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Title: Stories of adventure, as told by adventurers
Author: Edward Everett Hale
Release date: August 12, 2026 [eBook #79345]
Language: English
Original publication: Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1881
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79345
Credits: Susan E., David E. Brown, Mary Fahnestock-Thomas, Ed Leckert, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES OF ADVENTURE, AS TOLD BY ADVENTURERS ***
[Illustration: THE GREAT CHAN OF CATHAY AT TABLE]
Stories of Adventure
_As told by Adventurers_
By
Edward E. Hale
_New edition, revised, with illustrations_
Boston
Little, Brown, and Company
1905
_Copyright, 1881_,
BY ROBERTS BROTHERS.
_Copyright, 1904_,
BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
PREFACE.
This volume, like the four others in the same series, was suggested at
the Librarians’ Congress in Boston. It has been prepared in the wish to
teach boys and girls how to use themselves the treasures, now at their
hands, in public libraries. The public spirit, the munificence often,
with which these libraries have been sustained ought to be loyally
followed up by the friends of young people by careful effort to give
them good habits in finding and enjoying the books they contain. It is
not reasonable to throw on the librarians the work of introducing these
books to young readers; but it is the duty of all those who are in any
way charged with the interests of education to show to such readers how
they can choose for themselves.
It will be seen, therefore, that my object is not to rewrite the tales
of adventure, here referred to, nor is it my wish to present them in
such form as to satisfy the reader. Rather I have hoped that he may not
be satisfied. I should be glad, as Sam Weller was, to make him wish for
more, trusting that then, like Oliver Twist, he may go and ask for more.
EDWARD E. HALE.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
I. MARCO POLO 7
II. SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE AND THE CRUSADES 31
III. BERTRANDON IN PALESTINE 45
IV. GEOFFREY OF VINSAUF 69
V. HERNANDO CORTES’S LETTERS 101
VI. FRA MARCO AND CORONADO 127
VII. THE JESUIT RELATIONS 141
VIII. NORTHERN DISCOVERIES 157
IX. HUMBOLDT’S TRAVELS 184
X. A YOUNG MAN’S VOYAGE 220
XI. THE NORTHWEST 253
XII. SIBERIA AND KAMCHATKA 275
INDEX 311
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
The Great Chan of Cathay at Table _Frontispiece_
Galley Going Into Action 13
Marco Polo 18
Plain of Cambaluc 26
Damascus 50
Ruins of the Temples at Balbeck 66
King Henry II of England 72
Richard Cœur-de-Lion 89
Hernando Cortes 101
Cannon of Cortes’s Time 104
The Great Temple of Mexico 109
Montezuma 116
An Indian Pueblo 128
Moqui Woman Grinding Corn 139
Hearne’s Drawing of Prince of Wales Fort, Hudson’s Bay 162
Baron Humboldt 198
STORIES OF ADVENTURE.
I.
MARCO POLO.
[Sidenote: 1880.]
A very bright and merry set of boys and girls have been invited, now
for every winter for some years, to spend their Saturday afternoons
with Col. Ingham, at his house at Jamaica Plain, near Boston. It is the
old Lady Oliver house, which was built by some West Indian grandees
before the Revolution,--from whose windows, indeed, they looked out
to smile approval on the English troops, when, in the spring of 1775,
they made their one “military promenade” out through Roxbury, and back
through Dorchester into Boston,--the only time they ever went out to
come safely back again.
The evenings of these young people at this house are generally spent
in dancing or in round games around Col. Ingham’s large tables; but a
habit has grown up, in which, if they choose, they may come as early as
half-past three o’clock, and ask Col. Ingham questions about what they
are reading, and burrow as much as they choose in the treasures of his
curious library. The “Stories of the Sea,” which has its place in this
collection, were read aloud by these young people in successive visits
of one winter,--much as they had dug out the “Stories of War,” in a
visit they made to the colonel at Little Crastis, on the Rhode Island
sea-shore, the summer before.
After a summer and autumn crowded full with hair-breadth
adventure,--stories of sea, indeed, and stories of land, though
fortunately no worse stories of war than Blanche’s encounter with a
deaf conductor, and Bedford’s somewhat doubtful encounters with quails
and partridges at Quonochontaug,--the children gathered one dark
afternoon at Col. Ingham’s, with loud mutual felicitations, and with a
cordial welcome from him. It was raining pitilessly out of doors; but
rubber boots and gossamers had emancipated these girls, and the boys,
of course, had to be out always, “weather or no.”
“No Blue Hills to-day,” said Uncle Fritz, laughing, as Blanche and May
rubbed their little hands in front of his hickory fire.
“No,” said Blanche, “the famous Alpine Club itself surrenders to this
storm. And my sketch, Uncle Fritz,--what you called my grand study for
a panorama,--will have to be finished with spring apple-blossoms on the
right hand, to patch out the sombre chestnuts and oaks I had worked in
so elaborately on the left hand; for we shall certainly have no more
alpine clubs this fall.”
The young people are fond of calling themselves the Alpine Club when
they go to the Quarries or the Blue Hills or Nahant or the Brewsters
or the Middlesex Fells or the Waverley Oaks or any of the other nice
places within an easy excursion from Boston.
“Unless, indeed,” said Col. Ingham, “unless we get a sleigh-ride
some afternoon, and I send you up to the top of the Blue Hills on
snow-shoes. I did not know how many of you might be here. I am not
jealous of Mr. Hale; but when I found you were all studying politics
over at his house, I thought there might be no time for story-telling.
Have you prepared your protocol for Russia, Blanche?”
Blanche laughed. She said the more they read of one thing, the more
they wanted to read of another; and that, for her part, she found no
one of Uncle Fritz’s rules so easy as that which bids her
CONFESS IGNORANCE.
Uncle Fritz’s rules for talk are:--
TELL THE TRUTH.
DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR OWN AFFAIRS.
CONFESS IGNORANCE.
TALK TO THE PERSON WHO TALKS TO YOU.
DO NOT UNDERRATE HIM.
BE SHORT.[1]
All the boys and girls agreed with Blanche, as, indeed, they are apt
to, for Blanche is as pleasant as she is sensible; and here are two
qualities which do not always travel together.
By this time almost all the “Alpine Club” had come. The waterproofs
were hung to drip and dry in the back hall, under Flora Haggerty’s
care; and in a great semicircle the young people sat round the hickory
fire. It was something about the “Stories of the Sea,” which had just
been published by Little & Brown, which started them on travels;
and how they would like to go to Tahiti and New Zealand and all the
wonderful places!
Uncle Fritz told them of some college friends of his, who had planned
landing in Arabia from Zanzibar, and then assuming Arab costumes,
talking such Arabic as they could, and gradually making their way
through Asia till they came out at Canton, on the eastern shore. They
failed in this great plan only from the merest accident at the start.
“We know, to this hour, curiously little of Central Asia,” he said.
“There are regions of which Marco Polo’s account is the only account we
have to this day; and that is six hundred years old.”
“And it was not true when it was new, was it?” asked Horace, laughing.
Uncle Fritz said that that was an old scandal. He said that Mandeville
and Marco Polo had long been called the princes of liars, while people
did not follow their example of travel; but in our times, their
reputations are waking up to light again. In Marco Polo’s case, he
wrote almost wholly from memory,--from the mere fact that he wrote long
after his return from the East; but later authorities have verified so
much of his narrative that it is but fair to believe him when nothing
can be proved against him.
Bertha confessed that she mixed him up very badly with Marco Paul, who
travelled in Mr. Abbott’s books.
They all laughed, because they knew what Bertha meant. “That was one
of Jacob Abbott’s quiet jokes. His books are wellnigh perfect in
everything, and in nothing more perfect than in the choice of names. So
he makes Marco Paul a traveller, on purpose that we may all remember
the prince of the travellers of the Middle Ages.”
Then Col. Ingham sent for the third volume of Irving’s “Columbus,” and
for Col. Yule’s careful edition of “Marco Polo,”--a fascinating book,
which should be in every public library. He told Bedford to go to the
bookcase which had Columbus’s bust on top, and look till he found them.
That is the case with the travels and geographies in it. Bedford knows
it as well as he knows the bookshelves he has at home, which he made on
his own work-bench in the laundry. Col. Ingham told Bedford he would
find an account of Marco Polo in the Appendix; and Bedford found it,
and read aloud:--
IRVING’S ACCOUNT OF MARCO POLO.
[Sidenote: 1260.]
Marco Polo was a native of Venice, who in the thirteenth century made
a journey to the East, and filled all Christendom with curiosity
by his account of the countries he had visited. He was preceded in
his travels by his father Nicholas, and his uncle, Matteo Polo.
These two brothers were of an illustrious family in Venice, and
embarked, in the year 1260,[2] on a commercial voyage to the East.
Having traversed the Mediterranean and the strait of Bosphorus,
they stopped for a short time at Constantinople. From hence they
proceeded by the Euxine to Armenia, where they remained for a year,
entertained with great favor at the court of a Tartar prince. A war
breaking out between their patron and a neighboring potentate, and
the former being defeated, they were embarrassed how to extricate
themselves from the country, and return home in safety. After
various wanderings, they at length reached Bochara, in the Gulf
of Persia, where they resided for three years. While here, there
arrived an ambassador from one of the inferior Tartar powers, on his
way to the court of the Great Khan. Finding that the two brothers
were well acquainted with the Tartar tongue, he prevailed upon them
to accompany him. After a march of several months, being delayed by
snows and inundations, they arrived at the court of Cublai, otherwise
called the Great Khan, which signifies king of kings, being the
sovereign potentate of the Tartars. This magnificent prince received
them with great distinction. He made inquiries about the countries
and princes of the West, their civil and military government, and the
manners and customs of the Latin nations.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1271-95.]
After one return to the Levant they took a second journey, and this
time took Marco Polo with them. He was gone twenty-four years. On
their return, when they arrived at Venice, they were known by nobody.
