When the World Shook: Being an Account of the Great Adventure of Bastin, Bickley and Arbuthnot

In Short

After a catastrophic cyclone wrecks their yacht in the South Pacific, a wealthy widower, an unyielding physician, and a stubborn country vicar discover an ancient lost civilization beneath the island of Orofena. There they reawaken Oro and his daughter Yva from a quarter-million-year cataleptic slumber. Driven by cold arrogance, the super-human ruler views modern humanity as degraded barbarians and prepares to use giant underground machinery to alter the Earth’s axis, drowning the world to reset human history. Combining lost-world adventure with speculative science fiction, the narrative endures through its vivid apocalyptic imagination and the comic contrast of its strongly opinonated English protagonists.

The Story

Humphrey Arbuthnot, grieving the death of his young wife Natalie, seeks distraction by chartering a yacht to explore uncharted regions of the South Seas. Joining him are two old companions who hold diametrically opposed views on existence: Dr. Bickley, an uncompromising materialist who trusts only empirical science, and the Reverend Bastin, an unimaginative country vicar intent on converting whatever heathen populations he might encounter. Their vessel, the Star of the South, is caught in a monstrous tidal wave and cyclone, wrecking the party on the remote and uncharted island of Orofena.

On the island, the survivors encounter a native population who treat the central mountain as strictly sacred and forbidden ground. Driven by curiosity and a desire to explore, the trio penetrates a colossal cave system and uncovers vast catacombs filled with advanced technology and ancient tombs. Inside a sealed chamber, they discover two preserved bodies resting in a state of suspended animation. Using Bickley's medical skill alongside high-frequency hypnotic passes, they succeed in reawakening the sleepers: Oro, a master of the ancient "Sons of Wisdom" who ruled the earth two hundred and fifty thousand years prior, and his daughter, the Lady Yva.

The men are introduced to the vast subterranean realm of Nyo, a brightly lit underworld reached by a super-speed pneumatic transport system. As they learn the history of this pre-historic civilization through projected visions, it becomes clear that Oro’s people were destroyed in a ancient world war fought against vast barbarian hordes. Oro, possessing immense mental power and absolute disdain for ordinary human life, views modern civilization as pathetic and fallen. Travelling the night sky with Arbuthnot via mental projection, he surveys modern cities like London, Benares, and Beijing, as well as the ongoing carnage of the First World War. Disgusted by what he sees, Oro resolves to trigger a apocalyptic machinery deep within the earth's core—a colossal spinning gyro-mountain—to shift the globe's axis and submerged the continents beneath the oceans.

While Bastin spends his time debating theology with the ancient tyrant and Bickley tries to rationalize the technology, Arbuthnot falls deeply in love with Yva, who is revealed as the reincarnation of his lost wife. Yva comes to love Arbuthnot in return and rejects her father's horrifying vision of planetary destruction. When Oro brings the men to the central mechanism in the Temple of Fate to execute his decree, Yva steps forward into the path of the fiery energy shield, making the ultimate sacrifice to sabotage the mechanism and save humanity. Her death disrupts the machine, collapsing the subterranean halls in a cataclysmic ruin. The three men escape back to the surface with their dog, Tommy, and are eventually rescued and returned to England. Arbuthnot, his health ruined by the ordeal, dies shortly after finishing his account, leaving Bickley and Bastin to debate the meaning of their journey.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Prompted by personal tragedy and a desire to seek the unknown, Humphrey Arbuthnot charters the yacht Star of the South alongside his friends, Dr. Bickley and the Reverend Bastin. A violent cyclone and tidal wave wreck their vessel on an isolated, uncharted island named Orofena.

First contact The castaways meet the island's native inhabitants, who treat them with a mixture of reverence and fear, though Bastin immediately attempts to convert them and Bickley remains suspicious of their intentions. Arbuthnot discovers a hidden boat-house and learns from the native chief Marama that the central, mountain-ringed island in the lake is strictly forbidden.

The sleepers awake Ignoring native taboos, the trio explores the central mountain and stumbles upon a immense subterranean complex containing ancient flying machines and a sealed sepulchre. Using Bickley's medical instruments and mesmeric passes, they break open two sealed coffins, awakening the ancient king Oro and his beautiful daughter Yva from a quarter-million-year sleep.

