Dracula Chapter 26 Summary

Dr. Seward's Diary, October 29

That morning when Van Helsing hypnotizes Mina, she doesn't hear waves, just oars dipping in water and men calling to each other.
Then she says that Dracula has gotten out of his box of dirt—but he's still on the boat, not on shore.

While hypnotized, Mina says that Dracula is back on some kind of boat, but that's all she's able to say before snapping out of it.

They've arrived at Galatz.
Jonathan, Van Helsing, and Dr. Seward go down to the port to ask about the Czarina Catherine, while Arthur goes to the embassy to ask the Consul to help them out.
Quincey takes Mina to the hotel to rest.

The captain of the Czarina Catherine tells them all about the voyage. They had a good strong wind the whole time… almost as though someone wanted them there in a hurry. Hm.
They ask him who picked up the box labeled "Count Dracula," and he says it was a lawyer named Hildesheim.
A few racist stereotypes later, we meet Mr. Hildesheim, who tells them that he had received instructions from "Mr. de Ville" of London to pick up the box from the Czarina Catherine and give it to a group of Slovaks to take down the river.
Unfortunately, they don't know which river.

Mina is working hard at trying to figure out where the Count has gone.
She gets some maps of the area and studies them, and then writes a memo outlining her idea for the guys to see.
She's very systematic about it, and decides that the best way Dracula could have himself transported in his box is by water.
But what water? After studying the maps, she decides the river that would make the most sense is the Sereth—it goes very close to Castle Dracula.
Everyone is excited by her discovery.
Arthur and Jonathan take a steamboat down the river to follow Dracula.
Quincey and Dr. Seward go along the shore on horseback.
Mina and Van Helsing go by carriage to Castle Dracula itself.
Jonathan isn't happy about Mina going to Castle Dracula, even under Van Helsing's protection—after all, he's the only one who's seen it, and he didn't have such a good time there.
They all get ready as quickly as possible, and take off.

Fortunately, Arthur is good at working steamboats, since he owns a couple back in England.
Jonathan and Arthur take turns sitting up to mind the boat and sleeping.
This continues for a couple of days.
They ask every boat that they pass whether they've seen a barge carrying cargo, and they hear that there's one a ways ahead that was going pretty fast.

No interesting news from Quincey and Dr. Seward—they've been on the road for three days without anything major happening.
Like Arthur and Jonathan Harker, they ask other travelers if they've seen a boat moving fast up the river, carrying cargo.
They hear that Arthur and Jonathan had a bit of a run-in with some rocks in the river, but got the boat up and running again quickly.

Mina's enjoying her trip through the Transylvanian countryside and imagines how nice it would be to take a real trip there with Jonathan sometime.
Van Helsing tries to hypnotize Mina, but can't get much out of her. Dracula seems to have cut off the link between them.
Mina worries about Jonathan, but is okay herself.

READ THE BOOK: Chapter 26