So many years had elapsed since their departure, without any tidings
of them, that they were either forgotten or considered dead.
They repaired to their own house, which was a noble palace,
afterwards known by the name of la Corte de la Milione. They found
several of their relatives still inhabiting it; but they were slow
in recollecting the travellers, not knowing of their wealth, and
probably considering them poor adventurers, returned to be a charge
upon their families. The Polos, however, took an effectual mode of
quickening the memories of their friends, and ensuring themselves
a loving reception. They invited them all to a grand banquet. The
guests were lost in astonishment, and could not comprehend
the meaning of this masquerade, when, having dismissed all the
attendants, Marco Polo brought forth the coarse Tartar dresses in
which they had arrived. Slashing them in several places with a knife,
and ripping open the seams and linings, there tumbled forth a vast
quantity of precious jewels, such as rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and
diamonds. The whole table glittered with inestimable wealth, which
they had acquired from the munificence of the Grand Khan, and which
they had conveyed in this portable form through the perils of their
long journey.
[Illustration: GALLEY GOING INTO ACTION]
The company, observes Ramusio, were out of their wits with amazement,
and now clearly perceived what they had at first doubted, that these
in very truth were those honored and valiant gentlemen, the Polos,
and accordingly paid them great respect and reverence.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1295-98.]
Some months after their return, Lampo Doria, commander of the Genoese
navy, appeared in the vicinity of the island of Cuzzola, with seventy
galleys. Andrea Dandolo, the Venetian admiral, was sent against him.
Marco Polo commanded a galley of the fleet. His usual good fortune
deserted him. Advancing the first in the line with his galley, and
not being properly seconded, he was taken prisoner, and thrown in
irons, and carried to Genoa. Here he was detained for a long time
in prison, and all offers of ransom rejected. His imprisonment gave
great uneasiness to his father and uncle, fearing that he might
never return. Seeing themselves in this unhappy state, with so much
treasure, and no heirs, they consulted together. They were both very
old men; but Nicolo, observes Ramusio, was of a galliard complexion.
It was determined he should take a wife, and he did so.
In the meanwhile, the fame of Marco Polo’s travels had circulated in
Genoa. His prison was daily crowded with the nobility, and he was
supplied with everything that could cheer him in his confinement. A
Genoese gentleman, who visited him every day, at length prevailed
on him to write an account of what he had seen. He had his papers
and journals sent to him from Venice, and with the assistance of his
friend produced the book which afterwards made such noise throughout
the world.
“So, you see,” said Uncle Fritz, “that the poor rich man wrote in
prison, far away from home, and with such journals and notes as had
escaped wars, shipwrecks, and travel.”
Bedford and two of the girls seized on one volume of Col. Yule’s
book,--which is a good edition of “Marco Polo,”--and Laura and two of
the boys seized on another. There are very amusing and instructive
pictures; and the young people were delighted as they turned from
chapter to chapter. Meanwhile, Uncle Fritz was questioning the others
about their summer travels; and all the talk was running on adventure.
“This is a very good day for ‘Marco Polo,’” said he; “for what with
Oregon, and Colorado Springs, and the Saguenay River, you have
travelled about as far this summer as the Venetian gentlemen did in all
those years. Bedford, have you found nothing you can read to us?”
And, after a minute’s conference, Bedford selected and read--
HOW THE EMPEROR SENT MARK ON AN EMBASSY.
[Sidenote: 1298.]
Now it came to pass that Marco, the son of Messer Nicolo, sped
wondrously in learning the customs of the Tartars as well as their
language, their manner of writing, and their practice of war,--in
fact, he came in brief space to know several languages, and four
sundry written characters; and he was discreet and prudent in every
way, insomuch that the emperor held him in great esteem. And so, when
he discerned Mark to have so much sense, and to conduct himself so
well and beseemingly, he sent him on an ambassage of his to a country
which was a good six months’ journey distant. The young gallant
executed his commission well, and with discretion. Now, he had
taken note on several occasions that, when the prince’s ambassadors
returned from different parts of the world, they were able to tell
him about nothing except the business on which they had gone; and the
prince, in consequence, held them for no better than fools and dolts,
and would say, “I had far liever hearken about the strange things
and the manners of the different countries you have seen than merely
be told of the business you went upon,”--for he took great delight
in hearing of the affairs of strange countries. Mark, therefore, as
he went and returned, took great pains to learn about all kinds of
different matters in the countries which he visited, in order to be
able to tell about them to the Great Kaan.
When Mark returned from his ambassage, he presented himself before
the emperor; and, after making his report of the business with which
he was charged, and its successful accomplishment, he went on to
give an account, in a pleasant and intelligent manner, of all the
novelties and strange things that he had seen and heard, insomuch
that the emperor and all such as heard his story were surprised,
and said, “If this young man live, he will assuredly come to be a
person of great worth and ability.” And so, from that time forward,
he was always entitled MESSER MARCO POLO; and thus we shall style him
henceforth in this book of ours, as is but right.
Then Bedford turned over to a place where Mary Long had put in a mark,
and read--
OF THE GREAT COUNTRY OF PERSIA, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE THREE KINGS.
[Sidenote: 1271-95.]
Persia is a great country, which was in old times very illustrious
and powerful; but now the Tartars have wasted and destroyed it. In
Persia is the city of Saba, from which the three magi set out, when
they went to worship Jesus Christ; and in this city they are buried,
in three very large and beautiful monuments, side by side. And above
them there is a square building carefully kept. The bodies are still
entire, with the hair and beard remaining. One of these was called
Jasper, the second Melchoir, and the third Balthasar. Messer Marco
Polo asked a great many questions of the people of that city as to
those three magi; but never one could he find that knew aught of the
matter, except that these were three kings, who were buried there
in days of old. However, at a place three days’ journey distant,
he heard of what I am going to tell you. He found a village there
which goes by the name of Cala Ataperistan, which is as much as to
say, “The Castle of the Fire-worshippers”; and the name is rightly
applied, for the people there do worship fire, and I will tell you
why. They relate that, in old times, three kings of that country went
away to worship a prophet that was born; and they carried with them
three manner of offerings,--gold and frankincense and myrrh,--in
order to ascertain whether that prophet were God or an earthly king
or a physician. “For,” said they, “if he take the gold, then he is
an earthly king; if he take the incense, he is God; if he take the
myrrh, he is a physician.” So it came to pass, when they had come to
the place where the Child was born, the youngest of the three kings
went in first, and found the Child apparently just of his own age; so
he went forth again, marvelling greatly. The middle one entered next,
and, like the first, he found the Child seemingly of his own age; so
he also went forth again, and marvelled greatly. Lastly, the eldest
went in, and as it had befallen the other two, so it befel him; and
he went forth very pensive.
And when the three had rejoined one another, each told what he had
seen; and then they all marvelled the more. So they all agreed to go
in all three together; and on doing so, they beheld the Child with
the appearance of its actual age,--to wit, some thirteen days. Then
they adored, and presented their gold and incense and myrrh; and the
Child took all the three offerings, and then gave them a small closed
box: whereupon the kings departed to return into their own land.
And when they had ridden many days they said they would see what the
Child had given them. So they opened the little box; and inside it
they found a stone. On seeing this they began to wonder what this
might be that the Child had given them, and what was the import
thereof. Now the signification was this: when they presented their
offerings, the Child accepted all three; and when they saw that, they
had said within themselves that he was the True God, and the True
King, and the True Physician. And what the gift of the stone implied
was that this Faith which had begun in them should abide firm as a
rock. For he well knew what was in their thoughts. Howbeit they had
no understanding at all of this signification of the gift of the
stone, so they cast it into a well. Then straightway a fire from
heaven descended into that well wherein the stone had been cast. And
when the Three Kings beheld this marvel they were sore amazed, and
it greatly repented them that they had cast away the stone; for well
they then perceived that it had a great and holy meaning. So they
took of that fire, and carried it into their own country, and placed
it in a rich and beautiful church. And there the people keep it
continually burning, and worship it as a god; and all the sacrifices
they offer are kindled with that fire. And if ever the fire becomes
extinct they go to other cities round about, where the same faith is
held, and obtain of that fire from them, and carry it to the church.
And this is the reason why the people of this country worship fire.
They will often go ten days’ journey to get of that fire.
The children were highly edified by finding this echo of the story
of the wise men of the Bible, brought from the East, and asked Uncle
Fritz if they might believe it, ever so little. He told them that, till
Mahomet’s time, all these countries were more or less under the rule
of Christian faith, though it were but limp faith, and stupid. It
was quite possible that Messer Marco Polo might have found some legends
there which he repeated here.
[Illustration: MARCO POLO]
“But I think,” said Uncle Fritz, “that if you are going to dip, before
reading, you had better begin on Cublay Khan himself.”
“Cublay Khan!” cried Fergus. “Are we to hear about Cublay Khan?”
“Why, what do you know about Cublay Khan?” cried Mary Long.
“Do you not remember,--‘Mustapha, Rubadub, Cublay Khan’?”
“I do not think you say it right. But hush! Horace is going to begin.”
So Horace began:--
HOW NAYAN WAS BEATEN.
[Sidenote: 1286.]
Now am I come to that part of our book in which I shall tell you of
the great and wonderful magnificence of the Great Kaan now reigning,
by name CUBLAY KAAN,--_Kaan_ being a title which signifieth “the
Great Lord of Lords,” or Emperor. And of a surety he hath good right
to such a title; for all men know for a certain truth that he is
the most potent man, as regards forces and lands and treasure, that
existeth in the world, or ever hath existed, from the time of our
First Father, Adam, until this day.
“That was probably true,” interrupted Col. Ingham.
All this I will make clear to you for truth, in this book of ours, so
that every one shall be fain to acknowledge that he is the greatest
lord that is now in the world, or ever hath been. And now, ye shall
hear how and wherefore.
