text:  He confesses that on so trite a subject the presumption is against him of so great an achievement; but he sticks to his point and is sure that he has attained an undying name by his inestimable disclosures:-- "A discovery equalling in magnitude the one to which I lay claim must appear to all before examining its accompanying proofs just about as probable as the discovery in the neighbourhood of the British Channel of some rich and extensive island that had escaped till now the mariner's notice