# XXIII: The Island of Fire explained — A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder > Chapter companion for A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder by James De Mille. ## What happens The narrator and Almah arrive on Magones, the Island of Fire, a volcanic wasteland of lava flows and utter desolation. After resting, they find a brook and explore the shore, discovering a dead sea-monster (jantannin) which the athaleb feeds on. They catch fish and cook them using natural lava heat, but Almah refuses to eat lobsters. Unable to find a permanent refuge or a way to guide the athaleb away from the Kosekin lands, they face despair and consider their limited options before sleeping again. ## Themes in this chapter ### Survival and Hope The narrator and Almah struggle to find food, water, and shelter on a barren volcanic island, clinging to faint hope of escape. ### Colonial Exploration and Otherness The island is described as a 'land of horror' and 'abomination of desolation,' emphasizing the alien and hostile nature of the unexplored world. ## Character check-ins ### The Narrator Leads the exploration of Magones, finds food and water, and grapples with hopelessness about their future. ### Almah Weary and repulsed by lobsters, she rests and shares in the despair of their situation on the desolate island. ### Layelah Mentioned as having provided information about Magones that the narrator now fully understands. ### The Kosekin Referenced as the people from whom they fled and to whom the athaleb might return. ## Key lines > At last there appeared before us what seemed like a long line of dull-red fires, and as we looked we could see bursts of flame at fitful intervals, which shone out for a few moments and then died away. They finally saw a line of dim red fires with intermittent bursts of flame, confirming they were approaching the Island of Fire. _Describes the first sighting of Magones._ > It was a land of horror, where there was nothing but the abomination of desolation⁠—a land overstrewn with blasted fragments of fractured lava-blocks, intermixed with sand, from which there arose black precipices and giant mountains that poured forth rivers of fire and showers of ashes and sheets of flame. The island was a horrifying wasteland of broken lava, sand, black cliffs, and erupting volcanoes spewing fire and ash. _Highlights the desolate and volcanic nature of Magones._ > I then spoke of eating them, but at this proposal she recoiled in horror. She could not give any reason for her repugnance, but merely said that among her people they were regarded as something equivalent to vermin, and I found that she would no more think of eating one than I would think of eating a rat. Almah refused to eat lobsters, considering them like vermin, similar to how the narrator would refuse to eat a rat. _Shows cultural differences in food taboos._ > The only hope left us was that we might be able to guide the course of the athaleb in some different direction altogether, so that we should not be carried back to the Kosekin. Their sole remaining hope was to steer the athaleb away from returning to the Kosekin lands. _Expresses their desperation and fear of being taken back._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se/chapters/xxiii-the-island-of-fire - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_strange_manuscript_found_in_a_copper_cylinder_se/chapters