Project Gutenberg's Captain Canot, by Brantz Mayer and Theodore Canot

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Title: Captain Canot
       or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver

Author: Brantz Mayer
        Theodore Canot

Release Date: October 14, 2007 [EBook #23034]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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[Illustration:

CAPTAIN CANOT

OR

TWENTY YEARS
OF AN
AFRICAN SLAVER

D. APPLETON & CO.]




                 CAPTAIN CANOT;

                      OR,

       TWENTY YEARS OF AN AFRICAN SLAVER


              BEING AN ACCOUNT OF

     HIS CAREER AND ADVENTURES ON THE COAST,
      IN THE INTERIOR, ON SHIPBOARD, AND IN
                THE WEST INDIES.


        WRITTEN OUT AND EDITED FROM THE

Captain's Journals, Memoranda and Conversations,


                       BY

                  BRANTZ MAYER.


NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
846 & 848 BROADWAY.
LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN.
M.DCCC.LIV.




[Illustration: MANDINGO CHIEF AND HIS SWORD BEARER.]




ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by

BRANTZ MAYER,

in the Clerk's Office of the United States District Court for the
District of Maryland.




TO

N. P. WILLIS,

OF IDLEWILD.

MY DEAR WILLIS,

While inscribing this work with your name, as a testimonial of our
long, unbroken friendship, you will let me say, I am sure, not only
how, but why I have written it.

About a year ago I was introduced to its hero, by Dr. James Hall, the
distinguished founder and first governor of our colony at Cape Palmas.
While busy with his noble task in Africa, Dr. Hall accidentally became
acquainted with Captain Canot, during his residence at Cape Mount, and
was greatly impressed in his favor by the accounts of all who knew
him. Indeed,--setting aside his career as a slaver,--Dr. Hall's
observation convinced him that Canot was a man of unquestionable
integrity. The zeal, moreover, with which he embraced the first
opportunity, after his downfall, to mend his fortunes by honorable
industry in South America, entitled him to respectful confidence. As
their acquaintance ripened, my friend gradually drew from the wanderer
the story of his adventurous life, and so striking were its incidents,
so true its delineations of African character, that he advised the
captain to prepare a copious memorandum, which I should write out for
the public.

Let me tell you why I undertook this task; but first, let me assure
you that, entertaining as the story might have been for a large class
of readers, I would not have composed a line for the mere
gratification of scandalous curiosity. My conversations with Canot
satisfied me that his disclosures were more thoroughly candid than
those of any one who has hitherto related his connection with the
traffic. I thought that the evidence of one who, for twenty years,
played the chief part in such a drama, was of value to society, which,
is making up its mind, not only about a great political and domestic
problem, but as to the nature of the race itself. I thought that a
true picture of aboriginal Africa,--unstirred by progress,--unmodified
by reflected civilization,--full of the barbarism that blood and
tradition have handed down from the beginning, and embalmed in its
prejudices, like the corpses of Egypt,--could not fail to be of
incalculable importance to philanthropists who regard no people as
beyond the reach of enlightenment.

The completed task rises before me like a moving panorama whose
scenery and background are the ocean and tropics, and whose principal
actor combines the astuteness of Fouché with the dexterity of Gil
Blas. I have endeavored to set forth his story as plainly as possible,
letting events instead of descriptions develope a chequered life which
was incessantly connected with desperate men of both colors. As he
unmasked his whole career, and gave me leave to use the incidents, I
have not dared to hide what the actor himself displayed no wish to
conceal. Besides the sketches of character which familiarize us with
the aboriginal negro in Africa, there is a good moral in the
resultless life, which, after all its toils, hazards, and successes
leaves the adventurer a stranded wreck in the prime of manhood. One
half the natural capacity, employed industriously in lawful commerce,
would have made the captain comfortable and independent. Nor is there
much to attract in the singular abnegation of civilized happiness in a
slaver's career. We may not be surprised, that such an _animal_ as Da
Souza, who is portrayed in these pages, should revel in the
sensualities of Dahomey; but we must wonder at the passive endurance
that could chain a superior order of man, like Don Pedro Blanco, for
fifteen unbroken years, to his pestilential hermitage, till the
avaricious anchorite went forth from the marshes of Gallinas, laden
with gold. I do not think this story is likely to seduce or educate a
race of slavers!

The frankness of Canot's disclosures may surprise the more reserved
and timid classes of society; but I am of opinion that there is an
ethnographic value in the account of his visit to the Mandingoes and
Fullahs, and especially in his narrative of the wars, jugglery,
cruelty, superstition, and crime, by which one sixth of Africa
subjects the remaining five sixths to servitude.

As the reader peruses these characteristic anecdotes, he will ask
himself how,--in the progress of mankind,--such a people is to be
approached and dealt with? Will the Mahometanism of the North which is
winning its way southward, and infusing itself among the crowds of
central Africa, so as, in some degree, to modify their barbarism,
prepare the primitive tribes to receive a civilization and faith which
are as true as they are divine? Will our colonial fringe spread its
fibres from the coast to the interior, and, like veins of refreshing
blood, pour new currents into the mummy's heart? Is there hope for a
nation which, in three thousand years, has hardly turned in its sleep?
The identical types of race, servitude, occupation, and character that
are now extant in Africa, may be found on the Egyptian monuments built
forty centuries ago; while a Latin poem, attributed to Virgil,
describes a menial negress who might unquestionably pass for a slave
of our Southern plantations:

    "Interdum clamat Cybalen; erat unica custos;
    Afra genus, tota patriam testante figura;
    Torta comam, labroque tumens, et fusca colorem;
    Pectore lata, jacens mammis, compressior alvo,
    Cruribus exilis, spatiosa prodiga planta;
    Continuis rimis calcanea scissa rigebant."[1]

It will be seen from these hints that our memoir has nothing to do
with slavery as a North American institution, except so far as it is
an inheritance from the system it describes; yet, in proportion as the
details exhibit an innate or acquired inferiority of the negro race
_in its own land_, they must appeal to every generous heart in behalf
of the benighted continent.

It has lately become common to assert that Providence permits _an
exodus through slavery_, in order that the liberated negro may in time
return, and, with foreign acquirements, become the pioneer of African
civilization. It is attempted to reconcile us to this "good from
evil," by stopping inquiry with the "inscrutability of God's ways!"
But we should not suffer ourselves to be deceived by such imaginary
irreverence; for, in God's ways, there is nothing _less_ inscrutable
than his _law of right_. That law is never qualified in this world. It
moves with the irresistible certainty of organized nature, and, while
it makes man free, in order that his responsibility may be
unquestionable, it leaves mercy, even, for the judgment hereafter.
Such a system of divine law can never palliate _the African slave
trade_, and, in fact, it is the basis of that human legislation which
converts the slaver into a pirate, and awards him a felon's doom.

For these reasons, we should discountenance schemes like those
proposed not long ago in England, and sanctioned by the British
government, for the encouragement of spontaneous emigration from
Africa under the charge of _contractors_. The plan was viewed with
fear by the colonial authorities, and President Roberts at once issued
a proclamation to guard the natives. No one, I think, will read this
book without a conviction that the idea of _voluntary expatriation_
has not dawned on the African mind, and, consequently, what might
begin in laudable philanthropy would be likely to end in practical
servitude.

Intercourse, trade, and colonization, in slow but steadfast growth,
are the providences intrusted to us for the noble task of
civilization. They who are practically acquainted with the colored
race of our country, have long believed that gradual colonization was
the only remedy for Africa as well as America. The repugnance of the
free blacks to _emigration from our shores_ has produced a tardy
movement, and thus the African population has been thrown back grain
by grain, and not wave by wave. Every one conversant with the state of
our colonies, knows how beneficial this languid accretion has been. It
moved many of the most enterprising, thrifty, and independent. It
established a social nucleus from the best classes of American colored
people. Like human growth, it allowed the frame to mature in muscular
solidity. It gave immigrants time to test the climate; to learn the
habit of government in states as well as in families; to acquire the
bearing of freemen; to abandon their imitation of the whites among
whom they had lived; and thus, by degrees, to consolidate a social and
political system which may expand into independent and lasting
nationality. Instead, therefore, of lamenting the slowness with which
the colonies have reached their vigorous promise, we should consider
it a blessing that the vicious did not rush forth in turbulent crowds
with the worthy, and impede the movements of better folks, who were
still unused to the task of self-reliance.

Men are often too much in a hurry to do good, and mar by excessive
zeal what patience would complete. "Deus quies quia æternus," saith
St. Augustine. The cypress is a thousand years in growth, yet its
limbs touch not the clouds, save on a mountain top. Shall the
regeneration of a continent be quicker than its ripening? That would
be miracle--not progress.

Accept this offering, my dear Willis, as a token of that sincere
regard, which, during an intimacy of a quarter of a century, has never
wavered in its friendly trust.

    Faithfully, yours,

    BRANTZ MAYER.

    BALTIMORE, _1st July, 1854_.


FOOTNOTE:

[1] MORETUM,--Carm. Virg. Wagner's ed. vol. 4, p. 301.




CONTENTS.


                                                                  PAGE
 CHAP. I.--My parentage and education--Apprenticed at Leghorn to
 an American captain--First voyage--its mishaps--overboard--black
 cook--Sumatra--cabin-boy--Arrival in Boston--My first
 _command_--View of Boston harbor from the mast-head--My first
 interview with a Boston merchant, WILLIAM GRAY                      1

 CHAP. II.--My uncle tells my adventure with LORD BYRON--CAPTAIN
 TOWNE, and my life in Salem--My skill in Latin--Five years
 voyaging from Salem--I rescue a Malay girl at Quallahbattoo--The
 _first_ slave I ever saw--End of my apprenticeship--My backslidings
 in Antwerp and Paris--Ship on a British vessel for Brazil--The
 captain and his wife--Love, grog, and grumbling--A scene in the
 harbor of Rio--Matrimonial happiness--Voyage to Europe--Wreck
 and loss on the coast near Ostend                                  10

 CHAP. III.--I design going to South America--A Dutch galliot
 for Havana--Male and female captain--Run foul of in the Bay
 of Biscay--Put into Ferrol, in Spain--I am appropriated by
 a _new_ mother, grandmother, and sisters--A comic scene--How
 I got out of the scrape--Set sail for Havana--Jealousy of
 the captain--Deprived of my post--Restored--Refuse to do
 duty--Its sad consequences--Wrecked on a reef near
 Cuba--Fisherman-wreckers--Offer to land cargo--Make a bargain
 with our salvors--A sad _denouement_--A night bath and escape      19

 CHAP. IV.--Bury my body in the sand to escape the insects--Night
 of horror--Refuge on a tree--Scented by bloodhounds--March to
 the rancho--My guard--Argument about my fate--"MY UNCLE" RAFAEL
 suddenly appears on the scene--Magic change effected by
 my relationship--Clothed, and fed, and comforted--I find an
 uncle, and am protected--MESCLET--Made cook's mate--Gallego,
 the cook--His appearance and character--DON RAFAEL'S
 story--"Circumstances"--His counsel for my conduct on the
 island                                                             31

 CHAP. V.--Life on a sand key--Pirates and wreckers--Their
 difference--Our galliot destroyed--the gang goes to Cuba--I am
 left with Gallego--His daily fishing and nightly flitting--I
 watch him--My discoveries in the graveyard--Return of the
 wreckers--"Amphibious Jews"--Visit from a Cuban
 inspector--"Fishing license"--Gang goes to Cape Verde--Report
 of a fresh wreck--Chance of escape--Arrival--Return of
 wreckers--Bachicha and his clipper--Death of Mesclet--My
 adventures in a privateer--My restoration to the key--Gallego's
 charges--His trial and fate                                        41

 CHAP. VI.--I am sent from the key--Consigned to a grocer at
 Regla--CIBO--His household--Fish-loving padre--Our dinners
 and studies--Rafael's fate--Havana--A slaver--I sail for
 Africa--The Areostatico's voyage, crew, gale--Mutiny--How
 I meet it alone--My first night in Africa!                         57

 CHAP. VII.--Reflections on my conduct and character--Morning
 after the mutiny--Burial of the dead--My wounds--JACK ORMOND
 or the "MONGO JOHN"--My physician and his prescription--Value
 of woman's milk--I make the vessel ready for her slave cargo--I
 dine with Mongo John--His harem--Frolic in it--Duplicity of my
 captain--I take service with Ormond as his clerk--I _pack_ the
 human cargo of the Areostatico--Farewell to my English
 cabin-boy--His story                                               68

 CHAP. VIII.--I take possession of my new quarters--My household
 and its fittings--History of Mr. Ormond--How he got his rights
 in Africa--I take a survey of his property and of my duties--The
 Cerberus of his harem--Unga-golah's stealing--Her rage at my
 opposition--A night visit at my quarters--ESTHER, the
 quarteroon--A warning and a sentimental scene--Account of
 an African factor's harem--Mongo John in his decline--His
 women--Their flirtations--Battles among the girls--How African
 beaus fight a duel _for love_!--Scene of passionate jealousy
 among the women                                                    76

 CHAP. IX.--Pains and dreariness of the "wet season"--African
 rain!--A CARAVAN announced as coming to the Coast--Forest
 paths and trails in Africa--How we arrange to catch a
 caravan--"Barkers," who they are--AHMAH-DE-BELLAH, son of
 the ALI-MAMI of FOOTHA-YALLON--A Fullah chief leads the caravan
 of 700 persons--Arrival of the caravan--Its character and
 reception--Its produce taken charge of--People billeted--Mode
 of trading for the produce of a caravan--(_Note:_ Account of
 the produce, its value and results)--Mode of purchasing
 the produce--Sale over--Gift of an ostrich--Its value in
 guns--_Bungee_ or "_dash_"--Ahmah-de-Bellah--How he got up
 his caravan--Blocks the forest paths--Convoy duties--Value and
 use of blocking the forest paths--Collecting debts, &c.--My
 talks with Ahmah--his instructions and sermons on Islamism--My
 geographical disquisitions, rotundity of the world, the Koran--I
 consent to turn, _minus_ the baptism!--Ahmah's attempt to vow
 me to Islamism--Fullah punishments--Slave wars--Piety and
 profit--Ahmah and I exchange gifts--A double-barrelled gun
 for a Koran--I promise to visit the Fullah country                 84

 CHAP. X.--Mode of purchasing Slaves at factories--Tricks of
 jockeys--Gunpowder and lemon-juice--I become absolute manager
 of the stores--Reconciliation with Unga-golah--La belle
 Esther--I get the African fever--My nurses--Cured by sweating
 and bitters--Ague--Showerbath remedy--MR. EDWARD JOSEPH--My
 union with him--I quit the Mongo, and take up my quarters with
 the Londoner                                                       94

 CHAP. XI.--An epoch in my life in 1827--A vessel arrives
 consigned to me for slaves--LA FORTUNA--How I managed to sell
 my cigars and get a cargo, though I had no factory--My first
 shipment--(Note on the cost and profit of a slave voyage)--How
 slaves are selected for various markets, and shipped--Go on
 board naked--hearty feed before embarkation--Stowage--Messes--Mode
 of eating--Grace--Men and women separated--Attention to health,
 cleanliness, ventilation--Singing and amusements--Daily
 purification of the vessel--Night, order and silence preserved
 by negro constables--Use and disuse of handcuffs--Brazilian
 slavers--(Note on condition of slavers since the treaty with
 Spain)                                                             99

 CHAP. XII.--How a cargo of slaves is landed in Cuba--Detection
 avoided--"_Gratificaciones_." Clothes distributed--Vessel burnt
 or sent in as a coaster, or in distress--A slave's first glimpse
 of a Cuban plantation--Delight with food and dress--Oddity of
 beasts of burden and vehicles--A slave's first interview
 with a negro _postilion_--the postilion's sermon in favor of
 slavery--Dealings with the anchorites--How tobacco smoke blinds
 public functionaries--My popularity on the Rio Pongo--Ormond's
 enmity to me                                                      107

 CHAP. XIII.--I become intimate with "Country princes" and receive
 their presents--Royal marriages--Insulting to refuse a proffered
 wife--I am pressed to wed a princess and my diplomacy to escape
 the sable noose--My partner agrees to marry the princess--The
 ceremonial of wooing and wedding in African high life--COOMBA     110

 CHAP. XIV.--JOSEPH, my partner, has to fly from Africa--How
 I save our property--My visit to the BAGERS--their primitive
 mode of life--Habits--Honesty--I find my property unguarded and
 safe--My welcome in the village--Gift of a goat--Supper--Sleep--A
 narrow escape in the surf on the coast--the skill of KROOMEN      118

 CHAP. XV.--I study the institution of SLAVERY IN AFRICA--Man
 becomes a "legal tender," or the coin of Africa--Slave wars,
 how they are directly promoted by the peculiar adaptation
 of the trade of the great commercial nations--Slavery an
 immemorial institution in Africa--How and why it will always be
 retained--Who are made _home_ slaves--Jockeys and brokers--Five
 sixths of Africa in domestic bondage                              126

 CHAP. XVI.--Caravan announced--MAMI-DE-YONG, from Footha-Yallon,
 uncle of Ahmah-de-Bellah--My ceremonious reception--My
 preparations for the chief--Coffee--his school and
 teaching--NARRATIVE OF HIS TRIP TO TIMBUCTOO--Queer
 black-board map--prolix story teller--Timbuctoo and its
 trade--Slavery                                                    129

 CHAP. XVII.--I set forth on my journey to TIMBO, to see
 the father of Ahmah-de-Bellah--My caravan and its mode of
 travel--My Mussulman passport--Forest roads--Arrive at KYA
 among the MANDINGOES--My lodgings--IBRAHIM ALI--Our supper
 and "bitters"--A scene of piety, love and liquor--Next morning's
 headache--ALI-NINPHA begs leave to halt for a day--I manage our
 Fullah guide--My fever--Homoeopathic dose of Islamism from the
 Koran--My cure--Afternoon                                         136

 CHAP. XVIII.--A ride on horseback--Its exhilaration in the
 forest--Visit to the DEVIL'S FOUNTAIN--Tricks of an echo and
 sulphur water--Ibrahim and I discourse learnedly upon the ethics
 of fluids--My respect for national peculiarities--Our host's
 liberality--Mandingo etiquette at the departure of a guest--A
 valuable gift from Ibrahim and its delicate bestowal--My offering
 in return--Tobacco and brandy                                     143

 CHAP. XIX.--A night bivouac in the forest--Hammock swung between
 trees--A surprise and capture--What we do with the fugitive
 slaves--A Mandingo upstart and his "town"--Inhospitality--He
 insults my Fullah leader--A quarrel--The Mandingo is seized and
 his townsfolk driven out--We tarry for Ali-Ninpha--He returns and
 tries his countrymen--Punishment--Mode of inculcating the social
 virtues among these interior tribes--We cross the Sanghu on an
 impromptu bridge--Game--Forest food--Vegetables--A "Witch's
 cauldron" of reptiles for the negroes                             147

 CHAP. XX.--Spread of Mahometanism in the interior of Africa--The
 external aspect of nature in Africa--Prolific land--Indolence
 a law of the physical constitution--My caravan's progress--The
 ALI-MAMI'S PROTECTION, its value--Forest scenery--Woods,
 open plains, barrancas and ravines--Their intense
 heat--Prairies--Swordgrass--River scenery, magnificence
 of the shores, foliage, flowers, fruits and birds; picturesque
 towns, villages and herds--Mountain scenery, view, at _morning_,
 over the lowlands--An African noon                                153

 CHAP. XXI.--We approach TAMISSO--Our halt at a brook--bathing,
 beautifying, and adornment of the women--Message and welcome
 from MOHAMEDOO, by his son, with a gift of food--Our musical
 escort and procession to the city--My horse is led by a buffoon
 of the court, who takes care of my face--Curiosity of the
 townsfolk to see the white Mongo--I pass on hastily to the
 PALACE OF MOHAMEDOO--What an African palace and its furniture
 is--Mohamedoo's appearance, greeting and dissatisfaction--I make
 my present and clear up the clouds--I determine to bathe--How
 the girls watch me--Their commentaries on my skin and
 complexion--Negro curiosity--A bath scene--Appearance of
 Tamisso, and my entertainment there                               157

 CHAP. XXII.--Improved character of country and population as
 we advance to the interior--We approach JALLICA--Notice to
 SUPHIANA--A halt for refreshment and ablutions--Ali-Ninpha's
 early home here--A great man in SOOLIMANA--Sound of the
 war-drum at a distance--Our welcome--Entrance to the town--My
 party, with the Fullah, is barred out--We are rescued--Grand
 ceremonial procession and reception, lasting two hours--I am,
 at last, presented to Suphiana--My entertainment in Jallica--A
 concert--Musical instruments--MADOO, the _ayah_--I reward her
 dancing and singing                                               162

 CHAP. XXIII.--Our caravan proceeds towards Timbo--Met
 and welcomed in advance, on a lofty table land, by
 Ahmah-de-Bellah--Psalm of joy song by the Fullahs for our
 safety--We reach TIMBO before day--A house has been specially
 built and furnished for me--Minute care for my taste and
 comforts--Ahmah-de-Bellah _a trump_--A fancy dressing-gown
 and ruffled shirt--I bathe, dress, and am presented to
 the ALI-MAMI--His inquisitive but cordial reception and
 recommendation--Portrait of a Fullah king--A breakfast with
 his wife--My formal reception by the Chiefs of Timbo and
 SULIMANI-ALI--The ceremonial--Ahmah's speech as to my
 purposes--Promise of hospitality--My gifts--I design purchasing
 slaves--scrutiny of the presents--_Cantharides_--ABDULMOMEN-ALI,
 a prince and book-man--His edifying discourse on Islamism--My
 submission                                                        167

 CHAP. XXIV.--Site of Timbo and the surrounding country--A ride
 with the princes--A modest custom of the Fullahs in passing
 streams--Visit to villages--The inhabitants fly, fearing we are
 on a slave scout--Appearance of the cultivated lands, gardens,
 near Findo and Furo--Every body shuns me--A walk through Timbo--A
 secret expedition--I watch the girls and matrons as they go to
 the stream to draw water--Their figures, limbs, dress--A splendid
 headdress--The people of Timbo, their character, occupation,
 industry, reading--I announce my approaching departure--Slave
 forays to supply me--A capture of forty-five by Sulimani-Ali--The
 personal dread of me increases--Abdulmomen and Ahmah-de-Bellah
 continue their slave hunts by day, and their pious discourses on
 Islamism by night--I depart--The farewell gifts--two pretty
 damsels                                                           176

 CHAP. XXV.--My home journey--We reach home with a caravan near a
 thousand strong--Kambia in order--Mami-de-Yong and my clerk--The
 story and fate of the Ali-Mami's daughter BEELJIE                 183

 CHAP. XXVI.--Arrival of a French slaver, LA PEROUSE, Captain
 Brulôt--Ormond and I breakfast on board--Its sequel--We are made
 prisoners and put in irons--Short mode of collecting an old debt
 on the coast of Africa--The Frenchman gets possession of our
 slaves--Arrival of a Spanish slaver                               190

 CHAP. XXVII.--Ormond communicates with the Spaniard, and arranges
 for our rescue--LA ESPERANZA--Brulôt gives in--How we fine him
 two hundred and fifty doubloons for the expense of his suit, and
 teach him the danger of playing tricks upon African factors       196

 CHAP. XXVIII.--CAPT. ESCUDERO of the Esperanza dies--I resolve
 to take his place in command and visit Cuba--Arrival of a Danish
 slaver--Quarrel and battle between the crews of my Spaniard and
 the Dane--The Dane attempts to punish me through the duplicity of
 Ormond--I bribe a servant and discover the trick--My conversation
 with Ormond--We agree to circumvent the enemy--How I get a cargo
 without cash                                                      200

 CHAP. XXIX.--Off to sea--A calm--A British man-of-war--Boat
 attack--Reinforcement--A battle--A catastrophe--A prisoner        206

 CHAP. XXX.--I am sent on board the corvette--My reception--A
 dangerous predicament--The Captain and surgeon make me
 comfortable for the night--Extraordinary conveniences for
 escape, of which I take the liberty to avail myself               214

 CHAP. XXXI.--I drift away in a boat with my servant--Our
 adventures till we land in the ISLES DE LOSS--My illness and
 recovery--I return to the Rio Pongo--I am received on board a
 French slaver--Invitation to dinner--Monkey soup and its
 consequences                                                      218

 CHAP. XXXII.--My greeting in KAMBIA--The FELIZ from
 Matanzas--Negotiations for her cargo--Ormond attempts
 to poison me--Ormond's _suicide_--His burial according
 to African customs                                                222

 CHAP. XXXIII.--A visit to the MATACAN river in quest of
 slaves--My reception by the king--His appearance--Scramble
 for my gifts--How slaves are sometimes trapped on a hasty
 hunt--I visit the MATACAN WIZARD; his cave, leopard, blind
 boy--Deceptions and jugglery--Fetiches--A scale of African
 intellect                                                         227

 CHAP. XXXIV.--What became of the Esperanza's officers and
 crew--The destruction of my factory at Kambia by fire--I lose
 all but my slaves--the incendiary detected--Who instigated the
 deed--Ormond's relatives--DEATH OF ESTHER--I go to sea in a
 schooner from Sierra Leone--How I acquire a cargo of slaves
 in the Rio Nunez without money                                    233

 CHAP. XXXV.--I escape capture--Symptoms of mutiny and detection
 of the plot--How we put it down                                   240

 CHAP. XXXVI.--A "white squall"--I land my cargo near St. Jago de
 Cuba--Trip to Havana on horseback--My consignees and their prompt
 arrangements--success of my voyage--Interference of the French
 Consul--I am _nearly_ arrested--How things were managed, of old,
 in Cuba                                                           244

 CHAP. XXXVII.--A long holiday--I am wrecked on a key--My
 rescue by salvors--New Providence--I ship on the SAN PABLO,
 from St. Thomas's, as sailing master--Her captain and
 his arrangements--Encounter a transport--Benefit of the
 small-pox--Mozambique Channel--Take cargo near QUILLIMANE--How
 we managed to get slaves--Illness of our captain--The
 small-pox breaks out on our brig--Its fatality                    248

 CHAP. XXXVIII.--Our captain _longs_ for calomel, and how I get
 it from a Scotchman--Our captain's last will and testament--We
 are chased by a British cruiser--How we out-manoevred and
 crippled her--Death of our captain--Cargo landed and the San
 Pablo burnt                                                       255

 CHAP. XXXIX.--My returns from the voyage $12,000, and how I apply
 them--A custom-house encounter which loses me LA CONCHITA and
 my money--I get command of a slaver for AYUDAH--LA ESTRELLA--I
 consign her to the notorious DA SOUZA or CHA-CHA--His history
 and mode of life in Africa--His gambling houses and women--I
 keep aloof from his temptations, and contrive to get my cargo
 in two months                                                     260

 CHAP. XL.--All Africans believe in divinities or powers of
 various degree, except the Bagers--Iguanas worshipped in
 Ayudah--Invitation to witness the HUMAN SACRIFICES at the court
 of DAHOMEY--How they travel to ABOMEY--The King, his court,
 amazons, style of life, and brutal festivities--Superstitious
 rights at LAGOS--The JUJU hunts by night for the virgin to be
 sacrificed--Gree-gree bush--The sacrifice--African priest and
 kingcraft                                                         265

 CHAP. XLI.--My voyage home in the ESTRELLA--A REVOLT OF THE
 SLAVES during a squall, and how we were obliged to suppress
 it--Use of pistols and hot water                                  272

 CHAP. XLII.--Smallpox and a _necessary murder_--Bad luck every
 where--A chase and a narrow escape                                276

 CHAP. XLIII.--The AGUILA DE ORO, a Chesapeake clipper--my race
 with the Montesquieu--I enter the river Salum to trade for
 slaves--I am threatened, then arrested, and my clipper seized by
 French man-of-war's men--Inexplicable mystery--We are imprisoned
 at GOREE--Transferred to San Louis on the Senegal--The Frenchmen
 appropriate my schooner without condemnation--How they used her
 The sisters of charity in our prison--The trial scene in court,
 and our sentence--Friends attempt to facilitate my escape, but
 our plans detected--I am transferred to a guard-ship in the
 stream--New projects for my escape--A jolly party and the nick
 of time, but the captain spoils the sport                         280

 CHAP. XLIV.--I am sent to France in the frigate FLORA--Sisters
 of charity--The prison of Brest--My prison companions--Prison
 mysteries--CORPORAL BLON--I apply to the Spanish
 minister--Transfer to the civil prison                            286

 CHAP. XLV.--MADAME SORRET and my new quarters--Mode of life--A
 lot of Catalan girls--Prison boarding and lodging--Misery of
 the convicts in the coast prisons--Improvement of the central
 prisons                                                           292

 CHAP. XLVI.--New lodgers in our quarters--How we pass our
 time in pleasant diversions by aid of the Catalan girls and
 my cash--Soirées--My funds give out--Madame Sorret makes a
 suggestion--I turn schoolmaster, get pupils, teach English
 and penmanship, and support my whole party                        295

 CHAP. XLVII.--MONSIEUR GERMAINE, the forger--His trick--Cause of
 Germaine's arrest--An adroit and rapid forgery--Its detection     300

 CHAP. XLVIII.--Plan of escape--Germaine's project against
 Babette--A new scheme for New Year's night--Passports--PIETRO
 NAZZOLINI and DOMINICO ANTONETTI--Preparations for our "French
 leave"--How the attempt eventuated                                304

 CHAP. XLIX.--Condition of the sentinel when he was found--His
 story--Prison researches next day--How we avoid detection--Louis
 Philippe receives my petition favorably--Germaine's philosophic
 pilfering and principles--His plan to rob the SANTISSIMA CASA OF
 LORETTO--He designs making an attempt on the Emperor Nicholas--I
 am released and banished from France                              310

 CHAP. L.--I go to Portugal, and return in disguise to Marseilles,
 in order to embark for Africa--I resolve to continue a slaver--A
 Marseilles hotel during the cholera--DOCTOR DU JEAN and MADAME
 DUPREZ--Humors of the _table d'hôte_--Coquetry and flirtation--A
 phrenological _denouement_                                        316

 CHAP. LI.--I reach Goree, and hasten to Sierra Leone, where I
 become a coast-pilot to GALLINAS--Site of that celebrated
 factory--_Don_ PEDRO BLANCO--His monopoly of the Vey
 country--Slave-trade and its territorial extent prior to
 the AMERICAN SCHEME OF COLONIZATION--Blanco's arrangements,
 telegraphs, &c. at Gallinas--Appearance and mode of life--Blanco
 and the Lords' prayer in Latin                                    324

 CHAP. LII.--Anecdotes of Blanco--Growth of slave-trade in
 the VEY country--Local wars--AMARAR and SHIAKAR--Barbarities
 of the natives                                                    330

 CHAP. LIII.--I visit LIBERIA, and observe a new phase of negro
 development--I go to NEW SESTROS, and establish trade--Trouble
 with Prince FREEMAN--The value of gunpowder physic                335

 CHAP. LIV.--My establishment at New Sestros, and how I created
 the slave-trade in that region--The ordeal of SAUCY-WOOD--My
 mode of attacking a superstitious usage, and of saving the
 victims--The story of BARRAH and his execution                    339

 CHAP. LV.--No river at New Sestros--Beach--Kroomen and
 Fishmen--Bushmen--Kroo boats--I engage a fleet of them for
 my factory--I ship a cargo of slaves in a hurry--My mode
 of operating--Value of rum and mock coral beads--Return
 of the cruiser                                                    344

 CHAP. LVI.--I go on a pleasure voyage in the Brilliant,
 accompanied by GOVERNOR FINDLEY--Murder of the Governor--I
 fit out an expedition to revenge his death--A fight with
 the beach negroes--We burn five towns--A disastrous retreat--I
 am wounded--Vindication of Findley's memory                       349

 CHAP. LVII.--What Don Pedro Blanco thought of my
 Quixotism--Painful effects of my wound--Blanco's
 liberality to Findley's family--My slave _nurseries_
 on the coast--Digby--I pack nineteen negroes on my launch,
 and set sail for home--Disastrous voyage--Stories--I land
 my cargo at night at MONROVIA, and carry it through the
 colony!--Some new views of commercial Morality!                   356

 CHAP. LVIII.--My compliments to British cruisers--The BONITO--I
 offer an inspection of my barracoons, &c., to her officers--A
 lieutenant and the surgeon are sent ashore--My reception of them,
 and the review of my slaves, feeding, sleeping, &c.--Our night
 frolic--Next morning--A surprise--The Bonito off, and her
 officers ashore!--Almost a quarrel--How I pacified my guests over
 a good breakfast--Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander     362

 CHAP. LIX.--Ups and downs--I am captured in a Russian vessel,
 and sent to Sierra Leone--It is resolved that I am to be despatched
 to England--I determine to take French leave--Preparation
 to celebrate a birthday--A feast--A martinet--CORPORAL
 BLUNT--Pleasant effects of cider--A swim for life and liberty
 at night--My concealment--I manage to equip myself, and depart
 in a Portuguese vessel--I ship thirty-one slaves at Digby--A
 narrow escape from a cruiser--My return to New Sestros--Report
 of my death--How I restored confidence in my actual existence--Don
 Pedro's notion of me--The gift of a donkey, and its disastrous
 effect on the married ladies of New Sestros                       369

 CHAP. LX.--The confession of a dying sailor--SANCHEZ--The story
 of the murder of Don Miguel, and destruction of his factory by
 THOMPSON--A piratical revenge--An _auto-da-fé_ at sea             377

 CHAP. LXI.--My establishment at Digby--The rival kinsmen,
 and their quarrel--JEN-KEN, THE BUSHMAN--My arrival at
 Digby, carousal--A night attack by the rival and his
 allies--A rout--Horrid scenes of massacre, barbarity,
 and cannibalism--My position and ransom                           382

 CHAP. LXII.--I escape from the bloody scene in a boot with
 a Krooman--Storm on the coast--My perilous attempt to land
 at Gallinas--How I am warned off--An African tornado--The
 sufferings of my companion and myself while exposed in the
 boat, and our final rescue                                        387

 CHAP. LXIII.--Don Pedro Blanco leaves Gallinas--I visit Cape
 Mount, to restore his son to the Chief--His reception--I go
 to England in the GIL BLAS; she is run down by steamer in the
 Channel--Rescued, and reach Dover--I see London and the British
 Islands--The diversions, sufferings, and opinions of my servant
 LUNES in Great Britain--He leaves voluntarily for Africa--A queer
 chat and scene with the ladies--His opinion of negro dress and
 negro bliss                                                       391

 CHAP. LXIV.--I make arrangements for future trade and business
 with MR. REDMAN--I go to Havana, resolved to obtain a release
 from Blanco, and engage in lawful commerce--Don Pedro refuses,
 and sends me back with a freight--A voyage with two African
 females revisiting their native country--Their story in Cuba;
 results of frugality and industry--Shiakar's daughter--Her
 reception at home--Her disgust with her savage home in Africa,
 and return to Cuba                                                396

 CHAP. LXV.--I find my establishment in danger, from the colonists
 and others--A correspondence with LIEUT. BELL, U. S. N.--Harmless
 termination of GOVERNOR BUCHANAN's onslaught--Threatened with
 famine; my relief--The VOLADOR takes 749 slaves;--THE LAST CARGO
 I EVER SHIPPED                                                    399

 CHAP. LXVI.--I am attacked by the British cruiser TERMAGANT,
 Lieut. SEAGRAM--Correspondence and diplomacy--I go on board the
 cruiser in a _damp uniform_--My reception and jollification--I
 CONFESS MY INTENTION TO ABANDON THE SLAVE-TRADE--My compact
 with Seagram--How we manage Prince Freeman--His treaty with
 the Lieutenant for the suppression of the trade--The negro's
 duplicity outwits himself--The British officer guaranties
 the safe removal of my property, whereupon I release 100
 slaves--Captain DENMAN'S DESTRUCTION OF GALLINAS--Freeman
 begins to see my diplomacy, and regrets his inability to
 plunder my property, as the natives had done at Gallinas--His
 plot to effect this--How I counteract it                          405

 CHAP. LXVII.--My barracoons destroyed--Adieus to New Sestros--I
 sail with Seagram, in the Termagant, for Cape Mount--A slaver
 in sight--All the nautical men depart to attack her in boats
 during a calm--I am left in charge of Her Britannic Majesty's
 cruiser--The fruitless issue--Escape of the Serea                 411

 CHAP. LXVIII.--We land at Cape Mount, and obtain a cession of
 territory, by deed, from KING FANA-TORO and PRINCE GRAY--I
 explore the region--Site of old English slave factory--Difficulty
 of making the negroes comprehend my improvements at New
 Florence--Negro speculations and philosophy in regard to labor.   414

 CHAP. LXIX.--Visit to Monrovia--Description of the colony and
 its products--Speculations on the future of the republic, and
 the character of colored colonization                             419

 CHAP. LXX.--I remove, and settle permanently at New Florence--I
 open communications with cruisers to supply them with provisions,
 &c.--Anecdote of SOMA, the gambler--His sale and danger in the
 hands of a Bushman--Mode of gambling one's self away in Africa--A
 letter from Governor Macdonald destroys my prospect of British
 protection--I haul down the British flag--I determine to devote
 myself to husbandry--Bad prospect                                 424

 CHAP. LXXI.--Account of the character of the VEY negroes--The
 GREE-GREE bush--Description of this institution, its rites,
 services, and uses--Marriage and midwifery--A scene with
 Fana-Toro, at Toso--Human sacrifice of his enemy; frying a
 heart; indignity committed on the body--Anecdote of the king's
 endurance; burns his finger as a test, and rallies his men--Death
 of Prince Gray--Funeral rites among the Vey people--_Smoking the
 corpse_--I am offered the choice of his widows                    429

 CHAP. LXXII.--My workshops, gardens, and plantations at the Cape
 Mount settlement--I do not prosper as a farmer or trader with
 _the interior_--I decide to send a _coaster_ to aid in the
 transfer of the Yankee clipper A---- to a slaver--I part on bad
 terms with the British--Game at Cape Mount--Adventure of a boy
 and an _Ourang-outang_--How we killed leopards, and saved our
 castle--Mode of hunting elephants--Elephant law                   437

 CHAP. LXXIII.--Fana-Toro's war, and its effect on my
 establishment--I decline joining actively in the conflict--I
 allow captives to be shipped by a Gallinas factor--Two years
 of blockade by the British--A miraculous voyage of a long-boat
 with thirty-three slaves to Bahia--My disasters and mishaps
 at Cape Mount in consequence of this war--Exaggerations of
 my enemies--My true character--Letter from Rev. JOHN SEYS to
 me--My desire to aid the missionaries--CAIN and CURTIS stimulate
 the British against me--Adventure of the Chancellor--the British
 destroy my establishment--Death of Fana-Toro--The natives revenge
 my loss--The end                                                  442




THEODORE CANOT.




CHAPTER I.


Whilst Bonaparte was busy conquering Italy, my excellent father, Louis
Canot, a captain and paymaster in the French army, thought fit to
pursue his fortunes among the gentler sex of that fascinating country,
and luckily won the heart and hand of a blooming Piedmontese, to whom
I owe my birth in the capital of Tuscany.

My father was faithful to the Emperor as well as the Consul. He
followed his sovereign in his disasters as well as glory: nor did he
falter in allegiance until death closed his career on the field of
Waterloo.

Soldiers' wives are seldom rich, and my mother was no exception to the
rule. She was left in very moderate circumstances, with six children
to support; but the widow of an old campaigner, who had partaken the
sufferings of many a long and dreary march with her husband, was
neither disheartened by the calamity, nor at a loss for thrifty
expedients to educate her younger offspring. Accordingly, I was kept
at school, studying geography, arithmetic, history and the languages,
until near twelve years old, when it was thought time for me to choose
a profession. At school, and in my leisure hours, I had always been a
greedy devourer of books of travel, or historical narratives full of
stirring incidents, so that when I avowed my preference for a
sea-faring life, no one was surprised. Indeed, my fancy was rather
applauded, as two of my mother's brothers had served in the Neapolitan
navy, under Murat. Proper inquiries were quickly made at Leghorn; and,
in a few weeks, I found myself on the _mole_ of that noble seaport,
comfortably equipped, with a liberal outfit, ready to embark, as an
apprentice, upon the American ship Galatea, of Boston.

It was in the year 1819, that I first saluted the element upon which
it has been my destiny to pass so much of my life. The reader will
readily imagine the discomforts to which I was subjected on this
voyage. Born and bred in the interior of Italy, I had only the most
romantic ideas of the sea. My opinions had been formed from the lives
of men in loftier rank and under more interesting circumstances. My
career was necessarily one of great hardship; and, to add to my
misfortunes, I had neither companion nor language to vent my grief and
demand sympathy. For the first three months, I was the butt of every
joker in the ship. I was the scape-goat of every accident and of every
one's sins or carelessness. As I lived in the cabin, each plate,
glass, or utensil that fell to leeward in a gale, was charged to my
negligence. Indeed, no one seemed to compassionate my lot save a fat,
lubberly negro cook, whom I could not endure. He was the _first_
African my eye ever fell on, and I must confess that he was the only
friend I possessed during my early adventures.

Besides the officers of the Galatea, there was a clerk on board, whom
the captain directed to teach me English, so that, by the time we
reached Sumatra, I was able to stand up for my rights, and plead my
cause. As we could not obtain a cargo of pepper on the island, we
proceeded to Bengal; and, on our arrival at Calcutta, the captain, who
was also supercargo, took apartments on shore, where the clerk and
myself were allowed to follow him.

According to the fashion of that period, the house provided for our
accommodation was a spacious and elegant one, equipped with every
oriental comfort and convenience, while fifteen or twenty servants
were always at the command of its inmates. For three months we lived
like nabobs, and sorry, indeed, was I when the clerk announced that
the vessel's loading was completed, and our holiday over.

On the voyage home, I was promoted from the cabin, and sent into the
steerage to do duty as a "light hand," in the chief mate's watch.
Between this officer and the captain there was ill blood, and, as I
was considered the master's pet, I soon began to feel the bitterness
of the subordinate's spite. This fellow was not only cross-grained,
but absolutely malignant. One day, while the ship was skimming along
gayly with a five-knot breeze, he ordered me out to the end of the
jib-boom to loosen the sail; yet, without waiting until I was clear of
the jib, he suddenly commanded the men who were at the halliards to
hoist the canvas aloft. A sailor who stood by pointed out my
situation, but was cursed into silence. In a moment I was jerked into
the air, and, after performing half a dozen involuntary summersets,
was thrown into the water, some distance from the ship's side. When I
rose to the surface, I heard the prolonged cry of the anxious crew,
all of whom rushed to the ship's side, some with ropes' ends, some
with chicken coops, while others sprang to the stern boat to prepare
it for launching. In the midst of the hurly-burly, the captain reached
the deck, and laid the ship to; the sailor who had remonstrated with
the mate having, in the meantime, clutched that officer, and attempted
to throw him over, believing I had been drowned by his cruelty. As the
sails of the Galatea flattened against the wind, many an anxious eye
was strained over the water in search of me; but I was nowhere seen!
In truth, as the vessel turned on her heel, the movement brought her
so close to the spot where I rose, that I clutched a rope thrown over
for my rescue, and climbed to the lee channels without being
perceived. As I leaped to the deck, I found one half the men in
tumultuous assemblage around the struggling mate and sailor; but my
sudden apparition served to divert the mob from its fell purpose, and,
in a few moments, order was perfectly restored. Our captain was an
intelligent and just man, as may be readily supposed from the fact
that he exclusively controlled so valuable an enterprise.
Accordingly, the matter was examined with much deliberation; and, on
the following day, the chief mate was deprived of his command. I
should not forget to mention that, in the midst of the excitement, my
sable friend the cook leaped overboard to rescue his _protegé_. Nobody
happened to notice the darkey when he sprang into the sea; and, as he
swam in a direction quite contrary from the spot where I fell, he was
nigh being lost, when the ship's sails were trimmed upon her course.
Just at that moment a faint call was heard from the sea, and the
woolly skull perceived in time for rescue.

This adventure elevated not only "little Theodore," but our "culinary
artist" in the good opinion of the mess. Every Saturday night my
African friend was allowed to share the cheer of the forecastle, while
our captain presented him with a certificate of his meritorious deed,
and made the paper more palatable by the promise of a liberal bounty
in current coin at the end of the voyage.

I now began to feel at ease, and acquire a genuine fondness for sea
life. My aptitude for languages not only familiarized me with English,
but enabled me soon to begin the scientific study of navigation, in
which, I am glad to say, that Captain Solomon Towne was always pleased
to aid my industrious efforts.

We touched at ST. HELENA for supplies, but as Napoleon was still
alive, a British frigate met us within five miles of that rock-bound
coast, and after furnishing a scant supply of water, bade us take our
way homeward.

I remember very well that it was a fine night in July, 1820, when we
touched the wharf at Boston, Massachusetts. Captain Towne's family
resided in Salem, and, of course, he was soon on his way thither. The
new mate had a young wife in Boston, and he, too, was speedily
missing. One by one, the crew sneaked off in the darkness. The second
mate quickly found an excuse for a visit in the neighborhood; so that,
by midnight, the Galatea, with a cargo valued at about one hundred and
twenty thousand dollars, was intrusted to the watchfulness of a
stripling cabin-boy.

I do not say it boastfully, but it is true that, whenever I have been
placed in responsible situations, from the earliest period of my
recollection, I felt an immediate stirring of that pride which always
made me equal, or at least willing, for the required duty. All night
long I paced the deck. Of all the wandering crowd that had accompanied
me nearly a year across many seas, I alone had no companions, friends,
home, or sweetheart, to seduce me from my craft; and I confess that
the sentiment of loneliness, which, under other circumstances, might
have unmanned me at my American greeting, was stifled by the mingled
vanity and pride with which I trod the quarter-deck as temporary
captain.

When dawn ripened into daylight, I remembered the stirring account my
shipmates had given of the beauty of Boston, and I suddenly felt
disposed to imitate the example of my fellow-sailors. Honor, however,
checked my feet as they moved towards the ship's ladder; so that,
instead of descending her side, I closed the cabin door, and climbed
to the main-royal yard, to _see_ the city at least, if I could not
mingle with its inhabitants. I expected to behold a second Calcutta;
but my fancy was not gratified. Instead of observing the long,
glittering lines of palaces and villas I left in India and on the
Tuscan shore, my Italian eyes were first of all saluted by dingy
bricks and painted boards. But, as my sight wandered away from the
town, and swept down both sides of the beautiful bay, filled with its
lovely islands, and dressed in the fresh greenness of summer, I
confess that my memory and heart were magically carried away into the
heart of Italy, playing sad tricks with my sense of duty, when I was
abruptly restored to consciousness by hearing the heavy footfall of a
stranger on deck.

The intruder--as well as I could see from aloft--seemed to be a stout,
elderly person. I did not delay to descend the ratlins, but slid down
a back-stay, just in time to meet the stranger as he approached our
cabin. My notions of Italian manners did not yet permit me to
appreciate the greater freedom and social liberty with which I have
since become so familiar in America, and it may naturally be supposed
that I was rather peremptory in ordering the inquisitive Bostonian to
leave the ship. I was in command--in my _first_ command; and so
unceremonious a visit was peculiarly annoying. Nor did the conduct of
the intruder lessen my anger, as, quietly smiling at my order, he
continued moving around the ship, and peered into every nook and
corner. Presently he demanded whether I was alone? My self-possession
was quite sufficient to leave the question unanswered; but I ordered
him off again, and, to enforce my command, called a dog that did not
exist. My _ruse_, however, did not succeed. The Yankee still continued
his examination, while I followed closely on his heels, now and then
twitching the long skirts of his surtout to enforce my mandate for his
departure.

During this promenade, my unwelcome guest questioned me about the
captain's health,--about the mate,--as to the cause of his
dismissal,--about our cargo,--and the length of our voyage. Each new
question begot a shorter and more surly answer. I was perfectly
satisfied that he was not only a rogue, but a most impudent one; and
my Franco-Italian temper strained almost to bursting.

By this time, we approached the house which covered the steering-gear
at the ship's stern, and in which were buckets containing a dozen
small turtles, purchased at the island of Ascension, where we stopped
to water after the refusal at St. Helena. The turtle at once attracted
the stranger's notice, and he promptly offered to purchase them. I
stated that only half the lot belonged to me, but that I would sell
the whole, provided he was able to pay. In a moment, my persecutor
drew forth a well-worn pocket-book, and handing me six dollars, asked
whether I was satisfied with the price. The dollars were
unquestionable gleams, if not absolute proofs, of honesty, and I am
sure my heart would have melted had not the purchaser insisted on
taking one of the buckets to convey the turtles home. Now, as these
charming implements were part of the ship's pride, as well as
property, and had been laboriously adorned by our marine artists with
a spread eagle and the vessel's name, I resisted the demand, offering,
at the same time, to return the money. But my turtle-dealer was not to
be repulsed so easily; his ugly smile still sneered in my face as he
endeavored to push me aside and drag the bucket from my hand. I soon
found that he was the stronger of the two, and that it would be
impossible for me to rescue my bucket fairly; so, giving it a sudden
twist and shake, I contrived to upset both water and turtles on the
deck, thus sprinkling the feet and coat-tails of the veteran with a
copious ablution. To my surprise, however, the tormentor's cursed grin
not only continued but absolutely expanded to an immoderate laugh, the
uproariousness of which was increased by another suspicious Bostonian,
who leaped on deck during our dispute. By this time I was in a red
heat. My lips were white, my checks in a blaze, and my eyes sparks.
Beyond myself with ferocious rage, I gnashed my teeth, and buried them
in the hand which I could not otherwise release from its grasp on the
bucket. In the scramble, I either lost or destroyed part of my bank
notes; yet, being conqueror at last, I became clement, and taking up
my turtles, once more insisted upon the departure of my annoyers.
There is no doubt that I larded my language with certain epithets,
very current among sailors, most of which are learned more rapidly by
foreigners than the politer parts of speech.

Still the abominable monster, nothing daunted by my onslaught, rushed
to the cabin, and would doubtless have descended, had not I been
nimbler than he in reaching the doors, against which I placed my back,
in defiance. Here, of course, another battle ensued, enlivened by a
chorus of laughter from a crowd of laborers on the wharf. This time I
could not bite, yet I kept the apparent thief at bay with my feet,
kicking his shins unmercifully whenever he approached, and swearing in
the choicest Tuscan.

He who knows any thing of Italian character, especially when it is
additionally spiced by French condiments, may imagine the intense rage
to which so volcanic a nature as mine was, by this time, fully
aroused. Language and motion were nearly exhausted. I could neither
speak nor strike. The mind's passion had almost produced the body's
paralysis. Tears began to fall from my eyes: but still he laughed! At
length, I suddenly flung wide the cabin doors, and leaping below at a
bound, seized from the rack a loaded musket, with which I rushed upon
deck. As soon as the muzzle appeared above the hatchway, my tormentor
sprang over the ship, and by the time I reached the ladder, I found
him on the wharf, surrounded by a laughing and shouting crowd. I shook
my head menacingly at the group; and shouldering my firelock, mounted
guard at the gangway. It was fully a quarter of an hour that I paraded
(occasionally ramming home my musket's charge, and varying the
amusement by an Italian defiance to the jesters), before the tardy
mate made his appearance on the wharf. But what was my consternation,
when I beheld him advance deferentially to my pestilent visitor, and
taking off his hat, respectfully offer to conduct him on board! This
was a great lesson to me in life on the subject of "appearances." The
shabby old individual was no less a personage than the celebrated
William Gray, of Boston, owner of the Galatea and cargo, and
proprietor of many a richer craft then floating on every sea.

But Mr. Gray was a forgiving enemy. As he left the ship that morning,
he presented me fifty dollars, "in exchange," he said, "for the six
destroyed in protection of his property;" and, on the day of my
discharge, he not only paid the wages of my voyage, but added fifty
dollars more to aid my schooling in scientific navigation.

Four years after, I again met this distinguished merchant at the
Marlborough Hotel, in Boston. I was accompanied, on that occasion, by
an uncle who visited the United States on a commercial tour. When my
relative mentioned my name to Mr. Gray, that gentleman immediately
recollected me, and told my venerable kinsman that he never received
such abuse as I bestowed on him in July, 1820! The sting of my teeth,
he declared, still tingled in his hand, while the kicks I bestowed on
his ankles, occasionally displayed the scars they had left on his
limbs. He seemed particularly annoyed, however, by some caustic
remarks I had made about his protuberant stomach, and forgave the
blows but not the language.

My uncle, who was somewhat of a tart disciplinarian, gave me an
extremely black look, while, in French, he demanded an explanation of
my conduct. I knew Mr. Gray, however, better than my relative; and so,
without heeding his reprimand, I answered, in English, that if I
cursed the ship's owner on that occasion, it was my _debut_ in the
English language on the American continent; and as my Anglo-Saxon
education had been finished in a forecastle, it was not to be expected
I should be select in my vocabulary. "Never the less," I added, "Mr.
Gray was so delighted with my _accolade_, that he valued my defence of
his property and our delicious _tête-à-tête_ at the sum of a hundred
dollars!"




CHAPTER II.


The anecdote told in the last chapter revived my uncle's recollection
of several instances of my early impetuosity; among which was a
rencounter with Lord Byron, while that poet was residing at his villa
on the slope of Monte Negro near Leghorn, which he took the liberty to
narrate to Mr. Gray.

