One of the harshest inhabited places on Earth can be considered the North Atlantic, namely the Hebrides. The sun is here only 60 days a year, the rest of the time - rain, snow and fog.
Rocky islets are scattered everywhere, which cannot be reached due to huge waves and numerous shoals. It would seem that there is nothing special in the archipelago, if not for the ominous and mysterious events that took place in 1900 on the island of Eileen Mor, more precisely, at the lighthouse standing there.
The Inner Hebrides are about 80 hectares of uninhabited rocky terrain. True, in some places grass still grows and even trees come across, but people have not lived here since 1971. On the largest island of the Eileen Mor archipelago, which means "big island" in Gaelic, a lighthouse with a capacity of 140 thousand candles was built in 1899, because in these places many ships went astray and crashed on rocks.
Its light was calculated to be visible more than 30 miles away. At the end of the last century, it was completely automated, and the need for maintenance disappeared.
The island has long been notorious, rumors circulated that it was the last refuge of elven spirits, who do not tolerate strangers. Even the sailors who had seen many things did not risk landing on Eileen Mor.
END OF THE WORLD
For almost a year, the lighthouse worked properly and warned ships against danger. But on December 15, 1900, the captain of a ship passing by the island noticed that the lighthouse was off, and telegraphed this to the shore. Soon, telegrams began to arrive from other ships located near Eileen Mor.
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It was at this time that the change of the lighthouse keeper was to take place. But due to a prolonged storm, Joseph Moore, the lighthouse keeper, was only able to leave for the island ten days later than the appointed time. On New Year's Eve, December 26, the Hesperus clipper delivered a shift to Eileen Mor.
Having landed at the western pier, Mor did not find the greeters, which was not at all in their rules. There was also no container for food and other supplies, usually awaiting the arrival of the shift. Even after shouts and shots in the air, there was still silence on the island.
Joseph knew that some kind of tragedy had happened here if no one had lit the fire. After all, he knew everyone who was supposed to be at the lighthouse - Thomas Marshall, Donald MacArthur, James Ducat, who, according to him, were conscientious and experienced workers. Moreover, three weeks ago, Joseph Moore personally visited the island, noting that all workers are in good health.
Joseph had to climb the lighthouse alone, as the sailors accompanying him were scared to death. A strange picture appeared before him: the doors and windows of the tower were locked, an empty flagpole stood in front of the entrance. As creepy as it was, the chief caretaker had to go inside.
The room was in perfect order, broken only by an overturned kitchen table, and then in such a position as if someone was going to repair it. The rangers' storm cloaks hung neatly on a hanger, the dishes washed and tucked away.
The wardrobe was missing two waterproof jackets and two pairs of rubber boots. A toolbox disappeared from the workshop. The logbook was there, but what Moore read in it only added to his bewilderment and fear:
12 December. Day. Strong northwest wind. The sea gushes violently. Never seen a storm like this.
12 December. Midnight. The storm is still raging. It is impossible to go outside. The passing ship, not hearing the misty horn, approached the lighthouse so close that you can see the lights of the cabins. Ducat is annoyed. MacArthur is crying.
December 13th. Noon. Storm all night long. Daylight gray. Dukat and MacArthur cry and pray.
December 14. No exit. We all pray.
December 15th. The storm is over. The sea is calm. God is over everything."
Worried, Joseph returned to the ship and, taking on the aid of three sailors, began an investigation into the mysterious disappearance.
INVISIBLE STORM
For three days, Joseph and the sailors ransacked the entire island, meter by meter. By the way, it is not such a big piece of land measuring 720 by 450 meters. But they could not find any traces of the disappeared people. However, the search team came across something that they could not explain.
For example, the lamps on the lighthouse were completely ready for use: the wicks were cut, the oil was filled, all that was left was to raise the fire, but for some reason they did not. A metal container for food was also found, but for some reason it was taken to the eastern pier, which was used extremely rarely.
It was also strange that the pier looked as if a crazy giant was rampaging here: the iron handrails were pulled out of the concrete base and badly bent, the food containers were crumpled, and the things prepared for dispatch were scattered everywhere. It could be attributed to the raging elements, but all this was at an altitude of 33 meters above sea level. And even higher, at a height of 60 meters, Moore discovered the displacement of a huge piece of granite rock.
The first assumption that the people were washed away by the storm wave had to be immediately discarded, since, according to the instructions, the rangers were not supposed to simultaneously go to the pier. Moreover, even if it was force majeure, in a storm they, leaving the tower, would wear raincoats.
It was also strange that these days neither ships nor the coastal service recorded a storm. True, the weather was unimportant, but the storm began only in the morning of December 16, when the lighthouse fire had not been shining for a day. And Dukat and MacArthur were hereditary sailors, brave and even deformed people, during storms they never prayed, and even more so they did not cry. It turns out that all three were not themselves for several days.
There was also a discrepancy in the fact that the caretakers' beds were disassembled, as if people had already gone to bed, but for some reason did not fulfill their duties - they did not light the lighthouse, and then suddenly ran together to the eastern pier. They could not be washed away by the wave, because Marshall clearly wrote: the storm was over.
Another duty of the lighthouse staff was to register weather conditions on a slate board at the entrance. The last entry on it was preserved from December 12, and someone erased the lines below.
OFFICIAL VERSION
On December 29, Robert Muirhead, the head of the Scottish Lighthouse Administration, who arrived on the island, announced the official version of the investigation. It consisted in the fact that the employees, seeing the storm, rushed to strengthen the supply boxes on the quay and were washed away by the wave, that is, they violated the instructions. Of course, this version was convenient for the government, so as not to assign pensions to the families of the victims.
Half a century later, in 1953-1957, when Walter Aldebert was working at the lighthouse, he once saw a huge narrow wave, which, in clear weather, was approaching Eileen More. When it hit the shore, it rolled to the threshold of the tower. It's good that the caretaker was inside at that time. It was he who put forward the version that the same wave was on that unfortunate day on which three employees disappeared.
In his opinion, two caretakers worked on the dock, and the third was busy with lamps. From above, he saw the impending danger and hurried to warn his colleagues, but did not calculate the power of the elements. Thus, all three were washed away by the wave. But this version also crashes on strange journal entries. In addition, if a person runs to help, he is unlikely to think about locking doors and windows.
VOLUNTARY LINK
The results of the official investigation did not satisfy Moore, and he remained on the island to find an explanation for the mysterious disappearance. Nobody wanted to keep him company, this story looked so ominous.
He had a lot of time for reflection. He did not even consider the version with a huge wave. Moore speculated that one of the employees went insane, killed two others, and committed suicide. However, it is known that shortly before the tragedy, they were all sane. Nevertheless, people disappeared, as if they were carried away by an unknown force.
The chief caretaker spent 10 long years on the island, until a new employee was appointed in January 1910, and Moore took up his main post again. Returning to the mainland, he didn’t talk too much about what he had to endure on Eileen Mor in order not to be branded as crazy. But friends still managed to find out something.
Moore said that while on the island, he constantly felt a heavy, oppressive atmosphere and a sense of someone's presence. It is difficult to say whether he thought or actually heard cries for help several times. This usually happened on the evening before the storm.
One day, when the storm was particularly strong, Joseph clearly heard his name. The man, despite the bad weather, ran out into the street and began to shout the names of the missing caretakers. And at some point, he allegedly heard that he was answered. Whether it was a figment of his imagination or the cries of seagulls circling overhead, he did not know.
When the ship came for Moore, he, standing on the pier, called his comrades for the last time. And at that moment, according to him, three huge black birds of an indeterminate breed took off from the tower and disappeared over the horizon.
Alexandra ORLOVA