* * * * *
There was a great Tartar chief, whose name was Nayan, a young man of
thirty, lord over many lands and many provinces; and he was uncle
to the Emperor Cublay Kaan, of whom we are speaking. And when he
found himself in authority, this Nayan waxed proud in the insolence
of his youth and his great power; for indeed he could bring into
the field three hundred thousand horsemen, though all the time he
was liegeman to his nephew, the Great Kaan Cublay, as was right and
reason. Seeing, then, what great power he had, he took it into his
head that he would be the Great Kaan’s vassal no longer: nay, more,
he would fain wrest his empire from him, if he could. So this Nayan
sent envoys to another Tartar prince, called Caidu, also a great and
potent lord, who was a kinsman of his, and who was a nephew of the
Great Kaan, and his lawful liegeman also, though he was in rebellion,
and at bitter enmity with his sovereign lord and uncle. Now, the
message that Nayan sent was this: that he himself was making ready
to march against the Great Kaan with all his forces, which were
great, and he begged Caidu to do likewise from his side, so that by
attacking Cublay on two sides at once with such great forces they
would be able to wrest his dominion from him. And when Caidu heard
the message of Nayan, he was right glad thereat, and thought the time
was come at last to gain his object; so he sent back answer that he
would do as requested, and got ready his host, which mustered a good
hundred thousand horsemen.
Now, let us go back to the Great Kaan, who had news of all this plot.
When the Great Kaan heard what was afoot, he made his preparations
in right good heart, like one who feared not the issue of an attempt
so contrary to justice. Confident in his own conduct and prowess, he
was in no degree disturbed, but vowed that he would never wear crown
again if he brought not those two traitorous and disloyal Tartar
chiefs to an ill end. So swiftly and secretly were his preparations
made that no one knew of them but his privy council, and all were
completed within ten or twelve days. In that time he had assembled
good three hundred and sixty thousand horsemen and one hundred
thousand footmen,--but a small force, indeed, for him, and consisting
only of those that were in the vicinity; for the rest of his vast and
innumerable forces were too far off to answer so hasty a summons,
being engaged under orders from him on distant expeditions to conquer
divers countries and provinces. If he had waited to summon all his
troops, the multitude assembled would have been beyond all belief; a
multitude such as never was heard of, or told of, past all counting!
In fact, those three hundred and sixty thousand horsemen that he got
together consisted merely of the falconers and whippers-in that were
about the court! And when he got ready this handful, as it were, of
his troops, he ordered his astrologers to declare whether he should
gain the battle, and get the better of his enemies. After they had
made their observations they told him to go on boldly, for he would
conquer and gain a glorious victory; whereat he greatly rejoiced.
So he marched with his army; and after advancing for twenty days
they arrived at a great plain, where Nayan lay with all his host,
amounting to some four hundred thousand horse. Now, the Great Kaan’s
forces arrived so fast and so suddenly that the others knew nothing
of the matter; for the Kaan had caused such strict watch to be made
in every direction for scouts that every one that appeared was
instantly captured. Thus Nayan had no warning of his coming, and was
completely taken by surprise, insomuch that, when the Great Kaan’s
army came up, he was asleep; so thus you see why it was that the
emperor equipped his force with such speed and secrecy. Of the battle
which the Great Kaan fought with Nayan, what shall I say about it?
When day had well broken, there was the Kaan, with all his host, upon
a hill overlooking the plain where Nayan lay in his tent, in all
security, without the slightest thought of any one coming thither to
do him hurt. In fact, this confidence of his was such that he kept
no videttes, whether in front or in rear; for he knew nothing of the
coming of the Great Kaan, owing to all the approaches having been
completely occupied, as I told you. Moreover, the place was in a
remote wilderness, more than thirty marches from the court,--though
the Kaan had made the distance in twenty, so eager was he to come to
battle with Nayan. And what shall I tell you next? The Kaan was there
on the hill, mounted on a great wooden bartizan, which was borne by
four well-trained elephants; and over him was hoisted his standard,
so high aloft that it could be seen from all sides. His troops were
ordered in battles of thirty thousand men apiece, and a great part of
the horsemen had each a foot-soldier, armed with a lance, set on the
crupper behind him (for it was thus that the footmen were disposed
of); and the whole plain seemed to be covered with his forces.
So it was thus that the Great Kaan’s army was arrayed for battle.
When Nayan and his people saw what had happened, they were sorely
confounded, and rushed in haste to arms. Nevertheless, they made them
ready in good style, and formed their troops in an orderly manner.
And when all were in battle array on both sides, as I have told you,
and nothing remained but to fall to blows, then might you have heard
a sound arise of many instruments of various music, and of the voices
of the whole of the two hosts loudly singing.
For this is a custom of the Tartars, that before they join battle
they all unite in singing and playing on a certain two-stringed
instrument of theirs, a thing right pleasant to hear, and so they
continue in their array of battle, singing and playing in this
pleasing manner, until the great Naccara of the prince is heard to
sound. As soon as that begins to sound the fight also begins on both
sides; and in no case before the prince’s Naccara sounds dare any
commence fighting.
So, then, as they were thus singing and playing, though ordered
and ready for battle, the great Naccara of the Great Kaan began to
sound, and that of Nayan also began to sound, and thenceforward
the din of battle began to be heard loudly from this side and from
that, and they rushed to work so doughtily with their bows and their
maces, with their lances and swords, and with the arblests of the
footmen, that it was a wondrous sight to see. Now might you behold
such flights of arrows from this side and from that, that the whole
heaven was canopied with them, and they fell like rain. Now might you
see on this side and on that full many a cavalier and man-at-arms
fall slain, insomuch that the whole field seemed covered with them.
From this side and from that such cries arose from the crowds of the
wounded and dying that had God thundered you would not have heard
Him. For fierce and furious was the battle, and quarter there was
none given; but why should I make a long story of it? You must know
that it was the most parlous and fierce and fearful battle that has
ever been fought in our day. Nor have there ever been such forces
in the field in actual fight, especially of horsemen, as were then
engaged; for, taking both sides, there were not fewer than seven
hundred and sixty thousand horsemen,--a mighty force!--and that
without reckoning the footmen, who were also very numerous. The
battle endured with various fortune on this side and on that from
morning till noon; but at last, by God’s pleasure and the right that
was on his side, the Great Kaan had the victory, and Nayan lost
the battle and was utterly routed. For the army of the Great Kaan
performed such feats of arms that Nayan and his host could stand
against them no longer, so they turned and fled; but this availed
nothing for Nayan, for he and all the barons with him were taken
prisoners and had to surrender to the Kaan with all their arms.
Now you must know that Nayan was a baptized Christian, and bore
the Cross on his banner, but this nought availed him, seeing how
grievously he had done amiss in rebelling against his lord. For he
was the Great Kaan’s liegeman, and was bound to hold his lands of him
like all his ancestors before him.
The scale of this fighting satisfied even Bedford, who is notorious for
his passion for a good fight. Uncle Fritz told them that if they would
look further they would see that military rockets were used in this
battle, or something which resembled rockets more than cannon.
While they were talking, Horace and Fred looked further, and when there
was a lull read--
And after the Great Kaan had conquered Nayan, as you have heard, it
came to pass that the different kinds of people who were present,
Saracens and idolaters and Jews, and many others that believed not in
God, did gibe those that were Christians because of the Cross that
Nayan had borne on his standard, and that so grievously that there
was no bearing it. Thus they would say to the Christians: “See now
what precious help this God’s Cross of yours hath rendered Nayan, who
was a Christian and a worshipper thereof.” And such a din arose about
the matter that it reached the Great Kaan’s own ears. When it did so,
he sharply rebuked those who cast these gibes at the Christians, and
he also bade the Christians be of good heart, “for if the Cross had
rendered no help to Nayan, in that It had done right well, nor could
that which was good, as It was, have done otherwise; for Nayan was
a disloyal and traitorous rebel against his lord, and well deserved
that which had befallen him. Wherefore the Cross of your God did well
in that It gave him no help against the right.” And this he said so
loud that everybody heard him. The Christians then replied to the
Great Kaan: “Great King, you say the truth indeed, for our Cross can
render no one help in wrong-doing, and therefore it was that It aided
not Nayan, who was guilty of crime and disloyalty, for It would take
no part in his evil deeds.” And so thenceforward no more was heard of
the floutings of the unbelievers against the Christians; for they
heard very well what the sovereign said to the latter about the Cross
on Nayan’s banner, and Its giving him no help.
POST HOUSES.
Now you must know that from this city of Cambaluc proceed many roads
and highways leading to a variety of provinces, one to one province,
another to another, and each road receives the name of the province
to which it leads; and it is a very sensible plan, and the messengers
of the emperor in travelling from Cambaluc, be the road whichsoever
they will, find at every twenty-five miles of the journey a station
which they call “Yamb,” or, as we should say, the “Horse-Post-House.”
And at each of those stations used by the messengers there is a large
and handsome building for them to put up at, in which they find all
the rooms furnished with fine beds and all other necessary articles
in rich silk, and where they are provided with everything they can
want. If even a king were to arrive at one of these he would find
himself well lodged.
[Illustration: PLAIN OF CAMBALUC]
At some of these stations, moreover, there shall be posted some four
hundred horses standing ready for the use of the messengers; at
others there shall be two hundred, according to the requirements,
and to what the emperor has established in each case. At every
twenty-five miles, as I said, or anyhow at every thirty miles, you
find one of these stations on all the principal highways leading
to the different provincial governments, and the same is the case
throughout all the chief provinces subject to the Great Kaan; even
when the messengers have to pass through a roadless tract where
neither house nor hostel exists, still there the station-houses have
been established just the same, excepting that the intervals are
somewhat greater, and the day’s journey is fixed at thirty-five to
forty-five miles, instead of twenty-five to thirty. But they are
provided with horses and all the other necessaries just like those we
have described, so that the emperor’s messengers, come they from what
region they may, find everything ready for them.