A commercial house at that port, in which my uncle had some interest,
was the noble lord's banker;--and, one day, while my relative and the
poet were inspecting some boxes recently arrived from Greece, I was
dispatched to see them safely deposited in the warehouse. Suddenly,
Lord Byron demanded a pencil. My uncle had none with him, but
remembering that I had lately been presented one in a handsome silver
case, requested the loan of it. Now, as this was my first _silver_
possession, I was somewhat reluctant to let it leave my possession
even for a moment, and handed it to his lordship with a bad grace.
When the poet had made his memorandum, he paused a moment, as if lost
in thought, and then very unceremoniously--but, doubtless, in a fit of
abstraction--put the pencil in his pocket. If I had already visited
America at that time, it is likely that I would have warned the
Englishman of his mistake on the spot; but, as children in the Old
World are rather more curbed in their intercourse with elders than on
this side of the Atlantic, I bore the forgetfulness as well as I could
until next morning. Summoning all my resolution, I repaired without my
uncle's knowledge to the poet's house at an early hour, and after much
difficulty was admitted to his room. He was still in bed. Every body
has heard of Byron's peevishness, when disturbed or intruded on. He
demanded my business in a petulant and offensive tone. I replied,
respectfully, that on the preceding day I loaned him a _silver_
pencil,--strongly emphasizing and repeating the word _silver_,--which,
I was grieved to say, he forgot to return. Byron reflected a moment,
and then declared he had restored it to me on the spot! I mildly but
firmly denied the fact; while his lordship as sturdily reasserted it.
In a short time, we were both in such a passion that Byron commanded
me to leave the room. I edged out of the apartment with the slow,
defying air of angry boyhood; but when I reached the door, I suddenly
turned, and looking at him with all the bitterness I felt for his
nation, called him, in French, "an English hog!" Till then our quarrel
had been waged in Italian. Hardly were the words out of my mouth when
his lordship leaped from the bed, and in the scantiest drapery
imaginable, seized me by the collar, inflicting such a shaking as I
would willingly have exchanged for a tertian ague from the Pontine
marshes. The sudden air-bath probably cooled his choler, for, in a few
moments, we found ourselves in a pacific explanation about the
luckless pencil. Hitherto I had not mentioned my uncle; but the moment
I stated the relationship, Byron became pacified and credited my
story. After searching his pockets once more ineffectually for the
lost _silver_, he presented me his own _gold_ pencil instead, and
requested me to say why I "cursed him _in French_?"

"My father was a Frenchman, my lord," said I.

"And your mother?"

"She is an Italian, sir."

"Ah! no wonder, then, you called me an 'English hog.' The hatred runs
in the blood; you could not help it."

After a moment's hesitation, he continued,--still pacing the apartment
in his night linen,--"You don't like the English, do you, my boy?"

"No," said I, "I don't."

"Why?" returned Byron, quietly.

"Because my father died fighting them," replied I.

"Then, youngster, you have _a right_ to hate them," said the poet, as
he put me gently out of the door, and locked it on the inside.

A week after, one of the porters of my uncle's warehouse offered to
sell, at an exorbitant price, what he called "Lord Byron's pencil,"
declaring that his lordship had presented it to him. My uncle was on
the eve of bargaining with the man, when he perceived his own initials
on the silver. In fact, it was my lost gift. Byron, in his
abstraction, had evidently mistaken the porter for myself; so the
servant was rewarded with a trifling gratuity, while my _virtuoso_
uncle took the liberty to appropriate the golden relic of Byron to
himself, and put me off with the humbler remembrance of his honored
name.

These, however, are episodes. Let us return once more to the Galatea
and her worthy commander.

Captain Towne retired to Salem after the hands were discharged, and
took me with him to reside in his family until he was ready for
another voyage. In looking back through the vista of a stormy and
adventurous life, my memory lights on no happier days than those spent
in this sea-faring emporium. Salem, in 1821, was my paradise. I
received more kindness, enjoyed more juvenile pleasures, and found
more affectionate hospitality in that comfortable city than I can well
describe. Every boy was my friend. No one laughed at my broken
English, but on the contrary, all seemed charmed by my foreign accent.
People thought proper to surround me with a sort of romantic mystery,
for, perhaps, there was a flavor of the dashing dare-devil in my
demeanor, which imparted influence over homelier companions. Besides
this, I soon got the reputation of a scholar. I was considered a
marvel in languages, inasmuch as I spoke French, Italian, Spanish,
English, and _professed_ a familiarity with Latin. I remember there
was a wag in Salem, who, determining one day to test my acquaintance
with the latter tongue, took me into a neighboring druggist's, where
there were some Latin volumes, and handed me one with the request to
translate a page, either verbally or on paper. Fortunately, the book
he produced was Æsop, whose fables had been so thoroughly studied by
me two years before, that I even knew some of them by heart. Still,
as I was not very well versed in the niceties of English, I thought it
prudent to make my version of the selected fable in French; and, as
there was a neighbor who knew the latter language perfectly, my
translation was soon rendered into English, and the proficiency of the
"Italian boy" conceded.

       *       *       *       *       *

I sailed during five years from Salem on voyages to various parts of
the world, always employing my leisure, while on shore and at sea, in
familiarizing myself minutely with the practical and scientific
details of the profession to which I designed devoting my life. I do
not mean to narrate the adventures of those early voyages, but I
cannot help setting down a single anecdote of that fresh and earnest
period, in order to illustrate the changes that time and
"_circumstances_" are said to work on human character.

In my second voyage to India, I was once on shore with the captain at
Quallahbattoo, in search of pepper, when a large _proa_, or Malay
canoe, arrived at the landing crammed with prisoners, from one of the
islands. The unfortunate victims were to be sold _as slaves_. They
were the _first slaves_ I had seen! As the human cargo was
disembarked, I observed one of the Malays dragging a handsome young
female by the hair along the beach. Cramped by long confinement in the
wet bottom of the canoe, the shrieking girl was unable to stand or
walk. My blood was up quickly. I ordered the brute to desist from his
cruelty; and, as he answered with a derisive laugh, I felled him to
the earth with a single blow of my boat-hook. This impetuous
vindication of humanity forced us to quit Quallahbattoo in great
haste; but, at the age of seventeen, my feelings in regard to slavery
were very different from what this narrative may disclose them to have
become in later days.

When my apprenticeship was over, I made two or three successful
voyages as mate, until--I am ashamed to say,--that a "disappointment"
caused me to forsake my employers, and to yield to the temptations of
reckless adventure. This sad and early blight overtook me at
Antwerp,--a port rather noted for the backslidings of young seamen.
My hard-earned pay soon diminished very sensibly, while I was
desperately in love with a Belgian beauty, who made a complete fool of
me--for at least three months! From Antwerp, I betook myself to Paris
to vent my second "disappointment." The pleasant capital of _la belle
France_ was a cup that I drained at a single draught. Few young men of
eighteen or twenty have lived faster. The gaming tables at Frascati's
and the Palais Royal finished my consumptive purse; and, leaving an
empty trunk as a recompense for my landlord, I took "French leave" one
fine morning, and hastened to sea.

The reader will do me the justice to believe that nothing but the
direst necessity compelled me to embark on board a _British_ vessel,
bound to Brazil. The captain and his wife who accompanied him, were
both stout, handsome Irish people, of equal age, but addicted to
fondness for strong and flavored drinks.

My introduction on board was signalized by the ceremonious bestowal
upon me of the key of the spirit-locker, with a strict injunction from
the commander to deny more than three glasses daily either to his wife
or himself. I hardly comprehended this singular order at first, but,
in a few days, I became aware of its propriety. About eleven o'clock
her ladyship generally approached when I was serving out the men's
ration of gin, and requested me to fill her tumbler. Of course, I
gallantly complied. When I returned from deck below with the bottle,
she again required a similar dose, which, with some reluctance, I
furnished. At dinner the dame drank _porter_, but passed off the gin
on her credulous husband as water. This system of deception continued
as long as the malt liquor lasted, so that her ladyship received and
swallowed daily a triple allowance of capital grog. Indeed, it is
quite astonishing what quantities of the article can sometimes be
swallowed by sea-faring _women_. The oddness of their appetite for the
cordials is not a little enhanced by the well-known aversion the sex
have to spirituous fluids, in every shape, on shore. Perhaps the salt
air may have something to do with the acquired relish; but, as I am
not composing an essay on temperance, I shall leave the discussion to
wiser physiologists.

My companions' indulgence illustrated another diversity between the
sexes, which I believe is historically true from the earliest records
to the present day. _The lady_ broke her rule, but _the captain_
adhered faithfully to his. Whilst on duty, the allotted three glasses
completed his potations. But when we reached Rio de Janeiro, and there
was no longer need of abstinence, save for the sake of propriety, both
my shipmates gave loose to their thirst and tempers. They drank,
quarrelled, and kissed, with more frequency and fervor than any
creatures it has been my lot to encounter throughout an adventurous
life. After we got the vessel into the inner harbor,--though not
without a mishap, owing to the captain's drunken stubbornness,--my
Irish friends resolved to take lodgings for a while on shore. For two
days they did not make their appearance; but toward the close of the
third, they returned, "fresh," as they said, "from the theatre." It
was very evident that the jolly god had been their companion; and, as
I was not a little scandalized by the conjugal scenes which usually
closed these frolics, I hastened to order tea under the awning on
deck, while I betook myself to a hammock which was slung on the main
boom. Just as I fell off into pleasant dreams, I was roused from my
nap by a prelude to the opera. Madame gave her lord the lie direct. A
loaf of bread, discharged against her head across the table, was his
reply. Not content with this harmless demonstration of rage, he seized
the four corners of the table-cloth, and gathering the tea-things and
food in the sack, threw the whole overboard into the bay. In a flash,
the tigress fastened on his scanty locks with one hand, while, with
the other, she pummelled his eyes and nose. Badly used as he was, I
must confess that the captain proved too generous to retaliate on that
portion of his spouse where female charms are most bewitching and
visible; still, I am much mistaken if the sound spanking she received
did not elsewhere leave marks of physical vigor that would have been
creditable to a pugilist.

It was remarkable that these human tornados were as violent and brief
as those which scourge tropical lands as well as tropical characters.
In a quarter of an hour there was a dead calm. The silence of the
night, on those still and star-lit waters, was only broken by a sort
of chirrup, that might have been mistaken for a cricket, but which I
think was _a kiss_. Indeed, I was rapidly going off again to sleep,
when I was called to give the key of the spirit-locker,--a glorious
resource that never failed as a solemn seal of reconciliation and
bliss.

Next morning, before I awoke, the captain went ashore, and when his
wife, at breakfast, inquired my knowledge of the night's affray, my
gallantry forced me to confess that I was one of the soundest sleepers
on earth or water, and, moreover, that I was surprised to learn there
had been the least difference between such happy partners. In spite of
my simplicity, the lady insisted on confiding her griefs, with the
assurance that she would not have been half so angry had not her
spouse foolishly thrown her silver spoons into the sea, with the bread
and butter. She grew quite eloquent on the pleasures of married life,
and told me of many a similar reproof she had been forced to give her
husband during their voyages. It did him good, she said, and kept him
wholesome. In fact, she hoped, that if ever I married, I would have
the luck to win a guardian like herself. Of course, I was again most
gallantly silent. Still, I could not help reserving a decision as to
the merits of matrimony; for present appearances certainly did not
demonstrate the bliss I had so often read and heard of. At any rate, I
resolved, that if ever I ventured upon a trial of love, it should, at
least, in the first instance, be love _without_ liquor!

On our return to Europe we called at Dover for orders, and found that
Antwerp was our destination. We made sail at sunset, but as the wind
was adverse and the weather boisterous, we anchored for two days in
the Downs. At length, during a lull of the gale, we sailed for the
mouth of the Scheldt; but, as we approached the coast of Holland, the
wind became light and baffling, so that we were unable to enter the
river. We had not taken a pilot at Ramsgate, being confident of
obtaining one off Flushing. At sundown, the storm again arose in all
its fury from the north-west; but all attempts to put back to England
were unavailing, for we dared not show a rag of sail before the
howling tempest. It was, indeed, a fearful night of wind, hail,
darkness, and anxiety. At two o'clock in the morning, we suddenly
grounded on one of the numerous banks off Flushing. Hardly had we
struck when the sea made a clean sweep over us, covering the decks
with sand, and snapping the spars like pipe-stems. The captain was
killed instantly by the fall of a top-gallant yard, which crushed his
skull; while the sailors, who in such moments seem possessed by utter
recklessness, broke into the spirit-room and drank to excess. For
awhile I had some hope that the stanchness of our vessel's hull might
enable us to cling to her till daylight, but she speedily bilged and
began to fill.

After this it would have been madness to linger. The boats were still
safe. The long one was quickly filled by the crew, under the command
of the second mate--who threw an anker of gin into the craft before he
leaped aboard,--while I reserved the jolly-boat for myself, the
captain's widow, the cook, and the steward. The long-boat was never
heard of.

All night long that dreadful nor'wester howled along and lashed the
narrow sea between England and the Continent; yet I kept our frail
skiff before it, hoping, at daylight, to descry the lowlands of
Belgium. The heart-broken woman rested motionless in the stern-sheets.
We covered her with all the available garments, and, even in the midst
of our own griefs, could not help feeling that the suddenness of her
double desolation had made her perfectly unconscious of our dreary
surroundings.

Shortly after eight o'clock a cry of joy announced the sight of land
within a short distance. The villagers of Bragden, who soon descried
us, hastened to the beach, and rushing knee deep into the water,
signalled that the shore was safe after passing the surf. The sea was
churned by the storm into a perfect foam. Breakers roared, gathered,
and poured along like avalanches. Still, there was no hope for us but
in passing the line of these angry sentinels. Accordingly, I watched
the swell, and pulling firmly, bow on, into the first of the breakers,
we spun with such arrowy swiftness across the intervening space, that
I recollect nothing until we were clasped in the arms of the brawny
Belgians on the beach.

But, alas! the poor widow was no more. I cannot imagine when she died.
During the four hours of our passage from the wreck to land, her head
rested on my lap; yet no spasm of pain or convulsion marked the moment
of her departure.

That night the parish priest buried the unfortunate lady, and
afterwards carried round a plate, asking alms,--not for masses to
insure the repose of her soul,--but to defray the expenses of _the
living_ to Ostend.




CHAPTER III.


I had no time or temper to be idle. In a week, I was on board a Dutch
galliot, bound to Havana; but I soon perceived that I was again under
the command of two captains--male and female. The regular master
superintended the navigation, while the _bloomer_ controlled the whole
of us. Indeed, the dame was the actual owner of the craft, and, from
skipper to cabin-boy, governed not only our actions but our stomachs.
I know not whether it was piety or economy that swayed her soul, but I
never met a person who was so rigid as this lady in the observance of
the church calendar, especially whenever a day of abstinence allowed
her to deprive us of our beef. Nothing but my destitution compelled me
to ship in this craft; still, to say the truth, I had well-nigh given
up all idea of returning to the United States, and determined to
engage in any adventurous expedition that my profession offered. In
1824, it will be remembered, Mexico, the Spanish main, Peru, and the
Pacific coasts, were renowned for the fortunes they bestowed on
enterprise; and, as the galliot was bound to Havana, I hailed her as a
sort of floating bridge to my EL DORADO.

On the seventh night after our departure, while beating out of the bay
of Biscay with a six-knot breeze, in a clear moonlight, we ran foul of
a vessel which approached us on the opposite tack. Whence she sprang
no one could tell. In an instant, she appeared and was on us with a
dreadful concussion. Every man was prostrated on deck and all our
masts were carried away. From the other vessel we heard shrieks and a
cry of despair; but the ill-omened miscreant disappeared as rapidly as
she approached, and left us floating a helpless log, on a sea
proverbial for storms.

We contrived, however, to reach the port of Ferrol, in Spain, where we
were detained four months, in consequence of the difficulty of
obtaining the materials for repairs, notwithstanding this place is
considered the best and largest ship-yard of Castile.

It was at Ferrol that I met with a singular adventure, which was
well-nigh depriving me of my personal identity, as Peter Schlemhil was
deprived of his shadow. I went one afternoon in my boat to the other
side of the harbor to obtain some pieces of leather from a tannery,
and, having completed my purchase, was lounging slowly towards the
quay, when I stopped at a house for a drink of water. I was handed a
tumbler by the trim-built, black-eyed girl, who stood in the doorway,
and whose rosy lips and sparkling eyes were more the sources of my
thirst than the water; but, while I was drinking, the damsel ran into
the dwelling, and hastily returned with her mother and another sister,
who stared at me a moment without saying a word, and simultaneously
fell upon my neck, smothering my lips and cheeks with repeated kisses!

"_Oh! mi querido hijo_," said the mother.

"_Carissimo Antonio_," sobbed the daughter.

"_Mi hermano!_" exclaimed her sister.

"Dear son, dear Antonio, dear brother! Come into the house; where have
you been? Your grandmother is dying to see you once more! Don't delay
an instant, but come in without a word! _Por dios!_ that we should
have caught you at last, and in such a way: _Ave Maria! madrecita,
aqui viene Antonito!_"

In the midst of all these exclamations, embraces, fondlings, and
kisses, it may easily be imagined that I stood staring about me with
wide eyes and mouth, and half-drained tumbler in hand, like one in a
dream. I asked no questions, but as the dame was buxom, and the girls
were fresh, I kissed in return, and followed unreluctantly as they
half dragged, half carried me into their domicil. On the door-sill of
the inner apartment I found myself locked in the skinny arms of a
brown and withered crone, who was said to be my grandmother, and, of
course, my youthful _moustache_ was properly bedewed with the moisture
of her toothless mouth.

As soon as I was seated, I took the liberty to say,--though without
any protest against this charming assault,--that I fancied there might
possibly be some mistake; but I was quickly silenced. My _madrecita_
declared at once, and in the presence of my four shipmates, that, six
years before, I left her on my first voyage in a Dutch vessel; that my
_querido padre_, had gone to bliss two years after my departure; and,
accordingly, that now, I, Antonio Gomez y Carrasco, was the only
surviving male of the family, and, of course, would never more quit
either her, my darling sisters, or the old _pobrecita_, our
grandmother. This florid explanation was immediately closed like the
pleasant air of an opera by a new chorus of kisses, nor can there be
any doubt that I responded to the embraces of my sweet _hermanas_ with
the most gratifying fraternity.

Our charming _quartette_ lasted in all its harmony for half an hour,
during which volley after volley of family secrets was discharged into
my eager ears. So rapid was the talk, and so quickly was its thread
taken up and spun out by each of the three, that I had no opportunity
to interpose. At length, however, in a momentary lull and in a jocular
manner,--but in rather bad Spanish,--I ventured to ask my loving and
talkative mamma, "what amount of property my worthy father had deemed
proper to leave on earth _for his son_ when he took his departure to
rest _con Dios_?" I thought it possible that this agreeable drama was
a Spanish joke, got up _al' improvista_, and that I might end it by
exploding the dangerous mine of money: besides this, it was growing
late, and my return to the galliot was imperative.

But alas! my question brought tears in an instant into my mother's
eyes, and I saw that the scene was _not_ a jest. Accordingly, I
hastened, in all seriousness, to explain and insist on their error. I
protested with all the force of my Franco-Italian nature and Spanish
rhetoric, against the assumed relationship. But all was unavailing;
they argued and persisted; they brought in the neighbors; lots of old
women and old men, with rusty cloaks or shawls, with cigars or
_cigarillos_ in mouth, formed a jury of inquest; so that, in the end,
there was an unanimous verdict in favor of my Galician nativity!

Finding matters had indeed taken so serious a turn, and knowing the
impossibility of eradicating an impression from the female mind when
it becomes imbedded with go much apparent conviction, I resolved to
yield; and, assuming the manner of a penitent prodigal, I kissed the
girls, embraced my mother, passed my head over both shoulders of my
grand-dame, and promised my progenitors a visit next day.

As I did not keep my word, and two suns descended without my return,
the imaginary "mother" applied to the ministers of law to enforce her
rights over the truant boy. The _Alcalde_, after hearing my story,
dismissed the claim; but my dissatisfied relatives summoned me, on
appeal, before the governor of the district, nor was it without
infinite difficulty that I at last succeeded in shaking off their
annoying consanguinity.

I have always been at a loss to account for this queer mistake. It is
true that my father was in Spain with the French army during
Napoleon's invasion, but that excellent gentleman was a faithful
spouse as well as valiant soldier, and I do not remember that he ever
sojourned in the pleasant port of Ferrol!

       *       *       *       *       *

At length, we sailed for Havana, and nothing of importance occurred to
break the monotony of our hot and sweltering voyage, save a sudden
flurry of jealousy on the part of the captain, who imagined I made an
attempt to conquer the pious and economical heart of his wife! In
truth, nothing was further from my mind or taste than such an
enterprise; but as the demon had complete possession of him, and his
passion was stimulated by the lies of a cabin-boy, I was forced to
undergo an inquisitorial examination, which I resisted manfully but
fruitlessly. The Bloomer-dame, who knew her man, assumed such an air
of outraged innocence and calumniated virtue, interlarded with sobs,
tears, and hysterics, that her perplexed husband was quite at his
wit's end, but terminated the scene by abruptly ordering me to my
state-room.

This was at nightfall. I left the cabin willingly but with great
mortification; yet the surly pair eyed each other with so much anger
that I had some fear for the _denouement_. I know not what passed
during the silent watches of that night; but doubtless woman's
witchcraft had much to do in pouring oil on the seared heart of the
skipper. At daylight he emerged from his cabin with orders to have the
tell-tale cabin-boy soundly thrashed; and, when Madame mounted the
deck, I saw at a glance that her influence was completely restored.
Nor was I neglected in this round of reconciliation. In the course of
the day, I was requested to resume my duty on board, but I stubbornly
refused. Indeed, my denial caused the captain great uneasiness, for he
was a miserable navigator, and, now that we approached the Bahamas, my
services were chiefly requisite. The jealous scamp was urgent in
desiring me to forget the past and resume duty; still I declined,
especially as his wife informed me in private that there would perhaps
be peril in my compliance.

The day after we passed the "Hole in the Wall" and steered for Salt
Key, we obtained no meridian observation, and no one on board, except
myself, was capable of taking a lunar, which in our position, among
unknown keys and currents, was of the greatest value. I knew this
troubled the skipper, yet, after his wife's significant warning, I did
not think it wise to resume my functions. Nevertheless, I secretly
made calculations and watched the vessel's course. Another day went by
without a noontide observation; but, at midnight, I furtively obtained
a lunar, by the result of which I found we were drifting close to the
Cuba reefs, about five miles from the CRUZ DEL PADRE.

As soon as I was sure of my calculation and sensible of imminent
danger, I did not hesitate to order the second officer,--whose watch
it was,--to call all hands and tack ship. At the same time, I
directed the helmsman to luff the galliot close into the wind's eye.

But the new mate, proud of his command, refused to obey until the
captain was informed; nor would he call that officer, inasmuch as no
danger was visible ahead on the allotted course. But time was
precious. Delay would lose us. As I felt confident of my opinion, I
turned abruptly from the disobedient mariners, and letting go the main
brace, brought the vessel to with the topsail aback. Quickly, then, I
ordered the watch as it rushed aft, to clew up the mainsail;--but
alas! no one would obey; and, in the fracas, the captain, who rushed
on deck ignorant of the facts or danger, ordered me back to my
state-room with curses for my interference in his skilful navigation.

With a shrug of my shoulders, I obeyed. Remonstrance was useless. For
twenty minutes the galliot cleft the waters on her old course, when
the look-out screamed: "Hard up!--rocks and breakers dead ahead!"

"Put down the helm!" yelled the confused second mate;--but the galliot
lost her headway, and, taken aback, shaved the edge of a foam-covered
rock, dropping astern on a reef with seven feet water around her.

All was consternation;--sails flapping; breakers roaring; ropes
snapping and beating; masts creaking; hull thumping; men shouting! The
captain and his wife were on deck in the wink of an eye. Every one
issued an order and no one obeyed. At last, _the lady_ shouted--"let
go the anchor!"--the worst command that could be given,--and down went
the best bower and the second anchor, while the vessel swung round,
and dashed flat on both of them. No one seemed to think of clewing up
the sails, and thereby lessening the impetuous surges of the
unfortunate galliot.

Our sad mishap occurred about one o'clock in the morning. Fortunately
there was not much wind and the sea was tolerably calm, so that we
could recognize, and, in some degree, control our situation;--yet,
every thing on board appeared given over to Batavian stupidity and
panic.

My own feelings may be understood by those who have calmly passed
through danger, while they beheld their companions unmanned by fear or
lack of coolness. There was no use of my interference, for no one
would heed me. At last the captain's wife, who was probably the most
collected individual on board, called my name loudly, and in the
presence of officers and crew, who, by this time were generally
crowded on the quarter-deck, entreated me to save her ship!

Of course, I sprang to duty. Every sail was clewed up, while the
anchors were weighed to prevent our thumping on them. I next ordered
the boats to be lowered; and, taking a crew in one, directed the
captain to embark in another to seek an escape from our perilous trap.
At daylight, we ascertained that we had crossed the edge of the reef
at high water, yet it would be useless to attempt to force her back,
as she was already half a foot buried in the soft and mushy
outcroppings of coral.

Soon after sunrise, we beheld, at no great distance, one of those low
sandy keys which are so well-known to West Indian navigators; while,
further in the distance, loomed up the blue and beautiful outline of
the highlands of Cuba. The sea was not much ruffled by swell or waves;
but as we gazed at the key, which we supposed deserted, we saw a boat
suddenly shoot from behind one of its points and approach our wreck.
The visitors were five in number; their trim, beautiful boat was
completely furnished with fishing implements, and four of the hands
spoke Spanish only, while the _patron_, or master, addressed us in
French. The whole crew were dressed in flannel shirts, the skirts of
which were belted by a leather strap over their trowsers, and when the
wind suddenly dashed the flannel aside, I saw they had long knives
concealed beneath it.

The _patron_ of these fellows offered to aid us in lightening the
galliot and depositing the cargo on the key; where, he said, there was
a hut in which he would guarantee the safety of our merchandise until,
at the full of the moon, we could float the vessel from the reef. He
offered, moreover, to pilot us out of harm's way; and, for all his
services in salvage, we were to pay him a thousand dollars.

While the master was busy making terms, his companions were rummaging
the galliot in order to ascertain our cargo and armament. It was
finally agreed by the captain and his petticoat commodore, that if, by
evening and the return of tide, our galliot would not float, we would
accept the wreckers' offer; and, accordingly, I was ordered to inform
them of the resolution.

As soon as I stated our assent, the _patron_, suddenly assumed an air
of deliberation, and insisted that the money should be paid in hard
cash on the spot, and not by drafts on Havana, as originally required.
I thought the demand a significant one, and hoped the joint partners
would neither yield nor admit their ability to do so; but,
unfortunately, they assented at once. The nod and wink I saw the
_patron_ immediately bestow on one of his companions, satisfied me of
the imprudence of the concession and the justice of my suspicions.

The fishermen departed to try their luck on the sea, promising to be
back at sunset, on their way to the island. We spent the day in
fruitless efforts to relieve the galliot or to find a channel, so that
when the Spaniards returned in the afternoon with a rather careless
reiteration of their proposal, our captain, with some eagerness, made
his final arrangements for the cargo's discharge early next morning.
Our skipper had visited the key in the course of the day, and finding
the place of deposit apparently safe, and every thing else seemingly
honest, he was anxious that the night might pass in order that the
disembarkation might begin.

The calm quiet of that tropic season soon wore away, and, when I
looked landward, at day-dawn, I perceived two strange boats at anchor
near the key. As this gave me some uneasiness, I mentioned it to the
captain and his wife, but they laughed at my suspicions. After an
early meal we began to discharge our heaviest cargo with the
fishermen's aid, yet we made little progress towards completion by the
afternoon. At sunset, accounts were compared, and finding a
considerable difference _in favor_ of the wreckers, I was dispatched
ashore to ascertain the error. At the landing I was greeted by several
new faces. I particularly observed a Frenchman whom I had not noticed
before. He addressed me with a courteous offer of refreshments. His
manners and language were evidently those of an educated person, while
his figure and physiognomy indicated aristocratic habits or birth, yet
his features and complexion bore the strong imprint of that premature
old age which always marks a dissipated career.

After a delightful chat in my mother-tongue with the pleasant
stranger, he invited me to spend the night on shore. I declined
politely, and, having rectified the cargo's error, was preparing to
re-embark, when the Frenchman once more approached and insisted on my
remaining. I again declined, asserting that duty forbade my absence.
He then remarked that orders had been left by my countryman the
_patron_ to detain me; but if I was so obstinate as to go, _I might
probably regret it_.

With a laugh, I stepped into my boat, and on reaching the galliot,
learned that our skipper had imprudently avowed the rich nature of our
cargo.

Before leaving the vessel that night, the _patron_ took me aside, and
inquired whether I received the invitation to pass the night on the
key, and why I had not accepted it? To my great astonishment, he
addressed me in pure Italian; and when I expressed gratitude for his
offer, he beset me with questions about my country, my parents, my
age, my objects in life, and my prospects. Once or twice he threw in
the ejaculation of, "poor boy! poor boy!" As he stepped over the
taffrail to enter his boat, I offered my hand, which he first
attempted to take,--then suddenly stopping, rejected the grasp, and,
with an abrupt--"_No! addio!_" he spun away in his boat from the
galliot's side.

I could not help putting these things together in my mind during the
glowing twilight. I felt as if walking in a cold shadow; an
unconquerable sense of impending danger oppressed me. I tried to
relieve myself by discussing the signs with the captain, but the
phlegmatic Hollander only scoffed at my suspicions, and bade me sleep
off my nervousness.

When I set the first night watch, I took good care to place every case
containing valuables _below_, and to order the look-out to call all
hands at the first appearance or sound of a boat. Had we been provided
with arms, I would have equipped the crew with weapons of defence,
but, unluckily, there was not on board even a rusty firelock or sabre.

       *       *       *       *       *

How wondrously calm was all nature that night! Not a breath of air, or
a ripple on the water! The sky was brilliant with stars, as if the
firmament were strewn with silver dust. The full moon, with its
glowing disc, hung some fifteen or twenty degrees above the horizon.
The intense stillness weighed upon my tired limbs and eyes, while I
leaned with my elbows on the taffrail, watching the roll of the vessel
as she swung lazily from side to side on the long and weary swell.
Every body but the watch had retired, and I, too, went to my
state-room in hope of burying my sorrows in sleep. But the calm night
near the land had so completely filled my berth with annoying insects,
that I was obliged to decamp and take refuge in the stay-sail netting,
where, wrapped in the cool canvas, I was at rest in quicker time than
I have taken to tell it.

Notwithstanding my nervous apprehension, a sleep more like the torpor
of lethargy than natural slumber, fell on me at once. I neither
stirred nor heard any thing till near two o'clock, when a piercing
shriek from the deck aroused me. The moon had set, but there was light
enough to show the decks abaft filled with men, though I could
distinguish neither their persons nor movements. Cries of appeal, and
moans as of wounded or dying, constantly reached me. I roused myself
as well and quickly as I could from the oppression of my deathlike
sleep, and tried to shake off the nightmare. The effort assured me
that it was reality and not a dream! In an instant, that presence of
mind which has seldom deserted me, suggested escape. I seized the
gasket, and dropping by aid of it as softly as I could in the water,
struck out for shore. It was time. My plunge into the sea,
notwithstanding its caution, had made some noise, and a rough voice
called in Spanish to return or I would be shot.

When I began to go to sea, I took pains to become a good swimmer, and
my acquired skill served well on this occasion. As soon as the voice
ceased from the deck, I lay still on the water until I saw a flash
from the bow of the _galliot_, to which I immediately made a
complaisant bow by diving deeply. This operation I repeated several
times, till I was lost in the distant darkness; nor can I pride myself
much on my address in escaping the musket balls, as I have since had
my own aim similarly eluded by many a harmless duck.

After swimming about ten minutes, I threw myself on my back to rest
and "take a fresh departure." It was so dark that I could not see the
key, yet, as I still discerned the galliot's masts relieved against
the sky, I was enabled by that beacon to steer my way landward. Naked,
with the exception of trowsers, I had but little difficulty in
swimming, so that in less than half an hour, I touched the key, and
immediately sought concealment in a thick growth of mangroves.

I had not been five minutes in this dismal jungle, when such a swarm
of mosquitoes beset me, that I was forced to hurry to the beach and
plunge into the water. In this way was I tormented the whole night. At
dawn, I retreated once more to the bushes; and climbing the highest
tree I found,--whose altitude, however, was not more than twelve feet
above the sand,--I beheld, across the calm sea, the dismantled hull of
my late home, surrounded by a crowd of boats, which were rapidly
filling with plundered merchandise. It was evident that we had fallen
a prey to pirates; yet I could not imagine why _I_ had been singled
from this scene of butchery, to receive the marks of anxious sympathy
that were manifested by the _patron_ and his French companion on the
key. All the morning I continued in my comfortless position, watching
their movements,--occasionally refreshing my parched lips by chewing
the bitter berries of the thicket. Daylight, with its heat, was as
intolerable as night, with its venom. The tropical sun and the glaring
reflection from a waveless sea, poured through the calm atmosphere
upon my naked flesh, like boiling oil. My thirst was intense. As the
afternoon wore away, I observed several boats tow the lightened hull
of our galliot south-east of the key till it disappeared behind a
point of the island. Up to that moment, my manhood had not forsaken
me; but, as the last timber of my vessel was lost to sight, nature
resumed its dominion. Every hope of seeing my old companions was gone;
I was utterly alone. If this narrative were designed to be a
sentimental confession, the reader might see unveiled the ghastly
spectacle of a "troubled conscience," nor am I ashamed to say that no
consolation cheered my desolate heart, till I prayed to my Maker that
the loss of so many lives might not be imputed to the wilful malice of
a proud and stubborn nature.




CHAPTER IV.


So passed the day. As the sun sank is the west, I began to reflect
about obtaining the rest for mind and body I so much needed. My system
was almost exhausted by want of food and water, while the dreadful
tragedy of the preceding night shattered my nerves far more than they
ever suffered amid the trying scenes I have passed through since. It
was my _first_ adventure of peril and of blood; and my soul shrank
with the natural recoil that virtue experiences in its earliest
encounter with flagrant crime.

In order to escape the incessant torment of insects, I had just
determined to bury my naked body in the sand, and to cover my head
with the only garment I possessed, when I heard a noise in the
neighboring bushes, and perceived a large and savage dog rushing
rapidly from side to side, with his nose to the ground, evidently in
search of game or prey. I could not mistake the nature of his hunt.
With the agility of a harlequin, I sprang to my friendly perch just in
time to save myself from his fangs. The foiled and ferocious beast,
yelling with rage, gave an alarm which was quickly responded to by
other dogs, three of which--followed by two armed men--promptly made
their appearance beneath my tree. The hunters were not surprised at
finding me, as, in truth, I was the game they sought. Ordering me
down, I was commanded to march slowly before them, and especially
warned to make no attempt at flight, as the bloodhounds would tear me
to pieces on the spot. I told my guard that I should of course
manifest no such folly as to attempt as escape from _caballeros_ like
themselves,--upon a desolate sand key half a mile wide,--especially
when my alternative refuge could only be found among the fish of the
sea. The self-possession and good humor with which I replied, seemed
somewhat to mollify the cross-grained savages, and we soon approached
a habitation, where I was ordered to sit down until the whole party
assembled. After a while, I was invited to join them in their evening
meal.

The piquant stew upon which we fed effectually loosened their tongues,
so that, in the course of conversation, I discovered my pursuers had
been in quest of me since early morning, though it was hardly believed
I had either escaped the shot, or swam fully a mile amid sharks during
the darkness. Upon this, I ventured to put some ordinary questions,
but was quickly informed that inquisitiveness was considered very
unwholesome on the sand keys about Cuba!

At sunset, the whole piratical community of the little isle was
assembled. It consisted of two parties, each headed by its respective
chief. Both gangs were apparently subject to the leadership of the
_rancho's_ proprietor; and in this man I recognized the _patron_ who
inquired so minutely about my biography and prospects. His companions
addressed him either as "El señor patron" or "Don Rafael." I was
surveyed very closely by the picturesque group of bandits, who retired
into the interior of the _rancho_,--a hut made of planks and sails
rescued from wrecks. My guard or sentinel consisted of but a single
vagabond, who amused himself by whetting a long knife on a hone, and
then trying its sharpness on a single hair and then on his finger.
Sometimes the scoundrel made a face at me, and drew the back of his
weapon across his throat.

The conversation within, which I felt satisfied involved my fate, was
a long one. I could distinctly overhear the murmuring roar of talk,
although I could not distinguish words. One sentence, however, did
not escape me, and its signification proved particularly
interesting:--"_Los muertos_," said the French dandy,--"_no
hablan_,"--Dead men tell no tales!

It is hard to imagine a situation more trying for a young, hearty, and
hopeful man. I was half naked; my skin was excoriated by the sun,
sand, and salt water; four bloodhounds were at my feet ready to fasten
on my throat at the bidding of a _desperado_; a piratical sentry,
knife in hand, kept watch over me, while a jury of _buccaneers_
discussed my fate within earshot. Dante's Inferno had hardly more
torments.

The _filibustero_ conclave lasted quite an hour without reaching a
conclusion. At length, after an unusual clamor, the _patron_ Rafael
rushed from the _rancho_ with a horseman's pistol, and, calling my
name, whirled me behind him in his strong and irresistible grasp. Then
facing both hands, with a terrible imprecation, he swore vengeance if
they persisted in requiring the death of HIS NEPHEW!

At the mention of the word "_nephew_," every one paused with a look of
surprise, and drawing near the excited man with expressions of
interest, agreed to respect his new-found relative, though they
insisted I should swear never to disclose the occurrence of which I
had been an unwilling witness. I complied with the condition
unhesitatingly, and shook hands with every one present except the
sentry, of whom I shall have occasion to speak hereafter.

It is astonishing what revulsions of manner, if not of feeling, take
place suddenly among the class of men with whom my lot had now been
cast. Ten minutes before, they were greedy for my blood, not on
account of personal malice, but from utter recklessness of life
whenever an individual interfered with their personal hopes or tenure
of existence. Each one of these outlaws now vied with his companions
in finding articles to cover my nakedness and make me comfortable. As
soon as I was clothed, supper was announced and I was given almost a
seat of honor at a table plentifully spread with fresh fish, sardines,
olives, ham, cheese, and an abundance of capital claret.

The chat naturally turned upon me, and some sly jokes were uttered at
the expense of Rafael, concerning the kinsman who had suddenly sprung
up like a mushroom out of this pool of blood.

"_Caballeros!_" interposed Rafael, passionately, "you seem inclined to
doubt my word. Perhaps you are no longer disposed to regard me as
your chief? We have broken bread together during four months; we have
shared the same dangers and divided our spoils fairly: am I _now_ to
be charged to my face with a lie?" "Ha!" said he, rising from the
table and striding through the apartment with violent gestures, "who
dares doubt my word, and impute to me the meanness of a lie? Are ye
drunk? Can this wine have made you mad?" and seizing a bottle, he
dashed it to the ground, stamping with rage. "Has the blood of last
night unsettled your nerves and made you delirious? _Basta! basta!_
Let me not hear another word of doubt as to this youth. The first who
utters a syllable of incredulity shall kill me on the spot or fall by
my hand!"

This sounds, I confess, very melo-dramatically, yet, my experience has
taught me that it is precisely a bold and dashing tone of bravado,
adopted at the right moment, which is always most successful among
_such_ ruffians as surrounded my preserver. The speech was delivered
with such genuine vehemence and resolution that no one could question
his sincerity or suppose him acting. But, as soon as he was done, the
leader of the other gang, who had been very unconcernedly smoking his
cigar, and apparently punctuating Don Rafael's oration with his little
puffs, advanced to my new uncle, and laying his hand on his arm,
said:--

"_Amigo_, you take a joke too seriously. No one here certainly desires
to harm the boy or disbelieve you. Take my advice,--calm yourself,
light a cigarillo, drink a tumbler of claret, and drop the subject."

But this process of pacification was too rapid for my excited uncle.
Men of his quality require to be let down gradually from their wrath,
for I have frequently noticed that when their object is too easily
gained, they interpose obstacles and start new subjects of
controversy, so that the most amiable and yielding temper may at last
become inflamed to passionate resistance.

"No, _caballeros_!" exclaimed Don Rafael, "I will neither light a
_cigarillo_, drink claret, calm myself, nor accept satisfaction for
this insult, short of the self-condemnation you will all experience
for a mean suspicion, when I _prove_ the truth of my assertions about
this boy. A doubted man has no business at the head of such fellows as
you are. Begone out of my hearing, Theodore," continued he, pointing
to the canvas door, "begone till I convince these people that I am
your uncle!"

As soon as I was out of the chamber, I afterwards learned, that Rafael
announced my name, place of birth, and parentage to the wreckers, and
desired the other _patron_, Mesclet, who spoke Italian, to follow and
interrogate me as to his accuracy.

Mesclet performed the service in a kind manner, opening the interview
by asking the names of my father and mother, and then demanding how
many uncles I had on my mother's side? My replies appeared
satisfactory.

"Was one of your uncles a navy officer?" inquired Mesclet, "and where
is he at present?" The only uncle I had in the navy, I declared, had
long been absent from his family. But once in my life had I seen him,
and that was while on his way to Marseilles, in 1815, to embark for
the Spanish main; since then no intelligence of the wanderer had
reached my ears. Had I been a French _scholar_ at that time, my
adventures of consanguinity at Ferrol and on this key might well have
brought Molière's satire to my mind:

    "De moi je commence à douter tout de bon;
    Pourtant, quand je me tâte et que je me rapelle,
    _Il me semble que je suis moi!_"

Mesclet's report gave perfect satisfaction to the scoffers, and the
mysterious drama at once established me in a position I could not have
attained even by desperate services to the _filibusteros_. A bumper,
all round, closed the night; and each slunk off to his cot or blanket
beneath a mosquito bar, while the bloodhounds were chained at the door
to do double duty as sentinels and body-guard.

I hope there are few who will deny me the justice to believe that when
I stretched my limbs on the hard couch assigned me that night, I
remembered my God in heaven, and my home in Tuscany. It was the first
night that an ingenuous youth had spent among outcasts, whose hands
were still reeking with the blood of his companions. At that period
of manhood we are grateful for the mere boon of _life_. It is pleasant
to live, to breathe, to have one's being, on this glorious earth, even
though that life may be cast among felons. There is still a _future_
before us; and Hope, the bright goddess of health and enthusiasm,
inspires our nerves with energy to conquer our present ills.

I threw myself down thankfully, but I could not rest. Sore and tired
as I was, I could not compose my mind to sleep. The conduct of Rafael
surprised me. I could not imagine how he became familiar with my
biography, nor could I identify his personal appearance with my uncle
who went so long before to South America. A thousand fancies jumbled
themselves in my brain, and, in their midst, I fell into slumber. Yet
my self-oblivion was broken and short. My pulse beat wildly, but my
skin did not indicate the heat of fever. The tragedy of the galliot
was reacted before me. Phantoms of the butchered wife and men,
streaming with blood, stood beside my bed, while a chorus of devils,
in the garb of sailors, shouted that _I_ was the cause of the
galliot's loss, and of their murder. Then the wretched woman would
hang round my neck, and crawl on my breast, besprinkling me with gore
that spouted from her eyeless sockets, imploring me to save
her;--till, shrieking and panting, I awoke from the horrible
nightmare. Such were the dreams that haunted my pillow nearly all the
time I was forced to remain with these desperadoes.

       *       *       *       *       *

I thanked God that the night of the tropics was so brief. The first
glimmer of light found me up, and as soon as I could find a companion
to control the hounds, I ran to the sea for refreshment by a glorious
surf-bath. I was on a miserable sandbar, whose surface was hardly
covered with soil; yet, in that prolific land of rain and sunshine,
nature seems only to require the slightest footing to assert her
magnificent power of vegetation. In spots, along the arid island, were
the most beautiful groves of abundant undergrowth, matted with
broad-leaved vines, while, within their shadow, the fresh herbage
sprang up, sparkling with morning dew. In those climates, the blaze of
noon is a season of oppressive languor, but morning and evening, with
their dawn and twilight,--their lengthened shadows and declining sun,
are draughts of beauty that have often intoxicated less enthusiastic
tempers than mine. The bath, the breeze, the renewed nature, aroused
and restored a degree of tone to my shattered nerves, so that when I
reached the _rancho_, I was ready for any duty that might be imposed.
The twin gangs had gone off in their boats soon after daylight, with
saws and axes; but Rafael left orders with my brutal sentry that I
should assist him in preparing breakfast, which was to be ready by
eleven o'clock.

I never knew the real patronymic of this fellow, who was a Spaniard,
and passed among us by the nickname of Gallego. Gallego possessed a
good figure,--symmetrical and strong, while it was lithe and active.
But his head and face were the most repulsive I ever encountered. The
fellow was not absolutely ugly, so far as mere contour of features was
concerned; but there was so dropsical a bloat in his cheeks, such a
stagnant sallowness in his complexion, such a watching scowl in his
eyes, such a drawling sullenness of speech, such sensuality in the
turn of his resolute lips, that I trembled to know he was to be my
daily companion. His dress and skin denoted slovenly habits, while a
rude and growling voice gave token of the bitter heart that kept the
enginery of the brute in motion.

With this wretch for _chef de cuisine_ I was exalted to the post of
"cook's mate."

       *       *       *       *       *

I found that a fire had been already kindled beneath some dwarf trees,
and that a kettle was set over it to boil. Gallego beckoned me to
follow him into a thicket some distance from the _rancho_, where,
beneath the protection of a large tarpaulin, we found _filibustero's_
pantry amply provided with butter, onions, spices, salt-fish, bacon,
lard, rice, coffee, wines, and all the requisites of comfortable
living. In the corners, strewn at random on the ground, I observed
spy-glasses, compasses, sea-charts, books, and a quantity of choice
cabin-furniture. We obtained a sufficiency of water for cookery and
drinking from holes dug in the sand, and we managed to cool the
beverage by suspending it in a draft of air in porous vessels, which
are known throughout the West Indies by the mischievous name of
"monkeys." Our copious thickets supplied us with fuel, nor were we
without a small, rough garden, in which the gang cultivated peppers,
tomatoes and mint. The premises being reviewed, I returned with my
ill-favored guard to take a lesson in piratical cookery.

It is astonishing how well these wandering vagabonds know how to toss
up a savory mess, and how admirably they understand its enjoyment. A
tickled palate is one of the great objects of their mere animal
existence, and they are generally prepared with a mate who might pass
muster in a second-rate restaurant. The _déjeuner_ we served of
codfish stewed in claret, snowy and granulated rice, delicious
tomatoes and fried ham, was irreproachable. Coffee had been drunk at
day-dawn; so that my comrades contented themselves during the meal
with liberal potations of claret, while they finished the morning with
brandy and cigars.

By two o'clock the breakfast was over, and most of the gorged scamps
had retired for a _siesta_ during the sweltering heat. A few of the
toughest took muskets and went to the beach to shoot gulls or sharks.
Gallego and myself were dispatched to our grove-kitchen to scullionize
our utensils; and, finally, being the youngest, I was intrusted with
the honorable duty of feeding the bloodhounds.

As soon as my duties were over, I was preparing to follow the
siesta-example of my betters, when I met Don Rafael coming out of the
door, and, without a word, was beckoned to follow towards the interior
of the island. When we reached a solitary spot, two or three hundred
yards from the _rancho_, Rafael drew me down beside him in the shade
of a tree, and said gently with a smile, that he supposed I was at
least _surprised_ by the events of the last four days. I must confess
that I saw little for any thing else but astonishment in them, and I
took the liberty to concede that fact to the Don.

"Well," continued he, "I have brought you here to explain a part of
the mystery, and especially to let you understand why it was that I
passed myself off last night as your uncle, in order to save your
life. I was obliged to do it, boy; and, _voto à Dios_! I would have
fought the _junta_,--bloodhounds and all,--before they should have
harmed a limb of your body!"

Don Rafael explained that as soon as he caught a glimpse of my face
when he boarded the _galliot_ on the morning of our disaster, he
recognized the lineaments of an old companion in arms. The resemblance
caused him to address me as particularly as he had done on the night
of the piracy, the consequence of which was that his suspicions
ripened into certainty.

If I were writing the story of Don Rafael's life, instead of my own,
I might give an interesting and instructive narrative, which
showed,--as he alleged,--how those potent controllers of
outlaws,--"circumstances,"--had changed him from a very respectable
soldier of fortune into a genuine buccaneer. He asserted that my
uncle had been his schoolmate and professional companion in the old
world. When the war of South American independence demanded the aid
of certain Dugald Dalgettys to help its fortune, Don Rafael and my
uncle had lent the revolutionists of Mexico their swords, for which
they were repaid in the coin that "patriots" commonly receive for
such amiable self-sacrifice. _Republics_ are proverbially ungrateful,
and Mexico, alas! was a republic.

After many a buffet of fortune, my poor uncle, it seems, perished in a
duel at which Don Rafael performed the professional part of "his
friend." My relation died, of course, like a "man of honor," and soon
after, Don Rafael, himself, fell a victim to the "circumstances"
which, in the end, enabled him to slaughter my shipmates and save my
life.

I must admit that I use this flippant tone with a twinge of sorrow,
for I think I perceived certain spasms of conscience during our
interview, which proved that, among the lees of that withered heart,
there were some rich drops of manhood ready to mantle his cheek with
shame at our surroundings. Indeed, as he disclosed his story, he
exhibited several outbursts of passionate agony which satisfied me
that if Don Rafael were in Paris, Don Rafael would have been a most
respectable _bourgeois_; while, doubtless, there were many estimable
citizens at that moment in Paris, who would have given up their shops
in order to become Don Rafaels in Cuba! Such is life--and
"circumstances!"

Our chat wasted a large portion of the afternoon. It was terminated by
a counsel from my friend to be wary in my deportment, and a direction
to console myself with the idea that he did not mean I should tarry
long upon the island.

"You see," said he, "that I do not lack force of eye, voice, and
personal influence over these ruffians; yet I do not know that I can
always serve or save a friend, so your fate hangs very much on your
circumspection. Men in our situation are Ishmaelites. Our hands are
not only against all, and all against us, but we do not know the
minute when we may be all against each other. The power of habitual
control may do much for a leader among such men; but such an one must
neither quail nor _deceive_. Therefore, _beware_! Let none of your
actions mar my projects. Let them never suspect the truth of our
consanguinity. Call me 'uncle;' and in my mouth you shall always be
'Theodore.' Ask no questions; be civil, cheerful, and serviceable
about the _rancho_; never establish an intimacy, confidence, or
friendship with any _one_ of the band; stifle your feelings and your
tears if you ever find them rising to your lips or eyes; talk as
little as you possibly can; avoid that smooth-tongued Frenchman; keep
away from our revels, and refrain entirely from wine.

"I charge you to be specially watchful of Gallego, the cook. He is our
man of dirty work,--a shameless coward, though revengeful as a cat. If
it shall ever happen that you come in collision with him, _strike
first and well_; no one cares for him; even his death will make no
stir. Take this _cuchillo_,--it is sharp and reliable; keep it near
you day and night; and, _in self-defence_, do not hesitate to make
good use of it. In a few days, I may say more to you; until
then,--_corragio figlio, è addio!_"

We returned to the _rancho_ by different paths.




CHAPTER V.


The life of men under the ban of society, on a desolate sand key,
whose only visitors are land-crabs and sea-gulls, is a dull and dreary
affair. The genuine pirate, properly equipped for a desperate lot, who
has his swift keel beneath him and is wafted wheresoever he lists on
canvas wings, encounters, it is true, an existence of peril; yet there
is something exhilarating and romantic in his dashing career of
incessant peril: he is ever on the wing, and ever amid novelty; there
is something about his life that smacks of genuine warfare, and his
existence becomes as much more respectable as the old-fashioned
highwayman on his mettlesome steed was superior to the sneaking
footpad, who leaped from behind a thicket and bade the unarmed
pedestrian stand and deliver. But the wrecker-pirate takes his victim
at a disadvantage, for he is not a genuine freebooter of the sea. He
shuns an able foe and strikes the crippled. Like the shark and the
eagle, he delights to prey on the carcass, rather than to strike the
living quarry.

The companionship into which misfortune had thrown me was precisely of
this character, and I gladly confess that I was never tempted for a
moment to bind up my fate with the sorry gang. I confided, it is true,
in Rafael's promise to liberate me; yet I never abandoned the hope of
escape by my own tact and energy.

Meanwhile, I became heartily tired of my scullion duties as the
subordinate of Gallego. Finding one day a chest of carpenters' tools
among the rubbish, I busied myself in making a rudder for one of the
boats, and so well did I succeed, that when my companions returned to
breakfast from their daily "fishing," my mechanical skill was lauded
to such a degree that Rafael converted the general enthusiasm to my
advantage by separating me from the cook. I was raised to the head of
our "naval bureau" as boatbuilder in chief. Indeed, it was admitted on
all hands that I was abler with the adze than the ladle and spoiled
fewer boards than broths.

A few days passed, during which I learned that our unfortunate galliot
was gradually emptied and destroyed. This was the usual morning
occupation of the whole gang until the enterprise ended. When the job
was over Don Rafael told me that he was about to depart hurriedly on
business with the whole company, to the mainland of Cuba, so that,
during his absence, the island and its property would be left in
custody of Gallego, myself, and the bloodhounds. He specially charged
the cook to keep sober, and to give a good account of himself at the
end of _five days_, which would terminate his absence.

But no sooner was the _patron_ away, than the lazy scamp neglected his
duties, skulked all day among the bushes, and refused even to furnish
my food or supply the dogs. Of course, I speedily attended to the
welfare of myself and the animals; but, at night, the surly Galician
came home, prepared his own supper, drank till he was completely
drunk, and retired without uttering a word.

I was glad that he yielded to the temptation of liquor, as I hoped he
would thereby become incapable of harming me during the watches of the
night, if weariness compelled me to sleep. He was a malignant wretch,
and his taciturnity and ill-will appeared so ominous now that I was
left utterly alone, that I resolved, if possible, to keep awake, and
not to trust to luck or liquor. The galliot's tragedy and anxiety
stood me in stead, so that I did not close my eyes in sleep the whole
of that dreary vigil. About midnight, Gallego stealthily approached my
cot, and pausing a moment to assure himself that I was in the profound
repose which I admirable feigned, he turned on tip-toe to the door of
our cabin, and disappeared with a large bundle in his hand. He did not
return until near day-dawn; and, next night, the same act was exactly
repeated.

