"You observe no divisions words Had there been divisions, the task comparatively easy case commenced with collation and analysis shorter words, and, had word of single letter occurred, as is most likely, (a or I, for example,) considered the solution as assured But, there being no division, my first step was to ascertain the predominant letters, least frequent Counting all, I constructed table, thus:

character 8 33

; " 26

4 " 19

) " 16

* " 13

5 " 12

6 " 11

1 " 8

0 " 6

9 2 " 5

: 3 " 4

? " 3

" 2

- " 1

"Now, in English, the letter which most frequently occurs is e Afterwards, succession runs thus: o i d h n r s t u y c f g l m w b k p q x z E predominates so remarkably that an individual sentence of any length is rarely seen, not the prevailing character

"Here, then, we leave, very beginning, the groundwork for something more than mere guess The general use made table is obvious - but, particular cipher, only very partially require its aid As our predominant character is 8, commence by assuming it e natural alphabet the supposition, observe 8 be seen often in couples - for e is doubled with great frequency in English - words, for example, as 'meet,' ' fleet,' 'speed,' 'seen,' been,' 'agree,' &c present instance we see it doubled no five times, although the cryptograph is brief

" assume 8, then, as e Now, of all words language, 'the' is most usual; , therefore, whether not repetitions of any three characters, same order of collocation, the last being 8 discover repetitions letters, so arranged, most probably represent the word 'the ' Upon inspection, no seven such arrangements, the characters being ;48 , therefore, assume that ; represents _t_, 4 represents h_, and 8 represents e - the last being now well confirmed Thus great step taken

"But, having established single word, enabled to establish vastly important point; , several commencements and terminations of other words refer, for example, last instance but one, combination ;48 occurs - not far end cipher ; immediately ensuing commencement of word, and, six characters succeeding this 'the,' cognizant of no five set these characters down, thus, letters them to represent, leaving space unknown -

t eeth

"Here enabled, at once, to discard the 'th,' as forming no portion word commencing first t; since, by experiment entire alphabet for letter adapted vacancy, we perceive that no word formed this th part thus narrowed into

t ee,

and, going alphabet, if necessary, as before, we arrive word 'tree,' sole possible reading We thus gain another letter, r_, represented by (, words 'the tree' in juxtaposition

"Looking beyond these words, for short distance, we again see the combination ;48, and employ it by way of termination to what immediately precedes thus this arrangement:

the tree ;4( ? 34 the,

or, substituting the natural letters, where known, it reads thus:

the tree thr ? 3h the

"Now, if, in place unknown characters, we leave blank spaces, or substitute dots, we read thus:

the tree thr . h the,

word '_through_' makes itself evident at once But this discovery gives us three new letters, o_, u and g_, represented by ? and 3

"Looking now, narrowly, cipher for combinations of known characters, , not very far beginning, this arrangement,

83(88, or egree,

which, plainly, conclusion word 'degree,' and gives us another letter, d_, represented by

"Four letters beyond the word 'degree,' we perceive the combination

;46(;88

"Translating the known characters, and representing the unknown by dots, as before, we read thus: th rtee an arrangement immediately suggestive word 'thirteen,' and again furnishing us with two new characters, i and n_, represented by 6 and *

"Referring, now, beginning cryptograph, the combination,

53

"Translating, as before, we obtain

good,

which assures us first letter is A_, and first two words are 'A good '

" now time that we arrange our key, as far as discovered, in tabular form, to avoid confusion stand thus:

5 represents

" d

8 " e

3 " g

4 " h

6 " i

* " n

" o

( " r

; " t

" , therefore, no ten most important letters represented, and unnecessary details solution said enough you that ciphers nature are readily soluble, and some insight rationale development But be assured specimen appertains very simplest species of cryptograph It now only remains the full translation characters parchment, as unriddled Here :

" '_A good glass bishop's hostel devil's seat forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes northeast and by north main branch seventh limb east side shoot left eye death's-head bee line tree shot fifty feet out ' "

"But," said I, "the enigma seems still in as bad condition as ever How possible to extort meaning from all this jargon about 'devil's seats,' 'death's heads,' and 'bishop's hotels ? ' "

"I confess," replied Legrand, " matter still wears serious aspect, when regarded with casual glance My first endeavor was to divide the sentence natural division intended cryptographist "

"You mean, to punctuate it ? "

"Something kind "

"But how possible to effect this ? "

"I reflected point writer to run his words together without division, so increase the difficulty of solution Now, not over-acute man, in pursuing such an object nearly certain to overdo the matter When, course composition, he arrived at break subject which would naturally require pause, or point, exceedingly apt to run his characters, place, more than usually close together observe the MS , present instance, easily detect five such cases of unusual crowding Acting hint, the division thus: 'A good glass Bishop's hostel Devil's seat - forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes - northeast and by north - main branch seventh limb east side - shoot left eye death's-head - bee-line tree shot fifty feet out ' "

"Even this division," said I, "leaves me still dark "

"It left me also dark," replied Legrand, " ; during which diligent inquiry, neighborhood of Sullivan's Island, for any building which went name 'Bishop's Hotel;' for, , I dropped the obsolete word 'hostel ' Gaining no information , point of extending my sphere of search, and proceeding in more systematic manner, when, one morning, it entered into my head, quite suddenly, 'Bishop's Hostel' some reference to an old family, name of Bessop, which, time out of mind, had held possession of an ancient manor-house, about four miles northward Island I accordingly went over plantation, and re-instituted my inquiries older negroes place aged women said that she had heard place as Bessop's Castle, and thought that guide me , but not castle nor tavern, but high rock

"I offered her well for her trouble, and, after some demur, she consented to accompany me spot it without much difficulty, when, dismissing her, I proceeded to examine the place The 'castle' consisted of an irregular assemblage of cliffs and rocks - latter being quite remarkable for its height as for its insulated and artificial appearance I clambered to its apex, and then felt much at loss what next done