And in sooth this is a thing done on the greatest scale of
magnificence that ever was seen. Never had emperor, king, or lord
such wealth as this manifests! For it is a fact that on all these
posts taken together there are more than three hundred thousand
horses kept up specially for the use of the messengers. And the great
buildings that I have mentioned are more than ten thousand in number,
all richly furnished as I told you. The thing is on a scale so
wonderful and costly that it is hard to bring one’s self to describe
it.
But now I will tell you another thing that I had forgotten, but which
ought to be told whilst I am on this subject. You must know that by
the Great Kaan’s orders there has been established between those
post-houses, at every interval of three miles, a little fort, with
some forty houses round about it, in which dwell the people who act
as the emperor’s foot-runners. Every one of those runners wears a
great wide belt, set all over with bells, so that as they run the
three miles from post to post their bells are heard jingling a long
way off. And thus on reaching the post the runner finds another man
similarly equipt, and all ready to take his place, who instantly
takes over whatsoever he has in charge, and with it receives a slip
of paper from the clerk, who is always at hand for the purpose; and
so the new man sets off and runs his three miles. At the next station
he finds his relief ready in like manner; and so the post proceeds,
with a change at every three miles. And in this way the emperor, who
has an immense number of these runners, receives despatches with news
from places ten days’ journey off in one day and night; or, if need
be, news from a hundred days off in ten days and nights, and that
is no small matter! In fact, in the fruit season, many a time fruit
shall be gathered one morning in Cambaluc, and the evening of the
next day it shall reach the Great Kaan at Chandu, a distance of ten
days’ journey.
The clerk at each of the posts notes the time of each courier’s
arrival and departure; and there are often other officers, whose
business it is to make monthly visitations of all the posts, and to
punish those runners who have been slack in their work. The emperor
exempts these men from all tribute, and pays them beside.
Moreover, there are also at those stations other men, equipt
similarly with girdles hung with bells, who are employed for
expresses when there is a call for great haste in sending despatches
to any governor of a province, or to give news when any baron has
revolted, or in other such emergencies; and these men travel a good
two hundred or two hundred and fifty miles in the day, and as much in
the night. I’ll tell you how it stands. They take a horse from those
at the station, which are standing ready saddled, all fresh and in
wind, and mount and go at full speed, as hard as they can ride, in
fact. And when those at the next post hear the bells, they get ready
another horse and a man equipt in the same way, and he takes over the
letter or whatever it be, and is off full speed to the third station,
where again a fresh horse is found all ready, and so the despatch
speeds along from post to post, always at full gallop, with regular
change of horses. And the speed at which they go is marvellous. By
night, however, they cannot go so fast as by day, because they have
to be accompanied by footmen with torches, who could not keep up with
them at full speed.
Those men are highly prized; and they could never do it did they not
bind hard the stomach, chest, and head with strong bands. And each of
them carries with him a gerfalcon tablet, in sign that he is bound on
an urgent express; so that if perchance his horse break down, or he
meet with other mishap, whomsoever he may fall in with on the road,
he is empowered to make him dismount and give up his horse. Nobody
dares refuse in such a case; so that the courier hath always a good
fresh nag to carry him.
Now all these numbers of post-horses cost the emperor nothing at all;
and I will tell you the how and the why. Every city, or village, or
hamlet that stands near one of these post-stations has a fixed demand
made on it for as many horses as it can supply, and these it must
furnish to the post. And in this way are provided all the posts of
the cities, as well as the towns and villages round about them; only
in uninhabited tracts the horses are furnished at the expense of the
emperor himself.
How far all this was true, the children were then eager to know. But
Uncle Fritz told them that, as to that, they must look at Col. Yule’s
very interesting notes. And while they clustered around him and Laura,
who had the second volume, all looking at the maps and pictures, Ellen
Mahony came in and said that tea was on the table.
Col. Yule’s edition of Marco Polo was published by Murray, in London,
in 1875. As has been said above, it should be in every public library
which means to provide for intelligent readers.
II.
SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE AND THE CRUSADES.
[Sidenote: 1880.]
Col. Ingham was well pleased, when his boys and girls clustered round
him the next Saturday, to find how many copies of “Marco Polo” they had
found in different libraries, and how much of it they had read, in one
reading-circle and another. They found in it manifold illustrations of
the “Arabian Nights,” which, in its best form,--Lane’s translation,--is
a favorite book in our little circle.
They began to understand what Uncle Fritz had meant, when he said that
Marco Polo seemed accurate when he described what he saw, and that his
exaggerations, or what people called his lies, came in when he was
repeating stories which other people had told.
Esther asked him who Mandeville was, of whom he had said the same thing.
“Mandeville was an Englishman,--Sir John Mandeville,--who went to
Constantinople, Egypt, Palestine, Armenia, and other countries of
Western Asia a little less than two hundred years before Columbus
sailed for America. The exact limits of his absence are said to be the
years 1322 and 1356. It was as dark a time as there was in the Dark
Ages. He was in the military service of one of the Eastern princes,
and had a chance to see travellers from all lands, and to hear their
stories. People told stories in the East then, just as they do now, and
as I sometimes hope they will, one day, do here again.
“For my part, when I am sitting in the rather dingy reading-room of
a third-rate inn, in a fourth-rate town, waiting for my train, which
is not to come till eleven at night, I should be very glad if a good
story-teller would come in and sit down on a mat, and tell me either
the story of Sindbad the Sailor or of Hiawatha and the Arrow-maker, or
of his adventures in the Rebellion. When he passed his hat round, I
should put in my five-cent piece much more willingly than I give it for
the Torra-worra Tell-tale, which only gives me in brief the same news
which I read in the Big Bow-wow the same morning.
“Well, Sir John Mandeville heard these stories told by story-tellers,
just as you may hear them to-day in Cairo or in Damascus. Whether he
wrote them down at once, I do not know; but at some time or other he
wrote them down, and now the whole is mixed up together,--what he saw
himself with what travellers told him and with what story-tellers told
him.
“So you may find bits of ‘Arabian Nights’ in Sir John Mandeville.
“There is so much of this that there came to be a time when people
thought he had rather lie than to tell the truth.
“Indeed,” said Uncle Fritz, “I can remember that at one time his name
was spelled Man-Devil, as if he were quite outside of human nature; but
I believe there is now no doubt that this was his real name.”
Esther said she remembered, in Catlin’s “Indians,” that he told of
some chiefs who had been taken all through the great cities, that
they might understand the power of the whites, and, when they came
back, were wholly disgraced and degraded, because they told such large
stories that nobody could believe they were true.
Uncle Fritz was well pleased with Esther’s good memory, and said it was
just so with Sir John Mandeville.
Bob Edmeston brought the book, which is in a very handy form.[3] In
Bohn’s Library, it is included with many other early journeys to
Palestine. The young people knew the Antiquarian Library already. And
it may be said to other young people, who have a little money to spend
for books, that in Bohn’s various “Libraries” they get as much for
their money--if they find the book they want in the catalogue--as they
can find anywhere.
But the little book did not look as fascinating as the elegant, large
pages crowded with illustrations of Marco Polo.
Uncle Fritz told Bob that when he was a man, and had travelled all
through Asia, he might edit an edition of Sir John Mandeville, as
elegant as Col. Yule’s of Marco Polo.
“You will have to be satisfied now,” said he, “by looking for my
pencil-marks. Or turn to the end. See what I have noticed on the last
page.”
So they turned to the last page, and found that Uncle Fritz had made
an index of the things he liked in the book. This is always a good
thing to do,--if the book is your own, of course. They read aloud the
headings, and came to “The Lady changed into a Dragon.”
“That is the story in Morris’s ‘Earthly Paradise,’” said Uncle Fritz.
“Look a little further.” Esther read on, and he told her to turn back
to the book, and read to them, when she found--
HOW ROSES FIRST CAME INTO THE WORLD.
[Sidenote: 1322-56.]
From Hebron we proceed to Bethlehem in half a day, for it is but
five miles; and it is a very fair way, by pleasant plains and woods.
Bethlehem is a little city, long and narrow and well-walled, and on
each side enclosed with good ditches. It was formerly called Ephrata,
as Holy Writ says, “Lo, we heard of it at Ephrata.” And towards the
east end of the city is a very fair and handsome church, with many
towers, pinnacles, and corners, strongly and curiously made, and
within are forty-four great and fair pillars of marble; and between
the city and the church is the Field _Floridus_,--that is to say,
the _field flourish-ed_. For a fair maiden was blamed with wrong,
and slandered, for which cause she was condemned to be burned in
that place; and as the fire began to burn about her, she made her
prayers to our Lord that, as truly as she was not guilty, he would
by his merciful grace help her, and make it known to all men. And
when she had thus said she entered into the fire, and immediately
the fire was extinguished, and the fagots that were burning became
red rose-bushes, and those that were not kindled became white
rose-bushes, full of roses; and these were the first rose-trees and
roses, both white and red, that ever any man saw. And thus was this
maiden saved by the grace of God; and therefore is that field called
the field that God flourished, for it was full of roses.
Then Esther turned to another place which had struck her eye, and read--
OF THE ROCKS OF ADAMANT.
In that island are ships without nails of iron or brass, on account
of the rocks of adamant (loadstones). For they are all abundant
thereabout in that sea, that it is marvellous to speak of; and if a
ship passed there that had either iron bands or iron nails, it would
perish; for the adamant, by its nature, draws iron to it, and so it
would draw it to the ship, because of the iron, that it should never
depart from it.
“That,” cried Bob Edmerton, “was what happened to Sindbad.”
“Oh, no; not to Sindbad!” said all the others.
Uncle Fritz confessed that he thought it was to Sindbad. This was a
great triumph for the little troop. “To think,” said Tom Rising, “that
we should bowl out Uncle Fritz on the ‘Arabian Nights’! I thought he
knew the ‘Arabian Nights’ by heart.” So the “Arabian Nights” (in Lane’s
version) was sent for, and Tom Rising read aloud from the story of “The
Third Royal Mendicant.”