The mysterious sullenness of this vagabond not only alarmed, but
increased my nervousness, for I can assure the reader that, on a
desolate island, without a companion but a single outcast, one would
rather hear the sound of that wretch's voice than be doomed to the
silence of such inhuman solitude. During the day he kept entirely
aloof,--generally at sea fishing,--affording me time for a long
_siesta_ in a nook near the shore, penetrated by a thorny path, which
Gallego could not have traced without hounds. On the fourth night,
when the pirate left our hut for his accustomed excursion, I resolved
to follow; and taking a pistol with renewed priming, I pursued his
steps at a safe distance, till I saw him enter a thick shrubbery, in
which he was lost. I marked the spot and returned to the cabin. Next
morning, after coffee, Gallego departed in his canoe to fish. I
watched him anxiously from the beach until he anchored about two miles
from the reef, and then calling the dogs, retraced my way to the
thicket. The hounds were of great service, for, having placed them on
the track, they instantly traced the path of the surly scoundrel.

After some trouble in passing the dense copse of underwood, I entered
a large patch of naked sand, broken by heaps of stones, which appeared
to cover graves. One heap bore the form of a cross, and was probably
the sepulchre of a wrecker. I stopped awhile and reflected as to
further explorations. On entering this arid graveyard, I observed a
number of land-crabs scamper away; but, after awhile, when I sat down
in a corner and became perfectly quiet, I noticed that the army
returned to the field and introduced themselves into all the heaps of
stones or graves _save one_. This struck me as singular; for, when
people are so hopelessly alone as I was, they become minute observers,
and derive infinite happiness from the consideration of the merest
trifles. Accordingly, I ventured close to the abandoned heap, and
found at once that the neighboring sand had been freshly smoothed. I
was on Gallego's track! In dread of detection, I stealthily climbed a
tree, and, screening myself behind the foliage, peered out towards the
sea till I beheld the cook at work beyond the reef. My musket and
pistols were again examined and found in order. With these
precautions, I began to remove the stones, taking care to mark their
relative positions so that I might replace them exactly; and, in about
ten minutes work at excavation, I came upon two barrels, one of which
was filled with bundles of silk, linens, and handkerchiefs, while the
other contained a chronometer, several pieces of valuable lace, and a
beautifully bound, gilt, and ornamented _Bible_. One bundle, tied in a
Madras handkerchief, particularly attracted my attention, for I
thought I recognized the covering. Within it I found a number of
trinkets belonging to the wife of my Dutch captain, and a large
hairpin, set with diamonds, which I remember she wore the last day of
her life. Had this wretch torn it from her head, as he imbrued his
hands in her blood on that terrible night? The painful revelation
brought all before me once more with appalling force. I shuddered and
became sick. Yet, I had no time for maudlin dalliance with my
feelings. Replacing every thing with precision, and smoothing the sand
once more with my flannel shirt, I returned to the _rancho_, where I
indulged in the boyish but honest outburst of nature which I could no
longer restrain. I was not then--and, thank God, I am not now--a
stranger to tears! To the world, the human heart and the human eye,
like the coral isle of the Atlantic, may be parched and withered; yet
beneath the seared and arid surface, the living water still flows and
gushes, when the rock and the heart alike are stricken!

       *       *       *       *       *

Just before sunset of this day, the deep baying of our hounds gave
notice of approaching strangers; and, soon after, four boats appeared
in the cove. The two foremost belonged to Don Rafael and his crew,
while the others were filled with strangers whose appearance was that
of landsmen rather than mariners. As Rafael received them on the
beach, he introduced them to me as his especial pets, the "AMPHIBIOUS
JEWS."

Our delicious supper of that night was augmented by a fine store of
beef, pork and fowls, brought from shore. I lingered at table as long
as the company maintained a decent sobriety, and learned that these
salt water Hebrews were, in truth, speculators from Cardenas, who
accompanied Rafael in the guise of fishermen, to purchase the
plundered cargo of my galliot.

During his visit to Cuba, Don Rafael was apprised that the Cuban
authorities were about sending an Inspector among the islands off the
coast, and accordingly took precaution to furnish himself in advance
with a regular "fishing license." All hands were forthwith set to work
to make our key and _rancho_ conform to this calling, and, in a few
days, the canvas roof of our hut was replaced by a thatch of leaves,
while every dangerous article or implement was concealed in the
thicket of a labyrinthine creek. In fact, our piscatory character
could not be doubted. In our persons and occupation, we looked as
innocent and rustic as a pic-nic party on a summer bivouac for fresh
air and salt bathing. Nor was the transformation less real in regard
to our daily tasks. We became, in reality, most industrious fishermen;
so that we had more than a thousand of the finny tribe piled up and
dried, when the hounds signalled the arrival of the expected
officials.

Breakfast was on the table when they landed, but it was the _banyan_
meal of humble men, whose nets were never filled with aught but the
_scaly_ products of the sea. Our inspector was regaled with a scant
fish-feast, and allowed to digest it over the genuine license. Rafael
complained sadly of hard times and poverty;--in fact, the drama of
humility was played to perfection, and, finally, the functionary
signed our license, with a certificate of our loyalty, and pocketed a
moderate "gratification" of _five ounces_!

       *       *       *       *       *

Six long, hot, and wretched weeks passed over my head before any
striking occurrence relieved the monotony of my life. During the whole
of this period, our fishing adventure was steadily pursued, when
information was mysteriously brought to the key that a richly-laden
French vessel had run ashore on the Cayo Verde, an islet some forty
miles east of the Cruz del Padre. That afternoon, both of our large
boats were filled with armed men, and, as they departed with _every_
wrecker aboard, I alone was left on the islet to guard our property
with the dogs.

The thought and hope of escape both swelled in my breast as I saw the
hulls dwindle to a dot and disappear behind the horizon. In a moment,
my plan was conceived and perfected. The sea was perfectly smooth, and
I was expert in the use of oars. That very night I launched our
canoe,--the only vessel left in the cove,--and placing the sail,
scullers, and grappling-hook within it, returned to the _rancho_ for
clothing. As it was dark, I lighted a candle, when, on looking into
the clothes-chest beneath my bed, I found inscribed on the lid, in
fresh chalk-marks, the words "PATIENCE! WAIT!"

This discovery made me pause in my preparations. Was it the
warning--as it was certainly the handwriting--of Rafael? Had he
purposely and honorably left me alone, in order to escape this scene
of blood? Did he anticipate my effort to fly, and endeavor to save me
from the double risk of crossing to the mainland, and of future
provision for my comfort? I could not doubt its being the work of my
friend; and, whether it was superstition or prudence, I cannot say,
but I resolved, unhesitatingly, to abandon a scheme in regard to which
I hesitated. Instead, therefore, of attempting to pass the strait
between the key and Cuba, I went to bed, and slept more comfortably in
my utter abandonment than I had done since I was on the island.

Next day, at noon, I descried a small pilot-boat sailing inside the
reef, with all the confidence of a perfect master of the channel. Two
persons speedily landed, with provisions from the mainland, and stated
that, on his last visit to Cuba, Don Rafael engaged them to take me to
Havana. This, however, was to be done with much caution, inasmuch as
his men would not assent to my departure until they had compromised my
life with theirs by some act of desperate guilt. The pilots declined
taking me then without my guardian's assent;--and, in truth, so fully
was I convinced of his intention to liberate me in the best and
speediest way, that I made up my mind to abide where I was till he
returned.

For three days more I was doomed to solitude. On the fourth, the
boats came back, with the pilot's cutter, and I quickly saw that a
serious encounter had taken place. The pilot-boat appeared to be
deeply laden. Next day, she was taken to the mazes of the winding and
wooded creek, where, I learned, the booty was disembarked and hidden.
While the party had gone to complete this portion of their enterprise,
the Frenchman, who was wounded in the head and remained behind, took
that opportunity to enlighten me on passing events. When the wreckers
reached Cayo Verde, they found the French vessel already taken
possession of by "fishermen" of that quarter. Anticipated in their
dirty work, our comrades were in no mood to be sociable with the
fortunate party. An affray was the natural result, in which knives had
been freely used, while Mesclet himself had been rescued by Rafael,
pistol in hand, after receiving the violent blow on his head from
which he was now suffering. Having secured a retreat to their boats,
they were just beginning to think of a rapid departure, when the
friendly pilot-boat hove in sight. So fortunate a reinforcement
renerved our gang. A plan of united action was quickly concerted. The
French vessel was again hoarded and carried. Two of the opposite party
were slain in the onslaught; and, finally, a rich remnant of the cargo
was seized, though the greater part of the valuables had, no doubt,
been previously dispatched ashore by the earlier band of desperadoes.

"Thank God!" added the narrator, "we have now the boat and the
assistance of Bachicha, who is as brave as Rafael: with his
'_Baltimore clipper_,' we shall conduct our affairs on a grander scale
than heretofore. _Sacre-bleu!_ we may now cruise under the Columbian
flag, and rob Peter to pay Paul!"

In fact, the "clipper" had brought down an ample store of ammunition,
under the innocent name of "provisions," while she carried in her
bowels a long six, which she was ready to mount amidships at a
moment's notice.

But poor Mesclet did not live to enjoy the fruits of the larger
piracy, which he hoped to carry on in a more elegant way with
Bachicha. The _roué_ could not be restrained from the favorite
beverages of his beautiful France. His wound soon mastered him; and,
in a month, all that was mortal of this gallant Gaul, who, in earlier
years, had figured in the best saloons of his country, rested among
sand-graves of a Cuban key.

"Ah!" growled Gallego, as they came home from his burial, "there is
one less to share our earnings; and, what is better, claret and brandy
will be more plentiful now that this sponge is under the sand!"

       *       *       *       *       *

In a few days, the boats were laden with fish for the mainland, in
order to cover the real object of our _patron's_ visit to Cuba, which
was to dispose of the booty. At his departure, he repeated the
cherished promise of liberty, and privately hinted that I had better
continue fishing on good terms with Señor Gallego.

It required some time to repair the nets, for they had been rather
neglected during our late fishing, so that it was not, in fact, until
Rafael had been three days gone that I took the canoe with Gallego,
and dropped anchor outside the reef, to take breakfast before
beginning our labor.

We had hardly begun a frugal meal when, suddenly, a large schooner
shot from behind a bend of the island, and steered in our direction.
As the surly Spaniard never spoke, I had become accustomed to be
equally silent. Unexpectedly, however, he gave a scowling glance from
beneath his shaggy brows at the vessel, and exclaimed with unusual
energy: "A Columbian privateer!"

"We had best up anchor, and get inside the reef," continued he, "or
our sport will be spoiled for the day."

"Pshaw!" returned I, "she's not making for us, and, even if she were,
I wouldn't be such a coward as to run!" Indeed, I had heard so much of
"Columbian privateers" and the patriot service, that I rather longed
to be captured, that I might try my hand at lawful war and glory. The
impulse was sudden and silly.

Still Gallego insisted on retreating; until, at length, we got into an
angry controversy, which the cook, who was in the bow of the boat,
attempted to end by cutting the anchor-rope. As he was drawing his
knife to execute this purpose, I swiftly lifted an oar, and, with a
single blow, laid him senseless in the bottom of the canoe. By this
time the schooner was within pistol-shot; and, as she passed with a
three-knot breeze, the captain, who had witnessed the scene, threw a
grappling-iron into our skiff, and taking us in tow, dragged the boat
from its moorings.

As soon as we got into deeper water, I was ordered on deck, while
Gallego, still quite insensible, was hoisted carefully on board. I
told the truth as to our dispute, reserving, however, the important
fact that I had been originally urged into the quarrel by my anxiety
"to ship" on board a privateer.

"I want a pilot for Key West," said the master, hurriedly, "and I have
no time to trifle with your stupid quarrels. Can either of you perform
this service?"

By this time Gallego had been somewhat roused from his stupor, and
pointing feebly towards me, uttered a languid:--"Yes, and an
_excellent_ one."

Mistaking the word "_pilote_," which in Spanish signifies "navigator,"
the French captain, who spoke the Castilian very badly, translated it
into the more limited meaning attached to that peculiar profession,
one of whose ministers he was anxious to secure.

"_Bon!_" said the master, "put the other fellow back into his skiff,
and make sail at once under charge of this youngster."

I remonstrated, protested, declaimed, swore, that I knew nothing of
Key West and its approaches; but all my efforts were vain. I was a
pilot in spite of myself.

The malicious cook enjoyed the joke of which I had so hastily become
the victim. As they lowered him again into the boat, he jeered at my
incredulity, and in ten minutes was towed to the edge of the reef,
where the scamp was turned adrift to make for the island.

When the schooner was once more under full sail, I was ordered to give
the course for Key West. I at once informed the captain, whose name I
understood to be Laminé, that he really labored under a mistake in
translating the Spanish word _pilote_ into _port guide_, and assured
him that Gallego had been prompted by a double desire to get rid of
him as well as me by fostering his pernicious error. I acknowledged
that I was a "_pilot_," or "navigator," though not a "_practico_," or
harbor-pilot; yet I urged that I could not, without absolute
foolhardiness, undertake to conduct his schooner into a port of which
I was utterly ignorant, and had never visited. Hereupon the first
lieutenant or mate interposed. This fellow was a short, stout-built
person of thirty-five, with reddish whiskers and hair, a
long-projecting under-jaw, and eye-teeth that jutted out like tusks.
To add to his ugliness, he was sadly pitted by small-pox, and waddled
about on short duck legs, which were altogether out of proportion to
his long body, immense arms, and broad, massive shoulders. I do not
remember a more vulgarly repulsive person than this privateering
lieutenant.

"He is a liar, Captain Laminé, and only wants to extort money for his
services," interjected the brute. "Leave him to me, sir; I'll find a
way to refresh his memory of Key West that will open the bottom of the
gulf to his eyes as clearly as the pathway to his piratical hut on the
sand key! To the helm, sir--to the helm!"

What possible object or result could I gain by resistance amid the
motley assemblage that surrounded me on the deck of the "CARA-BOBO?"
She was a craft of about 200 tons; and, with her crew of seventy-five,
composed of the scourings of all nations, castes, and colors, bore a
commission from the authorities of Carthagena to burn, sink and
destroy all Spanish property she was strong enough to capture. Laminé
was born in the isle of France, while Lasquetti, the lieutenant, was a
creole of Pensacola. The latter spoke French and Spanish quite well,
but very little English; while both master and mate were almost
entirely ignorant of navigation, having intrusted that task to the
third lieutenant, who was then ill with yellow fever. The second
lieutenant was absent on board a prize.

Thus forced to take charge of a privateer without a moment's warning,
I submitted with the best grace, and, calling for charts and
instruments, I shaped my way for the destined port. All day we steered
west-north-west, but at sunset, as we had run along smartly, I
ordered the schooner to be "laid to" for the night. The wind and
weather were both charmingly fair, and objections were of course made
to my command. But, as the most difficult part of our navigation was
to be encountered during the night, if I kept on my course, I resolved
to persist to the last in my resolution, and I was fortunate enough to
carry my point.

"D--n you," said Lasquetti, as the vessel was brought to the wind and
made snug for the night, "d--n you, Master Téodore; this laying-to
shall give _you_ no rest, at least, if you thought to dodge work, and
get into a hammock by means of it! You shall march the deck all night
to see that we don't drift on a reef, if I have to sit up, or stand up
till day-dawn to watch you!"

Obedience, alas! had been the order of the day with me for a long
while; so I promenaded the lee quarter till nearly midnight, when,
utterly exhausted by fatigue, I sat down on a long brass chaser, and
almost instantly fell asleep.

I know not how long I rested, but a tremendous shock knocked me from
the cannon and laid me flat on the deck, bleeding from mouth, nose and
ears. Lasquetti stood beside me, cigar in hand, laughing immoderately,
blaspheming like a demon, and kicking me in the ribs with his rough
wet-weather boots. He had detected me asleep, and touched off the gun
with his _havanna_!

The explosion aroused all hands, and brought the commander on deck. My
blood flowed, but it did not pour fast enough to relieve my agonizing
rage. As soon as I recovered consciousness, I seized the first heavy
implement I could grasp, and rushed at my aggressor, whose skull was
saved from the blow by descending beneath the combings of the
hatchway, which, the instant after, were shivered by the descent of my
heavy weapon. Laminé was a man of some sensibility, and, though
selfish, as usual with his set, could not avoid at once reprimanding
Lasquetti with uncommon severity in presence of his men.

That afternoon, I was fortunate enough, by the aid of a good chart,
and a sort of _navigating instinct_, to anchor the "Cara-bobo" in the
narrow harbor of Key West. When Laminé went ashore, he ordered me not
to leave the schooner, while sentries were placed to prevent boats
from boarding or even approaching us. Hardly was the master out of the
vessel before two men seized me as I looked at the shore through a
telescope. In the twinkling of an eye, I was hurried below and
double-ironed; nor would I have received a morsel of food save bread
and water during our detention, had I not been secretly fed by some
good fellows from the forecastle, who stole to me after dark with the
remnant of their rations. This was the cowardly revenge of Lasquetti.

On the third day, Laminé returned, bringing an American pilot for the
coast and islands. I was set at liberty as he was seen approaching;
and when we got under way on another cruise, I was commanded to do
duty as sailing-master, which I promptly refused with spirited
indignation, until I received satisfaction from the dastard
lieutenant. But this fellow had taken care to forestall me, by
assuring Laminé that he never dreamed of securing me until I was
caught in the very act of escaping from the schooner!

During a week's cruise of indifferent success with these "patriots," I
won the kind heart of the American pilot, who heard the story of my
late adventures with patience; and, through his influence with the
commander, my lot was mitigated, notwithstanding my refusal to do
duty. By this time, the third lieutenant was restored to sufficient
health to resume the deck. He was a native of Spain and a gallant
sailor. Many an hour did he pass beside me, recounting his adventures
or listening to mine, until I seemed to win his sympathy, and insure
his assistance for relief from this miserable tyranny.

At length, the schooner's course was shaped for the Cruz del Padre,
while I was summoned to the cabin. I perceived at once a singular
change for the better in Monsieur Laminé's manner. He requested me to
be seated; pressed me to accept a tumbler of claret; inquired about my
health, and ended this harmonious overture by saying, that if I would
sign a document exonerating him from all charges of compulsory
detention or ill-treatment, he would pay me two hundred dollars for
my service, and land me again on the key.

I promptly saw that his object in replacing me on the island was to
prevent my complaints against his conduct from reaching the ears of a
tribunal in a neutral port; and, accordingly, I declined the
proposition,--demanding, however, to be put on board of any vessel we
met, no matter what might be her nationality. I sternly refused his
money, and insisted that my only desire was to be free from his brutal
officer.

But Laminé was in power and I was not. In the end, I discovered that
worse consequences might befall me among these ruffians, if I
hesitated to take the recompense and sign the paper. In fact, I began
to be quite satisfied that, in reality, it was an _escape_ to be freed
from the privateer, even if I took refuge once more among pirates!

So, after a good deal of claret and controversy had been wasted, I
signed the document and pocketed the cash.

As the first bars of saffron streaked the east next morning, the reef
of the Cruz del Padre hove in sight dead ahead. The third lieutenant
presented me at my departure with a set of charts, a spy-glass, a
quadrant, and a large bag of clothes; while, in the breast of a rich
silk waistcoat, he concealed three ounces and a silver watch, which he
desired me to wear in honor of him, if ever I was fortunate enough to
tread the streets of Havana. Several of the white sailors also offered
me useful garments; and a black fellow, who had charge of the boat in
which I was sent ashore, forced on me two sovereigns, which he
considered a small gratuity to "_a countryman_" in distress. He hailed
from Marblehead, and protested that he knew me in Salem when I was a
lad.

As the boat approached the _rancho's_ cove, I perceived every body
under arms, and heard Don Rafael command my boatmen, in a loud,
imperious voice, to begone, or he would fire. Standing on the thwarts
of the boat, I ordered the oarsmen to back water, and leaping into the
sea, waist-deep, struggled alone to the beach, calling "mi tio! mi
tio!"--"_my uncle! Don Rafael!_"--who, recognizing my voice and
gestures, promptly rushed forward to embrace me. Our boat was then
allowed to approach the landing and disburthen itself of the gifts. I
thought it best to request my sable ally from Marblehead to narrate,
in as good Spanish or _lingua-franca_, as he could press into his
service, the whole story of my capture and the conduct of Gallego.
This being done, the boat and its crew were dispatched aboard with a
multitude of Spanish courtesies and the substantial gift of some
_Chateau Margaux_.

After an early supper, I became the lion of the evening, and was
requested to give a narrative of my cruise in the "patriot service." I
noticed that some of the gang looked on me askance with an incredulous
air, while others amused themselves by smoking and spitting in a very
contemptuous way whenever I reached what I conceived to be a thrilling
portion of my story. At its conclusion, I arose and deposited in the
hands of Don Rafael my gifts of two hundred dollars and the two
sovereigns. This evidence of reciprocity seemed to restore the good
temper of my impatient hearers, so that, by the time the _patron_ went
round the circle, giving each man his share of my earnings,--not even
omitting Gallego,--my credit was almost restored among the gang.

"As for these two pieces of gold, these charts, instruments and
clothes," said Don Rafael, "they are the property of the youth, and I
am sure none of you are mean enough to divide them. The money was
another thing. That was _his_ earning, as the 'fishing _revenue_' is
ours; and as he is entitled to a share of what _we_ gain, we are
entitled to participate in whatever _he_ wins. Yet, _amigos_, this is
not all. My nephew, _caballeros_, has been accused, by one of this
party, _during his absence_, of being not only a contemptible thief,
but a traitor and coward. Now, as these are three 'blasphemous
vituperations' which are not to be found under any head in my
prayer-book, and never were chargeable on the blood of our family, I
insist on immediate justice to my kinsman. Let that cowardly scoundrel
repeat and _prove_ his accusation of Téodore, face to face! You,
_señores_, shall stand judges. Every thing shall be fair. To-night, my
boy shall be found guilty or purged of the baseness imputed to him;
and, moreover, I apprise you now, that if he is innocent, I shall
to-morrow restore him to liberty. His voluntary return was a voucher
of honesty; and I doubt whether there is a clever man among you who
does not agree with me. Stand forth, Gallego, and charge this youth
again with the infamy you heaped on him while he was away."

But the sullen wretch bowed his head, with a hang-dog look, and rolled
his black and bushy skull slowly from side to side, with an air of
bullying defiance. Still he remained perfectly silent.

"Stand forth, Gallego, once more, I say!" shouted Don Rafael, stamping
with fury and foaming at the mouth; "stand forth, imp of the devil,
and make good your charge, or I'll trice you up to these rafters by
your thumbs, and lash you with a cow-hide till your stretched skin
peels off in ribbons!"

The threat restored Gallego's voice; but he could only say that there
was no use in repeating the charges, because the case was prejudged,
and all feared Don Rafael and his parasite to such a degree that it
was impossible to treat him with justice. "Yet, look ye, señores, if I
can't talk, I can fight. If Don Rafael is ready to meet me, knife in
hand, in support of my cause, why, all I have to say is, that I am
ready for him and his bastard to boot!"

In a moment, Rafael's knife was out of his belt, and the two sprang
forward in a death-struggle, which would doubtless have been a short
affair, had not the whole party interposed between the combatants and
forbidden the fight. In the hurly-burly, Gallego took to his heels and
departed.

The scoundrel's escape caused some alarm in the camp, as it was feared
he might leave the island, and, turning king's evidence, make the
waters of Cuba too hot for the band. Accordingly, all the canoes and
boats that night were drawn up on the beach and kept under double
watch.

When order was restored in the _rancho_, I asked Don Rafael to explain
the "three accusations" that had been made against my fair fame; when
I learned that I was charged by Gallego with having felled him in the
boat, with having shipped voluntarily in the privateer, and with
returning in the Cara-bobo's boats _to rob the rancho of its
valuables_!

The first of the allegations I admitted to be true; the second had
been disproved by the privateer's boatmen; and, as to the third, I at
once insisted upon the party's taking torches and accompanying me to
the graveyard, where, I told them, they would find--as, in truth, they
did--the valuables this villain had charged me with stealing. On our
way thither, I recounted the manner in which I detected his infamy.

Nest morning we divided into two parties, and taking the dogs,
proceeded in chase of the dastard Galician. He was quickly tracked by
the hounds and caught asleep, with two empty flasks beside him.

A drum-head court-martial at once convened for his trial, and it was
unanimously resolved to chain him to a tree, where he was to be left
exposed to the elements until he starved to death. The passive and
silent fit had again come over Gallego. I implored that the sentence
might be softened, but I was laughed at for my childish pity, and
ordered home to the _rancho_. The command to chain him having been
executed, the Spanish outcast was left to his terrible fate. One of
the men, out of compassion, as he said, secretly conveyed a case of
gin to the doomed man, and left it within reach, either to solace his
departure from the world, or to render him insensible. But his end was
speedy. Next morning the guard found him dead, with six empty bottles
out of the case. His body was denied the rites of sepulture. It was
left lying in chains as he perished, to rot in the sun and be devoured
by the insects generated from his decay.




CHAPTER VI.


When these dreadful scenes were over, Don Rafael took me aside with
the pleasant news that the time for my liberation was indeed arrived.
He handed me one hundred and twenty-five dollars, which wore my share
of the proceeds of our lawful fishing. "Take the money," said Rafael,
with a good deal of feeling; "take it, young man, with _perfect_
confidence;--_there is no blood on it!_"

My preparations for departure were quickly made, as Bachicha was in
the cove with his craft ready to take me to the mainland. I bade a
hasty adieu to the gang; and perhaps it is rare that any one ever
abandoned the companions of several months' intimacy with so little
pain. Rafael's solicitude for my character touched me. He had done all
in his power to preserve my self-respect, and I was, therefore, well
disposed to regard the good counsel he gave me at parting, and to
believe in his sincerity when he pictured a bright future, and
contrasted it with his own desolation and remorse.

"I have recommended you, _hijo mio_, to a friend in Regla, on the
opposite side of the harbor at Havana, who will take care of you. He
is a _paisano_ of ours. Take these additional ten ounces, which are
the fruit of honest labor. They will help you to appear properly in
Havana; so that, with the care of Bachicha and our Regla countryman, I
don't despair of your welfare. ADIOS! _para siempre!_"

And so we parted;--and it was, indeed, an adieu for ever. We never
met again, but I heard of Don Rafael and his fortunes. The new
enterprise with the pilot-boat turned out successfully, and the band
acquired considerable property on the island before the piratical
nests along the coast of Cuba were broken up by cruisers. Rafael had
some narrow escapes from the noose and the yard arm; but he eluded the
grasp of his pursuers, and died a respectable _ranchero_ on a
comfortable farm in the interior of the Queen of the Antilles.

       *       *       *       *       *

The light winds of summer soon brought us inside the Moro Castle, past
the frowning batteries of the Cabanas, and at anchor near Regla,
within the beautiful harbor of Havana. I shall never forget the
impression made on my mind by this delicious scene as it first broke
on my sight at sunrise, in all the cool freshness of morning. The
grand amphitheatre of hills swept down to the calm and lake-like water
with gentle slopes, lapped in the velvet robes of richest green, and
embroidered, as it were, with lace-like spots of castle, fort,
dwelling, and villa, until the seaward points were terminated on the
left, by the brilliant city, and on the right by a pile of majestic
batteries.

This grand and lasting impression was made almost at a glance, for,
at my time of life, I was more concerned with man than nature, and
rarely paused to dwell on the most fascinating scenery. Accordingly,
I hastened to Regla with my letter of introduction, which was
_interpreted_ by Bachicha to the Italian grocer, the friend of
Rafael, to whom I was confided. _Il signore Carlo Cibo_ was an
illiterate man of kind heart, who had adventurously emigrated from
Italy to furnish the Havanese with good things; while, in return, the
Havanese had been so pleased with his provender, that Carlo may be
said to have been a man "very well to do in the world" for a
foreigner. He received me with unbounded kindness;--welcomed me to
his bachelor home;--apologized for its cold cheerlessness, and
ordered me to consider himself and his "_casa_" entirely at my
disposal as long as I chose to remain.

I was content to accept this unstinted hospitality for a few days,
while I ran over the town, the hills, and the _paseos_; but I could
not consent to dally long eating the bread of idleness and charity. I
observed that my friend Carlo was either the most prudent or least
inquisitive man I knew, for he never asked me a question about my
early or recent history. As he would not lend the conversation to my
affairs, I one day took the liberty to inquire whether there was a
vessel in port bound to the Pacific Ocean or Mexico, in which my
protector could possibly find a situation for me as an officer, or
procure me permission to work my way even as a common sailor.

The kind grocer instantly divined my true motive, and while he honored
me for it, deprecated the idea of my departure. He said that my visit,
instead of being a burden, was a pleasure he could not soon replace.
As to the expenses of his house, he declared they were, in fact, _not_
increased. What fed five, fed half a dozen; and, as to my proposal to
go to Mexico, or any other place in Spanish America on the Continent,
with a view of "making my fortune," he warmly protested against it, in
consequence of his own experience.

"They can never conquer their jealousy of _foreigners_," said Carlo;
"you may live with them for years, and imagine yourself as intimate as
brothers; but, at last, _carramba_, you will find something turn up,
that marks you an alien and kindles nationality against you. Take my
advice, Don Téodore, stay where you are; study Spanish carefully; get
the hang of the people; and, my life on it, before long, you'll have
your hands full of trump cards and the game in your power."

I did as he desired, and was presented to a corpulent old quiz of a
_padre_, who pretended to instruct me in classical Castilian. Two
lessons demonstrated his incapacity; but as he was a jolly gossip of
my grocer, and hail-fellow with the whole village of Regla, I thought
it good policy to continue his pupil in appearance, while I taught
myself _in private_. Besides this, the _padre_ was a _bon vivant_ and
devoted lover of fish. Now, as I happened to be a good sportsman, with
a canoe at my command, I managed to supply his kitchen with an
abundance of the finny tribe, which his cook was an adept in
preparing. It may be supposed that our "fast days" were especial
epochs of delicious reunion. A fine dinner smoked on the table; a good
bottle was added by the grocer; and, while my entertainer discussed
the viands, I contrived to keep him in continual chat, which, in
reality, was the best practical lesson a man in my circumstances could
receive.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is strange how our lives and destinies are often decided by
trifles. As I sailed about the harbor in idleness, my nautical eye and
taste were struck by the trim rig of the sharp built "slavers," which,
at that time, used to congregate at Havana. There was something
bewitching to my mind in their race-horse beauty. A splendid vessel
has always had the same influence on my mind, that I have heard a
splendid woman has on the minds of other men. These dashing _slavers_,
with their arrowy hulls and raking masts, got complete possession of
my fancy. There was hardly a day that I did not come home with a
discovery of added charms. Signor Carlo listened in silence and nodded
his head, when I was done, with an approving smile and a "_bueno!_"

I continued my sailing peregrinations for a month around the harbor,
when my kind entertainer invited me to accompany him aboard a vessel
of which, he said, he owned two shares--_she was bound to Africa!_ The
splendid clipper was one of the very craft that had won my heart; and
my feverish soul was completely upset by the gala-scene as we drifted
down the bay, partaking of a famous breakfast, and quaffing bumpers of
Champagne to the schooner's luck. When she passed the Moro Castle we
leaped into our boats, and gave the voyagers three hearty and tipsy
cheers. My grocer was a "slaver!"

I had a thousand questions for the Italian in regard to the trade, now
that I found _he_ belonged to the fraternity. All my inquiries were
gratified in his usually amiable manner; and that night, in my dreams,
I was on board of a coaster chased by John Bull.

My mind was made up. Mexico, Peru, South American independence,
patriotism, and all that, were given to the breezes of the gulf. I
slept off my headache and nightmare; and next morning announced to
Cibo my abandonment of the Costa Firma, and my anxiety to get a
situation in a vessel bound to Africa.

In a few days I was told that my wishes would perhaps be gratified, as
a fast vessel from the Canaries was about to be sold; and if she went
off a bargain, Signor Carlo had resolved to purchase her, with a
friend, to send to Africa.

Accordingly, the Canary "GLOBO" was acquired for $3000; and after a
perfect refitting at the Casa-Blanca of Havana, loomed in the harbor
as a respectable pilot-boat of forty tons. Her name, in consequence of
reputed speed, was changed to "El Areostatico;" a culverine was placed
amidships; all the requisites for a slave cargo were put on board;
fifteen sailors, the refuse of the press-gang and jail-birds, were
shipped; powder, ammunition, and small arms, were abundantly supplied;
and, last of all, four kegs, ballasted with specie, were conveyed into
the cabin to purchase our return cargo.

It was on the 2d of September, 1826, after a charming _déjeuner_, that
I bade farewell to my friend Carlo on the deck of the Areostatico,
cleared for the Cape de Verd isles, but, in truth, bound for the Rio
Pongo. Our crew consisted of twenty-one scamps--Spaniards, Portuguese,
Frenchmen, and mongrels. The Majorcan captain was an odd character to
intrust with such an enterprise, and probably nowhere else, save in
Havana at that period, would he have been allowed to command a slaver.
He was a scientific navigator, but no sailor;--afraid of his shadow,
he had not a particle of confidence in his own judgment; every body
was listened to, and he readily yielded his opinions without argument
or controversy. Our chief officer, a Catalonian cousin of the captain,
made no pretensions to seamanship, yet he was a good mathematician. I
still remember the laughs I had at the care he took of his lily-white
hands, and the jokes we cracked upon his girl-like manners, voice, and
conversation. The boatswain, who was in his watch, assured me that he
rarely gave an order without humming it out to a tune of some favorite
opera.

In this fantastic group, I occupied the position of supernumerary
officer and interpreter; but accustomed, as I had been, to wholesome
_American_ seamanship and discipline, I trembled not a little when I
discovered the amazing ignorance of the master, and observed the utter
worthlessness of our crew. These things made me doubly vigilant; and
sometimes I grieved that I was not still in Regla, or on the _paseo_.
On the tenth day out, a northwester began to pipe and ripen to a gale
as the sea rose with it. Sail had been soon diminished on the
schooner; but when I was relieved in my watch by the first officer, I
hinted to the captain that it would be best to lay the vessel to as
soon as possible. We had been scudding before the tempest for some
hours under a close-reefed foresail, and I feared if we did not bring
our craft to the wind at once, we would either run her under, or be
swamped in attempting the manoeuvre when the waves got higher. The
captain, however, with his usual submission to the views of the wrong
person, took the advice of the helmsman, who happened to be older than
I, and the schooner was allowed to dash on either through or over the
seas, at the speed of a racer.

By this time the forward deck was always under water, and the men
gathered abaft the trunk to keep as dry as possible. Officers and crew
were huddled together pell-mell, and, with our usual loose discipline,
every body joined in the conversation and counsel. Before sundown I
again advised the laying-to of the schooner; but the task had now
become so formidable that the men who dreaded the job, assured the
captain that the wind would fall as the moon arose. Yet, when the dim
orb appeared above the thick, low-drifting scud, the gale _increased_.
The light rather hinted than revealed the frightful scene around that
egg-shell on the lashed and furious sea. Each wave swept over us, but
our buoyant craft rose on the succeeding swell, and cleft its crest
with her knife-like prow. It was now too late to attempt bringing her
to the wind; still it became more urgent to do something to prevent us
from being submerged by the huge seas, which came thundering after us
like avalanches on our quarters.

The perilous dilemma of our doubtful captain and his dainty mate, may
be easily imagined. Every body had an opinion, and of course they vied
with each other in absurdity;--at last some one proposed to cut away
the foresail, and bring her to the wind under bare poles.

I was "conning" the schooner when this insane scheme was broached, and
fearing that the captain might adopt it, I leaped on the hatch, after
calling the boatswain to my place, and assured the crew that if they
severed the sail, we would lose command of the vessel, so that with
impaired headway, the next wave that struck her would show her keel to
the skies and her dock to the fishes. I exhorted them to drive her
_faster_ if possible rather than stop. To turn out the "balance reef,"
I said, was our only salvation;--and I alleged that I had seen a
vessel saved before in precisely the same way. Cowards, with death
clutching their throats, were soon convinced by a man of nerve. I
availed myself of the instantaneous silence that followed my act, and
before the captain could think or speak, I leaped to the boom with my
sharp knife, cutting the reef-points slowly and carefully, so as not
to allow the foresail to be inflated and torn by a single blast.

My judgment was correct. Our increased canvas immediately sent us
skimming over the waves; the rollers no longer combed dangerously over
our quarter; we scudded steadily throughout the remnant of the gale;
and, next night, at sundown, we rested on a quiet, lake-like ocean,
taughtening the strained rigging, and priding ourselves mightily on
the hazards we encountered and overcame. The Minorcan skipper was
satisfied that no man ever before performed so daring an exploit. He
was, moreover, convinced, that no one but himself could have carried
the schooner through so frightful a storm, or would have invented the
noble expedient of driving instead of stripping her!

From this hour all semblance of regular discipline was abandoned.
Sailors, who are suffered to tread the quarter-deck familiarly and
offer their opinions, never get over the permitted freedom. Our
ragamuffins of the Areostatico could never abide the idea that the
youngest seaman aboard,--and he, too, a _foreigner_,--should have
proved the best sailor. The skilful performance of my duty was the
source of a rankling grudge. As I would not mix with the scamps, they
called me arrogant. My orders were negligently obeyed; and, in fact,
every thing in the schooner became as comfortless as possible.

Forty-one days, however, brought us to the end of our voyage at the
mouth of the Rio Pongo. No one being acquainted with the river's
entrance or navigation, the captain and four hands went ashore for a
pilot, who came off in the afternoon, while our master ascended in a
boat to the slave-factory at Bangalang. Four o'clock found us entering
the Rio Pongo, with tide and wind in our favor, so that before the sun
sank into the Atlantic Ocean we were safe at our anchorage below the
settlement.

While we were slowly drifting between the river banks, and watching
the gorgeous vegetation of Africa, which, that evening, first burst
upon my sight, I fell into a chat with the native pilot, who had been
in the United States, and spoke English remarkably well. Berak very
soon inquired whether there was any one else on board who spoke the
language besides myself, and when told that the cabin-boy alone knew
it, he whispered a story which, in truth, I was not in the least
surprised to hear.

That afternoon one of our crew had attempted the captain's life, while
on shore, by snapping a carabine behind his back! Our pilot learned
the fact from a native who followed the party from the landing, along
the beach; and its truth was confirmed, in his belief, by the
significant boasts made by the _tallest_ of the boatmen who
accompanied him on board. He was satisfied that the entire gang
contemplated our schooner's seizure.

The pilot's story corroborated some hints I received from our cook
during the voyage. It struck me instantly, that if a crime like this
were really designed, no opportunity for its execution could be more
propitious than the present. I determined, therefore, to omit no
precaution that might save the vessel and the lives of her honest
officers. On examining the carabines brought back from shore, which I
had hurriedly thrown into the arm-chest on deck, I found that the lock
of this armory had been forced, and several pistols and cutlasses
abstracted.

Preparations had undoubtedly been made to assassinate us. As night
drew on, my judgment, as well as _nervousness_, convinced me that the
darkness would not pass without a murderous attempt. There was an
unusual silence. On reaching port, there is commonly fun and merriment
among crews; but the usual song and invariable guitar were omitted
from the evening's entertainment. I searched the deck carefully, yet
but two mariners were found above the hatches apparently asleep.
Inasmuch as I was only a subordinate officer, I could not command, nor
had I any confidence in the nerve or judgment of the chief mate, if I
trusted my information to him. Still I deemed it a duty to tell him
the story, as well as my discovery about the missing arms.
Accordingly, I called the first officer, boatswain, and cook, as
quietly as possible, into the cabin; leaving our English cabin-boy to
watch in the companion way. Here I imparted our danger, and asked
their assistance in _striking the first blow_. My plan was to secure
the crew, and give them battle. The mate, as I expected, shrank like a
girl, declining any step till the captain returned. The cook and
boatswain, however, silently approved my movement; so that we
counselled our cowardly comrade to remain below, while we assumed the
responsibility and risk of the enterprise.

It may have been rather rash, but I resolved to begin the rescue, by
shooting down, like a dog and without a word, the notorious Cuban
convict who had attempted the captain's life. This, I thought, would
strike panic into the mutineers; and end the mutiny in the most
bloodless way. Drawing a pair of large horse-pistols from beneath the
captain's pillow, and examining the load, I ordered the cook and
boatswain to follow me to the deck. But the craven officer would not
quit his hold on my person. He besought me not to commit murder. He
clung to me with the panting fear and grasp of a woman. He begged me,
with every term of endearment, to desist; and, in the midst of my
scuffle to throw him off, one of the pistols accidentally exploded. A
moment after, my vigilant watch-boy screamed from the starboard, a
warning "look-out!" and, peering forward in the blinding darkness as I
emerged from the lighted cabin, I beheld the stalwart form of the
ringleader, brandishing a cutlass within a stride of me. I aimed and
fired. We both fell; the mutineer with two balls in his abdomen, and I
from the recoil of an over-charged pistol.

My face was cut, and my eye injured by the concussion; but as neither
combatant was deprived of consciousness, in a moment we were both on
our feet. The Spanish felon, however, pressed his hand on his bowels,
and rushed forward exclaiming he was slain; but, in his descent to the
forecastle, he was stabbed in the shoulder with a bayonet by the
boatswain, whose vigorous blow drove the weapon with such tremendous
force that it could hardly be withdrawn from the scoundrel's carcass.

I said I was up in a minute; and, feeling my face with my hand, I
perceived a quantity of blood on my cheek, around which I hastily tied
a handkerchief, below my eyes. I then rushed to the arm-chest. At that
moment, the crack of a pistol, and a sharp, boyish cry, told me that
my pet was wounded beside me. I laid him behind the hatchway, and
returned to the charge. By this time I was blind with rage, and
fought, it seems, like a _madman_. I confess that I have no personal
recollection whatever of the following events, and only learned them
from the subsequent report of the cook and boatswain.

I stood, they said, over the arm-chest like one spell-bound. My eyes
were fixed on the forecastle; and, as head after head loomed out of
the darkness above the hatch, I discharged carabine after carabine at
the mark. Every thing that moved fell by my aim. As I fired the
weapons, I flung them away to grasp fresh ones: and, when the battle
was over, the cook aroused me from my mad stupor, still groping wildly
for arms in the emptied chest.

As the smoke cleared off, the fore part of our schooner seemed utterly
deserted: yet we found two men dead, one in mortal agony on the deck,
while the ringleader and a colleague were gasping in the forecastle.
Six pistols had been fired against us from forward; but, strange to
say, the only efficient ball was the one that struck my English boy's
leg.

When I came to my senses, my first quest was for the gallant
boatswain, who, being unarmed on the forecastle when the unexpected
discharge took place, and seeing no chance of escape from my murderous
carabines, took refuge over the bows.

Our cabin-boy was soon quieted. The mutineers needed but little care
for their hopeless wounds, while the felon chief, like all such
wretches, died in an agony of despicable fear, shrieking for pardon.
My shriving of his sins was a speedy rite!

Such was my _first_ night in Africa!




CHAPTER VII.


There are casual readers who may consider the scene described in the
last chapter unnatural. It may be said that a youth, whose life had
been chequered by trials and disasters, but who preserved a pure
sensibility throughout them, is sadly distorted when portrayed as
expanding, at a leap, into a desperado. I have but little to say in
reply to these objections, save that _the occurrences are perfectly
true as stated_, and, moreover, that I am satisfied they were only the
natural developments of my character.

From my earliest years I have adored nobility of soul, and detested
dishonor and treachery. I have passed through scenes which will be
hereafter told, that the world may qualify by harsh names; yet I have
striven to conduct myself throughout them, not only with the ideas of
fairness current among reckless men, but with the truth that, under
all circumstances, characterizes an honorable nature.

Now, the tragedy of my first night on the Rio Pongo was my transition
from pupilage to responsible independence. I do not allege in a
boastful spirit that I was a man of courage; because courage, or the
want of it, are things for which a person is no more responsible than
he is for the possession or lack of physical strength. I was,
moreover, always a man of what I may style _self-possessed passion_. I
was endowed with something more than cool energy; or, rather, cool
energy was heightened and sublimated by the fire of an ardent nature.
Hitherto, I had been tempered down by the habitual obedience to which
I was subjected as a sailor under lawful discipline. But the events
of the last six months, and especially the gross relaxation on the
voyage to Africa, the risks we had run in navigating the vessel, and
the outlaws that surrounded me, not only kept my mind for ever on the
alert, but aroused my dormant nature to a full sense of duty and
self-protection.

Is it unnatural, then, for a man whose heart and nerves have been laid
bare for months, to quiver with agony and respond with headlong
violence, when imperilled character, property and life, hang upon the
fiat of his courageous promptitude? The doubters may cavil over the
philosophy, but I think I may remain content with the fact. _I did my
duty_--dreadful as it was.

Let me draw a veil over our gory decks when the gorgeous sun of Africa
shot his first rays through the magnificent trees and herbage that
hemmed the placid river. Five bodies were cast into the stream, and
the traces of the tragedy obliterated as well as possible. The
recreant mate, who plunged into the cabin at the report of the first
pistol from the forecastle, reappeared with haggard looks and
trembling frame, to protest that _he_ had no hand in what he called
"the murder." The cook, boatswain, and African pilot, recounted the
whole transaction to the master, who inserted it in the log-book, and
caused me to sign the narrative with unimplicated witnesses. Then the
wound of the cabin-boy was examined and found to be trifling, while
mine, though not painful, was thought to imperil my sight. The flint
lock of a rebounding pistol had inflicted three gashes, just beneath
the eye on my cheek.

There was but little appetite for breakfast that day. After the story
was told and recorded, we went sadly to work unmooring the vessel,
bringing her slowly like a hearse to an anchorage in front of
Bangalang, the residence and factory of Mr. Ormond, better known by
the country-name of "Mongo John." This personage came on board early
in the morning with our returned captain, and promised to send a
native doctor to cure both my eye and the boy's leg, making me pledge
him a visit as soon as the vessel's duties would permit.

That evening the specie was landed, and the schooner left in my
charge by the master, with orders to strip, repair, and provide for
the voyage home. Before night, Mongo John fulfilled his promise of a
physician, who came on board with his prescription,--not in his
pocket, but by his side! He ordered my torn cheek to be bathed, every
half-hour, _with human milk fresh from the breast_; and, in order to
secure a prompt, pure, and plentiful supply, a stout negress and her
infant were sent, with orders to remain as long as her lacteal
services might be required! I cannot say whether nature or the remedy
healed my wound, but in a short time the flesh cicatrized, and all
symptoms of inflammation disappeared entirely.

It required ten days to put the Areostatico in ship-shape and supply
her with wood and water. Provisions had been brought from Havana, so
that it was only necessary we should stow them in an accessible
manner. As our schooner was extremely small, we possessed no
slave-deck; accordingly, mats were spread over the fire-wood which
filled the interstices of the water-casks, in order to make an even
surface for our cargo's repose.

When my tiresome task was done, I went ashore--almost for the first
time--to report progress to the master; but he was still unprepared to
embark his living freight. Large sums, far in advance of the usual
market, were offered by him for a cargo of _boys_; still we were
delayed full twenty days longer than our contract required before a
supply reached Bangalang.

As I had promised _Mongo John_, or John the Chief, to visit his
factory, I took this opportunity to fulfil my pledge. He received me
with elaborate politeness; showed me his town, barracoons, and stores,
and even stretched a point, to honor me by an introduction to the
_penetralia_ of his _harem_. The visit paid, he insisted that I should
dine with him; and a couple of choice bottles were quickly disposed
of. Ormond, like myself, had been a sailor. We spoke of the lands,
scenes, and adventures, each had passed through, while a fresh bottle
was called to fillip our memories. There is nothing so nourishing to
friendship as wine! Before sundown our electric memories had circled
the globe, and our intimacy culminated.

While the rosy fluid operated as a sedative on the Mongo, and glued
him to his chair in a comfortable nap, it had a contrary effect on my
exhilarated nerves. I strolled to the verandah to get a breath of
fresh air from the river, but soon dashed off in the darkness to the
sacred precincts of the _harem_! I was not detected till I reached
nearly the centre of the sanctuary where Ormond confined his motley
group of black, mulatto, and quarteroon wives. The first dame who
perceived me was a bright mulatto, with rosy checks, sloe-like eyes,
coquettish turban, and most voluptuous mouth, whom I afterwards
discovered to be second in the chief's affections. In an instant the
court resounded with a chattering call to her companions, so that,
before I could turn, the whole band of gabbling parrots hemmed me in
with a deluge of talk. Fame had preceded me! My sable nurse was a
servant of the harem, and her visit to the schooner, with the tale of
the tragedy, supplied anecdotes for a lifetime. Every body was on the
_qui vive_ to see the "white fighter." Every body was crazy to feel
the "white skin" she had healed. Then, with a sudden, childish freak
of caprice, they ran off from me as if afraid, and at once rushed back
again like a flock of glib-tongued and playful monkeys. I could not
comprehend a word they said; but the bevy squealed with quite as much
pleasure as if I did, and peered into my eyes for answers, with impish
devilry at my wondering ignorance.

At last, my sable friends seemed not only anxious to amuse themselves
but to do something for my entertainment also. A chatter in a corner
settled what it should be. Two or three brought sticks, while two or
three brought coals. A fire was quickly kindled in the centre of the
court; and as its flames lit up the area, a whirling circle of
half-stripped girls danced to the monotonous beat of a _tom-tom_.
Presently, the formal ring was broken, and each female stepping out
singly, danced according to her individual fancy. Some were wild, some
were soft, some were tame, and some were fiery. After so many years I
have no distinct recollection of the characteristic movements of these
semi-savages, especially as the claret and champagne rather fermented
in my brain, and possessed me with the idea that it was my duty to
mingle in the bounding throng. I resolved that the barbarians should
have a taste of Italian quality!

Accordingly, I leaped from the hammock where I had swung idly during
the scene, and, beginning with a _balancez_ and an _avant-deux_,
terminated my terpsichorean exhibition by a regular "double shuffle"
and sailor's hornpipe. The delirious laughter, cracked sides,
rollicking fun, and outrageous merriment, with which my feats were
received, are unimaginable by sober-sided people. Tired of my single
exhibition, I seized the prettiest of the group by her slim, shining
waist, and whirled her round and round the court in the quickest of
waltzes, until, with a kiss, I laid her giddy and panting on the
floor. Then, grasping another,--another,--another,--and another,--and
treating each to the same dizzy swim, I was about waltzing the whole
_seraglio_ into quiescence, when who should rise before us but the
staring and yawning _Mongo_!

The apparition sobered me. A quarteroon pet of Ormond,--just spinning
into fashionable and luscious insensibility,--fell from my arms into
those of her master; and while I apologized for the freak, I charged
it altogether to the witchcraft of his wit and wine.

"Ha!" said the Mongo, "St. Vitus is in your Italian heels the moment
you are within hail of music and dancing; and, by Jove, it seems you
can scent a petticoat as readily as a hound tracks runaways. But
there's no harm in _dancing_, Don Téodore; only hereafter I hope you
will enjoy the amusement in a less uproarious manner. In Africa we are
fond of a _siesta_ after dinner; and I recommend you to get, as soon
as possible, under the lee of another bottle."

We retired once more to his mahogany; and, under the spell of my
chieftain's claret and sea-yarns, I was soon lapped in delicious
sleep.

       *       *       *       *       *

Next day the captain of the Areostatico drew me aside confidentially,
and hinted that Ormond had taken such a decided fancy for me, and
_insinuated_ so warm a wish for my continuance _as his clerk_ at
Bangalang, that he thought it quite a duty, though a sad one, to give
his advice on the subject.

"It may be well for your purse, Don Téodore, to stay with so powerful
a trader; but beside the improvement of your fortunes, there are
doubts whether it will be _wholesome_ for you to revisit Havana, at
least at present. It may be said, _amigo mio_, that you _commenced_
the warfare on board the schooner;--and as five men were slain in the
affray, it will be necessary for me to report the fact to the
_commandante_ as soon as I arrive. Now it is true, _hijo mio_, that
you saved the vessel, cargo, specie, and my cousin; yet, God knows
what may be the result of Havana justice. You will have a rigid
examination, and I rather think you will be _imprisoned_ until the
final decision is made. When that consummation shall occur is quite
uncertain. If you have friends, they will be bled as long as possible
before you get out; if you have none, no one will take pains to see
you released without recompense. When you see daylight once more, the
rest of these ragamuffins and the felon friends of the dead men, will
begin to dog your steps, and make Havana uncomfortable as well as
dangerous; so that I have no hesitation in recommending you to stay
where you are, and take the doubloons of the Mongo."

I thought I saw at a glance the drift of this hypocritical
_fanfaronade_, and was satisfied he only desired to get rid of me in
order to reinstate the chief mate in a situation which he surely could
not occupy as long as I was on board. As I meant to stay in Africa, I
told him at once that I grieved because he had not spoken his wishes
openly, boldly, and honestly, like a man, but had masked an ungrateful
cowardice by hypocritical solicitude for my welfare. I departed
abruptly with a scowl of contempt; and as he hastened to hide his
blanched face in the cabin, I called a boat, and throwing my sea
chest, bedding, and arms, aboard, committed my fate to the African
continent. _A half-hour turned and decided my fate!_

Mr. Ormond received me very cordially, and, installing me in my new
secretaryship, promised a private establishment, a seat at his table,
and a negro per month,--or its value at the rate of forty
dollars,--for my services.

When the runners returned from the interior with the slaves required
to complete the Areostatico's cargo, I considered it my duty to the
Italian grocer of Regla to dispatch his vessel personally.
Accordingly, I returned on board to aid in stowing _one hundred and
eight boys and girls, the eldest of whom did not exceed fifteen
years_! As I crawled between decks, I confess I could not imagine how
this little army was to be packed or draw breath in a hold but
_twenty-two inches high_! Yet the experiment was promptly made,
inasmuch as it was necessary to secure them below in descending the
river, in order to prevent their leaping overboard and swimming
ashore. I found it impossible to adjust the whole in a sitting
posture; but we made them lie down in each other's laps, like
_sardines_ in a can, and in this way obtained space for the entire
cargo. Strange to tell, when the Areostatico reached Havana, but
_three_ of these "passengers" had paid the debt of nature.

As I left the schooner a few miles outside the bar, I crossed her side
without an adieu save for the English cabin-boy, whose fate I was
pained to intrust to these stupid Spaniards. Indeed, the youth almost
belonged to me, for I may say he owed his life to my interference.

