INTERVIEWER: And now I'm pleased to have with me the author of a new book on mysteries of the world, Mark Taylor. Good evening, Mark. MARK: Good evening. INTERVIEWER: Now, lots of people nowadays seem to be interested in the mysterious, the weird and wonderful, and so on... MARK: Yes, they are, and that's obviously one reason why I wrote the book. INTERVIEWER: Well, I've read the book and it really is quite fascinating. It's full of accounts of strange happenings, but you've rethought many of the theories that have been put forward to date, haven't you? MARK: Yes, I have. And I suppose I have been overcritical of some of the explanations that have been suggested to account for certain happenings and events in the past. But there is one that's so extraordinary that all I have been able to do is restate what others have said before. INTERVIEWER: And which is that? The Curse of the Pharaohs? MARK: No, I'm talking about the mystery of the 'Mary Celeste'. INTERVIEWER: Ah. Well, could you tell us some of the theories about what might have happened on that ship? MARK: Yes, of course. But in view of the time at my disposal I'll have to oversimplify things a little. Briefly the facts are these: In October, 1872, the 'Mary Celeste', she was a cargo sailing ship, set sail from New York for Genoa under Captain Briggs. On board were his wife and 2-year-old daughter, and 8 crew. A month later, the ship was found sailing around erratically in the Azores by a Captain Moorhouse who was sailing his ship to Gibraltar. The 'Mary Celeste' was abandoned, deserted. The one lifeboat was missing, as were the navigation instruments and the ship's papers, and there was some water in the hold, but all the cargo was intact. Everything seemed to have been left behind as if everyone had left in a great hurry. INTERVIEWER: Strange, isn't it? MARK: Yes, you see the real mystery is: why was the ship completely abandoned, and if the crew escaped in the lifeboat, why didn't they take provisions with them? INTERVIEWER: Hmm. MARK: Well, there are almost dozens of theories, but they all kind of fall under three headings: firstly, illness or insanity; secondly, violence or piracy, which was not unknown then; and thirdly, crisis at sea. INTERVIEWER: Well, what about illness or insanity as a possible explanation? MARK: Well, it's been suggested that everyone on board was poisoned somehow, either by fungus in the bread, or a poisonous gas either from fungus in the ship's timbers or even from the sea. At any rate, the suggestion is that they were all driven mad and jumped overboard or tried to escape in the lifeboat. Like all the explanations, it's possible, I suppose. INTERVIEWER: But you also mentioned insanity. MARK: Yes, it has been suggested that the captain, who was fervently religious, by the way, basically went mad and murdered everyone and then threw himself into the sea. Well, I don't think that's very plausible but there's nothing to disprove it. INTERVIEWER: How about the violence or piracy theories? MARK: One of the 'violence' theories suggests that the crew drank some of the alcohol which the ship was carrying, then murdered the captain and his family, then, when they realised what they'd done, they dropped the bodies overboard and abandoned the ship in the lifeboat. It's a theory. INTERVIEWER: You sound doubtful about all the theories you've given us to date. What about the 'crisis at sea' solution? MARK: Well, this makes much better sense, in my view, but the whole problem with the mystery is you can't prove or disprove anything completely. I personally think there was a crisis of some kind. One suggestion is that one of the sailors went down into the hold and found water in it. Thinking that the ship was sinking, or was going to sink, he shouted the alarm and everyone rushed for the lifeboat and abandoned ship as quickly as possible. There are a number of objections to that theory as there are with all the others. INTERVIEWER: It's a fascinating mystery, Mark, but I'm afraid that's all we've time for. So I'd just like to thank you for coming to the studio today and to recommend...