“A royal mendicant,” said Uncle Fritz, “is what was called a
‘calendar,’ when I was a boy.”
THE STORY OF THE THIRD ROYAL MENDICANT.
So he went aloft, and when he had come down he said to the captain,
“I saw, on my right hand, fish floating upon the surface of the
water, and, looking towards the midst of the sea, I perceived
something looming in the distance,--sometimes black and sometimes
white.”
When the captain heard this report of the watch, he threw his turban
on the deck, and plucked his beard, and said to those who were with
him, “Receive warning of our destruction, which will befall all of
us: not one will escape.” So saying, he began to weep; and all of us,
in like manner, bewailed our lot. I desired him to inform us of that
which the watch had seen. The watch said, “To-morrow we shall arrive
at a mountain of black stone, called loadstone: the current is now
bearing us violently toward it, and the ship will fall in pieces; for
God hath given to the loadstone a secret property, by virtue of which
everything of iron is attracted toward it. On that mountain is such
a quantity of iron as no one knoweth but God, whose name be exalted!
for from times of old great numbers of ships have been destroyed by
the influence of that mountain.”
On the following morning we drew near to the mountain; the current
carried us toward it with violence, and when the ships were almost
close to it, they fell asunder, and all the nails, and everything
else that was of iron, flew from them toward the loadstone. It was
near the close of the day when the ship fell in pieces. Some of us
were drowned, and some escaped; but the greater number were drowned,
and of those who saved their lives, none knew what became of the
others, so stupefied were they by the waves and the boisterous wind.
After they had looked up the other passages, which are somewhat like
this, in the Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor, they came back to Sir
John Mandeville. They found the story of the rich man Gathenabes, and
his false Paradise, the same that is told of the King of the Assassins.
This was in the mysterious land of Prester John. They found the happy
story of the “Island of Bragman,” which some men call the Land of
Faith. Then they found the description of the Terrestrial Paradise,
which poor Mandeville could not reach from the East Indies, better than
poor Columbus could from the West.[4] They found about the country
where the gentleman has such long nails that he may take nothing, nor
handle anything.
Then they found--and this was a great relief to Sybil--that after all
these travels, Sir John returned to Rome, and “was absolved of all that
lay in my conscience of many grievous points.” For notwithstanding
Uncle Fritz’s excuses for Sir John, Sybil was sadly afraid that he
needed absolution for the master sin of lying; and if he ever repented
of it, Sybil was glad.
Before she laid down the book she read one extract more.
OF THE GREAT CHAN OF CATHAY.
In this city (Caydon) is the seat of the Great chan,[5] in a very
great palace, the fairest of the world, the walls of which are in
circuit more than two miles; and within the walls it is all full of
other palaces. And in the garden of the great palace there is a great
hill, upon which is another palace, the fairest and richest that
any man may devise. And all about the palace and the hill are many
trees bearing divers fruits. And all about that hill are great and
deep ditches, and beside them are great fish-ponds on both sides; and
there is a very fair bridge to pass over the ditches. And in these
fish-ponds are an extraordinary number of wild geese and ganders,
and wild ducks and swans and herons. And all about these ditches and
fish-ponds is the great garden, full of wild beasts, so that when the
Great chan will have any sport, to take any of the wild beasts or the
fowls, he will cause them to be driven, and take them at the windows,
without going out of his chamber. Within the palace, in the hall,
there are twenty-four pillars of fine gold; and all the walls are
covered within with red skins of animals called panthers, fair beasts
and well-smelling; so that for the sweet odor of the skins, no evil
air may enter into the palace.
The skins are as red as blood, and shine so bright against the sun
that a man may scarcely look at them. And many people worship the
beasts when they meet them first in a morning, for their great virtue
and for the good smell that they have; and the skins they value more
than if they were plates of fine gold.
And in the middle of the palace is the mountour[6] of the Great chan,
all wrought of gold and of precious stones and of great pearls; and
at the four corners are four serpents of gold; and all about there
are made large nets of silk and gold, and great pearls hanging all
about it. And under the mountour are conduits of beverage that they
drink in the emperor’s court. And beside the conduits are many
vessels of gold, with which they that are of the household drink at
the conduit. The hall of the palace is full nobly arrayed, and full
marvellously attired on all parts in all things that men apparel any
hall with.
And first, at the head of the hall, is the emperor’s throne, very
high, where he sits at meat. It is of fine precious stones, bordered
all about with purified gold and precious stones and great pearls.
And the steps up to the table are of precious stones, mixed with
gold. And at the left side of the emperor’s seat is the seat of his
first wife, one step lower than the emperor; and it is of jasper
bordered with gold, and the seat of his second wife is lower than his
first wife, and is also of jasper bordered with gold, as that other
is. And the seat of the third wife is still lower by a step than
the second wife’s, for he has always three wives with him, wherever
he is. And after his wives, on the same side, sit the ladies of
his lineage, still lower, according to their ranks. And all those
that are married have a counterfeit, made like a man’s foot, upon
their heads, a cubit long, all wrought with great, fine, and orient
pearls, and above made with peacock’s feathers, and of other shining
feathers; and that stands upon their heads like a crest, in token
that they are under man’s foot, and under subjection of man. But the
other ladies, that are unmarried, have none such. And after, at the
right side of the emperor, first sits his eldest son, who shall reign
after him, one step lower than the emperor, in such manner of seats
as do the empresses; and after him, other great lords of his lineage,
each of them a step lower than the other, according to their rank.
The emperor has his table alone by himself, and each of his wives has
also her table by herself. And his eldest son, and the other lords
also, and the ladies, and all that sit with the emperor, have very
rich tables, alone by themselves. And under the emperor’s table sit
four clerks, who write all that the emperor says, be it good or evil;
for all that he says must be held good; for he may not change his
word nor revoke it.
At great feasts men bring, before the emperor’s table, great tables
of gold, and thereon are peacocks of gold, and many other kinds of
different fowls, all of gold, and richly wrought and enamelled; and
they make them dance and sing, clapping their wings together, and
making great noise; and whether it be by craft or by necromancy I
know not, but it is a goodly sight to behold. But I have the less
marvel because they are the most skilful men in the world in all
sciences and in all crafts; for in subtilty, malice, and forethought
they surpass all men under heaven; and, therefore, they say
themselves that they see with two eyes, and Christians see with but
one, because they are more subtle than they....
Nevertheless the truth is this,--that Tartars, and they that dwell in
Greater Asia, came of Cham, but the emperor of Cathay was called not
Cham, but Chan; and I shall tell you how. It is but little more than
eight score years since all Tartary was in subjection and servage
to other nations about; for they were but herdsmen, and did nothing
but keep beasts, and lead them to pastures. But among them they had
seven principal nations that were sovereigns of them all, of which
the first nation or lineage was called Tartar; and that is the most
noble and the most praised. The second lineage is called Tanghot; the
third, Eurache; the fourth, Valair; the fifth, Semoche; the sixth,
Megly; the seventh, Coboghe. Now it befell that of the first lineage
succeeded an old worthy man, and was not rich, who was called
Changuys. This man lay one night in bed, and he saw in a vision that
there came before him a knight, armed all in white, and he sat upon a
white horse, and said to him, “Chan, sleepest thou? The immortal God
hath sent me to thee; and it is his will that thou go to the seven
lineages, and say to them that thou shalt be their emperor; for thou
shalt conquer the lands and the countries that are about; and they
that march upon you shall be under your subjection, as you have been
under theirs; for that is God’s immortal will.”
Changuys arose, and went to the seven lineages and told them what
the white knight had said. And they scorned him, and said that he
was a fool; and so he departed from them, all ashamed. And the night
following, this white knight came to the seven lineages and commanded
them, on behalf of the immortal God, that they should make this
Changuys their emperor, and they should be out of subjection, and
they should hold all other regions about them in servage, as they had
been to them before. And next day they chose him to be their emperor,
and set him upon a black chest, and after that lifted him up with
great solemnity, and set him in a chair of gold, and did him all
manner of reverence; and they called him Chan, as the white knight
called him. And when he was thus chosen, he would make trial if he
must trust in them or not, and whether they would be obedient to him;
and then he made many statutes and ordinances, that they call Ysya
Chan.
The first statute was, that they should believe in and obey immortal
God, who is almighty, and who would cast them out of servage; and
they should at all times call to him for help in time of need.
The second statute was that all manner of men that might bear arms
should be numbered, and to every ten should be a master, and to every
hundred a master, and to every thousand a master, and to every ten
thousand a master. After, he commanded the principals of the seven
lineages to leave and forsake all they had in goods and heritage,
and from thenceforth to be satisfied with what he would give them
of his grace. And they did so immediately. After this he commanded
the principals of the seven lineages, that each should bring his
eldest son before him, and with their own hands smite off their heads
without delay. And immediately his command was performed.
And when the Chan saw that they made no obstacle to perform his
commandment, then he thought that he might well trust in them; and
he commanded them presently to make them ready, and to follow his
banner. And after this, the Chan put in subjection all the lands
about him. Afterwards it befel on a day, that the Chan rode with a
few companies to behold the strength of the country that he had won,
and a great multitude of his enemies met with him; and to give good
example of bravery to his people, he was the first that fought, and
rushed into the midst of his enemies, and there was thrown from his
horse, and his horse slain. And when his people saw him on the earth,
they were all discouraged, and thought he had been dead, and fled
every one; and their enemies pursued them, but they knew not that the
emperor was there. And when they were returned from the pursuit, they
sought the woods, if any of them had been hid in them; and many they
found and slew.