Previous to the voyage, while waiting in the harbor of Havana for a
crew, our vessel was anchored near the wharves, next to an English
merchantman. One afternoon I heard a scream from the neighboring
craft, and perceived a boy rush from the cabin with his face dyed in
blood. He was instantly pursued by a burly seaman, inflicting blows
with his fist. I implored the brute to desist, but my interference
seemed to augment his choler to such a degree, that he seized a
handspike to knock the stripling down. Upon this I called the child to
leap overboard, at the same time commanding a hand to lower my boat
and scull in the direction of his fall. The boy obeyed my voice; and
in a few minutes I had him on board blessing me for his safety. But
the drunken Briton vented his rage in the most indecent language; and
had his boat been aboard, I doubt not a summary visit would have
terminated in a fight on my deck.

However, as good luck would have it, his skiff was at the landing, so
that there was ample time, before he could reach the Areostatico, to
tie up the bruised face and broken rib of the child, and to conceal
him in the house of a Spanish crone in Havana, who cured the maladies
of credulous seamen by witchcraft!

After nightfall the master of the British vessel came aboard to claim
his boy; but as he was petulant and seemed disposed to carry matters
with a high hand, my temper rose in resistance, and I refused to
release the child until he sealed with an oath his promise to treat
him better in future. But the cruel scoundrel insisted on
_unconditional_ surrender; and to end the controversy, I was compelled
to order him off the schooner.

British pluck of course would not allow a captain to be deprived so
easily of his property, so the British consul was invoked to appeal
to the captain of the port. This personage summoned me before him,
and listened calmly to a story which added no honor to English
mariners. In my last interview with the boy he implored my continued
protection and concealment; so that when the Spanish official
declared--notwithstanding the officer's conduct--that the vessel was
entitled to her crew, and that I must surrender the child, I excused
myself from complying by pleading utter ignorance of his whereabout.
In view of this contingency, I directed the woman to hide him in a
place of which I should be ignorant. So I told no lie, and saved the
boy from his tyrant.

The inquiry was dropped at this stage of proceedings. When the British
vessel sailed a few days after, I caused the youth to be brought from
his concealment; and, with our captain's consent, brought him aboard
to serve in our cabin.

I have narrated this little episode in consequence of my love for the
boy, and because _he was the only English subject I ever knew to ship
in a slaver_.

I requested the Areostatico's owners to pay him liberally for his
fidelity when he got back to Havana; and I was happy to learn next
year, that they not only complied with my request, but sent him home
to his friends in Liverpool.




CHAPTER VIII.


When I got back to Bangalang, my first movement was to take possession
of the quarters assigned me by the Mongo, and to make myself as
comfortable as possible in a land whose chief requirements are shade
and shelter. My house, built of cane plastered with mud, consisted of
two earthen-floored rooms and a broad verandah. The thatched roof was
rather leaky, while my furniture comprised two arm-chests covered with
mats, a deal table, a bamboo settle, a tin-pan with palm-oil for a
lamp, and a German looking-glass mounted in a paper frame. I augmented
these comforts by the addition of a trunk, mattress, hammock and pair
of blankets; yet, after all this embellishment, I confess my household
was rather a sorry affair.

It is time I should make the reader acquainted with the individual who
was the presiding genius of the scene, and, in some degree, a type of
his peculiar class in Africa.

Mr. Ormond was the son of an opulent slave-trader from Liverpool, and
owed his birth to the daughter of a native chief on the Rio Pongo. His
father seems to have been rather proud of his mulatto stripling, and
dispatched him to England to be educated. But Master John had made
little progress in belles-lettres, when news of the trader's death was
brought to the British agent, who refused the youth further supplies
of money. The poor boy soon became an outcast in a land which had not
yet become fashionably addicted to philanthropy; and, after drifting
about awhile in England, he shipped on board a merchantman. The
press-gang soon got possession of the likely mulatto for the service
of his Britannic Majesty. Sometimes he played the part of dandy waiter
in the cabin; sometimes he swung a hammock with the hands in the
forecastle. Thus, five years slipped by, during which the wanderer
visited most of the West Indian and Mediterranean stations.

At length the prolonged cruise was terminated, and Ormond paid off. He
immediately determined to employ his hoarded cash in a voyage to
Africa, where he might claim his father's property. The project was
executed; his mother was still found alive; and, fortunately for the
manly youth, she recognized him at once as her first-born.

The reader will recollect that these things occurred on the west coast
of Africa in the early part of the present century, and that the
tenure of property, and the interests of foreign traders, were
controlled entirely by such _customary_ laws as prevailed on the spot.
Accordingly, a "grand palaver" was appointed, and all Mr. Ormond's
brothers, sisters, uncles, and cousins,--many of whom were in
possession of his father's slaves or their descendants,--were summoned
to attend. The "talk" took plate at the appointed time. The African
mother stood forth stanchly to assert the identity and rights of her
first-born, and, in the end, all of the Liverpool trader's property,
in houses, lands, and negroes, that could be ascertained, was handed
over, according to coast-law, to the returned heir.

When the mulatto youth was thus suddenly elevated into comfort, if not
opulence, in his own country, he resolved to augment his wealth by
pursuing his father's business. But the whole country was then
desolated by a civil war, occasioned, as most of them are, by family
disputes, which it was necessary to terminate before trade could be
comfortably established.

To this task Ormond steadfastly devoted his first year. His efforts
were seconded by the opportune death of one of the warring chiefs. A
tame opponent,--a brother of Ormond's mother,--was quickly brought to
terms by a trifling present; so that the sailor boy soon concentrated
the family influence, and declared himself "MONGO," or, Chief of the
River.

Bangalang had long been a noted factory among the English traders.
When war was over, Ormond selected this post as his permanent
residence, while he sent runners to Sierra Leone and Goree with notice
that he would shortly be prepared with ample cargoes. Trade, which had
been so long interrupted by hostilities, poured from the interior.
Vessels from Goree and Sierra Leone were seen in the offing,
responding to his invitation. His stores were packed with British,
French, and American fabrics; while hides, wax, palm-oil, ivory, gold,
and slaves, were the native products for which Spaniards and
Portuguese hurried to proffer their doubloons and bills.

It will be readily conjectured that a very few years sufficed to make
Jack Ormond not only a wealthy merchant, but a popular Mongo among the
great interior tribes of Foulahs and Mandingoes. The petty chiefs,
whose territory bordered the sea, flattered him with the title of
king; and, knowing his _Mormon taste_, stocked his _harem_ with their
choicest children as the most valuable tokens of friendship and
fidelity.

When I was summoned to act as secretary or clerk of such a personage,
I saw immediately that it would be well not only to understand my
duties promptly, but to possess a clear estimate of the property I was
to administer and account for. Ormond's easy habits satisfied me that
he was not a man of business originally, or had become sadly negligent
under the debasing influence of wealth and voluptuousness. My earliest
task, therefore, was to make out a _minute inventory_ of his
possessions, while I kept a watchful eye on his stores, never allowing
any one to enter them unattended. When I presented this document,
which exhibited a large deficiency, the Mongo received it with
indifference, begging me not to "annoy him with accounts." His manner
indicated so much petulant fretfulness, that I augured from it the
conscious decline or disorder of his affairs.

As I was returning to the warehouse from this mortifying interview, I
encountered an ancient hag,--a sort of superintendent Cerberus or
manager of the Mongo's _harem_,--who, by signs, intimated that she
wanted the key to the "cloth-chest," whence she immediately helped
herself to several fathoms of calico. The crone could not speak
English, and, as I did not understand the Soosoo dialect, we attempted
no oral argument about the propriety of her conduct; but, taking a
pencil and paper, and making signs that she should go to the Mongo,
who would write an order for the raiment, I led her quietly to the
door. The wrath of the virago was instantly kindled, while her horrid
face gleamed with that devilish ferocity, which, in some degree is
lost by Africans who dwell on our continent. During the reign of my
predecessors, it seems that she had been allowed to control the store
keys, and to help herself unstintedly. I knew not, of course, what she
_said_ on this occasion; but the violence of her gestures, the nervous
spasms of her limbs, the flashing of her eyes, the scream of her
voluble tongue, gave token that she swelled with a rage which was
augmented by my imperturbable quietness. At dinner, I apprised Mr.
Ormond of the negro's conduct; but he received the announcement with
the same laugh of indifference that greeted the account of his
deficient inventory.

That night I had just stretched myself on my hard pallet, and was
revolving the difficulties of my position with some degree of pain at
my forced continuance in Africa, when my servant tapped softly at the
door, and announced that some one demanded admittance, but begged that
I would first of all extinguish the light. I was in a country
requiring caution; so I felt my pistols before I undid the latch. It
was a bright, star-light night; and, as I opened the door sufficiently
to obtain a glance beyond,--still maintaining my control of the
aperture,--I perceived the figure of a female, wrapped in cotton cloth
from head to foot, except the face, which I recollected as that of the
beautiful _quarteroon_ I was whirling in the waltz, when surprised by
the Mongo. She put forth her hands from the folds of her garment, and
laying one softly on my arm, while she touched her lips with the
other, looked wistfully behind, and glided into my apartment.

This poor girl, the child of a mulatto mother and a white parent, was
born in the settlement of Sierra Leone, and had acquired our language
with much more fluency than is common among her race. It was said that
her father had been originally a missionary from Great Britain, but
abandoned his profession for the more lucrative traffic in slaves, to
which he owed an abundant fortune. It is probable that the early
ecclesiastical turn of her delinquent progenitor induced him, before
he departed for America, to bestow on his child the biblical name of
ESTHER.

I led my trembling visitor to the arm-chest, and, seating her gently
by my side, inquired why I was favored by so stealthy a visit from the
_harem_. My suspicions were aroused; for, though a novice in Africa, I
knew enough of the discipline maintained in these slave factories, not
to allow my fancy to seduce me with the idea that her visit was owing
to mad-cap sentimentality.

The manner of these _quarteroon_ girls, whose complexion hardly
separates them from our own race, is most winningly graceful; and
Esther, with abated breath, timidly asked my pardon for intruding,
while she declared I had made so bitter an enemy of Unga-golah,--the
head-woman of the seraglio,--that, in spite of danger, she stole to my
quarters with a warning. Unga swore revenge. I had insulted and
thwarted her; I was able to thwart her at all times, if I remained the
Mongo's "book-man;"--I must soon "go to another country;" but, if I
did not, I would quickly find the food of Bangalang excessively
unwholesome! "Never eat any thing that a Mandingo offers you," said
Esther. "Take your meals exclusively from the Mongo's table.
Unga-golah knows all the Mandingo _jujus_, and she will have no
scruple in using them in order to secure once more the control of the
store keys. Good night!"

With this she rose to depart, begging me to be silent about her visit,
and to believe that a poor slave could feel true kindness for a white
man, or even expose herself to save him.

If an unruly passion had tugged at my heartstrings, the soft appeal,
the liquid tones, the tenderness of this girl's humanity, would have
extinguished it in an instant. It was the first time for many a long
and desolate mouth that I had experienced the gentle touch of a
woman's hand, or felt the interest of mortal solicitude fall like a
refreshing dew upon my heart! Who will censure me for halting on my
door-sill as I led her forth, retaining her little hand in mine, while
I cast my eyes over the lithe symmetry of those slender and rounded
limbs; while I feasted on the flushed magnolia of those beautiful
cheeks, twined my fingers in the trailing braids of that raven hair,
peered into the blackness of those large and swimming orbs, felt a
tear trickle down my hardening face, and left, on those coral lips,
the print of a kiss that was fuller of gratitude than passion!

       *       *       *       *       *

Nowadays that Mormonism is grafting a "celestial wifery" upon the
civilization of the nineteenth century, I do not think it amiss to
recall the memory of those African establishments which formed so
large a portion of a trader's homestead. It is not to be supposed that
the luxurious _harem_ of Turkey or Egypt was transferred to the Guinea
coast, or that its lofty walls were barricaded by stout gates, guarded
by troops of sable eunuchs. The "wifery" of my employer was a bare
inclosure, formed by a quadrangular cluster of mud-houses, the
entrance to whose court-yard was never watched save at night.
Unga-golah, the eldest and least delectable of the dames, maintained
the establishment's police, assigned gifts or servants to each female,
and distributed her master's favors according to the bribes she was
cajoled by.

In early life and during his gorged prosperity, Ormond,--a stout,
burly, black-eyed, broad-shouldered, short-necked man,--ruled his
_harem_ with the rigid decorum of the East. But as age and misfortunes
stole over the sensual voluptuary, his mental and bodily vigor became
impaired, not only by excessive drink, but by the narcotics to which
he habitually resorted for excitement. When I became acquainted with
him, his face and figure bore the marks of a worn-out _debauché_. His
harem now was a fashion of the country rather than a domestic resort.
His wives ridiculed him, or amused themselves as they pleased. I
learned from Esther that there was hardly one who did not "flirt" with
a lover in Bangalang, and that Unga-golah was blinded by gifts, while
the stupor of the Mongo was perpetuated by liquor.

It may be supposed that in such a _seraglio_, and with such a master,
there were but few matrimonial jealousies; still, as it would be
difficult to find, even in our most Christian society, two females
without some lurking bitterness towards rivals, so it is not to be
imagined that the Mongo's mansion was free from womanly quarrels.
These disputes chiefly occurred when Ormond distributed gifts of
calico, beads, tobacco, pipes and looking-glasses. If the slightest
preference or inequality was shown, adieu to order. Unga-golah
descended below zero! The favorite wife, outraged by her neglected
authority, became furious; and, for a season, pandemonium was let
loose in Bangalang.

One of these scenes of passion occurs to me as I write. I was in the
store with the Mongo when an aggrieved dame, not remarkable either for
delicacy of complexion or sweetness of odor, entered the room, and
marching up with a swagger to her master, dashed a German
looking-glass on the floor at his feet. She wanted a larger one, for
the glass bestowed on her was half an inch smaller than the gifts to
her companions.

When Ormond was sober, his pride commonly restrained him from allowing
the women to molest his leisure; so he quietly turned from the virago
and ordered her out of the store.

But my lady was not to be appeased by dignity like this. "Ha!"
shrieked the termagant, as she wrenched off her handkerchief. "Ha!"
yelled she, tearing off one sleeve, and then the other. "Ha!" screamed
the fiend, kicking a shoe into one corner, and the other shoe into
another corner. "Ha! Mongo!" roared the beldame, as she stripped every
garment from her body and stood absolutely _naked_ before us, slapping
her wool, cheeks, forehead, breasts, arms, stomach and limbs, and
appealing to Ormond to say where she was deficient in charms, that she
should be slighted half an inch on a looking-glass?

As the Mongo was silent, she strode up to me for an opinion; but,
scarlet with blushes, I dived behind the cloth-chest, and left the
laughing Ormond to gratify the whim of the "_model artiste_."

Years afterwards, I remember seeing an infuriate Ethiopian fling her
infant into the fire because its white father preferred the child of
another spouse. Indeed, I was glad my station at Bangalang did not
make it needful for the preservation of my respectability that I
should indulge in the luxury of _African matrimony_!

       *       *       *       *       *

But these exhibitions of jealous passion were not excited alone by the
unequal distribution of presents from the liege lord of Bangalang. I
have observed that Ormond's wives took advantage of his carelessness
and age, to seek congenial companionship outside the _harem_.
Sometimes the preference of two of these sable _belles_ alighted on
the same lover, and then the battle was transferred from a worthless
looking-glass to the darling _beau_. When such a quarrel arose, a
meeting between the rivals was arranged out of the Mongo's hearing;
when, throwing off their waist-cloths, the controversy was settled
between the female gladiators without much damage. But, now and then,
the matter was not left to the ladies. The sable lovers themselves
took up the conflict, and a regular challenge passed between the gay
Othellos.

At the appointed time, the duellists appeared upon "the field of
honor" accompanied by friends who were to witness their victory or
sympathize in their defeat. Each stalwart savage leaped into the
arena, armed with a cow-hide cat, whose sharp and triple thongs were
capable of inflicting the harshest blows. They stripped, and tossed
three _cowries_ into the air to determine which of the two should
receive the first lashing. The unfortunate loser immediately took his
stand, and received, with the firmness of a martyr, the allotted
number of blows. Then came the turn of the whipper, who, with equal
constancy, offered his back to the scourge of the enraged sufferer.
Thus they alternated until one gave in, or until the bystanders
decreed victory to him who bore the punishment longest without
wincing. The flayed backs of these "chivalrous men of honor" were ever
after displayed in token of bravery; and, doubtless, their Dulcineas
devoted to their healing the subtlest ointment and tenderest affection
recognized among Africans.




CHAPTER IX.


My business habits and systematic devotion to the Mongo's interests
soon made me familiar with the broad features of "country trade;" but
as I was still unable to speak the coast dialects, Mr. Ormond--who
rarely entered the warehouse or conversed about commerce--supplied an
adroit interpreter, who stood beside me and assisted in the retail of
foreign merchandise, for rice, ivory, palm-oil, and domestic
provisions. The purchase of slaves and gold was conducted exclusively
by the Mongo, who did not consider me sufficiently initiated in native
character and tricks to receive so delicate a trust.

       *       *       *       *       *

Long and dreary were the days and nights of the apparently
interminable "wet season." Rain in a city, rain in the country, rain
in a village, rain at sea, are sufficiently wearying, even to those
whose mental activity is amused or occupied by books or the concerns
of life; but who can comprehend the insufferable lassitude and
despondency that overwhelm an African resident, as he lies on his
mat-covered arm-chest, and listens to the endless deluge pouring for
days, weeks, months, upon his leaky thatch?

At last, however, the season of rain passed by, and the "dry season"
set in. This was the epoch for the arrival of caravans from the
interior; so that we were not surprised when our runners appeared,
with news that AHMAH-DE-BELLAH, son of a noted Fullah chief, was
about to visit the Rio Pongo with an imposing train of followers and
merchandise. The only means of communication with the interior of
Africa are, for short distances, by rivers, and, for longer ones, by
"paths" or "trails" leading through the dense forest and among the
hills, to innumerable "towns" that stud this prolific land. Stephenson
and McAdam have not been to Africa, and there are neither turnpikes
nor railways. Now, when the coast-traders of the west are apprised
that caravans are threading their way towards the Atlantic shores, it
is always thought advisable to make suitable preparations for the
chiefs, and especially to greet them by messages, before their arrival
at the beach. Accordingly, "_barkers_" are sent forth on the forest
"paths" to welcome the visitors with gifts of tobacco and powder.
"_Barkers_" are colored gentlemen, with fluent tongues and flexible
consciences, always in the train of factories on the coast, who hasten
to the wilderness at the first signal of a caravan's approach, and
magnify the prosperity and merchandise of their patrons with as much
zeal and veracity as the "drummers" of more Christian lands.

A few days after our band of travelling agents had departed on their
mission, the crack of fire-arms was heard from the hills in our rear,
signifying that the Mongo's "_barkers_" had been successful with the
caravan in tow. A prompt response to the joyous signal was made by our
cannons; so that, after half an hour's firing, Ahmah-de-Bellah and his
party emerged from the smoke, marshalled by our band of singers, who
preceded him, chanting with loud voices the praise of the youthful
chieftain. Behind the master came the principal traders and their
slaves laden with produce, and followed by forty captive negroes,
secured by bamboo withes. These were succeeded by three-score
bullocks, a large flock of sheep or goats, and the females of the
party; while the procession was closed by the demure tread of a tame
and stately OSTRICH!

It was the first time I had seen so odd an assemblage of beasts and
humanity. Indeed, had the troupe been accompanied by a bevy of
ourang-outangs, I confess I might, at times, have had difficulty in
deciding the grade of animal life to which the object in front of me
belonged.

Mr. Ormond, when put upon his mettle, was one of the ablest traders
in Africa, and received the Mahometan strangers with becoming state.
He awaited Ahmah-de-Bellah and his committee of head-traders on the
piazza of his receiving-house, which was a rather stately edifice, one
hundred and fifty feet in length, built to be fire-proof for the
protection of our stores. When each Fullah stranger was presented, he
shook hands and "snapped fingers" with the Mongo several times; and,
as every petty peddler in the train wanted to _salaam_, the "white man
for good luck," the process of presentation occupied at least an hour.

According to coast custom, as soon as these compliments were over, the
caravan's merchandise was deposited within our walls, not only for
security, but in order that we might gauge the _value of the welcome_
the owners were entitled to receive. This precaution, though
ungallant, is extremely necessary, inasmuch as many of the interior
dealers were in the habit of declaring, on arrival, the value of their
gold and ivory to be much greater than it was in fact, in order to
receive a more liberal "present." Even savages instinctively acquire
the tricks of trade!

When the goods were stored, a couple of fat bullocks, with an abundant
supply of rice, were given to the visitors, and the chiefs of the
caravan were billeted upon our townspeople. The _canaille_ built
temporary huts for themselves in the outskirts; while Ahmah-de-Bellah,
a strict Mahometan, accompanied by two of his wives, was furnished
with a pair of neat houses that had been hastily fitted up with new
and elegant mats.[A]

While the merchandise of these large caravans is unpaid for, their
owners, by the custom of the country, remain a costly burden upon the
factories. We were naturally anxious to be free from this expense as
soon as possible, and gave notice next morning that "trade would begin
forthwith." Ahmah-de-Bellah, the chiefs of the caravans, and Mr.
Ormond, at once entered into negotiations, so that by nightfall a
bargain had been struck, not only for their presents, but for the
price of merchandise, and the percentage to be retained as "native
duty." Such a preliminary liquidation with _the heads_ of a caravan is
ever indispensable, for, without their assistance, it would be out of
the question to traffic with the ragamuffins who hang on the skirts of
opulent chieftains.

Each morning, at daylight, a crier went through the town, announcing
the character of the specific trade which would be carried on during
hours of business. One day it was in hides; another, rice; another,
cattle. When these were disposed of, a time was specially appointed
for the exchange of gold, ivory and slaves; and, at the agreed hour,
Mr. Ormond, Ahmah-de-Bellah, and myself, locked the doors of the
warehouse, and traded through a window, while our "barkers"
distributed the goods to the Africans, often using their whips to keep
the chattering and disputatious scamps in order. Ahmah-de-Bellah
pretended to inspect the measurement of cloth, powder and tobacco, to
insure justice to his compatriots; but, in reality, like a true
tax-gatherer, he was busy ascertaining his lawful percentage on the
sale, in return for the protection from robbery he gave the petty
traders on their pilgrimage to the coast.

At length the market was cleared of sellers and merchandise--except
the ostrich, which, when all was over, reached the Mongo's hands as a
royal gift from the Ali-Mami of Footha-Yallon, the pious father of
Ahmah-de-Bellah. The bird, it is true, was presented as a free
offering; yet it was hinted that the worthy Ali stood in need of
reliable muskets, which his son would take charge of on the journey
home. As twenty of those warlike instruments were dispatched by
Ahmah-de-Bellah, the ostrich became rather a costly as well as
characteristic gift. Each of the traders, moreover, expected a
"bungee" or "dash" of some sort, in token of good will, and in
proportion to his sales; so that we hastened to comply with all the
common-law customs of the country, in order to liberate Bangalang from
the annoying crowd. They dropped off rapidly as they were paid; and in
a short time Ahmah-de-Bellah, his wives, and immediate followers, were
all that remained of the seven hundred Fullahs.

Ahmah-de-Bellah was a fine specimen of what may be considered "Young
Africa," though he can hardly be classed among the progressives or
revolutionary propagandists of the age. In person he was tall,
graceful, and commanding. As the son of an important chief, he had
been free from those menial toils which, in that climate, soon
obliterate all intellectual characteristics. His face was well formed
for an African's. His high and broad brow arched over a straight nose,
while his lips had nothing of that vulgar grossness which gives so
sensual an expression to his countrymen. Ahmah's manners to strangers
or superiors were refined and courteous in a remarkable degree; but to
the mob of the coast and inferiors generally, he manifested that harsh
and peremptory tone which is common among the savages of a fiery
clime.

Ahmah-de-Bellah was second son of the Ali-Mami, or King of
Footha-Yallon, who allowed him to exercise the prerogative of leading
for the first time, a caravan to the seaboard, in honor of attaining
the discreet age of "twenty four rainy seasons." The privilege
however, was not granted without a view to profit by the courage of
his own blood; for the Ali-Mami was never known to suffer a son or
relative to depart from his jurisdiction without a promise of _half_
the products of the lucrative enterprise.

The formation of a caravan, when the king's permission has been
finally secured, is a work of time and skill. At the beginning of the
"dry season," the privileged chieftain departs with power of life and
death over his followers, and "squats" in one of the most frequented
"paths" to the sea, while he dispatches small bands of daring
retainers to other trails throughout the neighborhood, to blockade
every passage to the beach. The siege of the highways is kept up with
vigor for a month or more, by these black Rob Roys and Robin Hoods,
until a sufficient number of traders may be trapped to constitute a
valuable caravan, and give importance to its leader. While this is the
main purpose of the forest adventure, the occasion is taken advantage
of to collect a local tribute, due by small tribes to the Ali, which
could not be obtained otherwise. The despotic officer, moreover,
avails himself of the blockade to stop malefactors and absconding
debtors. Goods that are seized in the possession of the latter may be
sequestrated to pay his creditors; but if their value is not equal to
the debt, the delinquent, if a pagan, is sold as a slave, but is let
off with a _bastinado_, if he proves to be "one of the faithful."

It is natural to suppose that every effort is made by the small
traders of the interior to avoid these savage press-gangs. The poor
wretches are not only subjected to annoying vassalage by ruffian
princes, but the blockade of the forest often diverts them from the
point they originally designed to reach,--forces them to towns or
factories they had no intention of visiting,--and, by extreme delay,
wastes their provisions and diminishes their frugal profits. It is
surprising to see how admirably even savages understand and exercise
the powers of sovereignty and the rights of transit!

       *       *       *       *       *

While Ahmah-de-Bellah tarried at Bangalang, it was my habit to visit
him every night to hear his interesting chat, as it was translated by
an interpreter. Sometimes, in return, I would recount the adventures
of my sea-faring life, which seemed to have a peculiar flavor for this
child of the wilderness, who now gazed for the first time on the
ocean. Among other things, I strove to convince him of the world's
rotundity; but, to the last, he smiled incredulously at my daring
assertion, and closed the argument by asking me to prove it from the
Koran? He allowed me the honors due a traveller and "book-man;" but a
mind that had swallowed, digested, and remembered every text of
Mahomet's volume, was not to be deceived by such idle fantasies. He
kindly undertook to conquer my ignorance of his creed by a careful
exposition of its mysteries in several long-winded lectures, and I was
so patient a listener, that I believe Ahmah was entirely satisfied of
my conversion.

My seeming acquiescence was well repaid by the Fullah's confidence. He
returned my nightly calls with interest; and, visiting me in the
warehouse during hours of business, became so fervently wrapped up in
my spiritual salvation, that he would spout Mahometanism for hours
through an interpreter. To get rid of him, one day, I promised to
follow the Prophet with pleasure if he consented to receive me; but I
insisted on entering the "fold of the faithful" _without_ submitting
to the peculiar rite of Mussulman baptism!

Ahmah-de-Bellah took the jest kindly, laughing like a good fellow,
and from that day forward, we were sworn cronies. The Fullah at once
wrote down a favorite prayer in Arabic, requiring as my spiritual
guide, that I should commit it to memory for constant and ready use.
After a day or two, he examined me in the ritual; but, finding I was
at fault after the first sentence, reproached me pathetically upon my
negligence and exhorted me to repentance,--much to the edification of
our interpreter, who was neither Jew, Christian, nor Mussulman.

But the visit of the young chieftain, which began in trade and tapered
off in piety, drew to a close. Ahmah-de-Bellah began to prepare for
his journey homeward. As the day of departure approached, I saw that
my joke had been taken seriously by the Fullah, and that he _relied_
upon my apostasy. At the last moment, Ahmah tried to put me to a
severe test, by suddenly producing the holy book, and requiring me to
seal our friendship by an oath that I would never abandon Islamism. I
contrived, however, adroitly to evade the affirmation by feigning an
excessive anxiety to acquire more profound knowledge of the Koran,
before I made so solemn a pledge.

       *       *       *       *       *

It came to pass that, out of the forty slaves brought in the caravan,
the Mongo rejected eight. After some altercation, Ahmah-de-Bellah
consented to discard seven; but he insisted that the remaining veteran
should be shipped, as he could neither _kill_ nor send him back to
Footha-Yallon.

I was somewhat curious to know the crime this culprit had committed,
which was so heinous as to demand his perpetual exile, though it
spared his life. The chief informed me that the wretch had slain his
son; and, as there was no punishment for such an offence assigned by
the Koran, the judges of his country condemned him to be sold _a slave
to Christians_,--a penalty they considered worse than death.

Another curious feature of African law was developed in the sale of
this caravan. I noticed a couple of women drawn along with ropes
around their necks, while others of their sex and class were suffered
to wander about without bonds. These females, the chief apprised us,
would have been burnt in his father's domains for witchcraft, had not
his venerable ancestor been so much distressed for powder that he
thought their lives would be more valuable to his treasury than their
carcasses to outraged law.

It was a general complaint among the companions of Ahmah-de-Bellah
that the caravan was scant of slaves in consequence of this
unfortunate lack of powder. The young chieftain promised better things
in future. Next year, the Mongo's barracoons should teem with his
conquests. When the "rainy season" approached, the Ali-Mami, his
father, meant to carry on a "great war" against a variety of small
tribes, whose captives would replenish the herds, that, two years
before, had been carried off by a sudden blight.

I learned from my intelligent Fullah, that while the Mahometan courts
of his country rescued by law the people of their own faith from
slavery, they omitted no occasion to inflict it, as a penalty, upon
the African "unbelievers" who fell within their jurisdiction. Among
these unfortunates, the smallest crime is considered capital, and a
"capital crime" merits the profitable punishment of slavery. Nor was
it difficult, he told me, for a country of "true believers" to acquire
a multitude of bondsmen. They detested the institution, it is true,
among themselves, and among their own caste, but it was both right and
reputable among the unorthodox. The Koran commanded the "subjugation
of the tribes to the true faith," so that, to enforce the Prophet's
order against infidels, they resorted to the white man's cupidity,
which authorized its votaries to enslave the negro! My inquisitiveness
prompted me to demand whether these holy wars spoken of in the Koran
were not somewhat stimulated, in our time, at least, by the profits
that ensued; and I even ventured to hint that it was questionable
whether the mighty chief of Footha-Yallon would willingly storm a
Kaffir fortification, were he not prompted by the booty of slaves!

Ahmah-de-Bellah was silent for a minute, when his solemn face
gradually relaxed into a quizzical smile, as he replied that, in
truth, Mahometans were no worse than Christians, so that it was quite
likely,--if the white elect of heaven, who knew how to make powder
and guns, did not tempt the black man with their weapons,--the
commands of Allah would be followed with less zeal, and implements not
quite so dangerous!

I could not help thinking that there was a good deal of quiet satire
in the gossip of this negro prince. According to the custom of his
country, we "exchanged names" at parting; and, while he put in my
pocket the gift of a well-thumbed _Koran_, I slung over his shoulder a
_double-barrelled gun_. We walked side by side for some miles into the
forest, as he went forth from Bangalang; and as we "cracked fingers"
for farewell, I promised, with my hand on my heart, that the "next dry
season" I would visit his father, the venerable Ali-Mami, in his realm
of Footha-Yallon.


FOOTNOTE:

[A] As it may be interesting to learn the nature of trade on this
coast,--_which is commonly misunderstood at consisting in slaves
alone_,--I thought it well to set down the inventory I made out of the
caravan's stock and its result, as the various items were intrusted to
my guardianship. The body of the caravan itself consisted of seven
hundred persons, principally men; while the produce was as follows:

  3,500 hides                                   $1,750
     19 large and prime teeth of ivory,          1,560
        Gold,                                    2,500
    600 pounds small ivory,                        320
     15 tons of rice,                              600
     40 slaves,                                  1,600
     36 bullocks,                                  360
        Sheep, goats, butter, vegetables,          100
    900 pounds bees-wax,                            95
                                               -------
  Total value of the caravan's merchandise,     $8,885
                                               -------

Our profits on this speculation were very flattering, both as regards
sales and acquisitions. Rice cost us one cent per pound; hides were
delivered at eighteen or twenty cents each; a bullock was sold for
twenty or thirty pounds of tobacco; sheep, goats or hogs, cost two
pounds of tobacco, or a fathom of common cotton, each; ivory was
purchased at the rate of a dollar the pound for the best, while
inferior kinds were given at half that price. In fact, the profit on
our merchandise was, at least, one hundred and fifty per cent. As gold
commands the very best fabrics in exchange, and was paid for at the
rate of sixteen dollars an ounce, we made but seventy per cent. on the
article. The slaves were delivered at the rate of one hundred "_bars_"
each. The "_bar_" is valued on the coast at half a dollar; but a pound
and a half of tobacco is also a "bar," as well as a fathom of ordinary
cotton cloth, or a pound of powder, while a common musket is equal to
twelve "bars." Accordingly, where slaves were purchased for one
hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco, only eighteen dollars were, in
reality, paid; and when one hundred pounds of powder were given, we
got them for twenty dollars each. Our _British_ muskets cost us but
three dollars apiece; yet we seldom purchased negroes for this article
alone. If the women, offered in the market, exceeded twenty-five years
of age, we made a deduction of twenty per cent.; but if they were
stanchly-built, and gave promising tokens for the future, we took them
at the price of an able-bodied man. The same estimate was made for
youths over four feet four inches high; but children were rarely
purchased at the factories, though they might be advantageously traded
in the native towns.




CHAPTER X.


I was a close watcher of Mongo John whenever he engaged in the
purchase of slaves. As each negro was brought before him, Ormond
examined the subject, without regard to sex, from head to foot. A
careful manipulation of the chief muscles, joints, arm-pits and groins
was made, to assure soundness. The mouth, too, was inspected, and if a
tooth was missing, it was noted as a defect liable to deduction. Eyes,
voice, lungs, fingers and toes were not forgotten; so that when the
negro passed from the Mongo's hands without censure, he might have
been readily adopted as a good "life" by an insurance company.

Upon one occasion, to my great astonishment, I saw a stout and
apparently powerful man discarded by Ormond as utterly worthless. His
full muscles and sleek skin, to my unpractised eye, denoted the height
of robust health. Still, I was told that he had been medicated for the
market with bloating drugs, and sweated with powder and lemon-juice to
impart a gloss to his skin. Ormond remarked that these jockey-tricks
are as common in Africa as among horse-dealers in Christian lands; and
desiring me to feel the negro's pulse, I immediately detected disease
or excessive excitement. In a few days I found the poor wretch,
abandoned by his owner, a paralyzed wreck in the hut of a villager at
Bangalang.

[Illustration: INSPECTION AND SALE OF A NEGRO.]

When a slave becomes useless to his master in the interior, or
exhibits signs of failing constitution, he is soon disposed of to a
peddler or broker. These men call to their aid a quack, familiar with
drugs, who, for a small compensation, undertakes to refit an impaired
body for the temptation of green-horns. Sometimes the cheat is
successfully effected; but experienced slavers detect it readily by
the yellow eye, swollen tongue, and feverish skin.

After a few more lessons, I was considered by the Mongo sufficiently
learned in the slave traffic to be intrusted with the sole management
of his stores. This exemption from commerce enabled him to indulge
more than ever in the use of ardent spirits, though his vanity to be
called "king," still prompted him to attend faithfully to all the
"country palavers;"--and, let it be said to his credit, his decisions
were never defective in judgment or impartiality.

After I had been three months occupied in the multifarious intercourse
of Bangalang and its neighborhood, I understood the language well
enough to dispense with the interpreter, who was one of the Mongo's
confidential agents. When my companion departed on a long journey, he
counselled me to make up with Unga-golah, the _harem's_ Cerberus, as
she suspected my intimacy with Esther, who would doubtless be
denounced to Ormond, unless I purchased the beldame's silence.

Indeed, ever since the night of warning, when the beautiful
_quarteroon_ visited my hovel, I had contrived to meet this charming
girl, as the only solace of my solitude. Amid all the wild,
passionate, and savage surroundings of Bangalang, Esther--the
Pariah--was the only golden link that still seemed to bind me to
humanity and the lands beyond the seas. On that burning coast, I was
not excited by the stirring of an adventurous life, nor was my young
heart seduced and bewildered by absorbing avarice. Many a night, when
the dews penetrated my flesh, as I looked towards the west, my soul
shrank from the selfish wretches around me, and went off in dreams to
the homes I had abandoned. When I came back to myself,--when I was
forced to recognize my doom in Africa,--when I acknowledged that my
lot had been cast, perhaps unwisely, by myself, my spirit turned,
like the worm from the crashing heel, and found nothing that kindled
for me with the light of human sympathy, save this outcast girl.
Esther was to me as a sister, and when the hint of her harm or loss
was given, I hastened to disarm the only hand that could inflict a
blow. Unga-golah was a woman, and a rope of sparkling coral for her
neck, smothered all her wrongs.

The months I had passed in Africa without illness,--though I went
abroad after dark, and bathed in the river during the heat of the
day,--made me believe myself proof against malaria. But, at length, a
violent pain in my loins, accompanied by a swimming head, warned me
that the African fever held me in its dreaded gripe. In two days I was
delirious. Ormond visited me; but I knew him not, and in my madness,
called on Esther, accompanying the name with terms of endearment.
This, I was told, stirred the surprise and jealousy of the Mongo, who
forthwith assailed the matron of his harem with a torrent of inquiries
and abuse. But Unga-golah was faithful. The beads had sealed her
tongue; so that, with the instinctive adroitness peculiar to ladies of
her color, she fabricated a story which not only quieted the Mongo,
but added lustre to Esther's character.

The credulous old man finding Unga so well disposed towards his
watchful clerk, restored the warehouse to her custody. This was the
height of her avaricious ambition; and, in token of gratitude for my
profitable malady, she contrived to let Esther become the nurse and
guardian of my sick bed.

As my fever and delirium continued, a native doctor, renowned for his
skill, was summoned, who ordered me to be cupped in the African
fashion by scarifying my back and stomach with a hot knife, and
applying plantain leaves to the wounds. The operation allayed my pulse
for a few hours; but as the fever came back with new vigor, it became
necessary for my attendants to arouse the Mongo to a sense of my
imminent danger. Yet Ormond, instead of springing with alacrity to
succor a friend and retainer in affliction, sent for a young man,
named Edward Joseph, who had formerly been in his employment, but was
now settled on his own account in Bangalang.

Joseph proved a good Samaritan. As soon as he dared venture upon my
removal, he took me to his establishment at Kambia, and engaged the
services of another Mandingo doctor, in whose absurdities he believed.
But all the charms and incantations of the savage would not avail, and
I remained in a state of utter prostration and apparent insensibility
until morning. As soon as day dawned, my faithful Esther was again on
the field of action; and this time she insisted upon the trial of her
judgment, in the person of an old white-headed woman, who accompanied
her in the guise of the greatest enchantress of the coast. A slave,
paid in advance, was the fee for which she undertook to warrant my
cure.

No time was to be lost. The floor of a small and close mud hut was
intensely heated, and thickly strewn with moistened lemon leaves, over
which a cloth was spread for a couch. As soon as the bed was ready, I
was borne to the hovel, and, covered with blankets, was allowed to
steam and perspire, while my medical attendant dosed me with half a
tumbler of a green disgusting juice which she extracted from herbs.
This process of drinking and barbecuing was repeated during five
consecutive days, at the end of which my fever was gone. But my
convalescence was not speedy. For many a day, I stalked about, a
useless skeleton, covering with ague, and afflicted by an insatiable
appetite, until a French physician restored me to health by the use of
cold baths at the crisis of my fever.

When I was sufficiently recovered to attend to business, Mongo John
desired me to resume my position in his employment. I heard, however,
from Esther, that during my illness, Unga-golah used her opportunities
so profitably in the warehouse, that there would be sad deficiencies,
which, doubtless, might be thrown on me, if the crone were badly
disposed at any future period. Accordingly, I thought it decidedly
most prudent to decline the clerkship, and requested the Mongo to
recompense me for the time and attention I had already bestowed on
him. This was refused by the indolent voluptuary; so we parted with
coolness, and I was once more adrift in the world.

In these great outlying colonies and lodgments of European nations in
the East Indies and Africa, a stranger is commonly welcome to the
hospitality of every foreigner. I had no hesitation, therefore, in
returning to the house of Joseph, who, like myself, had been a clerk
of Ormond, and suffered from the pilferings of the matron.

My host, I understood, was a native of London, where he was born of
continental parents, and came to Sierra Leone with Governor Turner.
Upon the death or return of that officer,--I do not recollect
which,--the young adventurer remained in the colony, and, for a time,
enjoyed the post of harbor master. His first visit to the Rio Pongo
was in the capacity of supercargo of a small coasting craft, laden
with valuable merchandise. Joseph succeeded in disposing of his wares,
but was not equally fortunate in collecting their avails. It was,
perhaps, an ill-judged act of the supercargo, but he declined to face
his creditors with a deficient balance-sheet; and quitting Sierra
Leone for ever, accepted service with Ormond. For a year he continued
in this employment; but, at the end of that period, considering
himself sufficiently informed of the trade and language of the river,
he sent a message to his creditors at the British settlement that he
could promptly pay them in full, if they would advance him capital
enough to commence an independent trade. The terms were accepted by an
opulent Israelite, and in a short time Edward Joseph was numbered
among the successful factors of Rio Pongo.

As I had nothing to do but get well and talk, I employed my entire
leisure in acquiring the native language perfectly. The Soosoo is a
dialect of the Mandingo. Its words, ending almost universally in
vowels, render it as glibly soft and musical as Italian; so that, in a
short time, I spoke it as fluently as my native tongue.




CHAPTER XI.


The 15th of March, 1827, was an epoch in my life. I remember it well,
because it became the turning point of my destiny. A few weeks more of
indolence might have forced me back to Europe or America, but the
fortune of that day decided my residence and dealings in Africa.

At dawn of the 15th, a vessel was descried in the offing, and, as she
approached the coast, the initiated soon ascertained her to be a
Spanish slaver. But, what was the amazement of the river grandees when
the captain landed and consigned his vessel _to me_!

"LA FORTUNA," the property, chiefly, of my old friend the Regla
grocer, was successor of the Areostatico, which she exceeded in size
as well as comfort. Her captain was charged to pay me my wages in full
for the round voyage in the craft I had abandoned, and handed me,
besides, a purse of thirty doubloons as a testimonial from his owners
for my defence of their property on the dreadful night of our arrival.
The "Fortuna" was dispatched to me for an "assorted cargo of slaves,"
while 200,000 cigars and 500 ounces of Mexican gold, were on board for
their purchase. My commission was fixed at ten per cent., and I was
promised a command whenever I saw fit to abandon my residence on the
African coast.

Having no factory, or _barracoon_ of slaves, and being elevated to the
dignity of "a trader" in so sudden a manner, I thought it best to
summon all the factors of the river on board the schooner, with an
offer to divide the cargo, provided they would pledge the production
of the slaves within thirty days. Dispatch was all-important to the
owners, and, so anxious was I to gratify them, that I consented to pay
fifty dollars for every slave that should be accepted.

After some discussion my offer was taken, and the cargo apportioned
among the residents. They declined, however, receiving any share of
the cigars in payment, insisting on liquidation in gold alone.

As this was my first enterprise, I felt at a loss to know how to
convert my useless tobacco into merchantable doubloons. In this
strait, I had recourse to the Englishman Joseph, who hitherto traded
exclusively in produce; but, being unable to withstand the temptation
of gold, had consented to furnish a portion of my required negroes. As
soon as I stated the difficulty to Don Edward, he proposed to send the
Havanas to his Hebrew friend in Sierra Leone, where, he did not doubt,
they would be readily exchanged for Manchester merchandise. That
evening a canoe was dispatched to the English colony with the cigars;
and, on the tenth day after, the trusty Israelite appeared in the Rio
Pongo, with a cutter laden to the deck with superior British fabrics.
The rumor of five hundred doubloons disturbed his rest in Sierra
Leone! So much gold could not linger in the hands of natives as long
as Manchester and Birmingham were represented in the colony; and,
accordingly, he coasted the edge of the surf, as rapidly as possible,
to pay me a profit of four dollars a thousand for the cigars, and to
take his chances at the exchange of my gold for the sable cargo! By
this happy hit I was enabled to pay for the required balance of
negroes, as well as to liquidate the schooners expenses while in the
river. I was amazingly rejoiced and proud at this happy result,
because I learned from the captain that the invoice of cigars was a
malicious trick, palmed off on the Areostatico's owners by her
captain, in order to thwart or embarrass me, when he heard I was to be
intrusted with the purchase of a cargo on the coast.

At the appointed day, La Fortuna sailed with 220 human beings packed
in her hold. Three months afterwards, I received advices that she
safely landed 217 in the bay of Matanzas, and that their sale yielded
a clear profit on the voyage of forty-one thousand four hundred and
thirty-eight dollars.[B]

As I am now fairly embarked in a trade which absorbed so many of my
most vigorous years, I suppose the reader will not be loth to learn a
little of my experience in the alleged "cruelties" of this commerce;
and the first question, in all likelihood, that rises to his lips, is
a solicitation to be apprised of the embarkation and treatment of
slaves on the dreaded voyage.

An African factor of fair repute is ever careful to select his human
cargo with consummate prudence, so as not only to supply his employers
with athletic laborers, but to avoid any taint of disease that may
affect the slaves in their transit to Cuba or the American main. Two
days before embarkation, the head of every male and female is neatly
shaved; and, if the cargo belongs to several owners, each man's
_brand_ is impressed on the body of his respective negro. This
operation is performed with pieces of silver wire, or small irons
fashioned into the merchant's initials, heated just hot enough to
blister without burning the skin. When the entire cargo is the venture
of but one proprietor, the branding is always dispensed with.

On the appointed day, the _barracoon_ or slave-pen is made joyous by
the abundant "feed" which signalizes the negro's last hours in his
native country. The feast over, they are taken alongside the vessel in
canoes; and as they touch the deck, they are entirely stripped, so
that women as well as men go out of Africa as they came into
it--_naked_. This precaution, it will be understood, is indispensable;
for perfect nudity, during the whole voyage, is the only means of
securing cleanliness and health. In this state, they are immediately
ordered below, the men to the hold and the women to the cabin, while
boys and girls are, day and night, kept on deck, where their sole
protection from the elements is a sail in fair weather, and a
_tarpaulin_ in foul.

At meal time they are distributed in messes of ten. Thirty years ago,
when the Spanish slave-trade was lawful, the captains were somewhat
more ceremoniously religious than at present, and it was then a
universal habit to make the gangs say grace before meat, and give
thanks afterwards. In our days, however, they dispense with this
ritual, and content themselves with a "_Viva la Habana_," or "hurrah
for Havana," accompanied by a clapping of hands.

This over, a bucket of salt water is served to each mess, by way of
"finger glasses" for the ablution of hands, after which a
_kidd_,--either of rice, farina, yams, or beans,--according to the
tribal habit of the negroes, is placed before the squad. In order to
prevent greediness or inequality in the appropriation of nourishment,
the process is performed by signals from a monitor, whose motions
indicate when the darkies shall dip and when they shall swallow.

It is the duty of a guard to report immediately whenever a slave
refuses to eat, in order that his abstinence may be traced to
stubbornness or disease. Negroes have sometimes been found in slavers
who attempted voluntary starvation; so that, when the watch reports
the patient to be "shamming," his appetite is stimulated by the
medical antidote of a "cat." If the slave, however, is truly ill, he
is forthwith ticketed for the sick list by a bead or button around his
neck, and dispatched to an infirmary in the forecastle.

These meals occur twice daily,--at ten in the morning and four in the
afternoon,--and are terminated by another ablution. Thrice in each
twenty-four hours they are served with half a pint of water. Pipes and
tobacco are circulated economically among both sexes; but, as each
negro cannot be allowed the luxury of a separate bowl, boys are sent
round with an adequate supply, allowing a few whiffs to each
individual. On regular days,--probably three times a week,--their
mouths are carefully rinsed with vinegar, while, nearly every morning,
a dram is given as an antidote to scurvy.

Although it is found necessary to keep the sexes apart, they are
allowed to converse freely during day while on deck. Corporal
punishment is _never_ inflicted save by order of an officer, and, even
then, not until the culprit understands exactly why it is done. Once a
week, the ship's barber scrapes their chins without assistance from
soap; and, on the same day, their nails are closely pared, to insure
security from harm in those nightly battles that occur, when the slave
contests with his neighbor every inch of plank to which he is glued.
During afternoons of serene weather, men, women, girls, and boys are
allowed to unite in African melodies, which they always enhance by an
extemporaneous _tom-tom_ on the bottom of a tub or tin kettle.

These hints will apprise the reader that the greatest care, compatible
with safety, is taken of a negro's health and cleanliness on the
voyage. In every well-conducted slaver, the captain, officers, and
crew, are alert and vigilant to preserve the cargo. It is their
personal interest, as well as the interest of humanity to do so. The
boatswain is incessant in his patrol of purification, and disinfecting
substances are plenteously distributed. The upper deck is washed and
swabbed daily; the slave deck is scraped and holy-stoned; and, at nine
o'clock each morning, the captain inspects every part of his craft; so
that no vessel, except a man-of-war, can compare with a slaver in
systematic order, purity, and neatness. I am not aware that the
ship-fever, which sometimes decimates the emigrants from Europe, has
ever prevailed in these African traders.

At sundown, the process of stowing the slaves for the night is begun.
The second mate and boatswain descend into the hold, whip in hand, and
range the slaves in their regular places; those on the right side of
the vessel facing forward, and lying in each other's lap, while those
on the left are similarly stowed with their faces towards the stern.
In this way each negro lies on his right side, which is considered
preferable for the action of the heart. In allotting places,
particular attention is paid to size, the taller being selected for
the greatest breadth of the vessel, while the shorter and younger are
lodged near the bows. When the cargo is large and the lower deck
crammed, the supernumeraries are disposed of on deck, which is
securely covered with boards to shield them from moisture. The
_strict_ discipline of nightly stowage is, of course, of the greatest
importance in slavers, else every negro would accommodate himself as
if he were a passenger.

In order to insure perfect silence and regularity during night, a
slave is chosen as constable from every ten, and furnished with a
"cat" to enforce commands during his appointed watch. In remuneration
for his services, which, it may be believed, are admirably performed
whenever the whip is required, he is adorned with an old shirt or
tarry trowsers. Now and then, billets of wood are distributed among
the sleepers, but this luxury is never granted until the good temper
of the negroes is ascertained, for slaves have often been tempted to
mutiny by the power of arming themselves with these pillows from the
forest.

It is very probable that many of my readers will consider it barbarous
to make slaves lie down naked upon a board, but let me inform them
that native Africans are not familiar with the use of feather-beds,
nor do any but the free and rich in their mother country indulge in
the luxury even of a mat or raw-hide. Among the Mandingo chiefs,--the
most industrious and civilized of Africans,--the beds, divans, and
sofas, are heaps of mud, covered with untanned skins for cushions,
while logs of wood serve for bolsters! I am of opinion, therefore,
that emigrant slaves experience very slight inconvenience in lying
down on the deck.

But _ventilation_ is carefully attended to. The hatches and bulkheads
of every slaver are grated, and apertures are cut about the deck for
ampler circulation of air. Wind-sails, too, are constantly pouring a
steady draft into the hold, except during a chase, when, of course,
every comfort is temporarily sacrificed for safety. During calms or in
light and baffling winds, when the suffocating air of the tropics
makes ventilation impossible, the gratings are always removed, and
portions of the slaves allowed to repose at night on deck, while the
crew is armed to watch the sleepers.

Handcuffs are rarely used on shipboard. It is the common custom to
secure slaves in the _barracoons_, and while shipping, by chaining
_ten_ in a gang; but as these platoons would be extremely inconvenient
at sea, the manacles are immediately taken off and replaced by
leg-irons, which fasten them in pairs by the feet. Shackles are never
used but for _full-grown men_, while _women_ and _boys_ are set at
liberty as soon as they embark. It frequently happens that when the
behavior of _male_ slaves warrants their freedom, they are released
from all fastenings long before they arrive. Irons are altogether
dispensed with on many _Brazilian_ slavers, as negroes from Anjuda,
Benin, and Angola, are mild; and unaddicted to revolt like those who
dwell east of the Cape or north of the Gold Coast. Indeed, a knowing
trader will never use chains but when compelled, for the longer a
slave is ironed the more he deteriorates; and, as his sole object is
to land a healthy cargo, pecuniary interest, as well as natural
feeling, urges the sparing of metal.

My object in writing this palliative description is not to exculpate
the slavers or their commerce, but to correct those exaggerated
stories which have so long been current in regard to the _usual_
voyage of a trader. I have always believed that the cause of humanity,
as well as any other cause, was least served by over-statement; and I
am sure that if the narratives given by Englishmen are true, the
voyages they detail must either have occurred before my day, or were
conducted in British vessels, while her majesty's subjects still
considered the traffic lawful.[C]


FOOTNOTES:

[B] As the reader may scarcely credit so large a profit, I subjoin an
account of the fitting of a slave vessel from Havana in 1827, and the
liquidation of her voyage in Cuba:--

1.--EXPENSES OUT.

  Cost of LA FORTUNA, a 90 ton schooner,               $3,700 00
  Fitting out, sails, carpenter and cooper's bills,     2,500 00
  Provisions for crew and slaves,                       1,115 00
  Wages advanced to 18 men before the mast,               900 00
    "      "     to captain, mates, boatswain,
                   cook, and steward,                     440 00
  200,000 cigars and 500 doubloons, cargo,             10,900 00
  Clearance and hush-money,                               200 00
                                                     -----------
                                                      $19,755 00
  Commission at 5 per cent.,                              987 00
                                                     -----------
  Full cost of voyage out,                            $20,742 00

2.--EXPENSES HOME.

  Captain's head-money, at $8 a head,                   1,746 00
  Mate's        "          $4   "                         873 00
  Second mate and boatswain's head-money,
      at $2 each a head,                                  873 00
  Captain's wages,                                        219 78
  First mate's wages                                      175 56
  Second mate and boatswain's wages,                      307 12
  Cook and steward's wages,                               264 00
  Eighteen sailors' wages,                              1,972 00
                                                     -----------
                                                      $27,172 46

3.--EXPENSES IN HAVANA.