Descent into Nyo The party travels thousands of feet into the earth via a high-speed pneumatic lift, arriving in Nyo, a vast subterranean realm illuminated by a soft, heatless luminescence. Through projected historical visions, Yva reveals how her hyper-advanced civilization was reduced to living underground during a catastrophic ancient war against barbarian nations.

Surveying the modern world Using mysterious powers, Oro takes Arbuthnot on night journeys across the globe to observe modern human civilization, inspecting cities, religious rites, and the destruction of the World War. Concluding that modern humanity is utterly debased and unworthy of the planet, Oro resolves to use ancient subterranean machinery to tilt the earth's axis and drown the continents.

Sacrifice and ruin Deep within the earth at the giant gyro-mechanism, Oro prepares to initiate the planetary realignment despite the pleadings of his daughter. To save Arbuthnot and the human race, Yva throws herself into the path of the destructive mechanism, destroying the controls at the cost of her life and collapsing the underground kingdom as the men flee to the surface.

The People

• Humphrey Arbuthnot: The wealthy narrator of the voyage who seeks an escape from his overwhelming grief following the death of his wife, Natalie. Drawn to the spiritual and mystical, he acts as the emotional bridge between his two dogmatic companions and finds himself falling deeply in love with Yva, whom he recognizes as his lost love's soul.
• Dr. J. R. Bickley: A brilliant, hyper-rational surgeon who dismisses all spiritual ideas, religious claims, and supernatural explanations as utter nonsense. Driven by an insatiable scientific curiosity, he consistently seeks logical, physical explanations for the miraculous technology and deep-time survival of Oro and Yva, remaining stubbornly skeptical to the end.
• Reverend Bastin: A hopelessly earnest, literal-minded English country vicar who remains completely unshakeable in his conventional Christian orthodoxy. Regardless of whether he is facing hostile South Sea islanders or an ancient super-human tyrant, he persistently attempts to convert everyone he meets and views all exotic phenomena through the lens of parish routine.
• Oro: The terrifying, ancient king of the Sons of Wisdom who reawakens after two hundred and fifty thousand years. Cold, autocratic, and immensely powerful, he regards modern human beings as little more than degenerate barbarians and feels no moral compunction about annihilating the modern world to rebuild his lost empire.
• Lady Yva: The daughter of Oro, known as the "Glittering Lady," who possesses extraordinary grace, intelligence, and moral beauty. Unlike her father, she feels deep compassion for humanity, embraces Arbuthnot's love, and ultimately chooses to sacrifice her own life to save the earth from her father's genocidal wrath.

In Its Own Voice

"A toast to the Truth would be better. A notion came to me. 'Let us combine them,' I said, 'and drink to the Unknown Truth.'"

Arbuthnot, Bickley, and Bastin toast their upcoming voyage before departing England on the Star of the South.

"Twice one hundred thousand and half a hundred thousand, two hundred and fifty thousand years. That was the space of time which the lord Oro, my father, set for our sleep."

The Lady Yva explains the staggering length of their cataleptic slumber to the bewildered explorers.

"Humphrey, God you bless! Humphrey, we meet soon. Forget not me!"

Yva bids a final farewell to Arbuthnot in English just before stepping into the energy field to destroy the planetary axis machine.

What It's Really About

Beneath its adventure surface, the book explores the tension between human hubris, technological power, and moral evolution. Through the character of Oro, it questions whether intellect and scientific advancement mean anything if divorced from compassion and spiritual conscience. The story presents a stark critique of early twentieth-century warfare, contrasting the high technical achievements of civilizations—both ancient and modern—with their persistent impulse toward self-destruction. The ongoing, warm-hearted squabbles between Bickley's rigid scientific materialism and Bastin's narrow religious literalism suggest that both worldviews are incomplete when confronted with the vast mysteries of time and existence. Ultimately, the narrative argues that love and self-sacrifice are the only forces capable of redeeming human flaw and averting utter ruin.

