited him
J and asked his advice to act toward them in
the way as he himself did. He went to
Samolis, Shoa and Abyssinia, and sent reports
of the results Of his travels to the Geographical
Society in Paris He studied different languages
and dialects customs and ways of living, and
read the Koran and other Oriental books He
even concerned himself with important political
affairs, for he understood the great Importance
of Abyssinia to Africa, and desired to influence
Menelik.
During this full development of his activity
an illness, which, it seems, was aggravated
by the African climate. obliged him to go to
Aden Tor medical advice and thence TO Mar
seiles- The amputation of leg did have
the result that hoped, the illness returned
and the indefatigable traveller died in the thirty
seventh year Of his age