  Government officers, at $8 per head,                  1,736 00
  My commission on 217 slaves, expenses off,            5,565 00
  Consignees' commissions,                              8,878 00
  217 slave dresses, at $2 each,                          634 00
  Extra expenses of all kinds, say,                     1,000 00
                                                     -----------
  Total expenses,                                     $39,980 46

4.--RETURNS.

  Value of vessel at auction,                          $3,950 00
  Proceeds of 217 slaves,                              77,469 00
                                                     -----------
                                                      $81,419 00
                                                     -----------

RESUMÉ.

  Total Returns,                                      $81,419 00
    "   Expenses,                                      39,980 46
                                                     -----------
  Nett profit,                                        $41,438 54
                                                     -----------

[C] The treaty with Spain, which was designed by Great Britain to end
the slave-trade, failed utterly to produce the desired result.

All _profitable_ trade,--illicit, contraband, or what not,--_will_ be
carried on by avaricious men, as long as the temptation continues.
Accordingly, whenever a trade becomes _forced_, the only and sure
result of violent restriction is to imperil still more both life and
cargo.

1st.--The treaty with Spain, it is said, was enforced some time before
it was properly promulgated or notified; so that British cruisers
seized over eighty vessels, one third of which certainly were not
designed for slave-trade.

2d.--As the compact condemned slave vessels to be broken up, the
sailing qualities of craft were improved to facilitate escape, rather
than insure human comfort.

3d.--The Spanish slavers had recourse to Brazilians and Portuguese to
cover their property; and, as slavers could not be fitted out in Cuba,
other nations sent their vessels ready equipped to Africa, and (under
the jib-booms of cruisers) Sardinians, Frenchmen and Americans,
transferred them to slave traders, while the captains and parts of the
crew took passage home in regular merchantmen.

4th.--As the treaty created greater risk, every method of economy was
resorted to; and the crowding and cramming of slaves was one of the
most prominent results. Water and provisions were diminished; and
every thing was sacrificed for gain.




CHAPTER XII.


In old times, before treaties made slave-trade piracy, the landing of
human cargoes was as comfortably conducted as the disembarkation of
flour. But now, the enterprise is effected with secrecy and hazard. A
wild, uninhabited portion of the coast, where some little bay or
sheltering nook exists, is commonly selected by the captain and his
confederates. As soon as the vessel is driven close to the beach and
anchored, her boats are packed with slaves, while the craft is quickly
dismantled to avoid detection from sea or land. The busy skiffs are
hurried to and fro incessantly till the cargo is entirely ashore, when
the secured gang, led by the captain, and escorted by armed sailors,
is rapidly marched to the nearest plantation. There it is safe from
the rapacity of local magistrates, who, if they have a chance, imitate
their superiors by exacting "_gratifications_."

In the mean time, a _courier_ has been dispatched to the owners in
Havana, Matanzas, or Santiago de Cuba, who immediately post to the
plantation with clothes for the slaves and gold for the crew.
Preparations are quickly made through brokers for the sale of the
blacks; while the vessel, if small, is disguised, to warrant her
return under the coasting flag to a port of clearance. If the craft
happens to be large, it is considered perilous to attempt a return
with a cargo, or "_in distress_," and, accordingly, she is either sunk
or burnt where she lies.

When the genuine African reaches a plantation for the first time, he
fancies himself in paradise. He is amazed by the generosity with which
he is fed with fruit and fresh provisions. His new clothes, red cap,
and roasting blanket (a civilized superfluity he never dreamed of),
strike him dumb with delight, and, in his savage joy, he not only
forgets country, relations, and friends, but skips about like a
monkey, while he dons his garments wrongside out or hind-part before!
The arrival of a carriage or cart creates no little confusion among
the Ethiopian groups, who never imagined that beasts could be made to
work. But the climax of wonder is reached when that paragon of
oddities, a Cuban _postilion_, dressed in his sky-blue coat,
silver-laced hat, white breeches, polished jack-boots, and ringing
spurs, leaps from his prancing quadruped, and bids them welcome in
their mother-tongue. Every African rushes to "snap fingers" with his
equestrian brother, who, according to orders, forthwith preaches an
edifying sermon on the happiness of being a white man's slave, taking
care to jingle his spurs and crack his whip at the end of every
sentence, by way of _amen_.

Whenever a cargo is owned by several proprietors, each one takes his
share at once to his plantation; but if it is the property of
speculators, the blacks are sold to any one who requires them before
removal from the original depot. The sale is, of course, conducted as
rapidly as possible, to forestall the interference of British
officials with the Captain-General.

Many of the Spanish Governors in Cuba have respected treaties, or, at
least, promised to enforce the laws. Squadrons of dragoons and troops
of lancers have been paraded with convenient delay, and ordered to
gallop to plantations designated by the representative of England. It
generally happens, however, that when the hunters arrive the game is
gone. Scandal declares that, while brokers are selling the blacks at
the depot, it is not unusual for their owner or his agent to be found
knocking at the door of the Captain-General's secretary. It is often
said that the Captain-General himself is sometimes present in the
sanctuary, and, after a familiar chat about the happy landing of "the
contraband,"--as the traffic is amiably called, the requisite
_rouleaux_ are insinuated into the official desk under the intense
smoke of a fragrant _cigarillo_. The metal is always considered the
property of the Captain-General, but his scribe avails himself of a
lingering farewell at the door, to hint an immediate and pressing need
for "a very small darkey!" Next day, the diminutive African does not
appear; but, as it is believed that Spanish officials prefer gold even
to mortal flesh, his algebraic equivalent is unquestionably furnished
in the shape of shining ounces!

       *       *       *       *       *

The prompt dispatch I gave the schooner Fortuna, started new ideas
among the traders of the Rio Pongo, so that it was generally agreed my
method of dividing the cargo among different factors was not only most
advantageous for speed, but prevented monopoly, and gave all an equal
chance. At a "grand palaver" or assemblage of the traders on the
river, it was resolved that this should be the course of trade for the
future. All the factors, except Ormond, attended and assented; but we
learned that the Mongo's people, with difficulty prevented him from
sending an armed party to break up our deliberations.

The knowledge of this hostile feeling soon spread throughout the
settlement and adjacent towns, creating considerable excitement
against Ormond. My plan and principles were approved by the natives as
well as foreigners, so that warning was sent the Mongo, if any harm
befell Joseph and Theodore, it would be promptly resented. Our native
landlord, Ali-Ninpha, a Foulah by descent, told him boldly, in
presence of his people, that the Africans were "tired of a mulatto
Mongo;" and, from that day, his power dwindled away visibly, though a
show of respect was kept up in consequence of his age and ancient
importance.

During these troubles, the Areostatico returned to my consignment, and
in twenty-two days was dispatched with a choice cargo of
Mandingoes,--a tribe, which had become fashionable for house servants
among the Havanese. But the luckless vessel was never heard of, and it
is likely she went down in some of the dreadful gales that scourged
the coast immediately after her departure.




CHAPTER XIII.


I had now grown to such sudden importance among the natives, that the
neighboring chiefs and kings sent me daily messages of friendship,
with trifling gifts that I readily accepted. One of these bordering
lords, more generous and insinuating than the rest, hinted several
times his anxiety for a closer connection in affection as well as
trade, and, at length, insisted upon becoming my father-in-law!

I had always heard in Italy that it was something to receive the hand
of a princess, even after long and tedious wooing; but now that I was
surrounded by a mob of kings, who absolutely thrust their daughters on
me, I confess I had the bad taste not to leap with joy at the royal
offering. Still, I was in a difficult position, as no graver offence
can be given a chief than to reject his child. It is so serious an
insult to refuse a wife, that, high born natives, in order to avoid
quarrels or war, accept the tender boon, and as soon as etiquette
permits, pass it over to a friend or relation. As the offer was made
to me personally by the king, I found the utmost difficulty in
escaping. Indeed, he would receive no excuse. When I declined on
account of the damsel's youth, he laughed incredulously. If I urged
the feebleness of my health and tardy convalescence, he insisted that
a regular life of matrimony was the best cordial for an impaired
constitution. In fact, the paternal solicitude of his majesty for my
doubloons was so urgent that I was on the point of yielding myself a
patient sacrifice, when Joseph came to my relief with the offer of his
hand as a substitute.

The Gordian knot was cut. Prince Yungee in reality did not care so
much who should be his son-in-law as that he obtained one with a white
skin and plentiful purse. Joseph or Theodore, Saxon or Italian, made
no difference to the chief; and, as is the case in all Oriental lands,
the opinion of the lady was of no importance whatever.

I cannot say that my partner viewed this matrimonial project with the
disgust that I did. Perhaps he was a man of more liberal philosophy
and wider views of human brotherhood; at any rate, his residence in
Africa gave him a taste not only for its people, habits, and
superstitions, but he upheld practical amalgamation with more fervor
and honesty than a regular abolitionist. Joseph was possessed by
Africo-mania. He admired the women, the men, the language, the
cookery, the music. He would fall into philharmonic ecstasies over the
discord of a bamboo _tom-tom_. I have reason to believe that even
African barbarities had charms for the odd Englishman; but he was
chiefly won by the _dolce far niente_ of the natives, and the Oriental
license of polygamy. In a word, Joseph had the same taste for a
full-blooded _cuffee_, that an epicure has for the _haut gout_ of a
stale partridge, and was in ecstasies at my extrication. He neglected
his _siestas_ and his accounts; he wandered from house to house with
the rapture of an impatient bridegroom; and, till every thing was
ready for the nuptial rites, no one at the factory had a moment's
rest.

As the bride's relations were eminent folks on the upper part of the
river, they insisted that the marriage ceremony should be performed
with all the honorable formalities due to the lady's rank. Esther, who
acted as my mentor in every "country-question," suggested that it
would be contrary to the Englishman's interest to ally himself with a
family whose only motive was sordid. She strongly urged that if he
persisted in taking the girl, he should do so without a "_colungee_"
or ceremonial feast. But Joseph was obstinate as a bull; and as he
doubted whether he would ever commit matrimony again, he insisted
that the nuptials should be celebrated with all the fashionable
splendor of high life in Africa.

When this was decided, it became necessary, by a fiction of etiquette,
to ignore the previous offer of the bride, and to begin anew, as if
the damsel were to be sought in the most delicate way by a desponding
lover. She must be demanded formally, by the bridegroom from her
reluctant mother; and accordingly, the most respectable matron in our
colony was chosen by Joseph from his colored acquaintances to be the
bearer of his valentine. In the present instance, the selected Cupid
was the principal wife of our native landlord, Ali-Ninpha; and, as
Africans as well as Turks love by the pound, the dame happened to be
one of the fattest, as well as most respectable, in our parish.
Several female _attachés_ were added to the suite of the ambassadress,
who forthwith departed to make a proper "_dantica_." The gifts
selected were of four kinds. First of all, two demijohns of
_trade_-rum were filled to gladden the community of Mongo-Yungee's
town. Next, a piece of blue cotton cloth, a musket, a keg of powder,
and a demijohn of _pure_ rum, were packed for papa. Thirdly, a
youthful virgin dressed in a white "tontongee,"[2] a piece of white
cotton cloth, a white basin, a white sheep, and a basket of white
rice, were put up for mamma, in token of her daughter's purity. And,
lastly, a German looking-glass, several bunches of beads, a coral
necklace, a dozen of turkey-red handkerchiefs, and a spotless white
country-cloth, were presented to the bride; together with a decanter
of white palm-oil for the anointment of her ebony limbs after the
bath, which is never neglected by African _belles_.

While the missionary of love was absent, our sighing swain devoted his
energies to the erection of a bridal palace; and the task required
just as many days as were employed in the creation of the world. The
building was finished by the aid of bamboos, straw, and a modicum of
mud; and, as Joseph imagined that love and coolness were secured in
such a climate by utter darkness, he provided an abundance of that
commodity by omitting windows entirely. The furnishing of the domicil
was completed with all the luxury of native taste. An elastic
four-poster was constructed of bamboos; some dashing crockery was set
about the apartment for display; a cotton quilt was cast over the
matted couch; an old trunk served for bureau and wardrobe; and, as
negresses adore looking-glasses, the largest in our warehouse was
nailed against the door, as the only illuminated part of the edifice.

At last all was complete, and Joseph snapped his fingers with delight,
when the corpulent dame waddled up asthmatically, and announced with a
wheeze that her mission was prosperous. If there had ever been doubt,
there was now no more. The oracular "_fetiche_" had announced that the
delivery of the bride to her lord might take place "on the tenth day
of the new moon."

As the planet waxed from its slender sickle to the thicker quarter,
the impatience of my Cockney waxed with it; but, at length, the firing
of muskets, the twang of horns, and the rattle of tom-toms, gave
notice from the river that COOMBA, the bride, was approaching the
quay. Joseph and myself hastily donned our clean shirts, white
trousers, and glistening pumps; and, under the shade of broad
_sombreros_ and umbrellas, proceeded to greet the damsel. Our fat
friend, the matron; Ali-Ninpha, her husband; our servants, and a troop
of village ragamuffins, accompanied us to the water's brink, so that
we were just in time to receive the five large canoes bearing the
escort of the king and his daughter. Boat after boat disgorged its
passengers; but, to our dismay, they ranged themselves apart, and were
evidently displeased. When the last canoe, decorated with flags,
containing the bridal party, approached the strand, the chief of the
escort signalled it to stop and forbade the landing.

In a moment there was a general row--a row, conceivable only by
residents of Africa, or those whose ears have been regaled with the
chattering of a "wilderness of monkeys." Our lusty _factotum_ was
astonished. The Cockney aspirated his _h's_ with uncommon volubility.
We hastened from one to the other to inquire the cause; nor was it
until near half an hour had been wasted in palaver, that I found they
considered themselves slighted, first of all because we had not fired
a salvo in their honor, and secondly because we failed to spread mats
from the beach to the house, upon which the bride might place her
virgin feet without defilement! These were indispensable formalities
among the "upper ten;" and the result was that COOMBA could not land
unless the etiquette were fulfilled.

Here, then, was a sad dilemma. The guns could be fired instantly;--but
where, alas! at a moment's notice, were we to obtain mats enough to
carpet the five hundred yards of transit from the river to the house?
The match must be broken off!

My crest-fallen cockney immediately began to exculpate himself by
pleading ignorance of the country's customs,--assuring the strangers
that he had not the slightest inkling of the requirement. Still, the
stubborn "master of ceremonies" would not relax an iota of his
rigorous behests.

At length, our bulky dame approached the master of the bridal party,
and, squatting on her knees, confessed her neglectful fault. Then, for
the first time, I saw a gleam of hope. Joseph improved the moment by
alleging that he employed this lady patroness to conduct every thing
in the sublimest style imaginable, because it was presumed no one knew
better than she all that was requisite for so admirable and virtuous a
lady as COOMBA. Inasmuch, however, as he had been disappointed by her
unhappy error, he did not think the blow should fall on _his_
shoulders. The negligent matron ought to pay the penalty; and, as it
was impossible now to procure the mats, she should forfeit the value
of a slave to aid the merry-making, _and carry the bride on her back
from the river to her home_!

A clapping of hands and a quick murmur of assent ran through the
crowd, telling me that the compromise was accepted. But the porterage
was no sinecure for the delinquent elephant, who found it difficult at
times to get along over African sands even without a burden. Still, no
time was lost in further parley or remonstrance. The muskets and
cannon were brought down and exploded; the royal boat was brought to
the landing; father, mother, brothers, and relations were paraded on
the strand; tom-toms and horns were beaten and blown; and, at last,
the suffering missionary waddled to the canoe to receive the veiled
form of the slender bride.

The process of removal was accompanied by much merriment. Our
corpulent porter groaned as she "larded the lean earth" beneath her
ponderous tread; but, in due course of labor and patience, she sank
with her charge on the bamboo couch of Master Joseph.

As soon as the bearer and the burden were relieved from their fatigue,
the maiden was brought to the door, and, as her long concealing veil
of spotless cotton was unwrapped from head and limbs, a shout of
admiration went up from the native crowd that followed us from the
quay to the hovel. As Joseph received the hand of COOMBA, he paid the
princely fee of a slave to the matron.

COOMBA had certainly not numbered more than sixteen years, yet, in
that burning region, the sex ripen long before their pallid sisters of
the North. She belonged to the Soosoo tribe, but was descended from
Mandingo ancestors, and I was particularly struck by the uncommon
symmetry of her tapering limbs. Her features and head, though
decidedly African, were not of that coarse and heavy cast that marks
the lineaments of her race. The grain of her shining skin was as fine
and polished as ebony. A melancholy languor subdued and deepened the
blackness of her large eyes, while her small and even teeth gleamed
with the brilliant purity of snow. Her mouth was rosy and even
delicate; and, indeed, had not her ankles, feet, and wool, manifested
the unfortunate types of her kindred, COOMBA, the daughter of
Mongo-Yungee, might have passed for a _chef d'oeuvre in black
marble_.

The scant dress of the damsel enabled me to be so minute in this
catalogue of her charms; and, in truth, had I not inspected them
closely, I would have violated matrimonial etiquette as much as if I
failed to admire the _trousseau_ and gifts of a bride at home.
Coomba's costume was as innocently primitive as Eve's after the
expulsion. Like all maidens of her country, she had beads round her
ankles, beads round her waist, beads round her neck, while an
abundance of bracelets hooped her arms from wrist to elbow. The white
_tontongee_ still girdled her loins; but Coomba's climate was her
mantuamaker, and indicated more necessity for ornament than drapery.
Accordingly, Coomba was obedient to Nature, and troubled herself very
little about a supply of useless garments, to load the presses and vex
the purse of her bridegroom.

As soon as the process of unveiling was over, and time had been
allowed the spectators to behold the damsel, her mother led her gently
to the fat ambassadress, who, with her companions, bore the girl to a
bath for ablution, anointment, and perfuming. While Coomba underwent
this ceremony at the hands of our matron, flocks of sable dames
entered the apartment; and, as they withdrew, shook hands with her
mother, in token of the maiden's purity, and with the groom in
compliment to his luck.

As soon as the bath and _oiling_ were over, six girls issued from the
hut, bearing the glistening bride on a snow-white sheet to the home of
her spouse. The transfer was soon completed, and the burden deposited
on the nuptial bed. The dwelling was then closed and put in charge of
sentinels; when the plump plenipotentiary approached the Anglo-Saxon,
and handing him the scant fragments of the bridal dress, pointed to
the door, and, in a loud voice, exclaimed: "White man, this authorizes
you to take possession of your wife!"

It may naturally be supposed that our radiant cockney was somewhat
embarrassed by so public a display of matrimonial happiness, at six
o'clock in the afternoon, on the thirtieth day of a sweltering June.
Joseph could not help looking at me with a blush and a laugh, as he
saw the eyes of the whole crowd fixed on his movements; but, nerving
himself like a man, he made a profound _salaam_ to the admiring
multitude, and shaking my hand with a convulsive grip, plunged into
the darkness of his abode. A long pole was forthwith planted before
the door, and a slender strip of white cotton, about the size of a
"_tontongee_," was hoisted in token of privacy, and floated from the
staff like a pennant, giving notice that the commodore is aboard.

No sooner were these rites over, than the house was surrounded by a
swarm of women from the adjacent villages, whose incessant songs,
screams, chatter, and _tom-tom_ beatings, drowned every mortal sound.
Meanwhile, the men of the party--whose merriment around an enormous
_bonfire_ was augmented by abundance of liquor and provisions--amused
themselves in dancing, shouting, yelling, and discharging muskets in
honor of the nuptials.

Such was the ceaseless serenade that drove peace from the lovers'
pillow during the whole of that memorable night. At dawn, the
corpulent matron again appeared from among the wild and reeling crowd,
and concluding her functions by some mysterious ceremonies, led forth
the lank groom from the dark cavity of his hot and sleepless oven,
looking more like a bewildered wretch rescued from drowning, than a
radiant lover fresh from his charmer. In due time, the bride also was
brought forth by the matrons for the bath, where she was anointed from
head to foot with a vegetable butter,--whose odor is probably more
agreeable to Africans than Americans,--and fed with a bowl of broth
made from a young and tender pullet.

The marriage _fêtes_ lasted three days, after which I insisted that
Joseph should give up nonsense for business, and sobered his ecstasies
by handing him a wedding-bill for five hundred and fifty dollars.

There is hardly a doubt that he considered COOMBA very _dear_, if not
absolutely adorable!


FOOTNOTE:

[2] A _tontongee_ is a strip of white cotton cloth, three inches wide
and four feet long, used as a _virgin African's only dress_. It is
wound round the limbs, and, hanging partly in front and partly behind,
is supported from the maiden's waist by strands of _showee-beads_.




CHAPTER XIV.


I am sorry to say that my colleague's honeymoon did not last long,
although it was not interrupted by domestic discord. One of his
malicious Sierra Leone creditors, who had not been dealt with quite as
liberally as the rest, called on the colonial governor of that British
establishment, and alleged that a certain Edward Joseph, an
Englishman, owned a factory on the Rio Pongo, in company with a
Spaniard, and was engaged in the slave-trade!

At this the British lion, of course, growled in his African cage, and
bestirred himself to punish the recreant cub. An expedition was
forthwith fitted out to descend upon our little establishment; and, in
all likelihood, the design would have been executed, had not our
friendly Israelite in Sierra Leone sent us timely warning. No sooner
did the news arrive than Joseph embarked in a slaver, and, packing up
his valuables, together with sixty negroes, fled from Africa. His
disconsolate bride was left to return to her parents.

As the hostile visit from the British colony was hourly expected, I
did not tarry long in putting a new face on Kambia. Fresh books were
made out in my name exclusively; their dates were carefully suited to
meet all inquiries; and the townspeople were prepared to answer
impertinent questions; so that, when Lieutenant Findlay, of Her
Britannic Majesty's naval service, made his appearance in the river,
with three boats bearing the cross of St. George, no man in the
settlement was less anxious than Don Téodore, the _Spaniard_.

When the lieutenant handed me an order from the governor of Sierra
Leone and its dependencies, authorizing him to burn or destroy the
property of Joseph, as well as to arrest that personage himself, I
regretted that I was unable to facilitate his patriotic projects,
inasmuch as the felon was afloat on salt water, while all his property
had long before been conveyed to me by a regular bill of sale. In
proof of my assertions, I produced the instrument and the books; and
when I brought in our African landlord to sustain me in every
particular, the worthy lieutenant was forced to relinquish his
hostility and accept an invitation to dinner. His conduct during the
whole investigation was that of a gentleman; which, I am sorry to say,
was not always the case with his professional countrymen.

       *       *       *       *       *

During the rainy season, which begins in June and lasts till October,
the stores of provisions in establishments along the Atlantic coast
often become sadly impaired. The Foulah and Mandingo tribes of the
interior are prevented by the swollen condition of intervening streams
from visiting the beach with their produce. In these straits, the
factories have recourse by canoes to the smaller rivers, which are
neither entered by sea-going vessels, nor blockaded for the caravans
of interior chiefs.

Among the tribes or clans visited by me in such seasons, I do not
remember any whose intercourse afforded more pleasure, or exhibited
nobler traits, than the BAGERS, who dwell on the solitary margins of
these shallow rivulets, and subsist by boiling salt in the dry season
and making palm-oil in the wet. I have never read an account of these
worthy blacks, whose civility, kindness, and honesty will compare
favorably with those of more civilized people.

The Bagers live very much apart from the great African tribes, and
keep up their race by intermarriage. The language is peculiar, and
altogether devoid of that Italian softness that makes the Soosoo so
musical.

Having a week or two of perfect leisure, I determined to set out in a
canoe to visit one of these establishments, especially as no
intelligence had reached me for some time from one of my country
traders who had been dispatched thither with an invoice of goods to
purchase palm-oil. My canoe was comfortably fitted with a waterproof
awning, and provisioned for a week.

A tedious pull along the coast and through the dangerous surf, brought
us to the narrow creek through whose marshy mesh of _mangroves_ we
squeezed our canoe to the bank. Even after landing, we waded a
considerable distance through marsh before we reached the solid land.
The Bager town stood some hundred yards from the landing, at the end
of a desolate savanna, whose lonely waste spread as far as the eye
could reach. The village itself seemed quite deserted, so that I had
difficulty in finding "the oldest inhabitant," who invariably stays at
home and acts the part of chieftain. This venerable personage welcomed
me with great cordiality; and, having made my _dantica_, or, in other
words, declared the purpose of my visit, I desired to be shown the
trader's house. The patriarch led me at once to a hut, whose miserable
thatch was supported by four posts. Here I recognized a large chest, a
rum cask, and the grass hammock of my agent. I was rather exasperated
to find my property thus neglected and exposed, and began venting my
wrath in no seemly terms on the delinquent clerk, when my conductor
laid his hand gently on my sleeve, and said there was no need to blame
him. "This," continued he, "is his house; here your property is
sheltered from sun and rain; and, among the Bagers, whenever your
goods are protected from the elements, they are safe from every
danger. Your man has gone across the plain to a neighboring town for
oil; to-night he will be back;--in the mean time, look at your goods!"

I opened the chest, which, to my surprise, was unlocked, and found it
nearly full of the merchandise I had placed in it. I shook the cask,
and its weight seemed hardly diminished. I turned the spigot, and lo!
the rum trickled on my feet. Hard-by was a temporary shed, filled to
the roof with hides and casks of palm-oil, all of which, the
gray-beard declared was my property.

Whilst making this inspection, I have no doubt the expression of my
face indicated a good deal of wonder, for I saw the old man smile
complacently as he followed me with his quiet eye.

"Good!" said the chief, "it is all there,--is it not? We Bagers are
neither Soosoos, Mandingoes, Foulahs, nor _White-men_, that the goods
of a stranger are not safe in our towns! We work for a living; we want
little; big ships never come to us, and we neither steal from our
guests nor go to war to sell one another!"

The conversation, I thought, was becoming a little personal; and, with
a gesture of impatience, I put a stop to it. On second thoughts,
however, I turned abruptly round, and shaking the noble savage's hand
with a vigor that made him wince, presented him with a piece of cloth.
Had Diogenes visited Africa in search of his man, it is by no means
unlikely that he might have extinguished his lamp among the Bagers!

       *       *       *       *       *

It was about two o'clock in the afternoon when I arrived in the town,
which, as I before observed, seemed quite deserted, except by a dozen
or two ebony antiquities, who crawled into the sunshine when they
learned the advent of a stranger. The young people were absent
gathering palm nuts in a neighboring grove. A couple of hours before
sundown, my trader returned; and, shortly after, the merry gang of
villagers made their appearance, laughing, singing, dancing, and laden
with fruit. As soon as the gossips announced the arrival of a white
man during their absence, the little hut that had been hospitably
assigned me was surrounded by a crowd, five or six deep, of men,
women, and children. The pressure was so close and sudden that I was
almost stifled. Finding they would not depart until I made myself
visible, I emerged from concealment and shook hands with nearly all.
The women, in particular, insisted on gratifying themselves with a
_sumboo_ or smell at my face,--which is the native's kiss,--and
folded their long black arms in an embrace of my neck, threatening
peril to my shirt with their oiled and dusty flesh. However, I noticed
so much _bonhommie_ among the happy crew that my heart would not allow
me to repulse them; so I kissed the youngest and shunned the crones.
In token of my good will, I led a dozen or more of the prettiest to
the rum-barrel, and made them happy for the night.

When the townsfolks had comfortably nestled themselves in their
hovels, the old chief, with a show of some formality, presented me a
heavy ram-goat, distinguished for its formidable head-ornaments,
which, he said, was offered as a _bonne-bouche_, for my supper. He
then sent a crier through the town, informing the women that a white
stranger would be their guest during the night; and, in less than half
an hour, my hut was visited by most of the village dames and damsels.
One brought a pint of rice; another some roots of _cassava_; another,
a few spoonfuls of palm-oil; another a bunch of peppers; while the
oldest lady of the party made herself particularly remarkable by the
gift of a splendid fowl. In fact, the crier had hardly gone his
rounds, before my mat was filled with the voluntary contributions of
the villagers; and the wants, not only of myself but of my eight
rowers, completely supplied.

There was nothing peculiar in this exhibition of hospitality, on
account of my nationality. It was the mere fulfilment of a Bager law;
and the poorest _black stranger_ would have shared the rite as well as
myself. I could not help thinking that I might have travelled from one
end of England or America to the other, without meeting a Bager
_welcome_. Indeed, it seemed somewhat questionable, whether it were
better for the English to civilize Africa, or for the Bagers to send
missionaries to their brethren in Britain!

These reflections, however, did not spoil my appetite, for I confess a
feeling of unusual content and relish when the patriarch sat down with
me before the covered bowls prepared for our supper. But, alas! for
human hopes and tastes! As I lifted the lid from the vessel containing
the steaming stew, its powerful fragrance announced the remains of
that venerable quadruped with which I had been welcomed. It was
probably not quite in etiquette among the Bagers to decline the stew,
yet, had starvation depended on it, I could not have touched a morsel.
Accordingly, I forbore the mess and made free with the rice, seasoning
it well with salt and peppers. But my amiable landlord was resolved
that I should not go to rest with such penitential fare, and ordered
one of his wives to bring her supper to my lodge. A taste of the dish
satisfied me that it was edible, though intensely peppered. I ate with
the appetite of an alderman, nor was it till two days after that my
trader informed me I had supped so heartily on the spareribs of an
alligator! It was well that the hours of digestion had gone by, for
though partial to the chase, I had never loved "water fowl" of so wild
a character.

When supper was over, I escaped from the hut to breathe a little fresh
air before retiring for the night. Hardly had I put my head outside
when I found myself literally inhaling the mosquitoes that swarmed at
nightfall over these marshy flats. I took it for granted that there
was to be no rest for me in darkness among the Bagers; but, when I
mentioned my trouble to the chief, he told me that another hut had
already been provided for my sleeping quarters, where my bed was made
of certain green and odorous leaves which are antidotes to mosquitoes.
After a little more chat, he offered to guide me to the hovel, a low,
thickly matted bower, through whose single aperture I crawled on hands
and knees. As soon as I was in, the entrance was closed, and although
I felt very much as if packed in my grave, I slept an unbroken sleep
till day-dawn.[D]

My return to the Rio Pongo was attended with considerable danger, yet
I did not regret the trial of my spirit, as it enabled me to see a
phase of African character which otherwise might have been missed.

After passing two days among the Bagers, I departed once more in my
canoe, impelled by the stout muscles of the Kroomen. The breeze
freshened as we passed from the river's mouth across the boiling surf
of the bar, but, when we got fairly to sea, I found the Atlantic so
vexed by the rising gale, that, in spite of waterproof awning and
diligent bailing, we were several times near destruction. Still, I had
great confidence in the native boatmen, whose skill in their skiffs is
quite as great as their dexterity when naked in the water. I had often
witnessed their agility as they escaped from capsized boats on the
surf of our bar; and often had I rewarded them with a dram, when they
came, as from a frolic, dripping and laughing to the beach.

When night began to fall around us the storm increased, and I could
detect, by the low chatter and anxious looks of the rowers, that they
were alarmed. As far as my eye reached landward, I could descry
nothing but a continuous reef on which the chafed sea was dashing
furiously in columns of the densest spray. Of course I felt that it
was not my duty, nor would it be prudent, to undertake the guidance of
the canoe in such circumstances. Yet, I confess that a shudder ran
through my nerves when I saw my "head-man" suddenly change our course
and steer the skiff directly towards the rocks. On she bounded like a
racer. The sea through which they urged her foamed like a caldron with
the rebounding surf. Nothing but wave-lashed rock was before us. At
last I could detect a narrow gap in the iron wall, which was filled
with surges in the heaviest swells. We approached it, and paused at
the distance of fifty feet. A wave had just burst through the chasm
like a storming army. We waited for the succeeding lull. All hands
laid still,--not a word was spoken or paddle dipped. Then came the
next enormous swell under our stern;--the oars flew like
lightning;--the canoe rose as a feather on the crest of the surf;--in
a moment she shot through the cleft and reposed in smooth water near
the shore. As we sped through the gap, I might have touched the rocks
on both sides with my extended arms!

Such is the skill and daring of Kroomen.


FOOTNOTE:

[D] These Bagers are remarkable for their honesty, as I was convinced
by several anecdotes related, during my stay in this village, by my
trading clerk. He took me to a neighboring lemon-tree, and exhibited
an English brass steelyard hanging on its branches, which had been
left there by a mulatto merchant from Sierra Leone, who died in the
town on a trading trip. This article, with a chest half full of goods,
deposited in the "palaver-house," had been kept securely more than
twelve years in expectation that some of his friends would send for
them from the colony. The Bagers, I was told, have no _jujus_,
_fetiches_, or _gree-grees_;--they worship no god or evil
spirit;--their dead are buried without tears or ceremony;--and their
hereafter in eternal oblivion.

The males of this tribe are of middling size and deep black color;
broad-shouldered, but neither brave nor warlike. They keep aloof from
other tribes, and by a Fullah law, are protected from foreign violence
in consequence of their occupation as salt-makers, which is regarded
by the interior natives as one of the most useful trades. Their
fondness for palm-oil and the little work they are compelled to
perform, make them generally indolent. Their dress is a single
handkerchief, or a strip of country cloth four or five inches wide,
most carefully put on.

The young women have none of the sylphlike appearance of the
Mandingoes or Soosoos. They work hard and use palm-oil plentifully
both internally and externally, so that their relaxed flesh is bloated
like blubber. Both sexes shave their heads, and adorn their noses and
lower lips with rings, while they penetrate their ears with porcupine
quills or sticks. _They neither sell nor buy each other_, though they
acquire children of both sexes from other tribes, and adopt them into
their own, or dispose of them if not suitable. Their avails of work
are commonly divided; so the Bagers may be said to resemble the
Mormons in polygamy, the Fourierites in community, but to exceed both
in honesty!

I am sorry that their nobler characteristics have so few imitators
among the other tribes of Africa.




CHAPTER XV.


When the rains began to slacken, a petty caravan now and then
straggled towards the coast; but, as I was only a new comer in the
region, and not possessed of abundant means, I enjoyed a slender share
of the trade. Still I consoled myself with the hope of better luck in
the dry season.

In the mean time, however, I not only heard of Joseph's safe arrival
at Matanzas, but received a clerk whom he dispatched to dwell in
Kambia while I visited the interior. Moreover, I built a boat, and
sent her to Sierra Leone with a cargo of palm-oil, to be exchanged for
British goods; and, finally, during my perfect leisure, I went to work
with diligence _to study_ the trade in which fortune seemed to have
cast my lot.

It would be a task of many pages if I attempted to give a full account
of the origin and causes of _slavery in Africa_. As a national
institution, it seems to have existed always. Africans have been
bondsmen every where: and the oldest monuments bear their images
linked with menial toils and absolute servitude. Still, I have no
hesitation in saying, that three fourths of the slaves _sent abroad_
from Africa are the fruit of native wars, fomented by the avarice and
temptation of our own race. I cannot exculpate any commercial nation
from this sweeping censure. We stimulate the negro's passions by the
introduction of wants and fancies never dreamed of by the simple
native, while slavery was an institution of domestic need and comfort
alone. But what was once a luxury has now ripened into an absolute
necessity; so that MAN, _in truth, has become the coin of Africa, and
the "legal tender" of a brutal trade_.

England, to-day, with all her philanthropy, sends, under the cross of
St. George, to convenient magazines of _lawful commerce_ on the coast,
her Birmingham muskets, Manchester cottons, and Liverpool lead, all of
which are righteously swapped at Sierra Leone, Acra, and on the Gold
coast, for Spanish or Brazilian bills on London. Yet, what British
merchant does not know the traffic on which those bills are founded,
and for whose support his wares are purchased? France, with her
_bonnet rouge_ and fraternity, dispatches her Rouen cottons,
Marseilles brandies, flimsy taffetas, and indescribable variety of
tinsel gewgaws. Philosophic Germany demands a slice for her
looking-glasses and beads; while multitudes of our own worthy traders,
who would hang a slaver as a pirate _when caught_, do not hesitate to
supply him indirectly with tobacco, powder, cotton, Yankee rum, and
New England notions, in order to bait the trap in which he _may_ be
caught! It is the temptation of these things, I repeat, that feeds the
slave-making wars of Africa, and forms the human basis of those
admirable bills of exchange.

I did not intend to write a homily on Ethiopian commerce when I begun
this chapter; but, on reviewing the substantial motives of the
traffic, I could not escape a statement which tells its own tale, and
is as unquestionable as the facts of verified history.

Such, then, may be said to be the _predominating_ influence that
supports the African slave-trade; yet, if commerce of all kinds were
forbidden with that continent, the customs and laws of the natives
would still encourage slavery as a domestic affair, though, of course,
in a very modified degree. The rancorous family quarrels among tribes
and parts of tribes, will always promote conflicts that resemble the
forays of our feudal ancestors, while the captives made therein will
invariably become serfs.

Besides this, the financial genius of Africa, instead of devising
bank notes or the precious metals as a circulating medium, has from
time immemorial, declared that a human creature,--_the true
representative and embodiment of labor_,--is the most valuable article
on earth. A man, therefore, becomes the standard of prices. A slave is
a note of hand, that may be discounted or pawned; he is a bill of
exchange that carries himself to his destination and pays a debt
bodily; he is a tax that walks corporeally into the chieftain's
treasury. Thus, slavery is not likely to be surrendered by the negroes
themselves as a national institution. Their social interests will
continue to maintain hereditary bondage; they will send the felon and
the captive to foreign _barracoons_; and they will sentence to
domestic servitude the orphans of culprits, disorderly children,
gamblers, witches, vagrants, cripples, insolvents, the deaf, the mute,
the barren, and the faithless. Five-sixths of the population is in
chains.[3]

To facilitate the sale of these various unfortunates or malefactors,
there exists among the Africans a numerous class of brokers, who are
as skilful in their traffic as the jockeys of civilized lands. These
adroit scoundrels rove the country in search of objects to suit
different patrons. They supply the body-guard of princes; procure
especial tribes for personal attendants; furnish laborers for farms;
fill the _harems_ of debauchees; pay or collect debts in flesh; and in
cases of emergency take the place of bailiffs, to kidnap under the
name of sequestration. If a native king lacks cloth, arms, powder,
balls, tobacco, rum, or salt, and does not trade personally with the
factories on the beach, he employs one of these dexterous gentry to
effect the barter; and thus both British cotton and Yankee rum ascend
the rivers from the second hands into which they have passed, while
the slave approaches the coast to become the ebony basis of a bill of
exchange!

It has sometimes struck me as odd, how the extremes of society almost
meet on similar principles; and how much some African short-comings
resemble the conceded civilizations of other lands!


FOOTNOTE:

[3] Dr. Lugenbeel's "Sketches of Liberia.": 1853. p. 45, 2d ed.




CHAPTER XVI.


The month of November, 1827, brought the wished-for "dry season;" and
with it came a message from the leader of a caravan, that, at the full
of the moon, he would halt in my village with all the produce he could
impress. The runner represented his master as bearing a missive from
his beloved nephew Ahmah-de-Bellah, and declared that he only lingered
on the path to swell his caravan for the profit of my coffers.

I did not let the day pass before I sent an interpreter to greet my
promised guest with suitable presents; while I took advantage of his
delay to build a neat cottage for his reception, inasmuch as no Fullah
Mahometan will abide beneath the same roof with an infidel. I
furnished the establishment, according to their taste, with green
hides and several fresh mats.

True to his word, Mami-de-Yong made known his arrival in my
neighborhood on the day when the planet attained its full diameter.
The moment the pious Mussulman, from the high hills in the rear of my
settlement, espied the river winding to the sea, he turned to the
east, and raising his arms to heaven, and extending them towards
Mecca, gave thanks for his safe arrival on the beach. After repeated
genuflections, in which the earth was touched by his prostrate
forehead, he arose, and taking the path towards Kambia, struck up a
loud chant in honor of the prophet, in which he was joined by the
interminable procession.

It was quite an imposing sight--this Oriental parade and barbaric
pomp. My native landlord, proud of the occasion, as well as of his
Mahometan progenitors, joined in the display. As the train approached
my establishment, I ordered repeated salutes in honor of the stranger,
and as I had no minstrels or music to welcome the Fullah, I commanded
my master of ceremonies to conceal the deficiency by plenty of smoke
and a dozen more rounds of rattling musketry.

This was the first caravan and the first leader of absolutely royal
pretensions that visited my settlement; so I lined my piazza with
mats, put a body-guard under arms behind me, decorated the front with
fancy flags, and opposite the stool where I took my seat, caused a
pure white sheepskin of finest wool to be spread for the accommodation
of the noble savage. Advancing to the steps of my dwelling, I stood
uncovered as the Fullah approached and tendered me a silver-mounted
gazelle-horn snuff-box--the credential by which Ahmah-de-Bellah had
agreed to certify the mission. Receiving the token with a _salaam_, I
carried it reverently to my forehead, and passed it to Ali-Ninpha,
who, on this occasion, played the part of my scribe. The ceremony
over, we took him by the hands and led him to his allotted sheepskin,
while, with a bow, I returned to my stool.

According to "country custom," Mami-de-Yong then began the _dantica_,
or exposition of purposes, first of all invoking ALLAH to witness his
honor and sincerity. "Not only," said the Mussulman, "am I the bearer
of a greeting from my dear nephew Ahmah-de-Bellah, but I am an envoy
from my royal master the Ali-Mami, of Footha-Yallon, who, at his son's
desire, has sent me with an escort to conduct you on your promised
visit to Timbo. During your absence, my lord has commanded us to dwell
in your stead at Kambia, so that your property may be safe from the
Mulatto Mongo of Bangalang, whose malice towards your person has been
heard of even among our distant hills!"

The latter portion of this message somewhat surprised me, for though
my relations with Mongo John were by no means amicable, I did not
imagine that the story of our rupture had spread so far, or been
received with so much sympathy.

Accordingly, when Mami-de-Yong finished his message, I approached him
with thanks for his master's interest in my welfare; and, placing
Ahmah-de-Bellah's Koran--which I had previously wrapped in a white
napkin--in his hands, as a token of the nephew's friendship, I retired
once more to my seat. As soon as the holy book appeared from the
folds, Mami-de-Yong drew a breath of surprise, and striking his
breast, fell on his knees with his head on the ground, where he
remained for several minutes apparently in rapt devotion. As he
rose--his forehead sprinkled with dust, and his eyes sparkling with
tears--he opened the volume, and pointed out to me and his people his
own handwriting, which he translated to signify that "Mami-de-Yong
gave this word of God to Ahmah-de-Bellah, his kinsman." At the reading
of the sentence, all the Fullahs shouted, "Glory to Allah and Mahomet
his Prophet!" Then, coming forward again to the chief, I laid my hand
on the Koran, and swore by the help of God, to accept the invitation
of the great king of Footha-Yallon.

This terminated the ceremonial reception, after which I hastened to
conduct Mami-de-Yong to his quarters, where I presented him with a
sparkling new kettle and an inkstand, letting him understand,
moreover, I was specially anxious to know that all the wants of his
attendants in the caravan were completely satisfied.

Next morning early, I remembered the joy of his nephew
Ahmah-de-Bellah, when I first treated him to _coffee_; and determined
to welcome the chief, as soon as he came forth from his ablutions to
prayers, with a cup distilled from the fragrant berry. I could not
have hit upon a luxury more gratifying to the old gentleman. Thirty
years before had he drank it in Timbuctoo, where it is used, he said,
by the Moses-people (meaning the Hebrews), with milk and honey; and
its delicious aroma brought the well-remembered taste to his lips ere
they touched the sable fluid.

Long before Mami-de-Yong's arrival, his fame as a learned "book-man"
and extensive traveller preceded him, so that when he mentioned his
travel to Timbuctoo, I begged him to give me some account of that
"capital of capitals," as the Africans call it. The royal messenger
promised to comply as soon as he finished the morning lessons of the
caravan's children. His quarters were filled with a dozen or more of
young Fullahs and Mandingoes squatted around a fire, while the prince
sat apart in a corner with inkstand, writing reeds, and a pile of old
manuscripts. Ali-Ninpha, our backsliding Mahometan, stood by,
pretending devoted attention to Mami's precepts and the Prophet's
versus. The sinner was a scrupulous follower in the presence of the
faithful; but when their backs were turned, I know few who relished a
porker more lusciously, or avoided water with more scrupulous care.
Yet why should I scoff at poor Ali? Joseph and I had done our best to
_civilize_ him!

Mami-de-Yong apologized for the completion of his daily task in my
presence, and went on with his instruction, while the pupils wrote
down notes, on wooden slabs, with reeds and a fluid made of powder
dissolved in water.

I am sorry to say that these Ethiopian Mahometans are but poor
scholars. Their entire instruction amounts to little more than the
Koran, and when they happen to write or receive a letter, its
interpretation is a matter over which many an hour is toilsomely
spent. Mami-de-Yong, however, was superior to most of his countrymen;
and, in fact, I must record him in my narrative as the most erudite
Negro I ever encountered.


HIS TRIP TO TIMBUCTOO.

True to his promise, the envoy came to my piazza, as soon as school
was over, and squatting sociably on our mats and sheepskins, with a
plentiful supply of pipes and tobacco, we formed as pleasant a little
party as was assembled that day on the banks of the Rio Pongo.
Ali-Ninpha acted as interpreter, having prepared himself for the
long-winded task by a preliminary dram from my private locker, out of
sight of the noble Mahometan.

Invoking the Lord's name,--as is usual among Mussulmen,--Mami-de-Yong
took a long whiff at his pipe, and, receiving from his servant a small
bag of fine sand, spread it smoothly on the floor, leaving the mass
about a quarter of an inch in thickness. This was his black-board,
designed to serve for the delineation of his journey. On the
westernmost margin of his sand, he dotted a point with his finger for
the starting at Timbo. As he proceeded with his track over Africa
towards the grand capital, he marked the outlines of the principal
territories, and spotted the remarkable towns through which he passed.
By a thick or thin line, he denoted the large rivers and small streams
that intercepted his path, while he heaved up the sand into heaps to
represent a mountain, or smoothed it into perfect levels to imitate
the broad prairies and savannas of the interior. When he came to a
dense forest, his snuff-box was called in requisition, and a pinch or
two judiciously sprinkled, stood for the monarchs of the wood.

Like all Oriental story-tellers, Mami proved rather prolix. His tale
was nearly as long as his travel. He insisted on describing his
reception at every village. At each river he had his story of
difficulty and danger in constructing rafts or building bridges. He
counted the minutes he lost in awaiting the diminution of floods.
Anon, he would catalogue the various fish with which a famous river
teemed; and, when he got fairly into the woods, there was no end of
adventures and hairbreadth escapes from alligators, elephants,
anacondas, vipers, and the fatal tape snake, whose bite is certain
death. In the mountains he encountered wolves, wild asses, hyænas,
zebras, and eagles.

In fact, the whole morning glided away with a geographical,
zoological, and statistical overture to his tour; so that, when the
hour of prayer and ablution arrived, Mami-de-Yong had not yet reached
Timbuctoo! The double rite of cleanliness and faith required him to
pause in his narrative; and, apologizing for the interruption, he left
a slave to guard the map while he retired to perform his religious
services.

When the noble Fullah got back, I had a nice lunch prepared on a
napkin in the neighborhood of his diagram, so that he could munch his
biscuits and sugar without halting on his path. Before he began,
however, I took the liberty to offer a hint about the precious value
of time in this brief life of ours, whilst I asked a question or two
about the "capital of capitals," to indicate my eagerness to enter
the walls of Timbuctoo. Mami-de-Yong, who was a man of tact as well as
humor, smiled at my insinuation, and apologizing like a Christian for
the natural tediousness of all old travellers, skipped a degree or two
of the wilderness, and at once stuck his buffalo-horn snuff-box into
the eastern margin of the sand, to indicate that he was at his
journey's end.

Mami had visited many of the European colonies and Moorish kingdoms on
the north coast of Africa, so that he enjoyed the advantage of
comparison, and, of course, was not stupefied by the untravelled
ignorance of Africans who consider Timbuctoo a combination of Paris
and paradise. Indeed, he did not presume, like most of the Mandingo
chiefs, to prefer it to Senegal or Sierra Leone. He confessed that the
royal palace was nothing but a vast inclosure of mud walls, built
without taste or symmetry, within whose labyrinthine mesh there were
numerous buildings for the wives, children, and kindred of the
sovereign. If the royal palace of Timbuctoo was of _such_ a
character,--"What," said he, "were the dwellings of nobles and
townsfolk?" The streets were paths;--the stores were shops;--the
suburb of an European colony was _superior_ to their best display! The
markets of Timbuctoo, alone, secured his admiration. Every week they
were thronged with traders, dealers, peddlers and merchants, who
either dwelt in the neighboring kingdoms, or came from afar with
slaves and produce. Moors and Israelites, from the north-east, were
the most eminent and opulent merchants; and among them he counted a
travelling class, crowned with peculiar turbans, whom he called
"Joseph's-people," or, in all likelihood, Armenians.

The prince had no mercy on the government of this influential realm.
Strangers, he said, were watched and taxed. Indeed, he spoke of it
with the peculiar love that we would suppose a Hungarian might bear
towards Austria, or a Milanese to the inquisitorial powers of
Lombardy. In fact, I found that, despite of its architectural
meanness, Timbuctoo was a great central mart for exchange, and that
commercial men as well as the innumerable petty kings, frequented it
not only for the abundant mineral salt in its vicinity, _but because
they could exchange their slaves for foreign merchandise_. I asked
the Fullah why he preferred the markets of Timbuctoo to the
well-stocked stores of regular European settlements on a coast which
was reached with so much more ease than this core of Africa? "Ah!"
said the astute trafficker, "no market is a good one for the genuine
African, in which he cannot openly exchange his _blacks_ for whatever
the original owner or importer can sell without fear! _Slaves, Don
Téodore, are our money!_"

The answer solved in my mind one of the political problems in the
question of African civilization, which I shall probably develope in
the course of this narrative.




CHAPTER XVII.


Having completed the mercantile negotiations of the caravan, and made
my personal arrangements for a protracted absence, I put the noble
Fullah in charge of my establishment, with special charges to my
retainers, clerks, runners, and villagers, to regard the Mami as my
second self. I thought it well, moreover, before I plunged into the
wilderness,--leaving my worldly goods and worldly prospects in charge
of a Mussulman stranger,--to row down to Bangalang for a parting chat
with Mongo John, in which I might sound the veteran as to his feeling
and projects. Ormond was in trouble as soon as I appeared. He was
willing enough that I might perish by treachery on the roadside, yet
he was extremely reluctant that I should penetrate Africa and make
alliances which should give me superiority over the monopolists of the
beach. I saw these things passing through his jealous heart as we
talked together with uncordial civility. At parting I told the Mongo,
for the first time, that I was sure my establishment would not go to
decay or suffer harm in my absence, inasmuch as that powerful Fullah,
the Ali-Mami of Footha-Yallon had deputed a lieutenant to watch Kambia
while I travelled, and that he would occupy my village with his chosen
warriors. The mulatto started with surprise as I finished, and
abruptly left the apartment in silence.

I slept well that night, notwithstanding the Mongo's displeasure. My
confidence in the Fullah was perfect. Stranger as he was, I had an
instinctive reliance on his protection of my home, and his
guardianship of my person through the wilderness.

At day-dawn I was up. It was a fresh and glorious morning. As nature
awoke in the woods of that primitive world, the mists stole off from
the surface of the water; and, as the first rays shot through the
glistening dew of the prodigious vegetation, a thousand birds sent
forth their songs as if to welcome me into their realm of unknown
paths.

After a hearty breakfast my Spanish clerk was furnished with minute
instructions in writing, and, at the last moment, I presented the
Fullah chief to my people as a temporary master to whom they were to
pay implicit obedience for his generous protection. By ten o'clock, my
caravan was in motion. It consisted of thirty individuals deputed by
Ahmah-de-Bellah, headed by one of his relations as captain. Ten of my
own servants were assigned to carry baggage, merchandise, and
provisions; while Ali-Ninpha, two interpreters, my body-servant, a
waiter, and a hunter, composed my immediate guard. In all, there were
about forty-five persons.

When we were starting, Mami-de-Yong approached to "snap fingers,"
and put in my hands a verse of the Koran in his master's
handwriting,--"hospitality to the wearied stranger is the road to
heaven,"--which was to serve me as a passport among all good
Mahometans. If I had time, no doubt I would have thought how much
more Christian this document was than the formal paper with which
we are fortified by "foreign offices" and "state departments," when
we go abroad from civilized lands;--but, before I could summon so
much sentiment, the Fullah chief stooped to the earth, and filling
his hands with dust, sprinkled it over our heads, in token of a
prosperous journey. Then, prostrating himself with his head on the
ground, he bade us "go our way!"

I believe I have already said that even the best of African roads are
no better than goat-paths, and barely sufficient for the passage of a
single traveller. Accordingly, our train marched off in single file.
Two men, cutlass in hand, armed, besides, with loaded muskets, went
in advance not only to scour the way and warn us of danger, but to cut
the branches and briers that soon impede an untravelled path in this
prolific land. They marched within hail of the caravan, and shouted
whenever we approached bee-trees, ant-hills, hornet-nests, reptiles,
or any of the Ethiopian perils that are unheard of in our American
forests. Behind these pioneers, came the porters with food and
luggage; the centre of the caravan was made up of women, children,
guards, and followers; while the rear was commanded by myself and the
chiefs, who, whips in hand, found it sometimes beneficial to stimulate
the steps of stragglers. As we crossed the neighboring Soosoo towns,
our imposing train was saluted with discharges of musketry, while
crowds of women and children followed their "_cupy_," or "white-man,"
to bid him farewell on the border of the settlement.

For a day or two our road passed through a rolling country,
interspersed with forests, cultivated fields, and African villages, in
which we were welcomed by the generous chiefs with _bungees_, or
trifling gifts, in token of amity. Used to the scant exercise of a
lazy dweller on the coast, whose migrations are confined to a journey
from his house to the landing, and from the landing to his house, it
required some time to habituate me once more to walking. By degrees,
however, I overcame the foot-sore weariness that wrapped me in perfect
lassitude when I sank into my hammock on the first night of travel.
However, as we became better acquainted with each other and with
wood-life, we tripped along merrily in the shadowy silence of the
forest,--singing, jesting, and praising Allah. Even the slaves were
relaxed into familiarity never permitted in the towns; while masters
would sometimes be seen relieving the servants by bearing their
burdens. At nightfall the women brought water, cooked food, and
distributed rations; so that, after four days pleasant wayfaring in a
gentle trot, our dusty caravan halted at sunset before the closed
gates of a fortified town belonging to Ibrahim Ali, the Mandingo chief
of Kya.

