In order to prove the existence of hollow Earth, first proposed by Captain John Cleve Symmes, Captain Adam Seaborn organized an expedition to the center of the Earth. Though ostensibly going "on a sealing voyage in the South Seas," Seaborn and his crew make landfall in the South Pole after Seaborn successfully sees off a mutiny. Upon debarking, Seaborn and his crew find an enormous animal resembling a mammoth and a large skeleton resembling a whale. Combined with the lush land, Seaborn thinks that he has made a discovery of incredible importance, only to be exceeded by the possibility of discovering the center of the Earth.
In celebration of their discovery, Seaborn has his blacksmith make a copper engraving of a hundred dollar bill in order to mark their claim on this newly discovered land. Upon burying the engraving, he has his men roll a large stone on top of it to mark the spot with the words "Seaborn's Land A.D. 1817," engraved on the stone.: I first drew up a manifesto, setting forth, that I, Adam Seaborn, mariner, a citizen of the United States of America, did, on the 5th day of November, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, first see and discover this southern continent, a part of which was between 78° and 84° south latitude, and stretching to the N. W., S. E., and S. W., beyond my knowledge; which land having never before been seen by any civilized people, and having been occupied for the full term of eighteen days by citizens of the said United States, whether it should prove to be in possession of any other people or not, provided they were not Christians, was and of right ought to be the sole property of the said people of the United States, by right of discovery and occupancy, according to the usages of Christian nations. Travelling up the coast, Seaborn and his crew reach a point where the sky inverts, and they realize that the stars have changed; they are now in the center of the Earth. Venturing farther into the center of the Earth, Seaborn and his crew meet an ancient civilization who populate the center of the Earth called the Symzonians. Upon meeting the Symzonians for the first time, Captain Seaborn is unable to elicit any reaction from a crowd of Symzonians until he brings them a fruitcake, at which point the Symzonians cheer in celebration.
Though unable to communicate at first, the Symzonians show an incredible capacity to learn English. The Symzonians have no weapons of any kind, and they have no knowledge of certain topics such as optics. That said, they do have advanced knowledge in other areas, such as flight. Small, and waif-like in stature, the Symzonians have enormous strength and are white to the point of near-translucence.
The Symzonians are an extraordinarily virtuous race, and they are aghast when Seaborn informs them that there is any kind of sickness in the rest of the world. Furthermore, the Symzonians, and in particular their leader, are disgusted that Seaborn's ship has cannons and that Seaborn's people engage in armed conflict with their neighbors. It is revealed that the Symzonians banish any of their people who exhibit the sort of vice which could lead to sickness. In fact, is appears as though those Symzonians who are banished formed a society on Earth, and subsequently populated the rest of the world with Symzonians, who walk amongst us.
Though Seaborn played down the extent of sickness and violence, hoping to set up a relationship with the Symzonians, he and his crew are banished and stripped of any sign that the center of the Earth exists. Fearing the corruption of the outside world, the leader of the Symzonians order them never to return. Seaborn, however, is adamant that they should return, and reveals that he is writing this account in order to raise funds and volunteers for a second voyage to the center of the Earth.
Adam Seaborn went missing, presumably on his next expedition, and was never heard nor seen from again.
Reception[]
A contemporaneous peer at the time wrote in the North American Review; "There is no reason to believe that the Internals will not be glad to eat flour, and wear Waltham shirtings, and smoke tobacco,” adding that "should the Internals refuse to eat, drink, and smoke, as we direct, there then will doubtless be found ways to compel them."
Rediscovery[]
A "rediscovery" of Symzonia and Nathaniel Ames took place around 1975, when Arno Press printed the book's first reissue since 1820. In what might be the book's only adaptation, the Seattle community radio station KRAB broadcast an eight-part, four-hour radio theater series.