Chicanonautica: Among the Aztecs on an Electric Air Yacht

 by Ernest Hogan

I was hooked just reading the long, awkward title: Frank Reade Junior and His Electric Air Yacht; Or,The Great Inventor Among the Aztecs. Luis Senarens, the Cuban-American Jules Verne takes his hero, and crew, not only into the lost world of Pre-Columbian culture, but takes a whack at the classic “lost race” subgenre.

Turns out it’s another action-packed read with some food for thought on American views about the worlds (yeah, I meant the plural) south of the Border.

There’s the usual formula, Frank had finished another invention–this time, an air “yacht” with electric propulsion (the kind of batteries used are never mentioned) and two balloons in case one bursts. It also has a diabolical defense system–arrays of Winchesters that one man can fire in instant fusillades–the idea of a Gatling gun, or machine gun machine having not occurred.

There’s the usual bickering between his sidekicks Pomp and Barney, and their wives, and a stranger comes with a mission in which the new inventions would come in handy. This time it’s Captain Calavaras, the Man of Mystery (which is also the title of the first chapter), who is described as a white man, accompanied by two “dark men with rings in their ears.”

The swarthy fellows turn out to be from a lost city/colony of Aztecs somewhere in Central America. Seems a sinister white man had overthrown the rightful king and put his puppet on the throne. Captain Calavaras has offered to help them set things right in the colonial attitude that outsiders are always getting dark people into trouble, and this can only be set right by white saviors.

They are also accompanied by Felix Frolix, a journalist described as a “little dude” who writes a version of the story in which he is the daring hero.

I must also point out that this differs from the typical lost race novels of the time, like H. Rider Haggard’s She and Edward Bulwar-Lytton The Lost Race–it features dark skinned Aztecs, rather than elvish, whiter-than-white people that inspired the Nazi and other white supremacists.

On the way south they have trouble with the Apaches, have to stop in Mexico for repairs, and they have to fend off some local villagers who are able to summon an army to their aid. Reade and crew don’t use the Winchester-arrays, which would have resulted in a bloodbath worthy of Sam Peckinpah, but some cleaner electric weapons.

When they make it to the lost city of the Aztecs,who are relatively “civilized,” though sacrifices to “Chacmool” (which is the name of a Mayan statue) are mentioned. The dark men with rings in their ears, whose names are Tamos and Mora, and aren’t really developed as characters, help in infiltrating and starting a revolution. There’s also more use of electric weapons, even an all-terrain electric road wagon. All those Winchesters were apparently just along for the ride.

The rightful handsome prince and his beautiful consort are made king and queen. Lots of golden treasure is recovered, and distributed to people of the kingdom, a touch of socialism in this series which is mostly a love-letter to capitalism. In Frank Reade Junior Exploring Mexico in His New Air Ship a Mayan treasure is looted and taken back to New York. 

It ends with the establishment of a wealthy Aztec “Wakanda” in Central America, which is a very interesting idea.

Ernest Hogan finished teaching Papí Sci-Fi’s Ancient Chicano Sci-Fi Wisdom and is feeling enlightened and empowered.