It was some time before our shouts and beating on the gates aroused
the watchman to answer our appeal, for it was the hour of prayer, and
Ibrahim was at his devotions. At last, pestered by their dalliance, I
fired my double-barrelled gun, whose loud report I knew was more
likely to reach the ear of a praying Mussulman. I did not reckon
improperly, for hardly had the echoes died away before the great
war-drum of the town was rattled, while a voice from a loophole
demanded our business. I left the negotiation for our entry to the
Fullah chief, who forthwith answered that "the _Ali-Mami's_ caravan,
laden with goods, demanded hospitality;" while Ali-Ninpha informed the
questioner, that Don Téodore, the "white man of Kambia," craved
admittance to the presence of Ibrahim the faithful.

In a short time the wicket creaked, and Ibrahim himself put forth his
head to welcome the strangers, and to admit them, one by one, into the
town. His reception of myself and Ali-Ninpha was extremely cordial;
but the Fullah chief was addressed with cold formality, for the
Mandingoes have but little patience with the well-known haughtiness of
their national rivals.

Ali-Ninpha had been Ibrahim's playmate before he migrated to the
coast. Their friendship still existed in primitive sincerity, and the
chieftain's highest ambition was to honor the companion and guest of
his friend. Accordingly, his wives and females were summoned to
prepare my quarters with comfort and luxury. The best house was chosen
for my lodging. The earthen floor was spread with mats. Hides were
stretched on _adobe_ couches, and a fire was kindled to purify the
atmosphere. Pipes were furnished my companions; and, while a hammock
was slung for my repose before supper, a chosen henchman was
dispatched to seek the fattest sheep for that important meal.

Ibrahim posted sentinels around my hut, so that my slumbers were
uninterrupted, until Ali-Ninpha roused me with the pleasant news that
the bowls of rice and stews were smoking on the mat in the chamber of
Ibrahim himself. Ninpha knew my tastes and superintended the cook. He
had often jested at the "white man's folly," when my stomach turned at
some disgusting dish of the country; so that the pure roasts and
broils of well-known pieces slipped down my throat with the appetite
of a trooper. While these messes were under discussion, the savory
steam of a rich stew with a creamy sauce saluted my nostrils, and,
without asking leave, I plunged my spoon into a dish that stood before
my entertainers, and seemed prepared exclusively for themselves. In a
moment I was invited to partake of the _bonne-bouche_; and so
delicious did I find it, that, even at this distance of time, my mouth
waters when I remember the forced-meat balls of mutton, minced with
roasted ground-nuts, that I devoured that night in the Mandingo town
of Kya.

But the best of feasts is dull work without an enlivening bowl. Water
alone--pure and cool as it was in this hilly region--did not quench
our thirst. Besides this, I recollected the fondness of my landlord,
Ali-Ninpha, for strong distillations, and I guessed that his playmate
might indulge, at least privately, in a taste for similar libations. I
spoke, therefore, of "cordial bitters,"--(a name not unfamiliar even
to the most temperate Christians, in defence of flatulent
stomachs,)--and at the same time producing my travelling canteen of
Otard's best, applied it to the nostrils of the pair.

I know not how it happened, but before I could warn the Mahometans of
the risk they incurred, the lips of the bottle slid from their noses
to their mouths, while upheaved elbows long sustained in air, gave
notice that the flask was relishing and the draft "good for their
complaints." Indeed, so appetizing was the liquor, that another
ground-nut stew was demanded; and, of course, another bottle was
required to allay its dyspeptic qualities.

By degrees, the brandy did its work on the worthy Mahometans. While it
restored Ali-Ninpha to his early faith, and brought him piously to his
knees with prayers to Allah, it had a contrary effect on Ibrahim, whom
it rendered wild and generous. Every thing was mine;--house, lands,
slaves, and children. He dwelt rapturously on the beauty of his wives,
and kissed Ali-Ninpha in mistake for one of them. This only rendered
the apostate more devout than ever, and set him roaring invocations
like a muezzin from a minaret. In the midst of these orgies, I stole
off at midnight, and was escorted by my servant to a delicious
hammock.

It was day-dawn when the caravan's crier aroused me, as he stood on a
house-top calling the faithful to prayer previous to our departure.
Before I could stir, Ali-Ninpha, haggard, sick, and crest-fallen, from
his debauch, rolled into my chamber, and begged the postponement of
our departure, as it was impossible for _Ibrahim Ali_ to appear, being
perfectly vanquished by--"the bitters!" The poor devil hiccoughed
between his words, and so earnestly and with so many bodily gyrations
implored my interference with the Fullah guide, that I saw at once he
was in no condition to travel.

As the caravan was my personal escort and designed exclusively for my
convenience, I did not hesitate to command a halt, especially as I was
in some measure the cause of my landlord's malady. Accordingly, I tied
a kerchief round my head, covered myself with a cloak, and leaning
very lackadaisically on the edge of my hammock, sent for the Fullah
chief.

I moaned with pain as he approached, and, declaring that I was
prostrated by sudden fever, hoped he would indulge me by
countermanding the order for our march. I do not know whether the
worthy Mussulman understood my case or believed my fever, but the
result was precisely the same, for he assented to my request like a
gentleman, and expressed the deepest sympathy with my sufferings. His
next concern was for my cure. True to the superstition and bigotry of
his country, the good-natured Fullah insisted on taking the management
of matters into his own hands, and forthwith prescribed a dose from
the Koran, diluted in water, which he declared was a specific remedy
for my complaint. I smiled at the idea of making a drug of divinity,
but as I knew that homoeopathy was harmless under the circumstances,
I requested the Fullah to prepare his physic on the spot. The chief
immediately brought his Koran, and turning over the leaves attentively
for some time, at last hit on the appropriate verse, which he wrote
down on a board with gunpowder ink, which he washed off into a bowl
with clean water. This was given me to swallow, and the Mahometan left
me to the operation of his religious charm, with special directions to
the servant to allow no one to disturb my rest.

I have no doubt that the Fullah was somewhat of a quiz, and thought a
chapter in his Bible a capital lesson after a reckless debauch; so I
ordered my door to be barricaded, and slept like a dormouse, until
Ibrahim and Ali-Ninpha came thundering at the portal long after
mid-day. They were sadly chopfallen. Penitence spoke from their aching
brows; nor do I hesitate to believe they were devoutly sincere when
they forswore "_bitters_" for the future. In order to allay suspicion,
or quiet his conscience, the Fullah had been presented with a
magnificent ram-goat, flanked by baskets of choicest rice.

When I sallied forth into the town with the suffering sinners, I found
the sun fast declining in the west, and, although my fever had left
me, it was altogether too late to depart from the village on our
journey. I mentioned to Ibrahim a report on the coast that his town
was bordered by a sacred spring known as the DEVIL'S FOUNTAIN, and
inquired whether daylight enough still remained to allow us a visit.
The chief assented; and as in his generous fit last night, he had
offered me a horse, I now claimed the gift, and quickly mounted in
search of the aqueous demon.




CHAPTER XVIII.


Ah! what joy, after so many years, to be once more in the saddle in an
open country, with a steed of fire and spirit bounding beneath my
exhilarated frame! It was long before I could consent to obey the
summons of our guide to follow him on the path. When the gates of Kya
were behind, and the wider roads opened invitingly before me, I could
not help giving rein to the mettlesome beast, as he dashed across the
plain beneath the arching branches of magnificent cotton-woods. The
solitude and the motion were both delightful. Never, since I last
galloped from the _paseo_ to Atares, and from Atares to El Principe,
overlooking the beautiful bay of Havana, and the distant outline of
her purple sea, had I felt so gloriously the rush of joyous blood that
careered through my veins like electric fire. Indeed, I know not how
long I would have traversed the woods had not the path suddenly ended
at a town, where my Arabian turned of his own accord, and dashed back
along the road till I met my wondering companions.

Having sobered both our bloods, I felt rather better prepared for a
visit to the Satanic personage who was the object of our excursion.
About two miles from Kya, we struck the foot of a steep hill, some
three hundred feet in height, over whose shoulder we reached a deep
and tangled dell, watered by a slender stream which was hemmed in by a
profusion of shrubbery. Crossing the brook, we ascended the opposite
declivity for a short distance till we approached a shelving precipice
of rock, along whose slippery side the ledgelike path continued. I
passed it at a bound, and instantly stood within the arched aperture
of a deep cavern, whence a hot and sulphurous stream trickled slowly
towards the ravine. This was the fountain, and the demon who presided
over its source dwelt within the cave.

Whilst I was examining the rocks to ascertain their quality, the guide
apprised me that the impish proprietor of these waters was gifted with
a "multitude of tongues," and, in all probability, would reply to me
in my own, if I thought fit to address him. "Indeed," said the savage,
"he will answer you _word for word_ and that, too, almost before you
can shape your thought in language. Let us see if he is at home?"

I called, in a loud voice, "KYA!" but as no reply followed, I
perceived at once the wit of the imposture, and without waiting for
him to place me, took my own position at a spot inside the cavern,
where I knew the _echoes_ would be redoubled. "Now," said I, "I know
the devil is at home, as well as you do;"--and, telling my people to
listen, I bellowed, with all my might--"_caffra fure!_" "infernal
black one!"--till the resounding rocks roared again with demoniac
responses. In a moment the cavern was clear of every African; so that
I amused myself letting off shrieks, howls, squeals, and pistols,
until the affrighted natives peeped into the mouth of the cave,
thinking the devil in reality had come for me in a double-breasted
garment of thunder and lightning. I came forth, however, with a whole
skin and so hearty a laugh, that the Africans seized my hands in token
of congratulation, and looked at me with wonderment, as something
greater than the devil himself. Without waiting for a commentary, I
leaped on my Arab and darted down the hill.

"And so," said I, when I got back to Kya, "dost thou in truth believe,
beloved Ibrahim, that the devil dwells in those rocks of the sulphur
stream?"

"Why not, brother Theodore? Isn't the water poison? If you drink,
will it not physic you? When animals lick it in the dry season, do
they not die on the margin by scores? Now, a 'book-man' like you, my
brother, knows well enough that _water_ alone can't kill; so that
whenever it does, the devil _must_ be in it; and, moreover, is it not
he who speaks in the cavern?"

"Good," replied I; "but, pry'thee, dear Ibrahim, read me this riddle:
if the devil gets into _water_ and kills, why don't he kill when he
gets into '_bitters_?'"

"Ah!" said the Ali--"you white men are infidels and scoffers!" as he
laughed like a rollicking trooper, and led me, with his arm round my
neck, into supper. "And yet, Don Téodore, don't forget the portable
imp that you carry in that Yankee flask in your pocket!"

We did not dispute the matter further. I had been long enough in
Africa to find out that white men made themselves odious to the
natives and created bitter enemies, by despising or ridiculing their
errors; and as I was not abroad on a mission of civilization, I left
matters just as I found them. When I was among the Mahometans, I was
an excellent Mussulman, while, among the heathen, I affected
considerable respect for their _jujus_, _gree-grees_, _fetiches_,
_snakes_, _iguanas_, _alligators_, and wooden images.

Ere we set forth next morning, my noble host caused a generous meal to
be dispensed among the caravan. The breakfast consisted of boiled rice
dried in the sun, and then boiled again with milk or water after being
pounded finely in a mortar. This nutritive dish was liberally served;
and, as a new Mongo, I was tendered an especial platter, flanked by
copious bowls of cream and honey.

It is true Mandingo etiquette, at the departure of an honored friend,
for the Lord of the Town to escort him on his way to the first brook,
drink of the water with the wayfarer, toast a prompt return, invoke
Allah for a prosperous voyage, shake bands, and snap fingers, in token
of friendly adieu. The host who tarries then takes post in the path,
and, fixing his eyes on the departing guest, never stirs till the
traveller is lost in the folds of the forest, or sinks behind the
distant horizon.

Such was the conduct of my friend Ibrahim on this occasion; nor was
it all. It is a singular habit of these benighted people, to keep
their word whenever they make a promise! I dare say it is one of the
marks of their faint civilization; yet I am forced to record it as a
striking fact. When I sallied forth from the gate of the town, I
noticed a slave holding the horse I rode the day before to the Devil's
fountain, ready caparisoned and groomed as for a journey. Being
accompanied by Ibrahim on foot, I supposed the animal was designed for
his return after our complimentary adieus. But when we had passed at
least a mile beyond the parting brook, I _again_ encountered the
beast, whose leader approached Ali-Ninpha, announcing the horse as a
gift from his master to help me on my way. Ere I backed the blooded
animal, an order was directed to my clerk at Kambia for two muskets,
two kegs of powder, two pieces of blue cotton, and one hundred pounds
of tobacco. I advised my official, moreover, to inclose in the core of
the tobacco the stoutest flask he could find of our fourth proof
"bitters!"




CHAPTER XIX.


The day was cloudy, but our trotting caravan did not exceed twenty
miles in travel. In Africa things are done leisurely, for neither
life, speculation, nor ambition is so exciting or exacting as to make
any one in a hurry. I do not recollect to have ever seen an individual
_in haste_ while I dwelt in the torrid clime. The shortest existence
is long enough, when it is made up of sleep, slave-trade, and
mastication.

       *       *       *       *       *

At sunset no town was in sight; so it was resolved to bivouac in the
forest on the margin of a beautiful brook, where rice, tea, and beef,
were speedily boiled and smoking on the mats. When I was about to
stretch my weary limbs for the night on the ground, my boy gave me
another instance of Ibrahim's true and heedful hospitality, by
producing a grass hammock he had secretly ordered to be packed among
my baggage. With a hammock and a horse I was on velvet in the forest!

Delicious sleep curtained my swinging couch between two splendid
cotton-woods until midnight, when the arm of our Fullah chief was
suddenly laid on my shoulder with a whispered call to prepare for
defence or flight. As I leaped to the ground the caravan was already
afoot, though the profoundest silence prevailed throughout the wary
crowd. The watch announced strangers in our neighborhood, and two
guides had been despatched immediately to reconnoitre the forest.
This was all the information they could give me.

The native party was fully prepared and alert with spears, lances,
bows and arrows. I commanded my own men to re-prime their muskets,
pistols, and rifles; so that, when the guides returned with a report
that the intruders were supposed to form a party of fugitive slaves,
we were ready for our customers.

Their capture was promptly determined. Some proposed we should delay
till daylight; but Ali-Ninpha, who was a sagacious old fighter,
thought it best to complete the enterprise by night, especially as the
savages kept up a smouldering fire in the midst of their sleeping
group, which would serve to guide us.

Our little band was immediately divided into two squads, one under the
lead of the Fullah, and the other commanded by Ali-Ninpha. The Fullah
was directed to make a circuit until he got in the rear of the slaves,
while Ali-Ninpha, at a concerted signal, began to advance towards them
from our camp. Half an hour probably elapsed before a faint call, like
the cry of a child, was heard in the distant forest, upon which the
squad of my landlord fell on all-fours, and crawled cautiously, like
cats, through the short grass and brushwood, in the direction of the
sound. The sleepers were quickly surrounded. The Mandingo gave the
signal as soon as the ends of the two parties met and completed the
circle; and, in an instant, every one of the runaways, except two, was
in the grasp of a warrior, with a cord around his throat. Fourteen
captives were brought into camp. The eldest of the party alleged that
they belonged to the chief of Tamisso, a town on our path to Timbo,
and were bound to the coast for sale. On their way to the _foreign_
factories, which they were exceedingly anxious to reach, their owner
died, so that they came under the control of his brother, who
threatened to change their destination, and sell them in the interior.
In consequence of this they fled; and, as their master would surely
slay them if restored to Tamisso, they besought us with tears not to
take them thither.

Another council was called, for we were touched by the earnest manner
of the negroes. Ali-Ninpha and the Fullah were of opinion that the
spoil was fairly ours, and should be divided in proportion to the men
in both parties. Yet, as our road passed by the objectionable town, it
was impossible to carry the slaves along, either in justice to
ourselves or them. In this strait, which puzzled the Africans sorely,
I came to their relief, by suggesting their dispatch to my factory
with orders for the payment of their value in merchandise.

The proposal was quickly assented to as the most feasible, and our
fourteen captives were at once divided into two gangs, of seven each.
Hoops of bamboo were soon clasped round their waists, while their
hands were tied by stout ropes to the hoops. A long tether was then
passed with a slip-knot through each rattan belt, so that the slaves
were firmly secured to each other, while a small coil was employed to
link them more securely in a band by their necks. These extreme
precautions were needed, because we dared not diminish our party to
guard the gang. Indeed, Ali-Ninpha was only allowed the two
interpreters and four of my armed people as his escort to Kya, where,
it was agreed, he should deliver the captives to Ibrahim, to be
forwarded to my factory, while he hastened to rejoin us at the river
Sanghu, where we designed tarrying.

For three days we journeyed through the forest, passing occasionally
along the beds of dried-up streams and across lonely tracts of wood
which seemed never to have been penetrated, save by the solitary path
we were treading. As we were anxious to be speedily reunited with our
companions, our steps were not hastened; so that, at the end of the
third day, we had not advanced more than thirty miles from the scene
of capture, when we reached a small _Mandingo_ village, recently built
by an upstart trader, who, with the common envy and pride of his
tribe, gave our _Fullah_ caravan a frigid reception. A single hut was
assigned to the chief and myself for a dwelling, and the rage of the
Mahometan may readily be estimated by an insult that would doom him to
sleep beneath the same roof with a Christian!

I endeavored to avert an outburst by apprising the Mandingo that I was
a bosom friend of Ali-Ninpha, his countryman and superior, and begged
that he would suffer the "head-man" of our caravan to dwell in a
house _alone_. But the impudent _parvenu_ sneered at my advice; "he
knew no such person as Ali-Ninpha, and cared not a snap of his finger
for a Fullah chief, or a beggarly white man!"

My body-servant was standing by when this tart reply fell from the
Mandingo's lips, and, before I could stop the impetuous youth, he
answered the trader with as gross an insult as an African can utter.
To this the Mandingo replied by a blow over the boy's shoulders with
the flat of a cutlass; and, in a twinkling, there was a general shout
for "rescue" from all my party who happened to witness the scene.
Fullahs, Mandingoes, and Soosoos dashed to the spot, with spears,
guns, and arrows. The Fullah chief seized my double-barrelled gun and
followed the crowd; and when he reached the spot, seeing the trader
still waving his cutlass in a menacing manner, he pulled both triggers
at the inhospitable savage. Fortunately, however, it was always my
custom on arriving in _friendly_ towns, to remove the copper caps from
my weapons, so that, when the hammers fell, the gun was silent. Before
the Fullah could club the instrument and prostrate the insulter, I
rushed between them to prevent murder. This I was happy enough to
succeed in; but I could not deter the rival tribe from binding the
brute, hand and foot, to a post in the centre of his town, while the
majority of our caravan cleared the settlement at once of its fifty or
sixty inhabitants.

Of course, we appropriated the dwellings as we pleased, and supplied
ourselves with provisions. Moreover, it was thought preferable to wait
in this village for Ali-Ninpha, than to proceed onwards towards the
borders of the Sanghu. When he arrived, on the second day after the
sad occurrence, he did not hesitate to exercise the prerogative of
judgment and condemnation always claimed by superior chiefs over
inferiors, whenever they consider themselves slighted or wronged. The
process in this case was calmly and humanely formed. A regular trial
was allowed the culprit. He was arraigned on three charges:--1. Want
of hospitality; 2. Cursing and maltreating a Fullah chief and a white
Mongo; 3. Disrespect to the name and authority of his countryman and
superior, Ali-Ninpha. On all these articles the prisoner was found
guilty; but, as there were neither slaves nor personal property by
which the ruffian could be mulcted for his crimes, the tribunal
adjudged him to be scourged with fifty lashes, and to have his
"town-fence or stockade destroyed, never to be rebuilt." The blows
were inflicted for the abuse, but the perpetual demolition of his
defensive barrier was in punishment for refused hospitality. Such is
the summary process by which social virtues are inculcated and
enforced among these interior tribes of Africa!

       *       *       *       *       *

It required three days for our refreshed caravan to reach the dry and
precipitous bed of the Sanghu, which I found impossible to pass with
my horse, in consequence of jagged rocks and immense boulders that
covered its channel. But the men were resolved that my convenient
animal should not be left behind. Accordingly, all hands went to work
with alacrity on the trees, and in a day, they bridged the ravine with
logs bound together by ropes made from twisted bark. Across this frail
and swaying fabric I urged the horse with difficulty; but hardly had
he reached the opposite bank, and recovered from his nervous tremor,
when I was surprised by an evident anxiety in the beast to return to
his swinging pathway. The guides declared it to be an instinctive
warning of danger from wild beasts with which the region is filled;
and, even while we spoke, two of the scouts who were in advance
selecting ground for our camp, returned with the carcasses of a deer
and leopard. Though meat had not passed our lips for five days, we
were in no danger of starvation; the villages teemed with fruits and
vegetables. Pine-apples, bananas, and a pulpy globe resembling the
peach in form and flavor, quenched our thirst and satisfied our
hunger.

Besides these, our greedy natives foraged in the wilderness for
nourishment unknown, or at least unused, by civilized folks. They
found comfort in barks of various trees, as well as in buds, berries,
and roots, some of which they devoured raw, while others were either
boiled or made into palatable decoctions with water that gurgled from
every hill. The broad valleys and open country supplied animal and
vegetable "delicacies" which a white man would pass unnoticed. Many a
time, when I was as hungry as a wolf, I found my vagabonds in a nook
of the woods, luxuriating over a mess with the unctuous lips of
aldermen; but when I came to analyze the stew, I generally found it to
consist of a "witch's cauldron," copiously filled with snails,
lizards, iguanas, frogs and alligators!




CHAPTER XX.


A journey to the interior of Africa would be a rural jaunt, were it
not so often endangered by the perils of war. The African may fairly
be characterized as a shepherd, whose pastoral life is varied by a
little agriculture, and the conflicts into which he is seduced, either
by family quarrels, or the natural passions of his blood. His country,
though uncivilized, is not so absolutely wild as is generally
supposed. The gradual extension of Mahometanism throughout the
interior is slowly but evidently modifying the Negro. An African
Mussulman is _still_ a warrior, for the dissemination of faith as well
as for the gratification of avarice; yet the Prophet's laws are so
much more genial than the precepts of paganism, that, within the last
half century, the humanizing influence of the Koran is acknowledged by
all who are acquainted with the interior tribes.

But in all the changes that may come over the spirit of _man_ in
Africa, her magnificent external _nature_ will for ever remain the
game. A little labor teems with vast returns. The climate exacts
nothing but shade from the sun and shelter from the storm. Its
oppressive heat forbids a toilsome industry, and almost enforces
indolence as a law. With every want supplied, without the allurements
of social rivalry, without the temptations of national ambition or
personal pride, what has the African to do in his forest of palm and
cocoa,--his grove of orange, pomegranate and fig,--on his mat of
comfortable repose, where the fruit stoops to his lips without a
struggle for the prize,--save to brood over, or gratify, the electric
passions with which his soul seems charged to bursting!

It is an interesting task to travel through a continent filled with
such people, whose minds are just beginning, here and there, to emerge
from the vilest heathenism, and to glimmer with a faith that bears
wrapped in its unfolded leaves, the seeds of a modified civilization.

       *       *       *       *       *

As I travelled in the "dry season," I did not encounter many of the
discomforts that beset the African wayfarer in periods of rain and
tempest. I was not obliged to flounder through lagoons, or swim
against the current of perilous rivers. We met their traces almost
every day; and, in many places, the soil was worn into parched ravines
or the tracks of dried-up torrents. Whatever affliction I experienced
arose from the wasting depression of heat. We did not suffer from lack
of water or food, for the caravan of the ALI-MAMI commanded implicit
obedience throughout our journey.

In the six hundred miles I traversed, whilst absent from the coast, my
memory, after twenty-six years, leads me, from beginning to end,
through an almost continuous forest-path. We struck a trail when we
started, and we left it when we came home. It was rare, indeed, to
encounter a cross road, except when it led to neighboring villages,
water, or cultivated fields. So dense was the forest foliage, that we
often walked for hours in shade without a glimpse of the sun. The
emerald light that penetrated the wood, bathed every thing it touched
with mellow refreshment. But we were repaid for this partial bliss by
intense suffering when we came forth from the sanctuary into the bare
valleys, the arid _barrancas_, and marshy _savannas_ of an open
region. There, the red eye of the African sun glared with merciless
fervor. Every thing reflected its rays. They struck us like lances
from above, from below, from the sides, from the rocks, from the
fields, from the stunted herbage, from the bushes. All was glare! Our
eyes seemed to simmer in their sockets. Whenever the path followed
the channel of a brook, whose dried torrents left bare the scorched
and broken rocks, our feet fled from the ravine as from heated iron.
Frequently we entered extensive _prairies_, covered with blades of
sword-grass, tall as our heads, whose jagged edges tore us like saws,
though we protected our faces with masks of wattled willows. And yet,
after all these discomforts, how often are my dreams haunted by
charming pictures of natural scenery that have fastened themselves for
ever in my memory!

As the traveller along the coast turns the prow of his canoe through
the surf, and crosses the angry bar that guards the mouth of an
African river, he suddenly finds himself moving calmly onward between
sedgy shores, buried in mangroves. Presently, the scene expands in the
unruffled mirror of a deep, majestic stream. Its lofty banks are
covered by innumerable varieties of the tallest forest trees, from
whoso summits a trailing network of vines and flowers floats down and
sweeps the passing current. A stranger who beholds this scenery for
the first time is struck by the immense size, the prolific abundance,
and gorgeous verdure of every thing. Leaves, large enough for
garments, lie piled and motionless in the lazy air: The bamboo and
cane shake their slender spears and pennant leaves as the stream
ripples among their roots. Beneath the massive trunks of forest trees,
the country opens; and, in vistas through the wood, the traveller sees
innumerable fields lying fallow in grass, or waving with harvests of
rice and _cassava_, broken by golden clusters of Indian corn. Anon,
groups of oranges, lemons, coffee-trees, plantains and bananas, are
crossed by the tall stems of cocoas, and arched by the broad and
drooping coronals of royal palm. Beyond this, capping the summit of a
hill, may be seen the conical huts of natives, bordered by fresh
pastures dotted with flocks of sheep and goats, or covered by numbers
of the sleekest cattle. As you leave the coast, and shoot round the
river-curves of this fragrant wilderness teeming with flowers, vocal
with birds, and gay with their radiant plumage, you plunge into the
interior, where the rising country slowly expands into hills and
mountains.

The forest is varied. Sometimes it is a matted pile of tree vine, and
bramble, obscuring every thing, and impervious save with knife and
hatchet. At others, it is a Gothic temple. The sward spreads openly
for miles on every side, while, from its even surface, the trunks of
straight and massive trees rise to a prodigious height, clear from
every obstruction, till their gigantic limbs, like the capitals of
columns, mingle their foliage in a roof of perpetual verdure.

At length the hills are reached, and the lowland heat is tempered by
mountain freshness. The scene that may be beheld from almost any
elevation, is always beautiful, and sometimes grand. Forest, of
course, prevails; yet, with a glass, and often by the unaided eye,
gentle hills, swelling from the wooded landscape, may be seen covered
with native huts, whose neighborhood is checkered with patches of
sward and cultivation, and inclosed by massive belts of primeval
wildness. Such is commonly the westward view; but north and east, as
far as vision extends, noble outlines of hill and mountain may be
traced against the sky, lapping each other with their mighty folds,
until they fade away in the azure horizon.

When a view like this is beheld at morning, in the neighborhood of
rivers, a dense mist will be observed lying beneath the spectator in a
solid stratum, refracting the light now breaking from the east. Here
and there, in this lake of vapor, the tops of hills peer up like green
islands in a golden sea. But, ere you have time to let fancy run riot,
the "cloud compelling" orb lifts its disc over the mountains, and the
fogs of the valley, like ghosts at cock-crow, flit from the dells they
have haunted since nightfall. Presently, the sun is out in his
terrible splendor. Africa unveils to her master, and the blue sky and
green forest blaze and quiver with his beams.




CHAPTER XXI.


I felt so much the lack of scenery in my narrative, that I thought it
well to group in a few pages the African pictures I have given in the
last chapter. My story had too much of the bareness of the Greek
stage, and I was conscious that landscape, as well as action, was
required to mellow the subject and relieve it from tedium. After our
dash through the wilderness, let us return to the slow toil of the
caravan.

Four days brought us to Tamisso from our last halt. We camped on the
copious brook that ran near the town-walls, and while Ali-Ninpha
thought proper to compliment the chief, Mohamedoo, by a formal
announcement of our arrival, the caravan made ready for reception by
copious, but _needed_, ablutions of flesh and raiment. The women,
especially, were careful in adorning and heightening their charms.
Wool was combed to its utmost rigidity; skins were greased till they
shone like polished ebony; ankles and arms were restrung with beads;
and loins were girded with snowy waist-cloths. Ali-Ninpha knew the
pride of his old Mandingo companions, and was satisfied that Mohamedoo
would have been mortified had we surprised him within the precincts of
his court, squatted, perhaps, on a dirty mat with a female scratching
his head! Ali-Ninpha was a prudent gentleman, and knew the difference
between the private and public lives of his illustrious countrymen!

In the afternoon our interpreters returned to camp with Mohamedoo's
son, accompanied by a dozen women carrying platters of boiled rice,
calabashes filled with delicate sauce, and abundance of _ture_, or
vegetable butter. A beautiful horse was also despatched for my
triumphal entry into town.

The food was swallowed with an appetite corresponding to our recent
penitential fare; the tents were struck; and the caravan was forthwith
advanced towards Tamisso. All the noise we could conveniently make, by
way of _music_, was, of course, duly attempted. Interpreters and
guides went ahead, discharging guns. Half a dozen tom-toms were struck
with uncommon rapidity and vigor, while the unctuous women set up a
chorus of melody that would not have disgraced a band of "Ethiopian
Minstrels."

Half-way to the town our turbulent mob was met by a troop of musicians
sent out by the chief to greet us with song and harp. I was quickly
surrounded by the singers, who chanted the most fulsome praise of the
opulent Mongo, while a court-fool or buffoon insisted on leading my
horse, and occasionally wiping my face with his filthy handkerchief!

Presently we reached the gates, thronged by pressing crowds of curious
burghers. Men, women, and children, had all come abroad to see the
immense _Furtoo_, or white man, and appeared as much charmed by the
spectacle as if I had been a banished patriot. I was forced to
dismount at the low wicket, but here the _empressement_ of my
inquisitive hosts became so great, that the "nation's guest" was
forced to pause until some amiable bailiffs modified the amazement of
their fellow-citizens by staves and whips.

I lost no time in the lull, while relieved from the mob, to pass
onward to "the palace" of Mohamedoo, which, like all royal residences
in Africa, consisted of a mud-walled quadrangular inclosure, with a
small gate, a large court, and a quantity of _adobe_ huts, surrounded
by shady verandahs. The furniture, mats, and couches were of cane,
while wooden platters, brass kettles, and common wash-basins, were
spread out in every direction for show and service.

On a coach, covered with several splendid leopard skins, reclined
Mohamedoo, awaiting my arrival with as much stateliness as if he had
been a scion of civilized royalty. The chief was a man of sixty at
least. His corpulent body was covered with short Turkish trousers, and
a large Mandingo shirt profusely embroidered with red and yellow
worsted. His bald or shaved head was concealed by a light turban,
while a long white beard stood out in relief against his tawny skin,
and hung down upon his breast. Ali-Ninpha presented me formally to
this personage, who got up, shook hands, "snapped fingers," and
welcomed me thrice. My Fullah chief and Mandingo companion then
proceeded to "_make their dantica_," or declare the purpose of their
visit; but when they announced that I was the guest of the Fullah
Ali-Mami, and, accordingly, was _entitled_ to free passage every where
without expense, I saw that the countenance of the veteran instantly
fell, and that his welcome was dashed by the loss of a heavy duty
which he designed exacting for my transit.

The sharp eye of Ali-Ninpha was not slow in detecting Mohamedoo's
displeasure; and, as I had previously prepared him in private, he took
an early opportunity to whisper in the old man's ear, that Don Téodore
knew he was compelled to journey through Tamisso, and, of course, had
not come empty-handed. My object, he said, in visiting this region and
the territory of the Fullah king, was not idle curiosity alone; but
that I was prompted by a desire for liberal trade, and especially for
the purchase of slaves to load the numerous vessels I had lingering on
the coast, with immense cargoes of cloth, muskets, and powder.

The clouds were dispersed as soon as a hint was thrown out about
traffic. The old sinner nodded like a mandarin who knew what he was
about, and, rising as soon as the adroit whisperer had finished, took
me by the hand, and in a loud voice, presented me to the people as his
"_beloved son_!" Besides this, the best house within the royal
inclosure was fitted with fresh comforts for my lodging. When the
Fullah chief withdrew from the audience, Ali-Ninpha brought in the
mistress of Mohamedoo's harem, who acted as his confidential clerk,
and we speedily handed over the six pieces of cotton and an abundant
supply of tobacco with which I designed to propitiate her lord and
master.

Tired of the dust, crowd, heat, confinement and curiosity of an
African town, I was glad to gulp down my supper of broiled chickens
and milk, preparatory to a sleepy attack on my couch of rushes spread
with mats and skins. Yet, before retiring for the night, I thought it
well to refresh my jaded frame by a bath, which the prince had ordered
to be prepared in a small court behind my chamber. But I grieve to
say, that my modesty was put to a sore trial, when I began to unrobe.
Locks and latches are unknown in this free-and-easy region. It had
been noised abroad among the dames of the harem, that the _Furtoo_
would probably perform his ablutions before he slept; so that, when I
entered the yard, my tub was surrounded by as many inquisitive eyes as
the dinner table of Louis the Fourteenth, when sovereigns dined in
public. As I could not speak their language, I made all the pantomimic
signs of graceful supplication that commonly soften the hearts of the
sex on the stage, hoping, by dumb-show, to secure my privacy. But
gestures and grimace were unavailing. I then made hold to take off my
shirt, leaving my nether garments untouched. Hitherto, the dames had
seen only my bronzed face and hands, but when the snowy pallor of my
breast and back was unveiled, many of them fled incontinently,
shouting to their friends to "come and see the _peeled Furtoo_!" An
ancient crone, the eldest of the crew, ran her hand roughly across the
fairest portion of my bosom, and looking at her fingers with disgust,
as if I reeked with leprosy, wiped them on the wall. As displeasure
seemed to predominate over admiration, I hoped this experiment would
have satisfied the inquest, but, as black curiosity exceeds all
others, the wenches continued to linger, chatter, grin and feel, until
I was forced to disappoint their anxiety for further disclosures, by
an abrupt "good night."

We tarried in Tamisso three days to recruit, during which I was
liberally entertained on the prince's hospitable mat, where African
stews of relishing flavor, and tender fowls smothered in snowy rice,
regaled me at least twice in every twenty-four hours. Mohamedoo fed
me with an European silver spoon, which, he said, came from among the
effects of a traveller who, many years before, died far in the
interior. In all his life, he had seen but _four_ of our race within
the walls of Tamisso. Their names escaped his memory; but the last, he
declared, was a poor and clever youth, probably from Senegal, who
followed a powerful caravan, and "read the Koran like a _mufti_."

Tamisso was entirely surrounded by a tall double fence of pointed
posts. The space betwixt the inclosures, which were about seven feet
apart, was thickly planted with smaller spear-headed staves, hardened
by fire. If the first fence was leaped by assailants, they met a cruel
reception from those impaling sentinels. Three gates afforded
admission to different sections of the town, but the passage through
them consisted of zig-zags, with loopholes cut judiciously in the
angles, so as to command every point of access to the narrow streets
of the suburbs.

The parting between Mohamedoo and myself was friendly in the extreme.
Provisions for four days were distributed by the prince to the
caravan, and he promised that my return should be welcomed by an
abundant supply of slaves.




CHAPTER XXII.


As our caravan approached the Fullah country, and got into the higher
lands, where the air was invigorating, I found its pace improved so
much that we often exceeded twenty miles in our daily journey. The
next important place we were to approach was Jallica. For three days,
our path coasted the southern edge of a mountain range, whose
declivities and valleys were filled with rivers, brooks, and
streamlets, affording abundant irrigation to fields teeming with
vegetable wealth. The population was dense. Frequent caravans, with
cattle and slaves, passed us on their way to various marts. Our
supplies of food were plentiful. A leaf of tobacco purchased a fowl; a
charge of powder obtained a basin of milk, or a dozen of eggs; and a
large sheep cost only six cents, or a quart of salt.

Five days after quitting Tamisso, our approach to Jallica was
announced; and here, as at our last resting-place, it was deemed
proper to halt half a day for notice and ablution before entering a
city, whose chief--SUPHIANA--was a kinsman of Ali-Ninpha.

The distance from our encampment to the town was about three miles;
but an hour had hardly elapsed after our arrival, when the deep boom
of the war-drum gave token that our message had been received with
welcome. I was prepared, in some measure, for a display of no ordinary
character at Jallica, because my Mandingo friend, Ali-Ninpha,
inhabited the town in his youth, and had occupied a position which
gave importance to his name throughout Soolimana. The worthy fellow
had been absent many years from Jallica, and wept like a child when he
heard the sound of the war-drum. Its discordant beat had the same
effect on the savage that the sound of their village bells has on the
spirit of returning wanderers in civilized lands. When the rattle of
the drum was over, he told me that for five years he controlled that
very instrument in Jallica, during which it had never sounded a
retreat or betokened disaster. In peace it was never touched, save for
public rejoicing; and the authorities allowed it to be beaten _now_
only because an old commander of the tribe was to be received with the
honors due to his rank and service. Whilst we were still conversing,
Suphiana's lance-bearer made his appearance, and, with a profound
_salaam_, announced that the "gates of Jallica were open to the
Mandingo and his companions."

No _fanda_ or refreshments were sent with the welcome; but when the
caravan got within fifty yards of the walls, a band of shouting
warriors marched forth, and lifting Ali-Ninpha on their shoulders,
bore him through the gates, singing war-songs, accompanied by all
sorts of music and hubbub.

I had purposely lingered with my men in the rear of the great body of
Africans, so that nearly the whole caravan passed the portal before my
complexion--though deeply bronzed by exposure--made me known to the
crowd as a white man.

Then, instantly, the air rang with the sound of--"Furtoo! Furtoo!
Furtoo!"--and the gate was slammed in our faces, leaving us completely
excluded from guide and companions. But, in the midst of his exultant
reception, Ali-Ninpha did not forget the Mongo of Kambia. Hardly had
he attained the end of the street, when he heard the cry of exclusion,
and observed the closing portal. By this time, my Fullah friend had
wrought himself into an examplary fit of Oriental rage with the
inhospitable Mandingoes, so that I doubt very much whether he would
not have knocked the dust from his sandals on the gate of Jallica, had
not Ali-Ninpha rushed through the wicket, and commanding the portal
to be reopened, apologized contritely to the Mahometan and myself.

This unfortunate mistake, or accident, not only caused considerable
delay, but rather dampened the delight of our party as it defiled in
the spacious square of Jallica, and entered the open shed which was
called a "_palaver-house_." Its vast area was densely packed with a
fragrant crowd of old and young, armed with muskets or spears. All
wore knives or cutlasses, slung by a belt high up on their necks;
while, in their midst surrounded by a court of veterans, stood
Suphiana, the prince, waiting our arrival.

In front marched Ali-Ninpha, preceded by a numerous band of shrieking
and twanging minstrels. As he entered the apartment, Suphiana arose,
drew his sword, and embracing the stranger with his left arm, waved
the shining blade over his head, with the other. This peculiar
_accolade_ was imitated by each member of the royal council; while, in
the centre of the square, the war-drum,--a hollowed tree, four feet in
diameter, covered with hides,--was beaten by two savages with
slung-shot, until its thundering reverberations completely deafened
us.

You may imagine my joy and comfort when I saw the Mandingo take a seat
near the prince, as a signal for the din's cessation. This, however,
was only the commencement of another prolonged ceremonial; for now
began the royal review and salute in honor of the returned commander.
During two hours, an uninterrupted procession of all the warriors,
chiefs, and head-men of Jallica, defiled in front of the ancient
drum-major; and, as each approached, he made his obeisance by pointing
a spear or weapon at my landlord's feet. During this I remained on
horseback without notice or relief from the authorities. Ali-Ninpha,
however, saw my impatient discomfort, and once or twice despatched a
sly message to preserve my good humor. The ceremony was one of
absolute compulsion, and could not be avoided without discourtesy to
the prince and his countrymen. As soon as he could escape, however, he
hastened over the court-yard to assist me in dismounting; and dashing
the rude crowd right and left, led me to his kinsman Suphiana. The
prince extended his royal hand in token of amity; Ali-Ninpha declared
me to be his "son;" while the long string of compliments and
panegyrics he pronounced upon my personal qualities, moral virtues,
and _wealth_, brought down a roar of grunts by way of applause from
the toad-eating courtiers.

       *       *       *       *       *

Jallica was a fairer town than any I had hitherto encountered in my
travels. Its streets were wider, its houses better, its people more
civil. No one intruded on the friend of Ali-Ninpha, and guest of
Suphiana. I bathed without visits from inquisitive females. My house
was my castle; and, when I stirred abroad, two men preceded me with
rattans to keep my path clear from women and children.

After lounging about quietly for a couple of days, wearing away
fatigue, and getting rid of the stains of travel, I thought it
advisable to drop in one morning, unannounced, after breakfast, at
Suphiana's with the presents that are customary in the east. As the
guest,--during my whole journey,--of the Ali-Mami, or King of
Footha-Yallon, I was entirely exempt by customary law from this
species of tax, nor would my Fullah protector have allowed me to offer
a tribute had he known it;--yet, I always took a secret opportunity to
present a _voluntary gift_, for I wished my memory to smell sweet
along my track in Africa. Suphiana fully appreciated my generosity
under the circumstances, and returned the civility by an invitation to
dinner at the house of his principal wife. When the savory feast with
which he regaled me was over, female singers were introduced for a
concert. Their harps were triangles of wood, corded with fibres of
cane; their banjoes consisted of gourds covered with skin pierced by
holes, and strung like the harps; but, I confess, that I can neither
rave nor go into ecstasies over the combined effect which saluted me
from such instruments or such voices. I was particularly struck,
however, by one of their inventions, which slightly resembles the
_harmonica_ I have seen played by children in this country. A board,
about two feet square, was bordered by a light frame at two ends,
across which a couple of cane strings were tightly stretched. On
these, strips of nicely trimmed bamboo, gradually diminishing in size
from left to right, were placed; whilst beneath them, seven gourds,
also gradually decreasing, were securely fastened to mellow the sound.
The instrument was carried by a strap round the player's neck, and was
struck by two small wooden hammers softened by some delicate
substance.

One of the prettiest girls in the bevy had charge of this African
piano, and was said to be renowned for uncommon skill. Her feet,
hands, wrists, elbows, ankles, and knees, were strung with small
silvery bells; and, as the gay damsel was dancer and singer as well as
musician, she seemed to reek with sound from every pore. Many of her
attitudes would probably have been, at least, more picturesque and
decent for drapery; but, in Jallica, MADOO, the _ayah_, was considered
a Mozart in composition, a Lind in melody, and a Taglioni on the
"light fantastic toe!"

When the performance closed, Suphiana presented her a slave; and, as
she made an obeisance to me in passing, I handed her my _bowie-knife_,
promising to redeem it at my lodgings with _ten pounds of tobacco_!

       *       *       *       *       *

Some superstitious notions about the state of the moon prevented my
Fullah guide from departing as soon as I desired; but while we were
dallying with the planet, Ali-Ninpha became so ill that he was
compelled to halt and end the journey in his favorite Jallica. I
rather suspected the Mandingo to feign more suffering than he really
experienced, and I soon discovered that his malady was nothing but a
sham. In truth, Ali-Ninpha had duped so many Fullah traders on the
beach, and owed them the value of so many slaves, that he found it
extremely inconvenient; if not perilous, to enter the domain of the
ALI-MAMI OF FOOTHA-YALLON!




CHAPTER XXIII.


A messenger was despatched from Jallica, in advance of our departure,
to announce our approach to Timbo. For six days more, our path led
over hill and dale, and through charming valleys, fed by gentle
streamlets that nourished the vigorous vegetation of a mountain land.

As we crossed the last summits that overlooked the territory of
Footha-Yallon, a broad _plateau_, whence a wide range of country might
be beheld, was filled with bands of armed men, afoot and on horseback,
while a dozen animals were held in tether by their gayly dressed
attendants. I dashed to the head of the caravan on my jaded beast, and
reached it just in time to find the sable arms of Ahmah-de-Bellah
opening to greet me! The generous youth, surrounded by his friends and
escorted by a select corps of soldiers and slaves, had come thus far
on the path to offer the prince's welcome!

I greeted the Mahometan with the fervor of ancient love; and, in a
moment, we were all dismounted and on our knees; while, at a signal
from the chief, profound silence reigned throughout the troop and
caravan. Every eye was turned across the distant plain to the east. An
air of profoundest devotion subdued the multitude, and, in a loud
chant, Ahmah-de-Bellah, with outstretched arms and upraised face, sang
forth a psalm of gratitude to Allah for the safety of his "brother."

The surprise of this complimentary reception was not only delightful
as an evidence of African character among these more civilized tribes
of the Mahometan interior, but it gave me an assurance of security and
trade, which was very acceptable to one so far within the bowels of
the land. We were still a day's journey from the capital.
Ahmah-de-Bellah declared it impossible, with all the diligence we
could muster, to reach Timbo without another halt. Nevertheless, as he
was extremely solicitous to bring us to our travel's end, he not only
supplied my personal attendants with fresh horses, but ordered
carriers from his own guard to charge themselves with the entire
luggage of our caravan.

Thus relieved of burden, our party set forth on the path in a brisk
trot, and resting after dark for several hours in a village, we
entered Timbo unceremoniously before daybreak while its inhabitants
were still asleep.

I was immediately conducted to a house specially built for me,
surrounded by a high wall to protect my privacy from intrusion.
Within, I found a careful duplicate of all the humble comforts in my
domicil on the Rio Pongo. Tables, sofas, plates, knives, forks,
tumblers, pitchers, basins,--had all been purchased by my friend, and
forwarded for this establishment, from other factories without my
knowledge; while the centre of the main apartment was decorated with
an "American rocking-chair," which the natives had ingeniously
contrived of rattans and bamboo! Such pleasant evidences of refined
attention were more remarkable and delicate, because most of the
articles are not used by Mahometans. "These, I hope," said
Ahmah-de-Bellah, as he led me to a seat, "will make you comparatively
comfortable while you please to dwell with your brother in Timbo. You
have no thanks to return, because I have not treated you like a
_native_ Mussulman; for you were kind enough to remember all my own
little nationalities when I was your guest on the beach. ALLAH be
praised for your redemption and arrival;--and so, brother, take your
rest in peace within the realm of the Ali-Mami, your father!"

I embraced the generous fellow with as much cordiality as if he had
been a kinsman from the sweet valley of Arno. During his visit to my
factory he was particularly charmed with an old dressing-gown I used
for my siestas, and when I resolved on this journey, I caused an
improved copy of it to be made by one of the most skilful artists on
the river. A flashy pattern of calico was duly cut into rather ampler
form than is usual among our dandies. This was charmingly lined with
sky-blue, and set off at the edges with broad bands of glaring yellow.
The effect of the whole, indeed, was calculated to strike an African
fancy; so that, when I drew the garment from my luggage, and threw it,
together with a fine white ruffled shirt, over the shoulders of "my
brother," I thought the pious Mussulman would have gone wild with
delight. He hugged me a dozen times with the gripe of a tiger, and
probably would have kissed quite as lustily, had I not deprecated any
further ebullitions of bodily gratitude.

A bath erased not only the dust of travel from my limbs, but seemed to
extract even the memory of its toils from my bones and muscles.
Ahmah-de-Bellah intimated that the Ali-Mami would soon be prepared to
receive me without ceremony. The old gentleman was confined by dropsy
in his lower extremities, and probably found it uncomfortable to
sustain the annoyance of public life except when absolutely necessary.
The burden of my entertainment and glorification, therefore, was cast
on the shoulders of his younger kinsfolk, for which, I confess, I was
proportionally grateful. Accordingly, when I felt perfectly refreshed,
I arose from my matted sofa, and dressing for the first time in more
than a month in a perfectly clean suit, I donned a snowy shirt, a pair
of dashing drills, Parisian pumps, and a Turkish _fez_, tipped with a
copious tassel. Our interpreters were clad in fresh Mandingo dresses
adorned with extra embroidery. My body-servant was ordered to appear
in a cast-off suit of my own; so that, when I gave one my
double-barrelled gun to carry, and armed the others with my pistols,
and a glittering regulation-sword,--designed as a gift for the
Ali-Mami,--I presented a very respectable and picturesque appearance
for a gentleman abroad on his travels in the East. The moment I issued
with my train from the house, a crowd of Fullahs was ready to receive
me with exclamations of chattering surprise; still I was not annoyed,
as elsewhere, by the unfailing concourse that followed my footsteps or
clogged my pathway.

The "palace" of the Ali-Mami of Footha-Yallon, like all African
palaces in this region, was an _adobe_ hovel, surrounded by its
portico shed, and protected by a wall from the intrusion of the common
herd. In front of the dwelling, beneath the shelter of the verandah,
on a fleecy pile of sheepskin mats, reclined the veteran, whose
swollen and naked feet were undergoing a cooling process from the
palm-leaf fans of female slaves. I marched up boldly in front of him
with my military _suite_, and, making a profound _salaam_, was
presented by Ahmah-de-Bellah as his "white brother." The Ali at once
extended both hands, and, grasping mine, drew me beside him on the
sheepskin. Then, looking intently over my face and into the very depth
of my eyes, he asked gently with a smile--"what was my name?"

"AHMAH-DE-BELLAH!" replied I, after the fashion of the country. As I
uttered the Mahometan appellation, for which I had exchanged my own
with his son at Kambia, the old man, who still held my hands, put one
of his arms round my waist, and pressed me still closer to his
side;--then, lifting both arms extended to heaven, he repeated several
times,--"God is great! God is great! God is great!--and Mahomet is his
Prophet!"

This was followed by a grand inquest in regard to myself and history.
Who was my father? Who was my mother? How many brothers had I? Were
they warriors? Were they "book-men?" Why did I travel so far? What
delay would I make in Footha-Yallon? Was my dwelling comfortable? Had
I been treated with honor, respect and attention on my journey? And,
last of all, the prince sincerely hoped that I would find it
convenient to dwell with him during the whole of the "rainy season."

Several times, in the midst of these interrogations, the patriarch
groaned, and I could perceive, from the pain that flitted like a
shadow over the nerves and muscles of his face, that he was suffering
severely, and, of course, I cut the interview as short as oriental
etiquette would allow. He pressed me once more to his bosom, and
speaking to the interpreter, bade him tell his master, the Furtoo,
that any thing I fancied in the realm was mine. Slaves, horses,
cattle, stuffs,--all were at my disposal. Then, pointing to his son,
he said: "Ahmah-de-Bellah, the white man is our guest; his brother
will take heed for his wants, and redress every complaint."

The prince was a man of sixty at least. His stature was noble and
commanding, if not absolutely gigantic,--_being several inches over
six feet_,--while his limbs and bulk were in perfect proportion. His
oval head, of a rich mahogany color, was quite bald to the temples,
and covered by a turban, whose ends depended in twin folds along his
cheeks. The contour of his features was remarkably regular, though his
lips were rather full, and his nose somewhat flat, yet free from the
disgusting depression and cavities of the negro race. His forehead was
high and perpendicular, while his mouth glistened with ivory when he
spoke or smiled. I had frequent opportunities to talk with the king
afterwards, and was always delighted by the affectionate simplicity of
his demeanor. As it was the country's custom to educate the first-born
of royalty for the throne, the Ali-Mami of Footha-Yallon had been
brought up almost within the precincts of the mosque. I found the
prince, therefore, more of a meditative "book-man" than warrior; while
the rest of his family, and especially his younger brothers, had never
been exempt from military duties, at home or abroad. Like a good
Mussulman, the sovereign was a quiet, temperate gentleman, never
indulging in "bitters" or any thing stronger than a drink fermented
from certain roots, and sweetened to resemble _mead_. His intercourse
with me was always affable and solicitous for my comfort; nor did he
utter half a dozen sentences without interlarding them with fluent
quotations from the Koran. Sometimes, in the midst of a pleasant chat
in which he was wondering at my curiosity and taste for information
about new lands, he would suddenly break off because it was his hour
for prayer; at others, he would end the interview quite as
unceremoniously, because it was time for ablution. Thus, between
praying, washing, eating, sleeping, slave-dealing, and fanning his
dropsical feet, the life of the Ali-Mami passed monotonously enough
even for an oriental prince; but I doubt not, the same childish
routine is still religiously pursued, unless it has pleased Allah to
summon the faithful prince to the paradise of "true believers." I
could never make him understand how a ship might be built large enough
to hold provisions for a six months' voyage; and, as to the _sea_, "it
was a mystery that none but God and a white man could solve!"

As I was to breakfast on the day of my arrival at the dwelling of
Ahmah-de-Bellah's mother, after my presentation to the prince her
husband, I urged the footsteps of my companion with no little
impatience as soon as I got out of the royal hearing. My fast had been
rather longer than comfortable, even in obedience to royal etiquette.
However, we were soon within the court-yard of her sable ladyship, who,
though a dame of fifty at least, persisted in hiding her charms of face
and bosom beneath a capacious cloth. Nevertheless, she welcomed me
quite tenderly. She called me "Ahmah-de-Bellah-Theodoree,"--and, with
her own hands, mixed the dainties on which we were to breakfast while
cosily squatted on the mats of her verandah. Our food was simple enough
for the most dyspeptic homoeopathist. Milk and rice were alternated
with bonney-clabber and honey, seasoned by frequent words of hospitable
encouragement. The frugal repast was washed down by calabashes of cool
water, which were handed round by naked damsels, whose beautiful limbs
might have served as models for an artist.