So it happened that as they went searching toward the place where
the emperor was, they saw an owl sitting on a tree above him; and
then they said amongst them that there was no man there, because
they saw the bird there, and so they went their way; and thus the
emperor escaped death. And then he went secretly by night, till he
came to his people, who were very glad of his coming, and gave great
thanks to immortal God, and to that bird by which their lord was
saved; and, therefore, above all fowls of the world, they worship
the owl; and when they have any of its feathers, they keep them full
preciously instead of relics, and bear them upon their heads with
great reverence; and they hold themselves blessed, and safe from
all perils, while they have these feathers on them, and therefore
they bear them upon their heads. After all this the Chan assembled
his people, and went against those who had assailed him before, and
destroyed them, and put them in subjection and servage.
At this moment in the reading supper was announced; but Clem begged
them to wait a minute, while he read why Sir John Mandeville did not
tell about Paradise.
Blanche said that there was no need of explaining that; but Clem
persevered.
“Of Paradise I cannot speak properly, for I was not there.”
“That,” said Horace, “is like Cousin: ‘I say nothing of Buddhism,
because I know nothing about it.’”
“If only everybody would be as thoughtful!” said Uncle Fritz. And Clem
continued, though he was already losing his audience:--
“It is far beyond, and I repent not going there, but I was not
worthy.” “I should think not,” interrupted Blanche. “But as I have
heard say of wise men beyond, I shall tell you with good-will.
Terrestrial Paradise, as wise men say, is the highest place of the
earth, and it is so high that it nearly touches the circle of the moon
there, as the moon makes her turn. For it is so high that the flood
of Noah might not come to it that would have covered all the earth of
the world all about, and above and beneath, except Paradise. And this
Paradise is inclosed all about with a wall, and men know not whereof
it is; for the wall is covered all over with moss, as it seems, and it
seems not that the wall is natural stone. And that wall stretches from
the south to the north; and it has but one entry, which is closed with
burning fire, so that no man that is mortal dare enter.”
“So they were well rid of Mandeville,” said Blanche, laughing; and she
and Clem went in to their supper.
III.
BERTRANDON IN PALESTINE.
[Sidenote: 1880.]
When the children met him the next week, Uncle Fritz said that as they
had gone so far east in their two afternoons, they would do well to
look over some of the accounts of the Crusaders’ expeditions.
The boys were well pleased at this suggestion. Some of them knew
Froissart, and all of them had read “Ivanhoe,” and “The Talisman,” and
“Count Robert of Paris.”
So Uncle Fritz sent again for the “Travels in Palestine,” in the same
volume of Bohn’s Antiquarian Library, and Bedford first, and Esther
afterward, read the extracts he had marked for them from
BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIÈRE.
[Sidenote: 1432-33.]
To animate and inflame the hearts of such noble men as may be
desirous of seeing the world, and by the order and command of the
most high, most powerful, and my most redoubted lord, Philip, by
the grace of God Duke of Burgundy, Lorraine, Brabant, and Limbourg,
Count of Flanders, Artois, and Burgundy, Palatine of Hainault,
Holland, Zealand, and Namur, Marquis of the Holy Empire, lord of
Friesland, Salines, and Mechlin, I, Bertrandon de la Brocquière, a
native of the duchy of Guienne, lord of Vieux-Chateau, counsellor
and first esquire-carver to my aforesaid most redoubted lord, after
bringing to my recollection every event, in addition to what I had
made an abridgment of in a small book by way of memorandums, have
fairly written out this account of my short travels, in order that
if any king or Christian prince should wish to make the conquest of
Jerusalem, and lead thither an army overland, or if any gentleman
should be desirous of travelling thither, they may be made acquainted
with all the towns, cities, regions, countries, rivers, mountains,
and passes, in the different districts, as well as the lords to whom
they belong, from the duchy of Burgundy to Jerusalem.
The route hence to the holy city of Rome is too well known for me to
stop and describe it. I shall pass lightly over this article, and not
say much until I come to Syria.... Gaza, situated in a fine country
near the sea, and at the entrance of the desert, is a strong town,
although uninclosed. It is pretended that it formerly belonged to
the famous Samson. His palace is still shown, and also the columns
of that which he pulled down; but I dare not affirm that these are
the same. Pilgrims are harshly treated there; and we also should have
suffered had it not been for the governor, a man about sixty years of
age, and a Circassian, who heard our complaints and did us justice.
Thrice were we obliged to appear before him; once, on account of
the swords we wore, and the two other times for quarrels which the
Saracen moucres sought to have with us. Many of us wished to purchase
asses; for the camel has a very rough movement, which is extremely
fatiguing to those unaccustomed to it. An ass is sold at Gaza for
two ducats; but the moucres not only wanted to prevent our buying
any, but to force us to hire asses from them, at the price of five
ducats, to St. Catherine’s. This conduct was represented to the
governor. For myself, who had hitherto ridden on a camel, and had
no intention of changing, I desired they would tell me how I could
ride a camel and an ass at the same time. The governor decided in our
favor, and ordered that we should not be forced to hire any asses
from the moucres against our inclinations.
We here laid in fresh provisions necessary for the continuance of our
journey; but, on the eve of our departure, four of my companions fell
sick, and returned to Jerusalem. I set off with the five others, and
we came to a village situated at the entrance of the desert, and the
only one to be met with between Gaza and St. Catherine’s. We thus
travelled two days in the desert, absolutely without seeing anything
deserving to be related. Only one morning I saw, before sunrise, an
animal running on four legs, about three feet long, but scarcely a
palm in height. The Arabians fled at the sight of it, and the animal
hastened to hide itself in a bush hard by. Sir Andrew and Pierre de
Vandrei dismounted, and pursued it sword in hand, when it began to
cry like a cat on the approach of a dog. Pierre de Vandrei struck it
on the back with the point of his sword, but did it no harm, from its
being covered with scales like a sturgeon. It sprang at Sir Andrew,
who, with a blow from his sword, cut the neck partly through, and
flung it on its back with its feet in the air, and killed it. The
head resembled that of a large hare; the feet were like the hands of
a young child, with a pretty long tail, like that of the large green
lizard. Our Arabs and interpreter told us it was very dangerous.
At the end of the second day’s journey I was seized with such a
burning fever that it was impossible for me to proceed. My four
companions, distressed at this accident, made me mount an ass, and
recommended me to one of our Arabs, whom they charged to reconduct
me, if possible, to Gaza. This man took a great deal of care of me,
which is unusual in respect to Christians. He faithfully kept me
company, and led me in the evening to pass the night in one of their
camps, which might consist of fourscore and some tents, pitched in
the form of a street. These tents consist of two poles stuck in the
ground by the bigger end, at a certain distance from each other, and
on them is placed another pole cross-way, and over this last is laid
a thick coverlid of woollen, or coarse hair. On my arrival, four or
five Arabs, who were acquainted with my companion, came to meet us.
They dismounted me from my ass, and laid me on a mattrass which I had
with me, and then, treating me according to their method, kneaded and
pinched me so much with their hands, that from fatigue and lassitude
I slept, and reposed for six hours. During this time no one did me
the least harm, nor took anything from me. It would, however, have
been very easy for them to do so; and I must have been a tempting
prey, for I had with me two hundred ducats, and two camels laden with
provision and wine.
I set out on my return to Gaza before day; but when I came thither,
I found neither my four companions who had remained behind nor Sir
Sanson de Lalaing: the whole five had returned to Jerusalem, carrying
with them the interpreter. Fortunately I met with a Sicilian Jew, to
whom I could make myself understood; and he sent me an old Samaritan,
who, by some medicines which he gave me, appeased the great heat I
endured. Two days after, finding myself a little better, I set off
in company with a Moor, who conducted me by a river on the seaside.
We passed near Ascalon, and thence traversed an agreeable and fertile
country to Ramlé, where I regained the road to Jerusalem. On the
first day’s journey I met on the road the governor of that town,
returning from a pilgrimage, with a company of fifty horsemen, and
one hundred camels, mounted principally by women and children, who
had attended him to his place of devotion. I passed the night with
them, and the morrow, on my return to Jerusalem, took up my lodgings
with the Cordeliers, at the Church of Mount Sion, where I again met
my five comrades. On my arrival I went to bed, that my disorder might
be properly treated; but I was not cured, or in a state to depart,
until the 19th of August. During my convalescence I recollected
that I had frequently heard it said that it was impossible for a
Christian to return overland from Jerusalem to France. I dare not,
even now, when I have performed this journey, assert that it is safe.
I thought, nevertheless, that nothing was impossible for a man to
undertake who has a constitution strong enough to support fatigue,
and has money and health. It is not, however, through vain boasting
that I say this; but with the aid of God and his glorious Mother,
who never fail to assist those who pray to them heartily, I resolved
to attempt the journey. I kept my project secret for some time,
without even hinting it to my companions. I was also desirous, before
I undertook it, to perform other pilgrimages, especially those to
Nazareth and Mount Tabor. I went, in consequence, to make Nanchardin,
principal interpreter to the sultan, acquainted with my intentions,
who supplied me with a sufficient interpreter for my journey. I
thought of making my first pilgrimage to Mount Tabor, and everything
was prepared for it; but when I was on the point of setting out,
the head of the convent where I lodged dissuaded me, and opposed my
intentions most strongly. The interpreter, on his side, refused to
go, saying that in the present circumstances I should not find any
person to attend me; for that the road lay through the territories
of towns which were at war with each other, and that very lately a
Venetian and his interpreter had been assassinated there. I confined
myself, therefore, to the second pilgrimage, in which Sir Sanson de
Lalaing and Humbert wished to accompany me.
The principal monk at Jerusalem was so friendly as to accompany us
as far as Jaffa, with a Cordelier friar of the Convent of Beaune.
They there quitted us, and we engaged a bark from the Moors, which
carried us to the port of Acre. This is a handsome port, deep and
well inclosed. The town itself appears to have been large and strong,
but at present there do not exist more than three hundred houses,
situated at one of its extremities, and at some distance from the sea.