Why Read It Today

This work will appeal directly to fans of classic lost-world adventures, early speculative science fiction, and classic Victorian-Edwardian storytelling. Reading it offers an entertaining, atmosphere-rich journey filled with giant underground machinery, cosmic visions, and vast timescales that prefigure later twentieth-century sci-fi tropes. The narrative's chief charm lies in the brilliant character dynamics: the ongoing, highly comical banter between the overly pragmatic Dr. Bickley and the completely unflappable Reverend Bastin provides a delightful counterweight to the dark, apocalyptic stakes of the central plot.

Readers should be prepared for certain period conventions, including lengthy philosophical discussions on religion and empire, deliberate narrative pacing, and the racial attitudes typical of early twentieth-century British fiction. Bastin's missionary zeal and Oro's sweeping disdain for the world's non-European populations reflect the biases of the era in which it was written. Yet for those who appreciate classic world-building and inventive speculative concepts, the book remains a memorableA lone survivor, a cynical doctor, and an earnest clergyman voyage across the Pacific to unearth an ancient, slumbering power that threatens humanity.

In Short

When a sudden cyclone wrecks their yacht in the South Pacific, three Englishmen—a wealthy widower, a skeptical physician, and an uncompromising vicar—strand on a uncharted volcanic island. Beneath its peaks, they discover two preserved sleepers from an advanced civilization that perished two hundred and fifty thousand years ago. The resurrected tyrant, Oro, seeks to destroy modern humanity, while his radiant daughter, Yva, falls in love with the narrator. Mixing lost-world adventure, early science fiction, and spiritual romance, the novel endures as a vivid meditation on civilizational arrogance, cosmic time, and the enduring strength of human affection.

The Story

Humphrey Arbuthnot, grieving the death of his young wife, seeks distraction by charting a South Sea voyage alongside two contrasting companions: the hyper-rational physician Bickley and the dogmatic Anglican priest Bastin. Joined by Arbuthnot’s small dog, Tommy, they set sail on the yacht Star of the South. A devastating cyclone destroys their vessel, leaving the three men cast away on Orofena, a remote island ruled by suspicious natives who treat the surrounding waters and mountain as sacred ground.

Driven by curiosity, the trio negotiates native hostility to explore a vast stone temple and an intricate subterranean complex. Deep within these caverns, preserved inside glass coffins, lie two dormant human beings. Using medical knowledge and hypnotic technique, Bickley and Arbuthnot revive them. The sleepers are Oro, an ancient king-god of the "Sons of Wisdom," and his daughter, the Glittering Lady Yva. Through star calculations, Oro reveals that he and his daughter have slept in suspended animation for two hundred and fifty thousand years, having entered their trance during a catastrophic war that wiped out their empire and pushed their enemies back to primordial conditions.

As Oro explores the modern globe via astral projection and flight, he observes a world consumed by World War I and dismisses contemporary human progress as crude and savage. Determined to cleanse the planet, Oro prepares to alter the earth’s axis using a massive subterranean gyroscope located in the underworld of Nyo, an act that will submerge the continents and drown modern civilization to start the world anew.

Yva, having grown closer to Arbuthnot and embracing his capacity for love and spiritual hope, opposes her father’s apocalyptic scheme. Both Bastin and Bickley offer proposals of marriage to Yva, which she gently declines. When Oro moves to activate the titanic machine that will trigger the global deluge, Yva intervenes. She flings herself into the path of the mechanism’s fiery energy beam, sacrificing her life to disrupt the device and seal the cavernous underworld forever.

Defeated by his daughter’s sacrifice, Oro disappears into the crumbling ruins. Arbuthnot, Bickley, and Bastin manage to escape to the surface as the subterranean complex collapses. They eventually return to England, where Arbuthnot writes his account before dying suddenly from his lingering injuries, leaving Bickley to offer a final, skeptical postscript.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Seeking solace from personal grief, Humphrey Arbuthnot charters a yacht to navigate remote ocean regions alongside the skeptical Dr. Bickley and the dogmatic Reverend Bastin. A severe cyclone destroys their ship, throwing the survivors upon the shores of an uncharted Pacific island named Orofena.

Discovery of the sleepers After overcoming initial native hostility, the trio explores the island’s interior and penetrates a subterranean temple. Deep inside the cave system, they locate two perfectly preserved bodies sealed within glass coffins and manage to revive them through medical intervention and mesmerism.