When the meal was finished, I hoped that the day's ceremonial was
over, but, to my dismay, I discovered that the most formal portion of
my reception was yet to come.

"We will now hasten," said Ahmah-de-Bellah, as I _salaamed_ his mamma,
"to the palaver-ground, where I am sure our chiefs are, by this time,
impatient to see you." Had I been a feeble instead of a robust
campaigner, I would not have resisted the intimation, or desired a
postponement of the "palaver;" so I "took my brother's" arm, and,
followed by my _cortège_, proceeded to the interview that was to take
place beyond the walls, in an exquisite grove of cotton-wood and
tamarind-trees, appropriated to this sort of town-meeting. Here I
found a vast assemblage of burghers; and in their midst, squatted on
sheepskins, was a select ring of _patres conscripti_, presided by
Sulimani-Ali, son of the king, and brother of my companion.

As the Fullah presented me to his warrior-kinsman, he rose with a
profound salutation, and taking my hand, led me to a rock, covered
with a white napkin,--the seat of honor for an eminent stranger. The
moment I was placed, the chiefs sprang up and each one grasped my
hand, bidding me welcome _thrice_. Ahmah-de-Bellah stood patiently
beside me until this ceremony was over, and each noble resumed his
sheepskin. Then, taking a long cane from the eldest of the group, he
stepped forward, saluted the assembly three times, thrice invoked
Allah, and introduced me to the chiefs and multitude as his "brother."
I came, he said, to Footha-Yallon on his invitation, and by the
express consent of his beloved king and father, and of his beloved
elder brother, Sulimani. He hoped, therefore, that every "head-man"
present would see the rites of hospitality faithfully exercised to his
white brother while he dwelt in Footha. There were many reasons that
he could give why this should be done; but he would rest content with
stating only three. First of all: I was nearly as good a Mussulman as
many Mandingoes, and he knew the fact, because _he had converted me
himself_! Secondly: I was entitled to every sort of courtesy from
Fullahs, because I was a _rich_ trader from the Rio Pongo. And,
thirdly: I had penetrated even to this very heart of Africa to
purchase slaves for most liberal prices.

It is the custom in African "palavers," as well as among African
religionists, to give token of assent by a sigh, a groan, a slight
exclamation, or a shout, when any thing affecting, agreeable, or
touching is uttered by a speaker. Now, when my Fullah brother informed
his friends of my arrival, my name, my demand for hospitality, and my
wealth, the grunts and groans of the assembly augmented in number and
volume as he went on; but when they heard of my design "to purchase
_slaves_" a climax was reached at once, and, as with one voice, they
shouted, "May the Lord of heaven be praised!"

I smothered a laugh and strangled a smile as well as I could, when my
interpreters expounded the "stump speech" of Ahmah-de-Bellah; and I
lost no time in directing them to display the presents which some of
my retainers, in the meanwhile, had brought to the grove. They
consisted of several packages of blue and white calicoes, ten yards of
brilliant scarlet cloth, six kegs of powder, three hundred pounds of
tobacco, two strings of amber beads, and six muskets. On a beautiful
rug, I set aside the gilded sword and _a package of cantharides_,
designed for the king.

When my arrangement was over, Sulimani took the cane from his brother,
and stepping forward, said that the gifts to which he pointed proved
the truth of Ahmah-de-Bellah's words, and that a rich man, indeed, had
come to Footha-Yallon. Nay, more;--the rich man wanted slaves! Was I
not generous? I was their guest, and owed them no tribute or duties;
and yet, had I not _voluntarily_ lavished my presents upon the chiefs?
Next day, his father would personally distribute my offering; but,
whilst I dwelt in Footha, a bullock and ten baskets of rice should
daily be furnished for my caravan's support; and, as every chief would
partake my bounty, each one should contribute to my comfort.

This speech, like the former, was hailed with grunts; but I could not
help noticing that the vote of supplies was not cheered half as
lustily as the announcement of my _largesse_.

The formalities being over, the inquisitive head-men crowded round the
presents with as much eagerness as aspirants for office at a
presidential inauguration. The merchandise was inspected, felt,
smelled, counted, measured, and set aside. The rug and the sword,
being royal gifts, were delicately handled. But when the vials of
cantharides were unpacked, and their contents announced, each of the
chieftains insisted that his majesty should not monopolize the coveted
stimulant. A sharp dispute on the subject arose between the princes
and the councillors, so that I was forced to interfere through the
interpreters, who could only quiet the rebels by the promise of a
dozen additional flasks for their private account.

In the midst of the wrangling, Sulimani and Ahmah ordered their
father's slaves to carry the gifts to the Ali-Mami's palace; and,
taking me between them, we marched, arm in arm, to my domicil. Here I
found Abdulmomen-Ali, another son of the king, waiting for his
brothers to present him to the Mongo of Kambia. Abdulmomen was
introduced as "a learned divine," and began at once to talk Koran in
the most _mufti_-like manner. I had made such sorry improvement in
Mahometanism since Ahmah-de-Bellah's departure from the Rio Pongo,
that I thought it safest to sit silent, as if under the deepest fervor
of Mussulman conviction. I soon found that Abdulmomen, like many more
clergymen, was willing enough to do all the preaching, whenever he
found an unresisting listener. I put on a look of very intelligent
assent and thankfulness to all the arguments and commentaries of my
black brother, and in this way I avoided the detection of my
ignorance, as many a better man has probably done before me!




CHAPTER XXIV.


Timbo lies on a rolling plain. North of it, a lofty mountain range
rises at the distance of ten or fifteen miles, and sweeps eastwardly
to the horizon. The landscape, which declines from these slopes to the
south, is in many places bare; yet fields of plentiful cultivation,
groves of cotton-wood, tamarind and oak, thickets of shrubbery and
frequent villages, stud its surface, and impart an air of rural
comfort to the picturesque scene.

I soon proposed a gallop with my African kindred over the
neighborhood; and, one fine morning, after a plentiful breakfast of
stewed fowls, boiled to rags with rice, and seasoned with delicious
"palavra sauce," we cantered off to the distant villages. As we
approached the first brook, but before the fringe of screening bushes
was passed, our cavalcade drew rein abruptly, while Ahmah-de-Bellah
cried out: "Strangers are coming!" A few moments after, as we slowly
crossed the stream, I noticed several women crouched in the underwood,
having fled from the bath. This warning is universally given, and
enforced by law, to guard the modesty of the gentler sex.

In half an hour we reached the first suburban village; but fame had
preceded us with my character, and as the settlement was cultivated
either by serfs or negroes liable to be made so, we found the houses
bare. The poor wretches had learned, on the day of my reception, that
the principal object of my journey was to obtain slaves, and, of
course, they imagined that the only object of my foray in their
neighborhood, was to seize the gang and bear it abroad in bondage.
Accordingly, we tarried only a few minutes in Findo, and dashed off to
Furo; but here, too, the blacks had been panic struck, and escaped so
hurriedly that they left their pots of rice, vegetables, and meat
boiling in their sheds. Furo was absolutely stripped of inhabitants;
the veteran chief of the village did not even remain to do the honors
for his affrighted brethren. Ahmah-de-Bellah laughed heartily at the
terror I inspired; but I confess I could not help feeling sadly
mortified when I found my presence shunned as a pestilence.

The native villages through which I passed on this excursion
manifested the great comfort in which these Africans live throughout
their prolific land, when unassailed by the desolating wars that are
kept up for slave-trade. It was the height of the dry season, when
every thing was parched by the sun, yet I could trace the outlines of
fine plantations, gardens, and rice-fields. Every where I found
abundance of peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and
cassava; while tasteful fences were garlanded with immense vines and
flowers. Fowls, goats, sheep, and oxen, stalked about in innumerable
flocks, and from every domicil depended a paper, inscribed with a
charm from the Koran to keep off thieves and witches.

My walks through Timbo were promoted by the constant efforts of my
entertainers to shield me from intrusive curiosity. Whenever I sallied
forth, two townsfolk in authority were sent forward to warn the public
that the Furtoo desired to promenade without a mob at his heels. These
lusty criers stationed themselves at the corners with an iron
triangle, which they rattled to call attention to the king's command;
and, in a short time, the highways were so clear of people, who feared
a _bastinado_, that I found my loneliness rather disagreeable than
otherwise. _Every person I saw, shunned me._ When I called the
children or little girls,--they fled from me. My reputation as a
slaver in the villages, and the fear of a lash in the town, furnished
me much more solitude than is generally agreeable to a sensitive
traveller.

Towards nightfall I left my companions, and wrapping myself closely in
a Mandingo dress, stole away through bye-ways to a brook which runs by
the town-walls. Thither the females resort at sunset to draw water;
and, choosing a screened situation, where I would not be easily
observed, I watched, for more than an hour, the graceful children,
girls, and women of Timbo, as they performed this domestic task of
eastern lands.

I was particularly impressed by the general beauty of the sex, who, in
many respects, resembled the Moor rather than the negro. Unaware of a
stranger's presence, they came forth as usual in a simple dress which
covers their body from waist to knee, and leaves the rest of the
figure entirely naked. Group after group gathered together on the
brink of the brook in the slanting sunlight and lengthening shadows of
the plain. Some rested on their pitchers and water vessels; some
chatted, or leaned on each other gracefully, listening to the chat of
friends; some stooped to fill their jars; others lifted the brimming
vessels to their sisters' shoulders--while others strode homeward
singing, with their charged utensils poised on head or hand. Their
slow, stately, swinging movement under the burden, was grace that
might be envied on a Spanish _paseo_. I do not think the forms of
these Fullah girls,--with their complexions of freshest bronze,--are
exceeded in symmetry by the women of any other country. There was a
slender delicacy of limb, waist, neck, hand, foot, and bosom, which
seemed to be the type that moulded every one of them. I saw none of
the hanging breast; the flat, expanded nostrils; the swollen lips, and
fillet-like foreheads, that characterize the Soosoos and their sisters
of the coast. None were deformed, nor were any marked by traces of
disease. I may observe, moreover, that the male Fullahs of Timbo are
impressed on my memory by a beauty of form, which almost equals that
of the women; and, in fact, the only fault I found with them was their
minute resemblance to the feminine delicacy of the other sex. They
made up, however, in courage what they lacked in form, for their manly
spirit has made them renowned among all the tribes they have so long
controlled by distinguished bravery and perseverance.

The patriarchal landscape by the brook, with the Oriental girls over
their water-jars, and the lowing cattle in the pastures, brought
freshly to my mind many a Bible scene I heard my mother read when I
was a boy at home; and I do not know what revolution might have been
wrought on my spirit had I not suddenly become critical! A stately
dame passed within twenty feet of my thicket, whose _coiffure_ excited
my mirth so powerfully that I might have been detected as a spy, had
not a bitten lip controlled my laughter. Her ladyship belonged,
perhaps, to the "upper-ten" of Timbo, whose heads had hitherto been
hidden from my eyes by the jealous _yashmacks_ they constantly wear in
a stranger's presence. In this instance, however, the woman's head,
like that of the younger girls, was uncovered, so that I had a full
view of the stately preparation. Her lower limbs were clad in ample
folds of blue and white cotton, knotted in an immense mass at the
waist, while her long crisp hair had been combed out to its fullest
dimensions and spliced with additional wool. The ebony fleece was then
separated in strands half an inch in diameter, and plaited all over
her skull in a countless number of distinct braids. This quill-like
structure was then adorned with amber beads, and copiously anointed
with vegetable butter, so that the points gleamed with fire in the
setting sunlight, and made her look as if she had donned for a
bewitching headdress a porcupine instead of a "bird of paradise."

       *       *       *       *       *

My trip to Timbo, I confess, was one of business rather than pleasure
or scientific exploration. I did not make a record, at the moment, of
my "impressions de voyage," and never thought that, a quarter of a
century afterwards, I would feel disposed to chronicle the journey in
a book, as an interesting _souvenir_ of my early life. Had I supposed
that the day would come when I was to turn author, it is likely I
might have been more inquisitive; but, being only "a slaver," I found
Ahmah, Sulimani, Abdulmomen, the Ali-Mami, and all the quality and
amusements of Timbo, dull enough, _when my object was achieved_.
Still, while I was there, I thought I might as well see all that was
visible. I strolled repeatedly through the town. I became excessively
familiar with its narrow streets, low houses, mud walls, cul-de-sacs,
and mosques. I saw no fine bazaars, market-places, or shops. The chief
wants of life were supplied by peddlers. Platters, jars, and baskets
of fruit, vegetables, and meat, were borne around twice or thrice
daily. Horsemen dashed about on beautiful steeds towards the fields in
the morning, or came home at nightfall at a slower pace. _I never saw
man or woman bask lazily in the sun._ Females were constantly busy
over their cotton and spinning wheels when not engaged in household
occupations; and often have I seen an elderly dame quietly crouched in
her hovel at sunset reading the Koran. Nor are the men of Timbo less
thrifty. Their city wall is said to hem in about ten thousand
individuals, representing all the social industries. They weave
cotton, work in leather, fabricate iron from the bar, engage
diligently in agriculture, and, whenever not laboriously employed,
devote themselves to reading and writing, of which they are
excessively fond.

These are the faint sketches, which, on ransacking my brain, I find
resting on its tablets. But I was tired of Timbo; I was perfectly
refreshed from my journey; and I was anxious to return to my factory
on the beach. Two "moons" only had been originally set apart for the
enterprise, and the third was already waxing towards its full. I
feared the Ali-Mami was not yet prepared with _slaves_ for my
departure, and I dreaded lest objections might be made if I approached
his royal highness with the flat announcement. Accordingly, I schooled
my interpreters, and visited that important personage. I made a long
speech, as full of compliments and blarney as a Christmas pudding is
of plums, and concluded by touching the soft part in African royalty's
heart--_slaves!_ I told the king that a vessel or two, with abundant
freights, would be waiting me on the river, and that I must hasten
thither with his choicest gangs if he hoped to reap a profit.

The king and the royal family were no doubt excessively grieved to
part with the Furtoo Mongo, but they were discreet persons and
"listened to reason." War parties and scouts were forthwith despatched
to blockade the paths, while press-gangs made recruits among the
villages, and even in Timbo. Sulimani-Ali, himself, sallied forth,
before daybreak, with a troop of horse, and at sundown, came back with
forty-five splendid fellows, captured in Findo and Furo!

The personal dread of me in the town itself, was augmented. If I had
been a Pestilence before, I was Death now! When I took my usual
morning walk the children ran from me screaming. Since the arrival of
Sulimani with his victims, all who were under the yoke thought their
hour of exile had come. The poor regarded me as the devil incarnate.
Once or twice, I caught women throwing a handful of dust or ashes
towards me, and uttering an invocation from the Koran to avert the
demon or save them from his clutches. Their curiosity was merged in
terror. _My popularity was over!_

It was not a little amusing that in the midst of the general dismay,
caused by the court of Timbo and myself, my colored brother
Ahmah-de-Bellah, and his kinsman Abdulmomen, lost no chance of
lecturing me about my soul! We kidnapped the Africans all day and
spouted Islamism all night! Our religion, however, was more
speculative than practical. It was much more important, they thought,
that we should embrace the faith of their peculiar theology, than that
we should trouble ourselves about human rights that interfered with
profits and pockets. We spared Mahometans and enslaved _only_ "_the
heathen_;" so that, in fact, we were merely obedient to the behests of
Mahomet when we subdued "the infidel!"

This process of proselytism, however, was not altogether successful.
As I was already a rather poor Christian, I fear that the Fullah did
not succeed in making me a very good Mussulman. Still, I managed to
amuse him with the hope of my _future_ improvement in his creed, so
that we were very good friends when the Ali-Mami summoned us for a
final interview.

The parting of men is seldom a maudlin affair. The king's relations
presented me bullocks, cows, goats, and sheep. His majesty sent me
five slaves. Sulimani-Ali offered a splendid white charger. The king's
wife supplied me with an African quilt ingeniously woven of red and
yellow threads unravelled from Manchester cottons; while
Ahmah-de-Bellah, like a gentleman of taste, despatched for my
consolation, the two prettiest handmaidens he could buy or steal in
Timbo!




CHAPTER XXV.


I shall not weary the reader with a narrative of my journey homeward
over the track I had followed on my way to Timbo. A grand Mahometan
service was performed at my departure, and Ahmah-de-Bellah accompanied
me as far as Jallica, whence he was recalled by his father in
consequence of a serious family dispute that required his presence.
Ali-Ninpha was prepared, in this place, to greet me with a welcome,
and a copious supply of gold, wax, ivory, and slaves. At Tamisso, the
worthy Mohamedoo had complied with his promise to furnish a similar
addition to the caravan; so that when we set out for Kya, our troop
was swelled to near a thousand strong, counting men, women, children
and ragamuffins.

At Kya I could not help tarrying four days with my jolly friend
Ibrahim, who received the tobacco, charged with "bitters," during my
absence, and was delighted to furnish a nourishing drop after my long
abstinence. As we approached the coast, another halt was called at a
favorable encampment, where Ali-Ninpha divided the caravan in four
parts, reserving the best portion of slaves and merchandise for me.
The division, before arrival, was absolutely necessary, in order to
prevent disputes or disastrous quarrels in regard to the merchantable
quality of negroes on the beach.

I hoped to take my people by surprise at Kambia; but when the factory
came in sight from the hill-tops back of the settlement, I saw the
Spanish flag floating from its summit, and heard the cannon booming
forth a welcome to the wanderer. Every thing had been admirably
conducted in my absence. The Fullah and my clerk preserved their
social relations and the public tranquillity unimpaired. My factory
and warehouse were as neat and orderly as when I left them, so that I
had nothing to do but go to sleep as if I had made a day's excursion
to a neighboring village.

Within a week I paid for the caravan's produce, despatched
Mami-de-Yong, and made arrangements with the captain of a slaver in
the river for the remainder of his merchandise. But the Fullah chief
had not left me more than a day or two, when I was surprised by a
traveller who dashed into my factory, with a message from
Ahmah-de-Bellah at Timbo, whence he had posted in twenty-one days.

Ahmah was in trouble. He had been recalled, as I said, from Jallica by
family quarrels. When he reached the paternal mat, he found his sister
Beeljie bound hand and foot in prison, with orders for her prompt
transportation to my factory as a slave. These were the irrevocable
commands of his royal father, and of her half-brother, Sulimani. All
his appeals, seconded by those of his mother, were unheeded. She must
be _shipped_ from the Rio Pongo; and no one could be trusted with the
task but the Ali-Mami's son and friend, the Mongo Téodor!

To resist this dire command, Ahmah charged the messenger to appeal to
my heart by our brotherly love _not_ to allow the maiden to be sent
over sea; but, by force or stratagem, to retain her until he arrived
on the beach.

The news amazed me. I knew that African Mahometans never sold their
caste or kindred into foreign slavery, unless their crime deserved a
penalty severer than death. I reflected a while on the message,
because I did not wish to complicate my relations with the leading
chiefs of the interior; but, in a few moments, natural sensibility
mastered every selfish impulse, and I told the envoy to hasten back on
the path of the suffering brother, and assure him I would shield his
sister, even at the risk of his kindred's wrath.

About a week afterwards I was aroused one morning by a runner from a
neighboring village over the hill, who stated that a courier reached
his town the night before from Sulimani-Ali,--a prince of
Timbo,--conducting a Fullah girl, who was to be sold by me
_immediately_ to a Spanish slaver. The girl, he said, resisted with
all her energy. She refused to walk. For the last four days she had
been borne along in a litter. She swore never to "see the ocean;" and
threatened to dash her skull against the first rock in her path, if
they attempted to carry her further. The stanch refusal embarrassed
her Mahometan conductor, inasmuch as his country's law forbade him to
use extraordinary compulsion, or degrade the maiden with a whip.

I saw at once that this delay and hesitation afforded an opportunity
to interfere judiciously in behalf of the spirited girl, whose sins or
faults were still unknown to me. Accordingly, I imparted the tale to
Ali-Ninpha; and, with his consent, despatched a shrewd dame from the
Mandingo's _harem_, with directions for her conduct to the village.
Woman's tact and woman's sympathy are the same throughout the world,
and the proud ambassadress undertook her task with pleased alacrity. I
warned her to be extremely cautious before the myrmidons of Sulimani,
but to seize a secret moment when she might win the maiden's
confidence, to inform her that I was the sworn friend of
Ahmah-de-Bellah, and would save her _if she followed my commands
implicitly_. She must cease resistance at once. She must come to the
river, which was fresh water, and not salt; and she must allow her
jailers to fulfil all the orders they received from her tyrannical
kinsmen. Muffled in the messenger's garments, I sent the manuscript
Koran of Ahmah-de-Bellah as a token of my truth, and bade the dame
assure Beeljie that her brother was already far on his journey to
redeem her in Kambia.

The mission was successful, and, early next day, the girl was brought
to my factory, _with a rope round her neck_.

The preliminaries for her purchase were tedious and formal. As her
sale was compulsory, there was not much question as to quality or
price. Still, I was obliged to promise a multitude of things I did not
intend to perform. In order to disgrace the poor creature as much as
possible, her sentence declared she should be "sold for salt,"--the
most contemptuous of all African exchanges, and used in the interior
for the purchase of _cattle_ alone.

Poor Beeljie stood naked and trembling before us while these
ceremonies were performing. A scowl of indignation flitted like a
shadow over her face, as she heard the disgusting commands. Tenderly
brought up among the princely brood of Timbo, she was a bright and
delicate type of the classes I described at the brook-side. Her limbs
and features were stained by the dust of travel, and her expression
was clouded with the grief of sensible degradation: still I would have
risked more than I did, when I beheld the mute appeal of her face and
form, to save her from the doom of Cuban exile.

When the last tub of salt was measured, I cut the rope from Beeljie's
neck, and, throwing over her shoulders a shawl,--in which she
instantly shrank with a look of gratitude,--called the female who had
borne my cheering message, to take the girl to her house and treat her
as the sister of my Fullah brother.

As I expected, this humane command brought the emissary of Sulimani to
his feet with a bound. He insisted on the restitution of the woman! He
swore I had deceived him; and, in fact, went through a variety of
African antics which are not unusual, even among the most civilized of
the tribes, when excited to extraordinary passion.

It was my habit, during these outbursts of native ire, to remain
perfectly quiet, not only until the explosion was over, but while the
smoke was disappearing from the scene. I fastened my eye, therefore,
silently, but intensely, on the tiger, following him in all his
movements about the apartment, till he sank subdued and panting, on
the mat. I then softly told him that this excitement was not only
unbecoming a Mahometan gentleman, and fit for a savage alone, but that
it was altogether wasted on the present occasion, _inasmuch as the
girl should be put on board a slaver in his presence_. Nevertheless, I
continued while the sister of Ahmah was under my roof, her blood must
be respected, and she should be treated in every respect as a royal
person.

I was quite as curious as the reader may be to know the crime of
Beeljie, for, up to that moment, I had not been informed of it.
Dismissing the Fullah as speedily as possible, I hastened to
Ali-Ninpha's dwelling and heard the sufferer's story.

The Mahometan princess, whose age surely did not exceed eighteen, had
been promised by the king and her half-brother, Sulimani, to an old
relative, who was not only accused of cruelty to his harem's inmates,
but was charged by Mussulmen with the heinous crime of eating "unclean
flesh." The girl, who seemed to be a person of masculine courage and
determination, resisted this disposal of her person; but, while her
brother Ahmah was away, she was forced from her mother's arms and
given to the filthy dotard.

It is commonly supposed that women are doomed to the basest obedience
in oriental lands; yet, it seems there is a Mahometan law,--or, at
least, a Fullah custom,--which saves the purity of an unwilling bride.
The delivery of Beeljie to her brutal lord kindled the fire of an
ardent temper. She furnished the old gentleman with specimens of
violence to which his harem had been a stranger, save when the master
himself chose to indulge in wrath. In fact, the Fullah damsel--half
acting, half in reality--played the virago so finely, that her
husband, after exhausting arguments, promises and supplications, sent
her back to her kindred _with an insulting message_.

It was a sad day when she returned to the paternal roof in Timbo. Her
resistance was regarded by the dropsical despot as rebellious
disobedience to father and brother; and, as neither authority nor love
would induce the outlaw to repent, her barbarous parent condemned her
to be "_a slave to Christians_."

Her story ended, I consoled the poor maiden with every assurance of
protection and comfort; for, now that the excitement of sale and
journey was over, her nerves gave way, and she sank on her mat,
completely exhausted. I commended her to the safeguard of my landlord
and the especial kindness of his women. Esther, too, stole up at night
to comfort the sufferer with her fondling tenderness, for she could
not speak the Fullah language;--and in a week, I had the damsel in
capital condition ready for a daring enterprise that was to seal her
fate.

When the Spanish slaver, whose cargo I had just completed, was ready
for sea, I begged her captain to aid me in the shipment of "_a
princess_" who had been consigned to my wardship by her royal
relations in the interior, but whom I dared not put on board his
vessel _until she was beyond the Rio Pongo's bar_. The officer
assented; and when the last boat-load of slaves was despatched from my
_barracoon_, he lifted his anchor and floated down the stream till he
got beyond the furthest breakers. Here, with sails loosely furled, and
every thing ready for instant departure, he again laid to, awaiting
the royal _bonne-bouche_.

In the mean time, I hurried Beeljie with her friends and Fullah jailer
to the beach, so that when the slaver threw his sails aback and
brought his vessel to the wind, I lost not a moment in putting the
girl in a canoe, with five Kroomen to carry her through the boiling
surf.

"Allah be praised!" sighed the Fullah, as the boat shot ahead into the
sea; while the girls of the harem fell on the sand with wails of
sorrow. The Kroomen, with their usual skill, drove the buoyant skiff
swiftly towards the slaver; but, as they approached the breakers south
of the bar, a heavy roller struck it on the side, and instantly, its
freight was struggling in the surge.

In a twinkling, the Fullah was on the earth, his face buried in the
sand; the girls screamed and tore their garments; Ali-Ninpha's wife
clung to me with the grasp of despair; while I, stamping with rage,
cursed the barbarity of the maiden's parent, whose sentence had
brought her to this wretched fate.

I kicked the howling hypocrite beneath me, and bade him hasten with
the news to Timbo, and tell the wicked patriarch that the Prophet
himself had destroyed the life of his wretched child, sooner than
suffer her to become a Christian's slave.

The Spanish vessel was under full sail, sweeping rapidly out to sea,
and the Kroomen swam ashore without their boat, as the grieving group
slowly and sadly retraced their way along the river's bank to Kambia.

[Illustration: THE SHIPPING OF BEELJIE.]

There was wailing that night in the village, and there was wailing in
Timbo when the Fullah returned with the tragic story. In fact, such
was the distracted excitement both on the sea-shore and in the
settlement, that none of my companions had eyes to observe an episode
of the drama which had been played that evening without rehearsal.

Every body who has been on the coast of Africa, or read of its people,
knows that Kroomen are altogether unaware of any difference between a
smooth river and the angriest wave. They would as willingly be upset
in the surf as stumble against a rock. I took advantage of this
amphibious nature, to station a light canoe immediately on the edge of
the breakers, and to order the daring swimmers it contained to grasp
the girl the moment her canoe was _purposely upset_! I promised the
divers a liberal reward if they lodged her in their boat, or swam with
her to the nearest point of the opposite beach; and so well did they
perform their secret task, that when they drew ashore her fainting
body, it was promptly received by a trusty Bager, who was in waiting
on the beach. Before the girl recovered her senses she was safely
afloat in the fisherman's canoe. His home was in a village on the
coast below; and, perhaps, it still remains a secret to this day, how
it was that, _for years after, a girl, the image of the lost Beeljie,
followed the footsteps of Ahmah, the Fullah of Timbo_!




CHAPTER XXVI.


After my toilsome journey to the interior, my despatch of a slaver,
and my adventurous enterprise in behalf of a Fullah princess, I
thought myself entitled to a long _siesta_; but my comfortable desires
and anticipations were doomed to disappointment. I was suddenly
stirred from this willing lethargy by a salute of twenty-one guns in
the offing. Our wonder was almost insupportable as to the character of
the ceremonious stranger who wasted powder so profusely, while a boy
was despatched to the top of the look-out tree to ascertain his
character. He reported a schooner anchored opposite Bangalang,
sporting a long pendant at the main, and a white ensign at her peak. I
took it for granted that no man-of-war would _salute_ a native chief,
and so concluded that it was some pretentious Frenchman, unacquainted
with the prudent customs of our demure coast.

The conjecture was right. At nightfall Mr. Ormond--whose humor had
somewhat improved since my return--apprised me that a Gallic slaver
had arrived to his consignment with a rich cargo, and hoped I would
join him at breakfast on board, by invitation of the commander.

Next morning, at sunrise, the Mongo and myself met for the first time
after our rupture with apparent cordiality on the deck of "La
Perouse," where we were welcomed with all that cordiality of grimace
for which a half-bred Frenchman is so justly celebrated. Captain
Brulôt could not speak English, nor could Mr. Ormond express himself
in French; so we wasted the time till breakfast was served in
discussing his cargo and prospects, through my interpretation. Fine
samples of gaudy calicoes, French guns, and superior brandy, were
exhibited and dwelt on with characteristic eloquence; but the Gaul
closed his bewitching catalogue with a shout of joy that made the
cabin ring, as he announced the complement of his cargo to be _five
hundred doubloons_. The scent of gold has a peculiar charm to African
slavers, and it will readily be supposed that our appetite for the
promised _déjeuner_ was not a little stimulated by the Spanish coin.
As rapidly as we could, we summed up the doubloons and his
merchandise; and, estimating the entire cargo at about $17,000,
offered him three hundred and fifty negroes for the lot. The bid was
no sooner made than accepted. Our private boats were sent ashore in
search of canoes to discharge the goods, and, with a relish and spirit
I never saw surpassed, we sat down to a piquant breakfast, spread on
deck beneath the awning.

I will not attempt to remember the dishes which provoked our appetites
and teased our thirst. We were happy already on the delightful claret
that washed down the viands; but, after the substantials were gone,
coffee was served, and succeeded by half a dozen various cordials, the
whole being appropriately capped by the foam of champagne.

When the last bumper was quaffed in honor of "La Perouse" and "belle
France," Captain Brulôt called for his writing-desk; when, at the
instant, four men sprung up as if by enchantment behind the Mongo and
myself, and grasping our arms with the gripe of a vice, held us in
their clutches till the carpenter riveted a shackle on our feet.

The scene passed so rapidly,--the transition from gayety to outrage
was so sharp and violent, that my bewildered mind cannot now declare
with certainty, whether mirth or anger prevailed at the clap-trap
trick of this dramatic _denouement_. I am quite sure, however, that if
I laughed at first, I very soon swore; for I have a distinct
recollection of dashing my fist in the poltroon's face before he could
extemporize an explanation.

When our limbs were perfectly secure, the French scoundrel
recommenced his shrugs, bows, grins and congées; and approaching Mr.
Ormond with a sarcastic simper, apprised him that the _petite comedie_
in which he took part, had been enacted for the collection of a
trifling debt which his excellency the Mongo owed a beloved brother,
who, alas! was no longer on earth to collect it for himself!

_Monsieur le Mongo_, he said, would have the kindness to remember
that, several years ago, his brother had left some _two hundred
slaves_ in his hands until called for; and he would also please to
take the trouble to recollect, that the said slaves had been twice
sent for, and twice refused. _Monsieur le Mongo_ must know, he
continued, that there was not much law on the coast of Africa; and
that, as he had Monsieur le Mongo's promissory note, or due-bill, for
the negroes, he thought this charming little _ruse_ would be the most
amiable and practical mode of enforcing it! Did his friend, _le
Mongo_, intend to honor this draft? It was properly endorsed, he would
see, in favor of the bearer; and if the _esclaves_ were quickly
forthcoming, the whole affair would pass off as agreeably and quickly
as the bubbles from a champagne glass.

By this time Ormond was so perfectly stupefied by drink, as well as
the atrocity, that he simply burst into a maudlin laugh, when I looked
at him for an explanation of the charge. _I_, surely, was not
implicated in it; yet, when I demanded the cause of the assault upon
_my_ person, in connection with the affair, Brulôt replied, with a
shrug, that as I was Ormond's clerk when the note was signed, I _must_
have had a finger in the pie; and, inasmuch as I now possessed a
factory of my own, it would doubtless be delightful to aid my ancient
patron in the liquidation of a debt that I knew to be lawful.

It was altogether useless to deny my presence in the factory, or
knowledge of the transaction, which, in truth, had occurred long
before my arrival on the Rio Pongo, during the clerkship of my
predecessor. Still, I insisted on immediate release. An hour flew by
in useless parley. But the Frenchman was firm, and swore that nothing
would induce him to liberate either of us without payment of the bill.
While we were talking, a crowd of canoes was seen shoving off from
Bangalang, filled with armed men; whereupon the excited Gaul ordered
his men to quarters, and double-shotted his guns.

As the first boat came within striking distance, a ball was fired
across her bows, which not only sent back the advance, but made the
entire fleet tack ship and steer homeward in dismay. Soon after,
however, I heard the war-drum beating in Bangalang, and could see the
natives mustering in great numbers along the river banks; yet, what
could undisciplined savages effect against the skinned teeth of our
six-pounders? At sunset, however, my clerk came off, with a white
flag, and the captain allowed him to row alongside to receive our
orders in his presence. Ormond was not yet in a state to consult as to
our appropriate means of rescue from the trickster's clutches; so I
directed the young man to return in the morning with changes of
raiment; but, in the mean while, to desire the villagers of both
settlements to refrain from interference in our behalf. An excellent
meal, with abundance of claret, was served for our entertainment, and,
on a capital mattress, we passed a night of patient endurance in our
iron stockings.

At daylight, water and towels were served for our refreshment. After
coffee and cigars were placed on the board, Brulôt put by his
sarcasm, and, in an off-hand fashion, demanded whether we had come to
our senses and intended to pay the debt? My Italian blood was in a
fever, and I said nothing. Ormond, however,--now entirely sober, and
who was enjoying a cigar with the habitual _insouciance_ of a
mulatto,--replied quietly that he could make no promises or
arrangements whilst confined on board, but if allowed to go ashore,
he would fulfil his obligation in two or three days. An hour was
spent by the Frenchman in pondering on the proposal; when it was
finally agreed that the Mongo should be set at liberty, provided he
left, as hostages, four of his children and two of the black chiefs
who visited him in my boat. The compact was sealed by the hoisting of
a flag under the discharge of a blank cartridge; and, in an hour, the
pledges were in the cabin, under the eye of a sentry, while the Mongo
was once more in Bangalang.

These negotiations, it will be perceived, did not touch _my_ case,
though I was in no manner guilty; yet I assented to the proposal
because I thought that Ormond would be better able than myself to find
the requisite number of slaves at that moment. I ordered my clerk,
however, to press all the indifferent and useless servants in my
factory, and to aid the Mongo with every slave at present in my
_barracoon_.

Before sunset of that day, this young man came aboard with fifty
negroes from my establishment, and demanded my release. It was
refused. Next day forty more were despatched by the Mongo; but still
my liberty was denied. I upbraided the scoundrel with his meanness,
and bade him look out for the day of retribution. But he snapped his
fingers at my threat as he exclaimed: "_Cher ami, ce n'est que la
fortune de guerre!_"

It was a task of difficulty to collect the remaining one hundred and
ten slaves among factories which had been recently drained by Cuban
vessels. Many domestic menials escaped to the forest when the story
became known, as they did not wish to take the place of their betters
in the "French service."

Thrice had the sun risen and set since I was a prisoner. During all
the time, my blood tingled for revenge. I was tricked, humbled and
disgraced. Never did I cease to pray for the arrival of some
well-armed _Spanish slaver_; and, towards evening of the fourth day,
lo! the boon was granted! That afternoon, a boat manned by negroes,
passed with the Spanish flag; but, as there was no white man aboard,
Brulôt took it for a _ruse_ of the Mongo, designed to alarm him into
an unconditional release of his captives.

I must do the Gaul the justice to declare, that during my confinement,
he behaved like a gentleman, in supplies from the pantry and
spirit-room. Neither was he uncivil or unkind in his general demeanor.
Indeed, he several times regretted that this was the only means in his
power "to collect a promissory note on the coast of Africa;" yet, I
was not Christian enough to sympathize with the sheriff, or to return
his compliments with any thing but a curse. But, now that a Spaniard
was within hail, I felt a sudden lifting of the weight that was on my
heart. I shouted for champagne! The steward brought it with alacrity,
and poured with trembling hand the bumpers I drained to Saint Jago and
old Spain. The infection soon spread. They began to believe that a
rescue was at hand. The news was heard with dismay in the forecastle.
Brulôt alone stood obstinate, but indecisive.

Presently, I called him to join me in a glass, and, as we drank the
foaming liquid, I pledged him to another "within twenty-four hours
beneath the Spanish flag." The Gaul feigned a sort of hectic hilarity
as he swallowed the wine and the toast, but he could not stand the
flash of revenge in my eye and burning cheek, and retired to consult
with his officers.




CHAPTER XXVII.


I slept soundly that night; but the sun was not clear of the forest
when I hobbled on deck in my shackles, and was searching the seaward
horizon for my beloved Castilian. Presently the breeze began to
freshen, and the tall, raking masts of a schooner were seen gliding
above the tops of the mangroves that masked the Rio Pongo's mouth.
Very soon the light wind and tide drifted her clear of the bends, and
an anchor was let go within musket shot of my prison, while springs
were run out to the bushes to give range to her broadside. I saw at
once, from her manoeuvres, that Ormond had communicated with the
craft during the night.

Brulôt felt that his day was over. The Spaniard's decks were crowded
with an alert, armed crew; four charming little bull-dogs showed their
muzzles from port holes; while a large brass swivel, amidships, gave
token of its readiness to fight or salute. For a minute or two the
foiled Frenchman surveyed the scene through his glass; then, throwing
it over his shoulder, ordered the mate to strike off my "darbies." As
the officer obeyed, a voice was heard from the Spaniard, commanding a
boat to be sent aboard, under penalty of a shot if not instantly
obeyed. The boat was lowered; but who would man her? The chief officer
refused; the second declined; the French sailors objected; the
Creoles and mulattoes from St. Thomas went below; so that no one was
left to fulfil the slaver's order but Brulôt or myself.

"_Bien!_" said my crest-fallen cock, "it's your turn to crow, Don
Téodore. Fortune seems on your side, and you are again free. Go to the
devil, if you please, _mon camarade_, and send your imps for the
slaves as soon as you want them!"

By this time the Spaniard had lighted his matches, levelled his guns,
and, under the aim of his musketry, repeated the order for a boat.
Seeing the danger of our party, I leaped to the bulwarks, and hailing
my deliverer in Spanish, bade him desist. The request was obeyed as I
threw myself into the yawl, cut the rope, and, alone, sculled the
skiff to the slaver.

A shout went up from the deck of my deliverer as I jumped aboard and
received the cordial grasp of her commander. Ali-Ninpha, too, was
there to greet and defend me with a chosen band of his people. While I
was absorbed in the joy of welcome and liberation, the African stole
with his band to the Frenchman's boat, and was rapidly filling it to
board the foe, when my clerk apprised me of the impending danger. I
was fortunate enough to control the enraged savage, else I know not
what might have been the fate of Brulôt and the officers during the
desertion of his mongrel and cowardly crew.

The captain desired his mates to keep an eye on the Gaul while we
retired to the cabin for consultation; and here I learned that I was
on board the "Esperanza," consigned to me from Matanzas. In turn, I
confirmed the account they had already heard of my mishap from the
Mongo's messengers; but hoped the Cuban captain would permit me to
take pacific revenge after my own fashion, inasmuch as my
captor--barring the irons--had behaved with uncommon civility. I had
no trouble, of course, in obtaining the commander's assent to this
request, though he yielded it under the evident displeasure of his
crew, whose Spanish blood was up against the Frenchman, and would
willingly have inflicted a signal punishment on this neutral ground.

After these preliminaries, Captain Escudero and myself returned to
the "La Perouse" with two boat-loads of armed followers, while our
approach was covered by the cannons and small arms of the "Esperanza."
Brulôt received us in moody silence on the quarter-deck. His officers
sat sulkily on a gun to leeward, while two or three French seamen
walked to and fro on the forecastle.

My first command was to spike the vessel's guns. Next, I decreed and
superintended the disembarkation of the stolen slaves; and, lastly, I
concluded the morning call with a request that Brulôt would _produce
the five hundred doubloons and his "promissory note" for two hundred
slaves_!

The fatal document, duly indorsed, was quickly delivered, but no
persuasion or threat induced the angry Gaul to show his gold, or a
manifest of the cargo.

After ample indulgence, I despatched a man to seek his writing-desk,
and discovered that six hundred doubloons had in reality been shipped
in St. Thomas. Of course, their production was imperiously demanded;
but Brulôt swore they had been landed, with his supercargo, in the
neighboring Rio Nunez. I was near crediting the story, when a slight
sneer I perceived flickering over the steward's face, put me on the
_qui vive_ to request an inspection of the log-book, which,
unfortunately for my captor, did not record the disembarkation of the
cash. This demonstrated Brulôt's falsehood, and authorized a demand
for his trunk. The knave winced as the steward descended to bring it;
and he leaped with rage as I split it with a hatchet, and counted two
hundred and fifty Mexican doubloons on the deck. _His cargo, however,
proved to be a sham of samples._

Turning innocently to Escudero, I remarked that he must have been put
to considerable trouble in rescuing me from this outlaw, and hoped he
would suffer his men to be recompensed for their extra toil under the
rays of an African sun. I would not venture to judge the value of such
devoted services; but requested him to fix his own price and receive
payment on the spot.

Escudero very naturally supposed that _about_ two hundred and fifty
Mexican ounces would compensate him to a fraction, and, accordingly,
the two hundred and fifty shiners, glistening on the deck, forthwith
returned to their bag and went overboard into his boat.

"_Adieu! mon cher_," said I, as I followed the gold; "_la fortune de
guerre_ has many phases, you see; how do you like this one? The next
game you play on the coast of Africa, my chicken, recollect that
though a _knave_ can take a trick, yet the _knave may be trumped
before the hand is played out_!"




CHAPTER XXVIII.


La Esperanza discharged her cargo rapidly, but, before I was ready to
send back a living freight, poor Escudero fell a victim to African
fever.

I had seen much of the country; I had made some money; my clerk was a
reliable fellow; I was growing somewhat anxious for a change of scene;
and, in fact, I only wanted a decent excuse to find myself once more
aboard a "skimmer of the seas," for a little relaxation after the
oppressive monotony of a slaver's life. Escudero's death seemed to
offer the desired opportunity. His mate was an inexperienced seaman;
his officers were unacquainted with the management of a slave cargo;
and, upon a view of the whole field of interests, I thought it best to
take charge of the schooner and pay a visit to my friends in Cuba. In
the mean time, however, a Danish brig arrived for negroes, so that it
became necessary for me, with my multiplied duties, to bestir myself
in the collection of slaves.

Whilst I was dining one afternoon at Ormond's factory with the Danish
captain of the trader, the boom of a gun, followed rapidly by two or
three more, announced the arrival of another craft. We drank a toast
to his advent, and were beginning to condole a little over our
difficulty in procuring blacks, when the look-out ran into our room
with the report that my Spaniard was firing into the Dane. We rushed
to the piazza whence the scene of action might be beheld, and another
shot from my vessel seemed to indicate that she was the aggressor. The
Dane and myself hurried aboard our respective schooners, but when I
reached the Esperanza, my crew were weighing anchor, while the
quarter-deck was strewn with fire-arms. The mate stood on the heel of
the bowsprit, urging his men to alacrity; the sailors hove at the
windlass with mingled shouts of passion and oaths of revenge; on a
mattress lay the bleeding form of my second officer, while a seaman
groaned beside him with a musket ball in his shoulder.

My arrival was the signal for a pause. As quickly as possible, I
inquired into the affray, which had originated like many a sailor's
dispute, on a question of precedence at the watering place in a
neighboring brook. The Danes were seven, and we but three. Our
Spaniards had been driven off, and my second mate, in charge of the
yawl, received a _trenchant_ blow from an oar-blade, which cut his
skull and felled him senseless on the sand.

Of course, "the watering" was over for the day, and both boats
returned to their vessels to tell their stories. The moment the Danes
got on board, they imprudently ran up their ensign; and, as this act
of apparent defiance occurred just as the Esperanza was receiving the
lifeless form of her officer, my excited crew discharged a broadside
in reply to the warlike token. Gun followed gun, and musketry rattled
against musketry. The Dane miscalculated the range of the guns, and
his grape fell short of my schooner, while our snarling sixes made sad
havoc with his bulwarks and rigging.

I had hardly learned the facts of the case and thought of a truce,
when the passionate Northman sent a round-shot whistling over my head.
Another and another followed in its wake, but they aimed too high for
damage. At twenty-four our blood is not so diplomatically pacific as
in later years, and this second aggression rekindled the lava in my
Italian veins. There was no longer question of a white flag or a
parley. In a twinkling, I slipped my cable and ran up the jib and
mainsail, so as to swing the schooner into a raking position at short
quarters; and before the Dane could counteract my manoeuvre, I gave
him a dose of grape and cannister which tore his ensign to ribbons and
spoiled the looks of his hull materially. My second shot splintered
the edge of his mast; but while I was making ready for a third, to
tickle him betwixt wind and water, down tumbled his impertinent
pendant and the day was won.

For a while there was a dead silence between the warriors. Neither
hailed nor sent a boat on board of the other. Ormond perceived this
cessation of hostilities from his piazza at Bangalang, and coming out
in a canoe, rowed to the Dane after hearing my version of the battle.

I waited anxiously either for his return or a message, but as I was
unadvised of the Mongo's views and temper in regard to the affray, I
thought it well, before dark, to avoid treachery by quitting the river
and placing my schooner in a creek with her broadside to the shore.
Special charge was then given to the mate and men to be alert all
night long; after which, I went on shore to protect the rear by
placing my factory in a state of defence.

But my precautions were needless. At daylight the guard brought us
news of the Dane's departure, and when I descended the river to
Bangalang, Ormond alleged that the slaver had sailed for Sierra Leone
to seek succor either from a man-of-war or the British government.

It may be supposed that I was not so "green" in Africa as to believe
this story. No vessel, equipped for a slave cargo, would dare to enter
the imperial colony. Yet the Northman had bitter cause for grief and
anger. His vessel was seriously harmed by my grape-shot; his carpenter
was slain during the action; and three of his seaman were lingering
with desperate wounds. In a few days, however, he returned to the Rio
Pongo from his airing on the Atlantic, where his wrath had probably
been somewhat cooled by the sea-breeze. His craft was anchored higher
up the river than my Spaniard, and thus our crews avoided intercourse
for the future.

But this was not the case with the captains. The Mongo's table was a
sort of neutral ground, at which we met with cold salutations but
without conversation. Ormond and the Dane, however, became exceedingly
intimate. Indeed, the mulatto appeared to exhibit a degree of
friendship for the Margaritan I had never seen him bestow on any one
else. This singularity, together with his well-known insincerity, put
me on my guard to watch his proceedings with increased caution.

Personal observation is always a safe means of self-assurance; yet I
have sometimes found it to be "a way of the world,"--not to be
altogether scorned or disregarded,--to _purchase_ the good will of
"confidential" persons. Accordingly, I made it "worth the while" of
Ormond's body-servant to sift the secret of this sudden devotion; and
in a few days the faithless slave, who spoke English remarkably well,
told me that the Dane, by dint of extra pay and the secret delivery of
all his spare provisions and the balance of his cargo, had induced the
Mongo to promise the delivery of his slaves before mine.

Now, Ormond, by a specific contract,--made and paid for before the
Dane's arrival,--owed me two hundred negroes on account of the
Esperanza's cargo. The Dane knew this perfectly, but my severe
chastisement rankled in his heart, and made him seek revenge in the
most effectual way on the coast of Africa. He was bent upon depriving
me of one hundred negroes, in the hands of Mr. Ormond.

I said nothing of my discovery, nor did I make any remarks on the
astonishing love that existed between these Siamese twins; still, I
kept my eye on Ormond's _barracoon_ until I found his stock had
gradually augmented to three hundred. Thereupon, I dropped in one
morning unceremoniously, and, in a gentle voice, told him of his
treacherous design. My ancient patron was so degraded by debauchery,
that he not only avoided a passionate outburst when I made the charge,
but actually seemed to regard it as a sort of capital joke, or
recompense for the damage I had inflicted on the Dane! We did not
dream of arguing the propriety or impropriety of his conduct; nor did
I think of upbraiding him with baseness, as I would have done any one
who had dipped only his finger-tips in fraud. Still, ever and anon, I
saw a glimmer of former spirit in the wretch, and thought I would
attempt a counter-mine of interest, which Ormond might probably
understand and grasp. I resolved, in fact, to _outbid_ the Dane, for I
thought I possessed a card that could take him. Accordingly, I offered
to surrender a bond for one hundred slaves he owed me on account of
the Esperanza; I promised, moreover, one hundred and fifty negroes, to
be delivered that evening,--and I tendered _Brulôt's promissory note
for the missing two hundred darkies_,--if he would pledge himself _to
load the Dane during the succeeding night_!

Ormond took the hint like tinder, and grasped my hand on the bargain.
The Dane was ordered to prepare his vessel to receive cargo without
delay, and was specially desired _to drop down about fifteen miles
towards the bar, so as to be off the moment his slaves were under
hatches_!

For the next six hours there was not a busier bee on the Rio Pongo
than Don Téodore. My schooner was put in ship-shape for cargo. The
mate was ordered to have his small arms and cutlasses in perfect
condition. Our pivot gun was double-loaded with chain-shot. My factory
was set in order, and written directions given the clerk in
anticipation of a four months' absence. Ali-Ninpha was put in charge
of the territorial domain, while my Spaniard was intrusted with the
merchandise.

It was encouraging to see, in the course of the afternoon, that my
northern rival had swallowed the bait, for he borrowed a kedge to aid
him, as he said, in descending the river against the tide, in order to
"_get a better berth_." He found the trees and air uncomfortable
sixteen miles from the bar, and wanted to approach it to be "nearer
the sea-breeze!" The adroitness of his excuse made me laugh in my
sleeve, as the clumsy trickster shot past me with his sails unbent.

Well,--night came on, with as much darkness as ever robes the star-lit
skies of Africa when the moon is obscured. My long boat was quickly
filled with ten men, armed with pistol and cutlass; and in a short
time, the canoes from Bangalang hove in sight with their sable burden.
I boarded the first one myself, commanding the rowers to pull for my
Spaniard. The second was seized by the mate, who followed in my wake.
The third, fourth, fifth and sixth, shared the same fate in rapid
succession; so that, in an hour, three hundred and seventy-five
negroes were, safe beneath the Esperanza's deck. Thereupon, I
presented the head-man of each canoe a document acknowledging the
receipt of his slaves, _and wrote an order on the Mongo in favor of
the Dane, for the full amount of the darkies I had borrowed_!

The land wind sprang up and the tide turned when daylight warned me it
was time to be off; and, as I passed the Dane snugly at anchor just
inside the bar, I called all hands to give three cheers, and to wish
him happiness in the "enjoyment of his sea-breeze."




CHAPTER XXIX.


When the land-breeze died away, it fell entirely calm, and the sea
continued an unruffled mirror for three days, during which the
highlands remained in sight, like a faint cloud in the east. The
glaring sky and the reflecting ocean acted and reacted on each other
until the air glowed like a furnace. During night a dense fog
enveloped the vessel with its clammy folds. When the vapor lifted on
the fourth morning, our look-out announced a sail from the mast-head,
and every eye was quickly sweeping the landward horizon in search of
the stranger. Our spies along the beach had reported the coast clear
of cruisers when I sailed, so that I hardly anticipated danger from
men-of-war; nevertheless, we held it discreet to avoid intercourse,
and accordingly, our double-manned sweeps were rigged out to impel us
slowly towards the open ocean. Presently, the mate went aloft with his
glass, and, after a deliberate gaze, exclaimed: "It is only the
Dane,--I see his flag." At this my crew swore they would sooner fight
than sweep in such a latitude; and, with three cheers, came aft to
request that I would remain quietly where I was until the Northman
overhauled us.

We made so little headway with oars that I thought the difference
trifling, whether we pulled or were becalmed. Perhaps, it might be
better to keep the hands fresh, if a conflict proved inevitable. I
passed quickly among the men, with separate inquiries as to their
readiness for battle, and found all--from the boy to the
mate--anxious, at every hazard, to do their duty. Our breakfast was as
cold as could be served in such a climate, but I made it palatable
with a case of claret.

When a sail on the coast of Africa heaves in sight of _a slaver_, it
is always best for the imperilled craft, especially if gifted with
swift hull and spreading wings, to take flight without the courtesies
that are usual in mercantile sea-life. At the present day, fighting
is, of course, out of the question, and the valuable prize is
abandoned by its valueless owners. At all times, however,--and as a
guard against every risk, whether the cue be to fight or fly,--the
prudent slaver, as soon as he finds himself in the neighborhood of
unwholesome canvas, puts out his fire, nails his forecastle, sends his
negroes below, and secures the gratings over his hatches.

All these preparations were quietly made on board the Esperanza; and,
in addition, I ordered a supply of small arms and ammunition on deck,
where they were instantly covered with blankets. Every man was next
stationed at his post, or where he might be most serviceable. The
cannons were sponged and loaded with care; and, as I desired to
deceive our new acquaintance, I ran up the Portuguese flag. The calm
still continued as the day advanced;--indeed, I could not perceive a
breath of air by our dog-vane, which veered from side to side as the
schooner rolled slowly on the lazy swell. The stranger did not
approach, nor did we advance. There we hung--

    "A painted ship upon a painted ocean!"

I cannot describe the fretful anxiety which vexes a mind under such
circumstances. Slaves below; a blazing sun above; the boiling sea
beneath; a withering air around; decks piled with materials of death;
escape unlikely; a phantom in chase behind; the ocean like an
unreachable eternity before; uncertainty every where; and, within your
skull, a feverish mind, harassed by doubt and responsibility, yet
almost craving for any act of desperation that will remove the spell.
It is a living nightmare, from which the soul pants to be free.