[Illustration: DAMASCUS]
With regard to our pilgrimage, we could not accomplish it. Some
Venetian merchants whom we consulted dissuaded us, and from that
time we gave it up. They told us, at the same time, that a galley
from Narbonne was expected at Baruth; and my comrades being desirous
to take that opportunity of returning to France, we consequently
followed the road to that town.... It is two days’ journey from
Baruth to Damascus. The Mohammedans have established a particular
custom for Christians all through Syria, in not permitting them to
enter the towns on horseback. None that are known to be such dare
do it; and in consequence, our moucre made Sir Sanson and myself
dismount before we entered any town. Scarcely had we arrived in
Damascus than about a dozen Saracens came round to look at us. I wore
a broad beaver hat, which is unusual in that country; and one of them
gave me a blow with a staff, which knocked it off my head on the
ground. I own that my first movement was to lift my fist at him, but
the moucre, throwing himself between us, pushed me aside, and very
fortunately for me he did so; for in an instant we were surrounded
by thirty or forty persons, and if I had given a blow I know not
what would have become of us. I mention this circumstance to show
that the inhabitants of Damascus are a wicked race, and consequently
care should be taken to avoid any quarrels with them. It is the same
in other Mohammedan countries. I know by experience that you must
not joke with them, nor at the same time seem afraid; nor appear
poor, for then they will despise you; nor rich, for they are very
avaricious, as all who have disembarked at Jaffa know to their cost.
Damascus may contain, as I have heard, one hundred thousand souls.
The town is rich, commercial, and after Cairo the most considerable
of all in the possession of the sultan. To the north, south, and east
is an extensive plain; to the west rises a mountain, at the foot
of which the suburbs are built. A river runs through it, which is
divided into several canals. The town only is inclosed by a handsome
wall, for the suburbs are larger than the town.
I have nowhere seen such extensive gardens, better fruits, nor
greater plenty of water. This is said to be so abundant that there is
scarcely a house without a fountain. The governor is only inferior
to the sultan in all Syria and Egypt; but as at different times
some governors have revolted, the sultans have taken precautions to
restrain them within proper bounds.
Damascus has a strong castle on the side toward the mountain, with
wide and deep ditches, over which the sultan appoints a captain of
his own friends, who never suffers the governor to enter it. It was,
in 1400, destroyed and reduced to ashes by Tamerlane. Vestiges of
this disaster now remain, and toward the gate of St. Paul there is
a whole quarter that has never been rebuilt. There is a khan in the
town appropriated as a deposit and place of safety to merchants and
their goods. It is called Kahn Berkot, from its having originally
been the residence of a person of that name. For my part, I believe
that Berkot was a Frenchman, and what inclines me to this opinion is,
that on a stone of the house are carved fleur-de-lis, which appear
as ancient as the walls. Whatever may have been his origin, he was
a very gallant man, and to this day enjoys a high reputation in
that country. Never during his lifetime, and while he was in power,
could the Persians or Tartars gain the smallest portion of land in
Syria. The moment he learned that one of their armies was advancing
he instantly marched to meet it, as far as the river, beyond Aleppo,
that separates Syria from Persia.... The people of Damascus are
persuaded that, had he lived, Tamerlane would never have carried
his arms thither. Tamerlane, however, did honor to his memory, for
when he took the town and ordered it to be set on fire, he commanded
the house of Berkot to be spared, and appointed a guard to prevent
its being hurt by the fire, so that it subsists to this day. The
Christians are hated at Damascus. Every evening the merchants are
shut up in their houses by persons appointed for this purpose, who,
on the morrow, come to open their gates when it may please them.
* * * * *
I was shown the place without the walls of Damascus where St. Paul
had a vision, was struck blind, and thrown from his horse. He caused
himself to be conducted to Damascus, where he was baptized, but the
place of his baptism is now a mosque. I saw also the stone from which
St. George mounted his horse when he went to combat the dragon. It
is two feet square, and they say, that when formerly the Saracens
attempted to carry it away, in spite of all the strength they
employed, they could not succeed.
Having seen Damascus, Sir Sanson and myself returned to Baruth,
where we found Sir Andrew, Pierre de Vaudrei, Geoffroi de Toisi,
and Jean de la Roe, who had come thither, as Jacques Cœur had told
us. The galley arrived from Alexandria two or three days afterward,
and during this short interval we witnessed a feast celebrated
by the Moors in their ancient manner. It began in the evening at
sunset. Numerous companies, scattered here and there, were singing
and uttering loud cries. While this was passing, the cannons of the
castle were fired, and the people of the town launched into the air,
very high and to a great distance, a kind of fire, larger than the
largest lantern that I ever saw lighted. They told me they sometimes
made use of such at sea to set fire to the sails of an enemy’s
vessel. It seems to me that as it is an easy thing to be made, and
of little expense, it may be equally well employed to burn a camp
or a thatched village, or in an engagement with cavalry to frighten
the horses. Curious to know its composition, I sent the servant of
my host to the person who made this fire, and requested him to teach
me the method. He returned for answer that he dared not, for that he
should run great danger were it known; but, as there is nothing that
a Moor will not do for money, I offered him a ducat, which quieted
his fears; and he taught me all he knew, and even gave me the moulds
in wood, with the other ingredients, which I have brought to France.
The evening before the embarkation, I took Sir Andrew de Toulongeon
aside, and, having made him promise that he would not make any
opposition to what I was about to reveal to him, I informed him of
my design to return home overland. In consequence of his promise
he did not attempt to hinder me, but represented all the dangers I
should have to encounter, and the risk I should run of being forced
to deny my faith in Jesus Christ. I must own that his representations
were well founded, and of all the perils he had menaced me with
there was not one I did not experience, except denying my religion.
He engaged his companions to talk with me also on this subject, but
what they urged was vain. I suffered them to set sail and remained
at Baruth.... I was lodged at the house of a Venetian merchant,
named Paul Barberico, and as I had not entirely renounced my two
pilgrimages to Nazareth and Mount Tabor, in spite of the obstacles
which it had been said I should meet with, I consulted him on this
double journey. He procured for me a moucre, who undertook to conduct
me, and bound himself before him to carry me safe and sound as far as
Damascus, and to bring him back from thence a certificate of having
performed his engagement, signed by me. This man made me dress
myself like a Saracen. The Franks, for their security in travelling,
have obtained permission from the sultan to wear this dress when on
a journey. I departed with my moucre from Baruth on the morrow after
the galley had sailed, and we followed the road to Seyde that lies
between the sea and the mountains. These frequently run so far into
the sea that travellers are forced to go on the sands, and at other
times they are three quarters of a league distant. After an hour’s
ride I came to a small wood of lofty pines, which the people of the
country preserve with care. It is even forbidden to cut down any of
them, but I am ignorant of the reason for such a regulation. Further
on was a tolerably deep river, which my moucre said came from the
valley of Noah, but the water was not good to drink. It had a stone
bridge over it, and hard by was a kahn, where we passed the night.
* * * * *
The mountain near Sur forms a crescent, the two horns advancing as
far as the sea; a league farther we came to a pass, which forced us
to travel over a bank, on the summit of which is a tower. Travellers
going to Acre have no other road than this, and the tower has been
erected for their security. From this defile to Acre the mountains
are low, and many habitations are visible, inhabited, for the greater
part, by Arabs. Near the town I met a great lord of the country,
called Fancardin; he was encamped on the open plain, carrying his
tents with him.... From Nazareth I went to Mount Tabor, the place
where the transfiguration of our Lord and many other miracles took
place. These pasturages attract the Arabs, who come thither with
their beasts, and I was forced to engage four additional men as an
escort, two of whom were Arabs. The ascent of the mountain is rugged,
because there is no road: I performed it on the back of a mule, but
it took me two hours.... To the east of Mount Tabor, and at the foot
of it, we saw the Tiberiade, beyond which the Jordan flows. To the
westward is an extensive plain, very agreeable from its gardens,
filled with date-palm trees, and small tufts of trees planted like
vines, on which grows the cotton. At sunrise these last have a
singular effect, and, seeing their green leaves covered with cotton,
the traveller would suppose it had snowed on them.
I descended into this plain to dinner, for I had brought with me
chickens and wine. My guides conducted me to the house of a man,
who, when he saw my wine, took me for a person of consequence, and
received me well. He brought me a porringer of milk, another of
honey, and a branch loaded with dates. They were the first I had ever
seen.
I noticed also the manner of manufacturing cotton, in which men and
women were employed. Here my guides wanted to extort more money
from me, and insisted on making a fresh bargain to reconduct me to
Nazareth. It was well I had not my sword with me, for I confess I
should have drawn it, and it would have been madness in me and in
all who shall imitate me. The result of the quarrel was, that I was
obliged to give them twelve drachms of their money, equivalent to
half a ducat. The moment they had received them, the whole four left
me, so that I was obliged to return alone with my moucre. We had
not proceeded far on our road when we saw two Arabs, armed in their
manner, and mounted on beautiful horses, coming towards us. The
moucre was much frightened; but, fortunately, they passed us without
saying a word. He owned that, had they suspected I was a Christian,
they would have killed us both without mercy, or, at the least, have
stripped us naked.
Each of them bore a long and thin pole, shod at the ends with iron;
one of them was pointed, the other round, but having many sharp
blades a span long. Their buckler was round, according to their
custom, convex at the centre, whence came a thick point of iron; and
from that point to the bottom it was ornamented with a long silken
fringe. They were dressed in robes, the sleeves of which, a foot and
a half wide, hung down their arms; and instead of a cap they had
a round hat, terminated in a point of rough crimson wool, which,
instead of having the linen cloth twisted about it, like other Moors,
fell down on each side of it, the whole of its breadth.
* * * * *
I met, near Damascus, a very black Moor, who had ridden a camel from
Cairo in eight days, though it is usually sixteen days’ journey.