Echoes of an ancient world The awakened sleepers reveal themselves as Oro, a supreme ruler from a civilization that existed two hundred and fifty thousand years ago, and his daughter Yva. Through visions and star charts, they demonstrate how their ancient race dominated the earth before a ruinous war forced them into deep hibernation.

The journey through Nyo Oro takes Arbuthnot on nocturnal travel across the globe to inspect modern humanity, concluding that modern society is corrupted by war and barbarism. Intending to destroy the present world, Oro leads the men down into the deep subterranean abyss of Nyo where his super-advanced machinery is housed.

The final sacrifice Inside the Temple of Fate, Oro prepares to shift the earth's axis using a massive subterranean force, an act that will submerge the continents. Loving Arbuthnot and refusing to permit global slaughter, Yva throws herself into the machine’s energy beam, breaking the apparatus and triggering a collapse that seals the underworld.

The People

Humphrey Arbuthnot A wealthy, contemplative widower driven by grief and a deep desire to understand life beyond physical reality. On Orofena, he becomes the spiritual counterpart to Yva, seeking her love and standing as the compassionate representative of modern humanity.

Dr. J. R. Bickley A devoted materialist and skilled surgeon who rejects all supernatural explanations in favor of hard scientific fact. He wants to catalog every discovery empirically, but his stubborn refusal to accept anything beyond physical science often blinds him to the ancient forces at work around him.

Reverend Bastin An uncompromising, literal-minded clergyman who views every foreign culture and ancient figure purely as candidates for Christian conversion. Unfazed by ancient marvels or terrifying technology, he routinely lectures both islanders and the ancient king Oro on orthodox doctrine.

Oro An ancient, cold, and autocratic monarch of the Sons of Wisdom who views modern human beings as degenerate barbarians. He seeks to restart the world by triggering a global cataclysm, remaining completely unswayed by human sentiment until his own daughter thwarts his plan.

Lady Yva The daughter of Oro, known as the Glittering Lady, who possesses great wisdom, intellect, and grace. Desiring peace over destruction, she falls in love with Arbuthnot and ultimately chooses to sacrifice her life to save the modern world from her father's vengeance.

In Its Own Voice

"Let us combine them," I said, "and drink to the Unknown Truth."

—Arbuthnot proposes a toast with his companions before setting out on their journey into the unknown.

"Twice one hundred thousand and half a hundred thousand, two hundred and fifty thousand years. That was the space of time which the lord Oro, my father, set for our sleep."

—Yva explains the vast expanse of cosmic time that has passed while she and her father lay dormant.

"Humphrey, God you bless! Humphrey, we meet soon. Forget not me!"

—Yva bids her final farewell to Arbuthnot moments before making her ultimate sacrifice to save humanity.

What It's Really About

Beneath its adventure narrative, the novel explores the friction between human moral evolution and technological power. Through the ancient dictator Oro, the story warns against intellect divorced from empathy, presenting a super-advanced society that collapsed under the weight of its own arrogance. The narrative contrasts Bickley’s cold materialism and Bastin’s rigid dogma with Arbuthnot’s heartfelt search for meaning, arguing that love and self-sacrifice are the true forces that endure across deep time. Written during the devastation of World War I, the book reflects on human destructiveness, questioning whether humanity will ever outgrow its impulse toward self-annihilation.

Why Read It Today

This novel appeals to fans of lost-world classics, early speculative fiction, and grand cosmic romances. It offers a fascinating blend of early twentieth-century scientific wonder and mythic narrative scale, carrying the reader from sunny Pacific shores down into dark subterranean chambers built on an unimaginable scale.

The prose moves fluidly, though modern readers should expect Victorian-era framing devices, period attitudes toward indigenous populations, and lengthy philosophical debates between the core trio. Bastin’s unflappable, dense piety provides genuine comic relief against Bickley’s sharp, irritable cynicism, making their banter a highlight throughout the trek. What stays with you is the striking sense of deep time—the humbling realization of human insignificance against the vast backdrop of forgotten epochs, balanced by a touching belief in the permanence of love.