With torments like these, I paced the deck for half an hour beneath
the awning, when, seizing a telescope and mounting the rigging, I took
deliberate aim at the annoyer. He was full seven or eight miles away
from us, but very soon I saw, or fancied I saw, a row of ports, which
the Dane had not: then sweeping the horizon a little astern of the
craft, I distinctly made out three boats, fully manned, making for us
with ensigns flying.

Anxious to avoid a panic, I descended leisurely, and ordered the
sweeps to be spread once more in aid of the breeze, which, within the
last ten minutes, had freshened enough to fan us along about a knot an
hour. Next, I imparted my discovery to the officers; and, passing once
more among the men to test their nerves, I said it was likely they
would have to encounter an angrier customer than the Dane. In fact, I
frankly told them our antagonist was unquestionably a British cruiser
of ten or twelve guns, from whose clutches there was no escape, unless
we repulsed the boats.

I found my crew as confident in the face of augmented risk as they had
been when we expected the less perilous Dane. Collecting their votes
for fight or surrender, I learned that all _but two_ were in favor of
resistance. I had no doubt in regard _to the mates_, in our
approaching trials.

By this time the breeze had again died away to utter calmness, while
the air was so still and fervent that our sweltering men almost sank
at the sweeps. I ordered them in, threw overboard several water-casks
that encumbered the deck, and hoisted our boat to the stern-davits to
prevent boarding in that quarter. Things were perfectly ship-shape all
over the schooner, and I congratulated myself that her power had been
increased by two twelve pound carronades, the ammunition, and part of
the crew of a Spanish slaver, abandoned on the bar of Rio Pongo a week
before my departure. We had in all seven guns, and abundance of
musketry, pistols and cutlasses, to be wielded and managed by
thirty-seven hands.

By this time the British boats, impelled by oars alone, approached
within half a mile, while the breeze sprang up in cat's-paws all round
the eastern horizon, but without fanning us with a single breath.
Taking advantage of one of these slants, the cruiser had followed her
boats, but now, about five miles off, was again as perfectly becalmed
as _we_ had been all day. Presently, I observed the boats converge
within the range of my swivel, and lay on their oars as if for
consultation. I seized this opportunity, while the enemy was huddled
together, to give him the first welcome; and, slewing the schooner
round with my sweeps, I sent him a shot from my swivel. But the ball
passed over their heads, while, with three cheers, they
separated,--the largest boat making directly for our waist, while the
others steered to cross our bow and attack our stern.

During the chase my weapons, with the exception of the pivot gun, were
altogether useless, but I kept a couple of sweeps ahead and a couple
astern to play the schooner, and employed that loud-tongued instrument
as the foe approached. The larger boat, bearing a small carronade, was
my best target, yet we contrived to miss each other completely until
my sixth discharge, when a double-headed shot raked the whole bank of
starboard oar-blades, and disabled the rowers by the severe
concussion. This paralyzed the launch's advance, and allowed me to
devote my exclusive attention to the other boats; yet, before I could
bring the schooner in a suitable position, a signal summoned the
assailants aboard the cruiser to repair damages. I did not reflect
until this moment of reprieve, that, early in the day, I had hoisted
the Portuguese ensign _to deceive the Dane_, and imprudently left it
aloft in the presence of _John Bull_! I struck the false flag at once,
unfurled the Spanish, and refreshing the men with a double allowance
of grog and grub, put them again to the sweeps. When the cruisers
reached their vessels, the men instantly re-embarked, while the boats
were allowed to swing alongside, which convinced me that the assault
would be renewed as soon as the rum and roast-beef of Old England had
strengthened the heart of the adversary. Accordingly, noon had not
long passed when our pursuers again embarked. Once more they
approached, divided as before, and again we exchanged ineffectual
shots. I kept them at bay with grape and musketry until I hear three
o'clock, when a second signal of retreat was hoisted on the cruiser,
and answered by exultant _vivas_ from my crew. It grieved me, I
confess, not to mingle my voice with these shouts, for I was sure that
the lion retreated to make a better spring, nor was I less
disheartened when the mate reported that nearly all the ammunition for
our cannons was exhausted. Seven kegs of powder were still in the
magazine, though not more than a dozen rounds of grape, cannister, or
balls, remained in the locker. There was still an abundance of
cartridges for pistols and musketry, but these were poor defences
against resolute Englishmen whose blood was up and who would
unquestionably renew the charge with reinforcements of vigorous men.
Fore and aft, high and low, we searched for missiles. Musket balls
were crammed in bags; bolts and nails were packed in cartridge paper;
slave shackles were formed with rope-yarns into chain-shot; and, in an
hour, we were once more tolerably prepared to pepper the foe.

When these labors terminated, I turned my attention to the relaxed
crew, portions of whom refused wine, and began to sulk about the
decks. As yet only two had been slightly scratched by spent musket
balls; but so much discontent began to appear among the
passenger-sailors of the wrecked slaver, that my own hands could with
difficulty restrain them from revolt. I felt much difficulty in
determining how to act, but I had no time for deliberation. Violence
was clearly not my _rôle_, but persuasion was a delicate game in such
straits among men whom I did not command with the absolute authority
of a master. I cast my eye over the taffrail, and seeing that the
British boats were still afar, I followed my first impulse, and
calling the whole gang to the quarter-deck, tried the effect of
African palaver and Spanish gold. I spoke of the perils of capture and
of the folly of surrendering _a slaver_ while there was the slightest
_hope_ of escape. I painted the unquestionable result of being taken
after such resistance as had already been made. I drew an accurate
picture of a tall and dangerous instrument on which piratical
gentlemen have sometimes been known to terminate their lives; and
finally, I attempted to improve the rhythm of my oratory by a couple
of golden ounces to each combatant, and the promise of a slave apiece
at the end of our _successful_ voyage.

My suspense was terrible, as there,--on the deck of a slaver, amid
calm, heat, battle, and mutiny, with a volcano of three hundred and
seventy-five imprisoned devils below me,--I awaited a reply, which,
favorable or unfavorable, I must hear without emotion. Presently,
three or four came forward and accepted my offer. I shrugged my
shoulders, and took half a dozen turns up and down the deck. Then,
turning to the crowd, I _doubled my bounty_, and offering a boat to
take the recusants on board the enemy, swore that I would stand by the
Esperanza with my unaided crew in spite of the _dastards_!

The offensive word with which I closed the harangue seemed to touch
the right string of the Spanish guitar, and in an instant I saw the
dogged heads spring up with a jerk of mortified pride, while the
steward and cabin-boy poured in a fresh supply of wine, and a shout of
union went up from both divisions. I lost no time in confirming my
converts; and, ramming down my eloquence with a wad of doubloons,
ordered every man to his post, for the enemy was again in motion.

But he did not come alone. New actors had appeared on the scene during
my engagement with the crew. The sound of the cannonade had been heard,
it seems, by a consort of his Britannic Majesty's brig * * * *;[E]
and, although the battle was not within her field of vision, she
despatched another squadron of boats under the guidance of the reports
that boomed through the silent air.

The first division of my old assailants was considerably in advance of
the reinforcement; and, in perfect order, approached us in a solid
body, with the apparent determination of boarding on the same side.
Accordingly, I brought all my weapons and hands to that quarter, and
told both gunners and musketeers not to fire without orders. Waiting
their discharge I allowed them to get close; but the commander of the
launch seemed to anticipate my plan by the reservation of his fire
till he could draw mine, in order to throw his other boat-loads on
board under the smoke of his swivel and small arms. It was odd to
witness our mutual forbearance, nor could I help laughing, even in the
midst of danger, at the mutual checkmate we were trying to prepare.
However, my Britons did not avoid pulling, though they omitted firing,
so that they were already rather perilously close when I thought it
best to give them the contents of my pivot, which I had crammed almost
to the muzzle with bolts and bullets. The discharge paralyzed the
advance, while my carronades flung a quantity of grape into the
companion boats. In turn, however, they plied us so deftly with balls
from swivels and musketry, that five of our most valuable defenders
writhed in death on the deck.

The rage of battle at closer quarters than heretofore, and the screams
of bleeding comrades beneath their feet, roused to its fullest extent
the ardent nature of my Spanish crew. They tore their garments;
stripped to their waists; called for rum; and swore they would die
rather than yield!

By this time the consort's reinforcement was rapidly approaching; and,
with hurrah after hurrah, the five fresh boats came on in double
column. As they drew within shot, each cheer was followed with a fatal
volley, under which several more of our combatants were prostrated,
while a glancing musket ball lacerated my knee with a painful wound.
For five minutes we met this onset with cannon, muskets, pistols, and
enthusiastic shouts; but in the despairing confusion of the hour, the
captain of our long gun rammed home his ball before the powder, so
that when the priming burnt, the most reliable of our weapons was
silent forever! At this moment a round shot from the launch dismounted
a carronade;--our ammunition was wasted;--and in this disabled state,
the Britons prepared to board our crippled craft. Muskets, bayonets,
pistols, swords, and knives, for a space kept them at bay, even at
short quarters; but the crowded boats tumbled their enraged fighters
over our forecastle like surges from the sea, and, cutlass in hand,
the victorious furies swept every thing before them. The cry was to
"spare no one!" Down went sailor after sailor, struggling with the
frenzied passion of despair. Presently an order went forth to split
the gratings and release the slaves. I clung to my post and cheered
the battle to the last; but when I heard this fatal command, which, if
obeyed, might bury assailant and defender in common ruin, I ordered
the remnant to throw down their arms, while I struck the flag and
warned the rash and testy Englishman to beware.

The senior officer of the boarding party belonged to the division from
the cruiser's consort. As he reached the deck, his element eye fell
sadly on the scene of blood, and he commanded "quarter" immediately.
It was time. The excited boarders from the repulsed boats had mounted
our deck brimming with revenge. Every one that opposed was cut down
without mercy; and in another moment, it is likely I would have joined
the throng of the departed.

All was over! There was a hushed and panting crowd of victors and
vanquished on the bloody deck, when the red ball of the setting sun
glared through a crimson haze and filled the motionless sea with
liquid fire. For the first time that day I became sensible of personal
sufferings. A stifling sensation made me gasp for air as I sat down on
the taffrail of my captured schooner, and felt that I was--a prisoner!


FOOTNOTE:

[E] It will be understood by the reader, hereafter, why I omit the
cruiser's name.




CHAPTER XXX.


After a brief pause, the commanding officers of both divisions
demanded my papers, which, while I acknowledged myself _his_ prisoner,
I yielded to the _senior_ personage who had humanely stopped the
massacre. I saw that this annoyed the other, whom I had so frequently
repulsed; yet I thought the act fair as well as agreeable to my
feelings, for I considered my crew competent to resist the _first
division successfully_, had it not been succored by the consort's
boats.

But my decision was not submitted to by the defeated leader without a
dispute, which was conducted with infinite harshness, until the senior
ended the quarrel by ordering his junior to tow the prize within reach
of the corvette * * * *. My boat, though somewhat riddled with balls,
was lowered, and I was commanded to go on board the captor, with my
papers and servant under the escort of a midshipman. The captain stood
at the gangway as I approached, and, seeing my bloody knee, ordered me
not to climb the ladder, but to be hoisted on deck and sent below for
the immediate care of my wound. It was hardly more than a severe
laceration of flesh, yet was quite enough to prevent me from bending
my knee, though it did not deny locomotion with a stiff leg.

The dressing over,--during which I had quite a pleasant chat with the
amiable surgeon,--I was summoned to the cabin, where numerous
questions were put, all of which I answered frankly and _truly_.
Thirteen of my crew were slain, and nearly all the rest wounded. My
papers were next inspected, and found to be Spanish. "How was it,
then," exclaimed the commander, "that you fought under the Portuguese
flag?"

Here was the question I always expected, and for which I had in vain
taxed my wit and ingenuity to supply a reasonable excuse! I had
nothing to say for the daring violation of nationality; so I resolved
to tell the truth boldly about my dispute with the Dane, and my desire
to deceive him early in the day, but I cautiously omitted the
adroitness with which I had deprived him of his darkies. I confessed
that I forgot the flag when I found I had a different foe from the
Dane to contend with, and I flattered myself with the hope that, had I
repulsed the first unaided onset, I would have been able to escape
with the usual sea-breeze.

The captain looked at me in silence a while, and, in a sorrowful
voice, asked if I was aware that my defence under the Portuguese
ensign, no matter what tempted its use, could only be construed as an
act of _piracy_!

A change of color, an earnest gaze at the floor, compressed lips and
clenched teeth, were my only replies.

This painful scrutiny took place before the surgeon, whose looks and
expressions strongly denoted his cordial sympathy with my situation.
"Yes," said Captain * * * *, "it is a pity for a sailor who fights as
bravely as you have done, in defence of what he considers his
property, to be condemned for a combination of mistakes and
forgetfulness. However, let us not hasten matters; you are hungry and
want rest, and, though we are navy-men, and on the coast of Africa, we
are not savages." I was then directed to remain where I was till
further orders, while my servant came below with an abundant supply of
provisions. The captain went on deck, but the doctor remained.
Presently, I saw the surgeon and the commander's steward busy over a
basket of biscuits, meat and bottles, to the handle of which a cord,
several yards in length, was carefully knotted. After this was
arranged, the doctor called for a lamp, and unrolling a chart, asked
whether I knew the position of the vessel. I replied affirmatively,
and, at his request, measured the distance, and noted the course to
the nearest land, which was Cape Verga, about thirty-seven miles off.

"Now, Don Téodore, if I were in your place, with the prospect of a
noose and tight-rope dancing before me, I have not the slightest
hesitation in saying that I would make an attempt to know what Cape
Verga is made of before twenty-four hours were over my head! And see,
my good fellow, how Providence, accident, or fortune favors you! First
of all, your own boat _happens_ to be towing astern beneath these very
cabin windows; secondly, a basket of provisions, water and brandy,
stands packed on the transom, almost ready to slip into the boat by
itself; next, your boy is in the neighborhood to help you with the
skiff; and, finally, it is pitch dark, perfectly calm, and there isn't
a sentry to be seen aft the cabin door. Now, good night, my clever
fighter, and let me never have the happiness of seeing your face
again!"

As he said this, he rose, shaking my hand with the hearty grasp of a
sailor, and, as he passed my servant, slipped something into his
pocket, which proved to be a couple of sovereigns. Meanwhile, the
steward appeared with blankets, which he spread on the locker; and,
blowing out the lamp, went on deck with a "good night."

It was very still, and unusually dark. There was dead silence in the
corvette. Presently, I crawled softly to the stern window, and lying
flat on my stomach over the transom, peered out into night. There,
in reality, was my boat towing astern by a slack line! As I gazed,
some one on deck above me drew in the rope with softest motion,
until the skiff lay close under the windows. Patiently, slowly,
cautiously,--fearing the sound of his fall, and dreading almost the
rush of my breath in the profound silence,--I lowered my boy into
the boat. The basket followed. The negro fastened the boat-hook to
the cabin window, and on this, lame as I was, I followed the
basket. Fortunately, not a plash, a crack, or a footfall disturbed
the silence. I looked aloft, and no one was visible on the
quarter-deck. A slight jerk brought the boat-rope softly into the
water, and I drifted away into the darkness.




CHAPTER XXXI.


I drifted without a word or motion, and almost without breathing,
until the corvette was perfectly obliterated against the hazy horizon.
When every thing was dark around me, save the guiding stars, I put out
the oars and pulled quietly towards the east. At day-dawn I was
apparently alone on the ocean.

My appetite had improved so hugely by the night's exercise, that my
first devotion was to the basket, which I found crammed with bologña
sausages, a piece of salt junk, part of a ham, abundance of biscuit,
four bottles of water, two of brandy, a pocket compass, a jack-knife,
and a large table-cloth or sheet, which the generous doctor had no
doubt inserted to serve as a sail.

The humbled _slaver_ and the _slave_, for the first time in their
lives, broke bread from the same basket, and drank from the same
bottle! Misfortune had strangely and suddenly levelled us on the basis
of common humanity. The day before, he was the most servile of
menials; to-day he was my equal, and, probably, my superior in certain
physical powers, without which I would have perished!

As the sun ascended in the sky, my wound became irritated by exercise,
and the inflammation produced a feverish torment in which I groaned as
I lay extended in the stern-sheets. By noon a breeze sprang up from
the south-west, so that the oars and table-cloth supplied a square
sail which wafted us about three miles an hour, while my boy rigged
an awning with the blankets and boat-hooks. Thus, half reclining, I
steered landward till midnight, when I took in the sail and lay-to on
the calm ocean till morning. Next day the breeze again favored us;
and, by sundown, I came up with the coasting canoe of a friendly
Mandingo, into which I at once exchanged my quarters, and falling
asleep, never stirred till he landed me on the Islands de Loss.

My wound kept me a close and suffering prisoner in a hut on the isles
for ten days during which I despatched a native canoe some thirty five
or forty miles to the Rio Pongo with news of my disaster, and orders
for a boat with an equipment of comforts. As my clerk neglected to
send a suit of clothes, I was obliged to wear the Mandingo habiliments
till I reached my factory, so that during my transit, this dress
became the means of an odd encounter. As I entered the Rio Pongo, a
French brigantine near the bar was the first welcome of civilization
that cheered my heart for near a fortnight. Passing her closely, I
drifted alongside, and begged the commander for a bottle of claret. My
brown skin, African raiment, and savage companions satisfied the
skipper that I was a native, so that, with a sneer, he, of course,
became very solicitous to know "where I drank claret _last_?" and
pointing to the sea, desired me to quench my thirst with brine!

It was rather hard for a suffering Italian to be treated so cavalierly
by a Gaul; but I thanked the fellow for his civility in such excellent
French, that his tone instantly changed, and he asked--"_au nom de
Dieu_, where I had learned the language!" It is likely I would have
rowed off without detection, had I not just then been recognized by
one of his officers who visited my factory the year before.

In a moment the captain was in my boat with a bound, and grasping my
hands with a thousand pardons, insisted I should not ascend the river
till I had dined with him. He promised a plate of capital soup;--and
where, I should like to know, is the son of France or Italy who is
ready to withstand the seduction of such a provocative? Besides this,
he insisted on dressing me from his scanty wardrobe; but as he
declined all subsequent remuneration, I confined my bodily improvement
to a clean shirt and his wiry razors.

While the _bouillon_ was bubbling in the coppers, I got an insight
into the condition of Rio Pongo concerns since my departure. The Dane
was off after a quarrel with Ormond, who gave him but a hundred
negroes for his cargo; and a Spanish brig was waiting my arrival,--for
the boy I sent home from the Isles de Loss had reported my engagement,
capture, and escape.

_La soupe sur la table_, we attacked a smoking tureen of _bouillon
gras_, while a heaping dish of toasted bread stood in the middle. The
captain loaded my plate with two slices of this sunburnt material,
which he deluged with a couple of ladles of savory broth. A long fast
is a good sauce, and I need not assert that I began _sans façon_. My
appetite was sharp, and the vapor of the liquid inviting. For a while
there was a dead silence, save when broken by smacking and relishing
lips. Spoonful after spoonful was sucked in as rapidly as the heat
allowed; and, indeed, I hardly took time to bestow a blessing on the
cook. Being the guest of the day, my plate had been the first one
served, and of course, was the first one finished. Perhaps I rather
hurried myself, for lenten diet made me greedy and I was somewhat
anxious to anticipate the calls of my companions on the tureen.
Accordingly, I once more ballasted my plate with toast, and, with a
charming bow and a civil "_s'il vous plait_," applied, like Oliver
Twist, "for more."

As the captain was helping me to the second ladle, he politely
demanded whether I was "fond of the thick;" and as I replied in the
affirmative, he made another dive to the bottom and brought up the
instrument with a heaping mass in whose centre was a diminutive
African skull, face upwards, gaping at the guests with an infernal
grin!

My plate fell from my hand at the tureen's edge. The boiling liquid
splashed over the table. I stood fascinated by the horrible apparition
as the captain continued to hold its dreadful bones in view. Presently
my head swam; a painful oppression weighed at my heart; I was ill;
and, in a jiffy, the appalling spectre was laid beneath the calm
waters of the Rio Pongo.

Before sundown I made a speedy retreat from among the _anthropophagi_;
but all their assurances, oaths, and protestations, could not satisfy
me that the broth did not owe its substance to something more human
than an African _baboon_.




CHAPTER XXXII.


There was rejoicing that night in Kambia among my people, for it is
not necessary that a despised slaver should always be a cruel master.
I had many a friend among the villagers, both there and at Bangalang,
and when the "barker" came from the Isles _de Loss_ with the news of
my capture and misery, the settlement had been keenly astir until it
was known that Mongo Téodore was safe and sound among his protectors.

I had a deep, refreshing sleep after a glorious bath. Poor Esther
stole over the palisades of Bangalang to hear the story from my own
lips; and, in recompense for the narrative, gave me an account of the
river gossip during my adventure. Next morning, bright and early, I
was again in my boat, sweeping along towards the "FELIZ" from
Matanzas, which was anchored within a bowshot of Bangalang. As I
rounded a point in sight of her, the Spanish flag was run up, and as I
touched the deck, a dozen cheers and a gun gave token of a gallant
reception in consequence of my battle with the British, which had been
magnified into a perfect Trafalgar.

The Feliz was originally consigned to me from Cuba, but in my absence
from the river her commander thought it best not to intrust so
important a charge to my clerk, and addressed her to Ormond. When my
arrival at the Isles _de Loss_ was announced on the river, his
engagement with the Mongo had neither been entirely completed, nor
had any cargo been delivered. Accordingly, the skipper at once taxed
his wit for a contrivance by which he could escape the bargain. In
Africa such things are sometimes done with ease on small pretexts, so
that when I reached Kambia my one-hundred-and-forty-ton brig was ready
for her original consignee.

I found that remittances in money and merchandise covered the value of
three hundred and fifty slaves, whom I quickly ordered from different
traders;--but when I applied to the Mongo to furnish his share, the
gentleman indignantly refused under the affront of his recalled
assignment. I tried to pacify and persuade him; yet all my efforts
were unavailing. Still, the results of this denial did not affect the
Mongo personally and alone. When a factor either declines or is unable
to procure trade at an African station, the multitude of hangers-on,
ragamuffins, servants and villagers around him suffer, at least, for a
time. They cannot understand and are always disgusted when "trade is
refused." In this case the people of Bangalang seemed peculiarly
dissatisfied with their Mongo's obstinacy. They accused him of
indolent disregard of their interests. They charged him with culpable
neglect. Several free families departed forthwith to Kambia. His
brothers, who were always material sufferers in such cases, upbraided
him with arrogant conceit. His women, headed by Fatimah,--who supplied
herself and her companions with abundant presents out of every fresh
cargo,--rose in open mutiny, and declared they would run off unless he
accepted a share of the contract. Fatimah was the orator of the harem
on this as well as on all other occasions of display or grievance, and
of course she did not spare poor Ormond. Age and drunkenness had made
sad inroads on his constitution and looks during the last half year.
His fretful irritability sometimes amounted almost to madness, when
thirty female tongues joined in the chorus of their leader's assault.
They boldly charged him, singly and in pairs, with every vice and
fault that injured matrimony habitually denounces; and as each item of
this abusive litany was screamed in his ears, the chorus responded
with a deep "amen!" They boasted of their infidelities, lauded their
lovers, and producing their children, with laughs of derision, bade
him note the astounding resemblance!

The poor Mongo was sorely beset by these African witches, and
summoned his villagers to subdue the revolt; but many of the
town-folks were pets of the girls, so that no one came forth to obey
his bidding.

I visited Ormond at his request on the evening of this rebellion, and
found him not only smarting with the morning's insult, but so drunk as
to be incapable of business. His revengeful eye and nervous movements
denoted a troubled mind. When our hands met, I found the Mongo's cold
and clammy. I refused wine under a plea of illness; and when, with
incoherent phrases and distracted gestures, he declared his
willingness to retract his refusal and accept a share of the Felix's
cargo, I thought it best to adjourn the discussion until the following
day. Whilst on the point of embarking, I was joined by the faithless
servant, whom I bribed to aid me in my affair with the Dane, and was
told that Ormond _had drugged the wine in anticipation of my arrival_!
He bade me be wary of the Mongo, who in his presence had threatened my
life. That morning, he said, while the women were upbraiding him, my
name had been mentioned by one with peculiar favor,--when Ormond burst
forth with a torrent of passion, and accusing me as the cause of all
his troubles, felled the girl to the earth with his fist.

That night I was roused by my watchman to see a stranger, and found
Esther at my gate with three of her companions. Their tale was brief.
Soon after dark, Ormond entered the harem with loaded pistol, in
search of Fatimah and Esther; but the wretch was so stupefied by
liquor and rage, that the women had little trouble to elude his grasp
and escape from Bangalang. Hardly had I bestowed them for the night,
when another alarm brought the watchman once more to my chamber, with
the news of Ormond's death. He had shot himself through the heart!

I was in no mood for sleep after this, and the first streak of dawn
found me at Bangalang. There lay the Mongo as he fell. No one
disturbed his limbs or approached him till I arrived. He never stirred
after the death-wound.

It seems he must have forgotten that the bottle had been specially
medicated for me, as it was found nearly drained; but the last thing
distinctly known of him by the people, was his murderous entrance into
the harem to despatch Esther and Fatimah. Soon after this the crack of
a pistol was heard in the garden; and there, stretched among the
cassava plants, with a loaded pistol grasped in his left, and a
discharged one at a short distance from his right hand, laid Jack
Ormond, the mulatto! His left breast was pierced by a ball, the wad of
which still clung to the bloody orifice.

Bad as this man was, I could not avoid a sigh for his death. He had
been my first friend in Africa, and I had forfeited his regard through
no fault of mine. Besides this, there are so few on the coast of
Africa in these lonely settlements among the mangrove swamps, who have
tasted European civilization, and can converse like human beings, that
the loss even of the worst is a dire calamity. Ormond and myself had
held each other for a long time at a wary distance; yet business
forced us together now and then, and during the truce, we had many a
pleasant chat and joyous hour that would henceforth be lost for ever.

It is customary in this part of Africa to make the burial of a _Mongo_
the occasion of a _colungee_, or festival, when all the neighboring
chiefs and relations send gifts of food and beverage for the orgies of
death. Messengers had been despatched for Ormond's brothers and
kinsfolk, so that the native ceremony of interment was postponed till
the third day; and, in the interval, I was desired to make all the
preparations in a style befitting the suicide's station. Accordingly,
I issued the needful orders; directed a deep grave to be dug under a
noble cotton-wood tree, aloof from the village; gave the body in
charge to women, who were to watch it until burial, with cries of
sorrow,--and then retired to Kambia.

On the day of obsequies I came back. At noon a salute was fired by the
guns of the village, which was answered by minute guns from the Feliz
and my factory. Seldom have I heard a sadder sound than the boom of
those cannons through the silent forest and over the waveless water.

Presently, all the neighboring chiefs, princes and kings came in with
their retainers, when the body was brought out into the shade of a
grove, so that all might behold it. Then the procession took up its
line of march, while the thirty wives of the Mongo followed the
coffin, clad in rags, their heads shaven, their bodies lacerated with
burning iron, and filling the air with yells and shrieks until the
senseless clay was laid in the grave.

I could find no English prayer-book or Bible in the village, from
which I might read the service of his church over Ormond's remains,
but I had never forgotten the _Ave Maria_ and _Pater Noster_ I learned
when an infant, and, while I recited them devoutly over the self
murderer, I could not help thinking they were even more than
sufficient for the savage surroundings.

The brief prayer was uttered; but it could not be too brief for the
impatient crowd. Its _amen_ was a signal for _pandemonium_. In a
twinkling, every foot rushed back to the dwelling in Bangalang. The
grove was alive with revelry. Stakes and rocks reeked with roasting
bullocks. Here and there, kettles steamed with boiling rice. Demijohn
after demijohn of _rum_, was served out. Very soon a sham battle was
proposed, and parties were formed. The divisions took their grounds;
and, presently, the scouts appeared, crawling like reptiles on the
earth till they ascertained each other's position, when the armies
rallied forth with guns, bows, arrows, or lances, and, after firing,
shrieking and shouting till they were deaf, retired with captives, and
the war was done. Then came a reinforcement of rum, and then a dance,
so that the bewildering revel continued in all its delirium till rum
and humanity gave out together, and reeled to the earth in drunken
sleep! Such was the requiem of

    THE MONGO OF BANGALANG!




CHAPTER XXXIII.


Slaves dropped in slowly at Kambia and Bangalang, though I still had
half the cargo of the Feliz to make up. Time was precious, and there
was no foreigner on the river to aid me. In this strait, I suddenly
resolved on a foray among the natives on my own account; and equipping
a couple of my largest canoes with an ample armament, as well as a
substantial store of provisions and merchandise, I departed for the
Matacan river, a short stream, unsuitable for vessels of considerable
draft. I was prepared for the purchase of fifty slaves.

I reached my destination without risk or adventure, but had the
opportunity of seeing some new phases of Africanism on my arrival.
Most of the coast negroes are wretchedly degraded by their
superstitions and _sauvagerie_, and it is best to go among them with
power to resist as well as presents to purchase. Their towns did not
vary from the river and bush settlements generally. A house was given
me for my companions and merchandise; yet such was the curiosity to
see the "white man," that the luckless mansion swarmed with sable bees
both inside and out, till I was obliged to send for his majesty to
relieve my sufferings.

After a proper delay, the king made his appearance in all the
paraphernalia of African court-dress. A few fathoms of check girded
his loins, while a blue shirt and red waistcoat were surmounted by a
dragoon's cap with brass ornaments. His countenance was characteristic
of Ethiopia and royalty. A narrow forehead retreated rapidly till it
was lost in the crisp wool, while his eyes were wide apart, and his
prominent cheek-bones formed the base of an inverted cone, the apex of
which was his braided beard, coiled up under his chin. When earnest in
talk, his gestures were mostly made with his head, by straining his
eyes to the rim of their sockets, stretching his mouth from ear to
ear, grinning like a baboon, and throwing out his chin horizontally
with a sudden jerk. Notwithstanding these personal oddities, the
sovereign was kind, courteous, hospitable, and disposed for trade.
Accordingly, I "dashed," or presented him and his head-men a few
pieces of cottons, with some pipes, beads, and looking-glasses, by way
of whet for the appetite of to-morrow.

But the division of this gift was no sportive matter. "The spoils"
were not regulated upon principles of superiority, or even of
equality; but fell to the lot of the stoutest scramblers. As soon as
the goods were deposited, the various gangs seized my snowy cottons,
dragging them right and left to their several huts, while they
shrieked, yelled, disputed, and fought in true African fashion. Some
lucky dog would now and then leap between two combatants who had
possession of the ends of a piece, and whirling himself rapidly around
the middle, slashed the sides with his jack-knife and was off to the
bush. The pipes, beads, and looking-glasses, were not bestowed more
tenderly, while the tobacco was grabbed and appropriated by leaves or
handfuls.

Next day we proceeded to formal business. His majesty called a regular
"palaver" of his chiefs and head-men, before whom I stated my
_dantica_ and announced the terms. Very soon several young folks were
brought for sale, who, I am sure, never dreamed at rising from last
night's sleep, that they were destined for Cuban slavery! My
merchandise revived the memory of peccadilloes that had been long
forgotten, and sentences that were forgiven. Jealous husbands, when
they tasted my rum, suddenly remembered their wives' infidelities, and
sold their better halves for more of the oblivious fluid. In truth I
was exalted into a magician, unroofing the village, and baring its
crime and wickedness to the eye of _justice_. Law became profitable,
and virtue had never reached so high a price! Before night the town
was in a turmoil, for every man cudgelled his brain for an excuse to
kidnap his neighbor, so as to share my commerce. As the village was
too small to supply the entire gang of fifty, I had recourse to the
neighboring settlements, where my "barkers," or agents, did their work
in a masterly manner. Traps were adroitly baited with goods to lead
the unwary into temptation, when the unconscious pilferer was caught
by his ambushed foe, and an hour served to hurry him to the beach as a
slave for ever. In fact, five days were sufficient to stamp my image
permanently on the Matacan settlements, and to associate my memory
with any thing but blessings in at least fifty of their families!

       *       *       *       *       *

I had heard, on the Rio Pongo, of a wonderful wizard who dwelt in this
region, and took advantage of the last day of my detention to inquire
his whereabouts. The impostor was renowned for his wonderful tricks of
legerdemain, as well as for cures, necromancy, and fortune-telling.
The ill came to him by scores; credulous warriors approached him with
valuable gifts for _fetiches_ against musket balls and arrows; while
the humbler classes bought his charms against snakes, alligators,
sharks, evil spirits, or sought his protection for their unborn
children.

My interpreter had already visited this fellow, and gave such charming
accounts of his skill, that all my people wanted their fates divined,
for which I was, of course, obliged to advance merchandise to purchase
at least a gratified curiosity. When they came back I found every one
satisfied with his future lot, and so happy was the chief of my
Kroomen that he danced around his new _fetiche_ of cock's feathers and
sticks, and snapped his fingers at all the sharks, alligators, and
swordfish that swam in the sea.

By degrees these reports tickled my own curiosity to such a degree,
that, incontinently, I armed myself with a quantity of cotton cloth, a
brilliant bandanna, and a lot of tobacco, wherewith I resolved to
attack the soothsayer's den. My credulity was not involved to the
expedition, but I was sincerely anxious to comprehend the ingenuity or
intelligence by which a negro could control the imagination of African
multitudes.

The wizard chose his abode with skilful and romantic taste. Quitting
the town by a path which ascended abruptly from the river, the
traveller was forced to climb the steep by a series of dangerous
zig-zags among rocks and bushes, until he reached a deep cave in an
elevated cliff that bent over the stream. As we approached, my
conductor warned the inmate of our coming by several whoops. When we
reached the entrance I was directed to halt until the demon announced
his willingness to receive us. At length, after as much delay as is
required in the antechamber of a secretary of state, a growl, like the
cry of a hungry crocodile, gave token of the wizard's coming.

As he emerged from the deep interior, I descried an uncommonly tall
figure, bearing in his arms a young and living leopard. I could not
detect a single lineament of his face or figure, for he was covered
from head to foot in a complete dress of monkey skins, while his face
was hidden by a grotesque white mask. Behind him groped a delicate
blind boy.

We seated ourselves on hides along the floor, when, at my bidding, the
interpreter, unrolling my gifts, announced that I came with full hands
to his wizardship, for the purpose of learning my fortune.

The impostor had trained his tame leopard to fetch and carry like a
dog, so that, without a word, the docile beast bore the various
presents to his master. Every thing was duly measured, examined, or
balanced in his hands to ascertain its quality and weight. Then,
placing a bamboo between his lips and the blind boy's ear, he
whispered the words which the child repeated aloud. First of all, he
inquired what I wished to know? As one of his follower's boasts was
the extraordinary power he possessed of speaking various languages, I
addressed him in Spanish, but as his reply displayed an evident
ignorance of what I said, I took the liberty to reprimand him sharply
in his native tongue. He waved me off with an imperious flourish of
his hand, and ordered me to wait, as he perfectly comprehended my
Spanish, but the magic power would not suffer him to answer save in
regular rotation, word by word.

I saw his trick at once, which was only one of prompt and adroit
_repetition_. Accordingly, I addressed him in his native dialect, and
requested a translation of my sentence into Spanish. But this was a
puzzler; though it required but a moment for him to assure me that a
foreign language could only be spoken by wizards of his degree _at the
full of the moon_!

I thought it time to shift the scene to fortune-telling, and begged my
demon to begin the task by relating the past, in order to confirm my
belief in his mastery over the future. But the nonsense he uttered was
so insufferable, that I dropped the curtain with a run, and commanded
"the hereafter" to appear. This, at least, was more romantic. As
usual, I was to be immensely rich. I was to become a great prince. I
was to have a hundred wives; but alas! before six months elapsed, my
factory would be burnt and I should lose a vessel!

Presently, the interpreter proposed an exhibition of legerdemain, and
in this I found considerable amusement to make up for the preceding
buffoonery. He knotted a rope, and untied it with a jerk. He sank a
knife deep in his throat, and poured in a vessel of water. Other
deceptions followed this skilful trick, but the cleverest of all was
the handling of red hot iron, which, after covering his hands with a
glutinous paste, was touched in the most fearless manner. I have seen
this trick performed by other natives, and whenever ignited coals or
ardent metal was used, the hands of the operator were copiously
anointed with the pasty unguent.

A valedictory growl, and a resumption of the leopard, gave token of
the wizard's departure, and closed the evening's entertainments.

If the ease with which a man is amused, surprised, or deluded, is a
fair measure of intellectual grade, I fear that African minds will
take a very moderate rank in the scale of humanity. The task of
self-civilization, which resembles the self-filtering of water, has
done but little for Ethiopia in the ages that have passed
simultaneously over her people and the progressive races of other
lands. It remains to be seen what the _infused_ civilization of
Christianity and Islamism will effect among these benighted nations.
JESUS, MAHOMET, and the FETICHE, will, perhaps, long continue to be
their types of distinctive separation.




CHAPTER XXXIV.


The Esperanza's capture made it absolutely necessary that I should
visit Cuba, so that, when the Feliz was preparing to depart, I began
to put my factory and affairs in such order as would enable me to
embark in her and leave me master of myself for a considerable time. I
may as well record the fact here that the unlucky Esperanza was sent
to Sierra Leone, where she was, of course, condemned as a slaver,
while the officers and crew were despatched by order of the Admiralty,
in irons, to _Lisbon_, where a tribunal condemned them to the galleys
for five years. I understand they were subsequently released by the
clemency of Don Pedro de Braganza when he arrived from Brazil.

Every thing was ready for our departure. My rice was stored and about
to be sent on board; when, about three o'clock in the morning of the
25th of May, 1828, the voice of my servant roused me from pleasant
dreams, to fly for life! I sprang from the cot with a bound to the
door, where the flickering of a bright flame, reflected through the
thick, misty air, gave token of fire. The roof of my house was in a
blaze, and one hundred and fifty kegs of powder were close at hand
beneath a thatch! They could not be removed, and a single spark from
the frail and tinder-like materials might send the whole in an instant
to the skies.

A rapid discharge from a double-barrelled gun brought my people to
the spot with alacrity, and enabled me to rescue the two hundred and
twenty slaves stowed in the _barracoon_, and march them to a
neighboring wood, where they would be secure under a guard. In my
haste to rescue the slaves I forgot to warn my body-servant of his
peril from the powder. The faithful boy made several trips to the
dwelling to save my personal effects, and after removing every thing
he had strength to carry, returned to unchain the bloodhound that
always slept beside my couch in Africa. But the dog was as ignorant of
his danger as the youth. _He knew no friend but myself_, and tearing
the hand that was exposed to save him, he forced his rescuer to fly.
And well was it he did so. Within a minute, a tremendous blast shook
the earth, _and the prediction of the Matacan wizard was
accomplished_! Not even the red coals of my dwelling smouldered on the
earth. Every thing was swept as by the breath of a whirlwind. My
terrified boy, bleeding at nose and ears, was rescued from the ruins
of a shallow well in which he fortunately fell. The bamboo sheds,
barracoons, and hovels,--the _adobe_ dwelling and the comfortable
garden--could all spring up again in a short time, as if by
enchantment,--but my rich stuffs, my cottons, my provisions, my arms,
my ammunition, my capital, were dust.

In a few hours, friends crowded round me, according to African custom,
with proffered services to rebuild my establishment; but the heaviest
loss I experienced was that of the rice designed for the voyage, which
I could not replace in consequence of the destruction of my
merchandise. In my difficulty, I was finally obliged to swap some of
my two hundred and twenty negroes for the desired commodity, which
enabled me to despatch the Feliz, though I was, of course, obliged to
abandon the voyage in her.

My mind was greatly exercised for some time in endeavors to discover
the origin of this conflagration. The blaze was first observed at the
top of one of the gable ends, which satisfied Ali-Ninpha as well as
myself that it was the work of a malicious incendiary. We adopted a
variety of methods to trace or trap the scoundrel, but our efforts
were fruitless, until a strange negro exhibited one of my
double-barrelled guns for sale at a neighboring village, whose chief
happened to recognize it. When the seller was questioned about his
possession of the weapon, he alleged that it was purchased from inland
negroes in a distant town. His replies were so unsatisfactory to the
inquisitive chief, that he arrested the suspected felon and sent him
to Kambia.

I had but little remorse in adopting any means in my power to extort a
confession from the negro, who very soon admitted that my gun was
stolen by a runner from the wizard of Matacan, who was still hanging
about the outskirts of our settlement. I offered a liberal reward and
handsome bribes to get possession of the necromancer himself, but such
was the superstitious awe surrounding his haunt, that no one dared
venture to seize him in his sanctuary, or seduce him within reach of
my revenge. This, however, was not the case in regard to his emissary.
I was soon in possession of the actual thief, and had little
difficulty in securing his execution on the ruins he had made. Before
we launched him into eternity, I obtained his confession after an
obstinate resistance, and found with considerable pain that a brother
of Ormond, the suicide, was a principal mover in the affair. The last
words of the Mongo had been reported to this fellow as an injunction
of revenge against me, and he very soon learned from personal
experience that Kambia was a serious rival, if not antagonist, to
Bangalang. His African simplicity made him believe that the "red cock"
on my roof-tree would expel me from the river. I was not in a position
to pay him back at the moment, yet I made a vow to give the new Mongo
a free passage in irons to Cuba before many moons. But this, like
other rash promises, I never kept.

Sad as was the wreck of my property, the conflagration was fraught
with a misfortune that affected my heart far more deeply than the loss
of merchandise. Ever since the day of my landing at Ormond's factory,
a gentle form had flitted like a fairy among my fortunes, and always
as the minister of kindness and hope. Skilled in the ways of her
double blood, she was my discreet counsellor in many a peril; and,
tender as a well-bred dame of civilized lands, she was ever disposed
to promote my happiness by disinterested offices. But, when we came
to number the survivors of the ruin, ESTHER was nowhere to be found,
nor could I ever trace, among the scattered fragments, the slightest
relic of the Pariah's form!

       *       *       *       *       *

Of course, I had very little beside my domestics to leave in charge of
any one at Kambia, and intrusting them to the care of Ali-Ninpha, I
went in my launch to Sierra Leone, where I purchased a schooner that
had been condemned by the Mixed Commission.

In 1829, vessels were publicly sold, and, with very little trouble,
equipped for the coast of Africa. The captures in that region were
somewhat like playing a hand,--taking the tricks, reshuffling the same
cards, and dealing again to take more tricks! Accordingly, I fitted
the schooner to receive a cargo of negroes immediately on quitting
port. My crew was made up of men from all nations, captured in prizes;
but I guardedly selected my officers from Spaniards exclusively.

We were slowly wafting along the sea, a day or two out of the British
colony, when the mate fell into chat with a clever lad, who was
hanging lazily over the helm. They spoke of voyages and mishaps, and
this led the sailor to declare his recent escape from a vessel, then
in the Rio Nunez, whose mate had poisoned the commander to get
possession of the craft. She had been fitted, he said, at St. Thomas
with the feigned design of coasting; but, when she sailed for Africa,
her register was sent back to the island in a boat to serve some other
vessel, while she ventured to the continent _without_ papers.

I have cause to believe that the slave-trade was rarely conducted upon
the honorable principles between man and man, which, of course, are
the only security betwixt owners, commanders and consignees whose
commerce is exclusively contraband. There were men, it is true,
engaged in it, with whom the "point of honor" was more omnipotent than
the dread of law in regular trade. But innumerable cases have occurred
in which the spendthrifts who appropriated their owners' property on
the coast of Africa, availed themselves of such superior force as
they happened to control, in order to escape detection, or assure a
favorable reception in the West Indies. In fact, the slaver sometimes
ripened into something very like a pirate!

In 1828 and 1829, severe engagements took place between Spanish
slavers and this class of contrabandists. Spaniards would assail
Portuguese when the occasion was tempting and propitious. Many a
vessel has been fitted in Cuba for these adventures, and returned to
port with a living cargo, purchased by cannon-balls and boarding-pikes
exclusively.

Now, I confess that my notions had become at this epoch somewhat
relaxed by my traffic on the coast, so that I grew to be no better
than folks of my cloth. I was fond of excitement; my craft was sadly
in want of a cargo; and, as the mate narrated the helmsman's story,
the Quixotic idea naturally got control of my brain that I was
destined to become the _avenger_ of the poisoned captain. I will not
say that I was altogether stimulated by the noble spirit of justice;
for it is quite possible I would never have thought of the dead man
had not the sailor apprised us that his vessel was half full of
negroes!

As we drifted slowly by the mouth of my old river, I slipped over the
bar, and, while I fitted the schooner with a splendid nine-pounder
amidships, I despatched a spy to the Rio Nunez to report the facts
about the poisoning, as well as the armament of the unregistered
slaver. In ten days the runner verified the tale. She was still in the
stream, with one hundred and eighty-five human beings in her hold, but
would soon be off with an entire cargo of two hundred and twenty-five.

The time was extraordinarily propitious. Every thing favored my
enterprise. The number of slaves would exactly fit my schooner. Such a
windfall could not be neglected; and, on the fourth day, I was
entering the Rio Nunez under the Portuguese flag, which I unfurled by
virtue of a pass from Sierra Leone to the Cape de Verd Islands.

I cannot tell whether my spy had been faithless, but when I reached
Furcaria, I perceived that my game had taken wing from her anchorage.
Here was a sad disappointment. The schooner drew too much water to
allow a further ascent, and, moreover, I was unacquainted with the
river.

As it was important that I should keep aloof from strangers, I
anchored in a quiet spot, and seizing the first canoe that passed,
learned, for a small reward, that the object of my search was hidden
in a bend of the river at the king's town of Kakundy, which I could
not reach without the pilotage of a certain mulatto, who was alone fit
for the enterprise.

I knew this half-breed as soon as his person was described, but I had
little hope of securing his services, either by fair means or promised
recompense. He owed me five slaves for dealings that took place
between us at Kambia, and had always refused so strenuously to pay,
that I felt sure he would be off to the woods as soon as he knew my
presence on the river. Accordingly, I kept my canoemen on the schooner
by an abundant supply of "bitters," and at midnight landed half a
dozen, who proceeded to the mulatto's cabin, where he was seized _sans
ceremonie_. The terror of this ruffian was indescribable when he found
himself in my presence,--a captive, as he supposed, for the debt of
flesh. But I soon relieved him, and offered a liberal reward for his
prompt, secret and safe pilotage, to Kakundy. The mulatto was willing,
but the stream was too shallow for my keel. He argued the point so
convincingly, that in half an hour, I relinquished the attempt, and
resolved to make "Mahomet come to the mountain."

The two boats were quickly manned, armed, and supplied with lanterns;
and, with muffled oars, guided by our pilot,--whose skull was kept
constantly under the lee of my pistols--we fell like vampyres on our
prey in the darkness.

With a wild hurrah and a blaze of our pistols in the air, we leaped on
board, driving every soul under hatches without striking a blow!
Sentries were placed at the cabin door, forecastle and hatchway. The
cable was slipped, my launch took her in tow, the pilot and myself
took charge of the helm, and, before daylight, the prize was alongside
my schooner, transhipping one hundred and ninety-seven of her slaves,
with their necessary supplies.

Great was the surprise of the captured crew when they saw their fate;
and great was the agony of the poisoner, when he returned next morning
to the vacant anchorage, after a night of debauch with the king of
Kakundy. First of all, he imagined we were regular cruisers, and that
the captain's death was about to be avenged. But when it was
discovered that they had fallen into the grasp of _friendly slavers_,
five of his seamen abandoned their craft and shipped with me.

We had capital stomachs for breakfast after the night's romance.
Hardly was it swallowed, however, when three canoes came blustering
down the stream, filled with negroes and headed by his majesty. I did
not wait for a salutation, but, giving the warriors a dose of
bellicose grape, tripped my anchor, sheeted home my sails, and was off
like an albatross!

The feat was cleverly achieved; but, since then, I have very often
been taxed by my conscience with doubts as to its strict morality! The
African slave-trade produces singular notions of _meum and tuum_ in
the minds and hearts of those who dwell for any length of time on that
blighting coast; and it is not unlikely that I was quite as prone to
the infection as better men, who perished under the malady, while I
escaped!




CHAPTER XXXV.


It was a sweltering July, and the "rainy season" proved its tremendous
power by almost incessant deluges. In the breathless calms that held
me spell-bound on the coast, the rain came down in such torrents that
I often thought the solid water would bury and submerge our schooner.
Now and then, a south-wester and the current would fan and drift us
along; yet the tenth day found us rolling from side to side in the
longitude of the Cape de Verds.

Day broke with one of its customary squalls and showers. As the cloud
lifted, my look-out from the cross-trees announced a sail under our
lee. It was invisible from deck, in the folds of the retreatingmain,
but, in the dead calm that followed, the distant whistle of a
boatswain was distinctly audible. Before I could deliberate all my
doubts were solved by a shot in our mainsail, and the crack of a
cannon. There could be no question that the unwelcome visitor was a
man-of-war.

It was fortunate that the breeze sprang up after the lull, and enabled
us to carry every thing that could be crowded on our spars. We dashed
away before the freshening wind, like a deer with the unleashed hounds
pursuing. The slaves were shifted from side to side--forward or
aft--to aid our sailing. Head-stays were slackened, wedges knocked off
the masts, and every incumbrance cast from the decks into the sea.
Now and then, a fruitless shot from his bow-chasers, reminded the
fugitive that the foe was still on his scent. At last, the cruiser got
the range of his guns so perfectly, that a well-aimed ball ripped away
our rail and tore a dangerous splinter from the foremast, three feet
from deck. It was now perilous to carry a press of sail on the same
tack with the weakened spar, whereupon I put the schooner about, and,
to my delight, found we ranged ahead a knot faster on this course than
the former. The enemy "went about" as quickly as we did, but her balls
soon fell short of us, and, before noon, we had crawled so nimbly to
windward, that her top-gallants alone were visible above the horizon.

       *       *       *       *       *

Our voyage was uncheckered by any occurrence worthy of recollection,
save the accidental loss of the mate in a dark and stormy night, until
we approached the Antilles. Here, where every thing on a slaver
assumes the guise of pleasure and relief, I remarked not only the
sullenness of my crew, but a disposition to disobey or neglect. The
second mate,--shipped in the Rio Nunez, and who replaced my lost
officer,--was noticed occasionally in close intercourse with the
watch, while his deportment indicated dissatisfaction, if not mutiny.

A slaver's life on shore, as well as at sea, makes him wary when
another would not be circumspect, or even apprehensive. The sight of
land is commonly the signal for merriment, for a well-behaved cargo is
invariably released from shackles, and allowed free intercourse
between the sexes during daytime on deck. Water tanks are thrown open
for unrestricted use. "The cat" is cast into the sea. Strict
discipline is relaxed. The day of danger or revolt is considered over,
and the captain enjoys a new and refreshing life till the hour of
landing. Sailors, with proverbial generosity, share their biscuits and
clothing with the blacks. The women, who are generally without
garments, appear in costume from the wardrobes of tars, petty
officers, mates, and even captains. Sheets, table-cloths, and spare
sails, are torn to pieces for raiment, while shoes, boots, caps,
oilcloths, and monkey-jackets, contribute to the gay masquerade of the
"emigrants."

It was my sincere hope that the first glimpse of the Antilles would
have converted my schooner into a theatre for such a display; but the
moodiness of my companions was so manifest, that I thought it best to
meet rebellion half way, by breaking the suspected officer, and
sending him forward, at the same time that I threw his "dog-house"
overboard.[4]

I was now without a reliable officer, and was obliged to call two of
the youngest sailors to my assistance in navigating the schooner. I
knew the cook and steward--both of whom messed aft--to be trustworthy;
so that, with four men at my back, and the blacks below, I felt
competent to control my vessel. From that moment, I suffered no one to
approach the quarter-deck nearer than the mainmast.

It was a sweet afternoon when we were floating along the shores of
Porto Rico, tracking our course upon the chart. Suddenly, one of my
new assistants approached, with the sociability common among
Spaniards, and, in a quiet tone, asked whether I would take a
_cigarillo_. As I never smoked, I rejected the offer with thanks, when
the youth immediately dropped the twisted paper on my map. In an
instant, I perceived the _ruse_, and discovered that the _cigarillo_
was, in fact, a _billet_ rolled to resemble one. I put it in my mouth,
and walked aft until I could throw myself on the deck, with my head
over the stern, so as to open the paper unseen. It disclosed the
organization of a mutiny, under the lead of the broken mate. Our
arrival in sight of St. Domingo was to be the signal of its rupture,
and for my immediate landing on the island. Six of the crew were
implicated with the villain, and the boatswain, who was ill in the
slave-hospital, was to share my fate.

My resolution was promptly made. In a few minutes, I had cast a hasty
glance into the arm-chest, and seen that our weapons were in order.
Then, mustering ten of the stoutest and cleverest of my negroes on the
quarter-deck, I took the liberty to invent a little strategic fib, and
told them, in the Soosoo dialect, that there were bad men on board,
who wanted to run the schooner ashore among rocks and drown the slaves
while below. At the same time, I gave each a cutlass from the
arm-chest, and supplying my trusty whites with a couple of pistols and
a knife apiece, without saying a word, I seized the ringleader and his
colleagues! Irons and double-irons secured the party to the mainmast
or deck, while a drum-head court-martial, composed of the officers,
and presided over by myself, arraigned and tried the scoundrels in
much less time than regular boards ordinarily spend in such
investigations. During the inquiry, we ascertained beyond doubt that
the death of the mate was due to false play. He had been wilfully
murdered, as a preliminary to the assault on me, for his colossal
stature and powerful muscles would have made him a dangerous adversary
in the seizure of the craft.

There was, perhaps, a touch of the old-fashioned Inquisition in the
mode of our judicial researches concerning this projected mutiny. We
proceeded very much by way of "confession," and, whenever the culprit
manifested reluctance or hesitation, his memory was stimulated by a
"cat." Accordingly, at the end of the trial, the mutineers were
already pretty well punished; so that we sentenced the six accomplices
to receive an additional flagellation, and continue ironed till we
reached Cuba. But the fate of the ringleader was not decided so
easily. Some were in favor of dropping him overboard, as he had done
with the mate