His camel had run away from him; but with the aid of my moucre, we
recovered it. These couriers have a singular saddle, on which they
sit cross-legged; but the rapidity of the camel is so great that,
to prevent any bad effects from the air, they have their heads and
bodies bandaged. This courier was the bearer of an order from the
sultan. A galley and two galliots of the prince of Tarentum had
captured, before Tripoli in Syria, a vessel from the Moors; and the
sultan, by way of reprisal, had sent to arrest all the Catalonians
and Genoese who might be found in Damascus and throughout Syria.
This news which my moucre told me did not alarm me; I entered the
town boldly with other Saracens, because, dressed like them, I
thought I had nothing to fear. This expedition had taken up seven
days. On the morrow of my arrival I saw the caravan return from
Mecca. It was said to be composed of three thousand camels; and, in
fact, it was two days and as many nights before they all entered
the town. This event was, according to custom, a great festival.
The governor of Damascus, attended by the principal persons of the
town, went to meet the caravan, out of respect to the Alcoran,
which it bore. This is the book of law which Mohammed left to his
followers. It was enveloped in a silken covering, painted over
with Moorish inscriptions; and the camel that bore it was, in like
manner, decorated all over with silk. Four musicians, and a great
number of drums and trumpets, preceded the camel, and made a loud
noise. In front and around were about thirty men, some bearing
cross-bows, others drawn swords, others small harquebuses,[7] which
they fired off every now and then. Behind this camel followed eight
old men, mounted on the swiftest camels, and near them were led their
horses, magnificently caparisoned, and ornamented with rich saddles,
according to the custom of the country. After them came a Turkish
lady, a relation of the grand seignior, in a litter borne by two
camels with rich housings.
The caravan was composed of Moors, Turks, Barbaresques, Tartars,
Persians, and other sectaries of the false prophet, Mohammed. These
people pretend that, having once made a pilgrimage to Mecca, they
cannot be damned. Of this I was assured by a renegado slave, a
Bulgarian by birth, who belonged to the lady I have mentioned. He
was called Hayauldoula, which signifies, in the Turkish language,
“Servant of God,” and pretended to have been three times at Mecca. I
formed an acquaintance with him, because he spoke a little Italian,
and often kept me company in the night as well as in the day. In our
conversations I frequently questioned him about Mohammed, and where
his body was interred. He told me he was at Mecca; that the shrine
containing the body was in a circular chapel, open at the top, and
that it was through this opening the pilgrims saw the shrine; that
among them were some who, having seen it, had their eyes thrust out,
because, they said, after what they had just seen, the world could
no longer offer them anything worth looking at. There were, in fact,
in this caravan two persons, the one of sixteen and the other of
twenty-two or twenty-three years old, who had thus made themselves
blind.
* * * * *
The distance from Mecca to Damascus is forty days’ journey across
the desert. The heat is excessive; and many of the caravan were
suffocated. According to the renegade slave, the annual caravan to
Medina should be composed of seven hundred thousand persons; and
when this number is incomplete, God sends his angels to make it up.
As I was incessantly hearing Mohammed spoken of, I wished to know
something about him; and for this purpose, I addressed myself to a
priest in Damascus, attached to the Venetian consul, who often said
mass in his house, confessed the merchants of that nation, and, when
necessary, regulated their affairs. Having confessed myself to him,
and settled my worldly concerns, I asked him if he were acquainted
with the doctrines of Mohammed. He said he was, and knew all the
Alcoran. I then besought him, in the best manner I could, that he
would put down in writing all he knew of him, that I might present it
to my lord the Duke of Burgundy. He did so with pleasure; and I have
brought with me his work.
* * * * *
In regard to the pilgrims that go to Mecca, the grand Turk has a
custom peculiar to himself,--at least, I am ignorant if the other
Mohammedan powers do the same,--which is, that when the caravan
leaves his states he chooses for it a chief, whom they are bound to
obey as implicitly as himself. The chief of this caravan was called
Hoyarbarach; he was a native of Bursa, and one of its principal
inhabitants. I caused myself to be presented to him, by mine host
and another person, as a man that wanted to go to that town to see a
brother. They entreated him to receive me into his company, and to
afford me his security. He asked if I understood Arabic, Turkish,
Hebrew, the vulgar tongue, or Greek. When they replied that I did
not, he answered, “Well, what can he pretend to do?” However,
representations were made to him that, on account of the war, I dared
not go thither by sea; and that, if he would condescend to admit me,
I would do as well as I could. He then consented; and, having placed
his two hands on his head and touched his beard, he told me, in the
Turkish language, that I might join his slaves, but he insisted that
I should be dressed just like them.
I went, after this interview, with one of my friends, to the market,
called the Bazaar, and bought two long white robes that reached to my
ankles, a complete turban, a linen girdle, a fustian pair of drawers
to tuck the ends of my robe in; two small bags, the one for my own
use, the other to hang on my horse’s head while feeding him with
barley and straw; a leathern spoon, and salt; a carpet to sleep on;
and, lastly, a paletot of a white skin, which I lined with a linen
cloth, and which was of service to me in the nights. I purchased also
a white tarquais (a sort of quiver) complete, to which hung a sword
and knives; but as to the tarquais and sword, I could only buy them
privately; for if those who have the administration of justice had
known of it, the seller and myself would have run great risks. The
Damascus blades are the handsomest and best of all Syria, and it is
curious to observe their manner of burnishing them. This operation
is performed before tempering, and they have, for this purpose, a
small piece of wood, in which is fixed an iron, which they rub up and
down the blade, and thus clear off all inequalities, as a plane does
to wood. They then temper and polish it. This polish is so highly
finished, that, when any one wants to arrange his turban, he uses his
sword for a looking-glass. As to its temper, it is perfect; and I
have nowhere seen swords that cut so excellently. There are made at
Damascus, and in the adjoining country, mirrors of steel that magnify
objects like burning glasses. I have seen some that, when exposed
to the sun, have reflected the heat so strongly as to set fire to a
plank fifteen or sixteen feet distant.
I bought a small horse that turned out very well. Before my departure
I had him shod at Damascus, and thence, as far as Bursa, which is
near fifty days’ journey, so well do they shoe their horses, that
I had nothing to do with his feet, excepting one of the fore ones,
which was pricked by a nail, and made him lame for three weeks.
* * * * *
The men of fortune carry with them, when they ride, a small drum,
which they use in battle, or in skirmishes, to rally their men. It
is fastened to the pommel of their saddles, and they beat on it
with a piece of flat leather. I also purchased one, with spurs and
vermilion-colored boots, which came up to my knees, according to
the custom of the country. As a mark of my gratitude to Hoyarbarach
I went to offer him a pot of green ginger, but he refused it, and
it was by dint of prayers and entreaties that I prevailed on him to
accept it. I had no other pledge for my security than what I have
mentioned, but I found him full of frankness and good-will--more,
perhaps, than I should have found in many Christians. God, who had
protected me in the accomplishment of this journey, brought me
acquainted with a Jew of Caiffa, who spoke the Tartar and Italian
languages, and I requested him to assist me in putting down in
writing the names of everything I might have occasion to want for
myself and my horse while on the road. On our arrival, the first
day’s journey, at Ballec I drew out my paper to know how to ask
for barley and chopped straw, which I wanted to give my horse. Ten
or twelve Turks near me, observing my action, burst into laughter,
and coming nearer to examine my paper seemed as much surprised at
our writing as we are with theirs. They took a liking to me, and
made every effort to teach me to speak Turkish. They were never
weary of making me often repeat the same thing, and pronounced it
so many different ways that I could not fail to retain it; so,
when we separated, I knew how to call for everything necessary
for myself and horse. During the stay of the caravan at Damascus,
I made a pilgrimage, about sixteen miles distant, to our Lady of
Serdenay. To arrive there we traversed a mountain a full quarter of
a mile in length, to which the gardens of Damascus extend. We then
descended into a delightful valley, full of vineyards and gardens,
with a handsome fountain of excellent water. Here, on a rock, has
been erected a small castle, with a church of green monks, having a
portrait of the Virgin painted on wood, whose head has been carried
thither miraculously, but in what manner I am ignorant. It is added
that it always sweats and that this sweat is an oil. All I can say
is, that when I went thither I was shown at the end of the church,
behind the great altar, a niche formed in the wall, where I saw the
image, which was a flat thing, and might be about one foot and a half
high by one foot wide. I cannot say whether it is of wood or stone,
for it was entirely covered with clothes. The front was closed with
an iron trellis, and underneath was the vase containing the oil. A
woman accosted me, and with a silver spoon moved aside the clothes,
and wanted to anoint me with the sign of the cross on the forehead,
the temples, and breast. I believe this was a mere trick to get
money, nevertheless I do not mean to say that Our Lady may not have
more power than this image.
* * * * *
I returned to Damascus, and, on the evening of the departure of the
caravan, settled my affairs and my conscience as if I had been at the
point of death; for suddenly I found myself in great trouble. I have
before mentioned the messenger whom the sultan had sent with orders
to arrest all the Genoese and Catalonian merchants found within
his dominions. By virtue of this order my host, who was a Genoese,
was arrested, his effects seized, and a Moor placed in his house to
take care of him. I endeavored to save all I could for him; and that
the Moor might not notice it, I made him drunk. I was arrested in
my turn, and carried before one of their cadies, who are considered
as somewhat like our bishops, and have the office of administering
justice. This cadi turned me over to another cadi, who sent me to
prison with the merchants, although he knew I was not one; but this
disagreeable affair had been brought on me by an interpreter, who
wanted to extort money from me, as he had before attempted on my
first journey hither. Had it not been for Antoine Mourrourzin, the
Venetian consul, I must have paid a sum of money; but I remained in
prison; and, in the mean time, the caravan set off. The consul, to
obtain my liberty, was forced to make intercession, conjointly with
the governor of Damascus, alleging that I had been arrested without
cause, which the interpreter well knew.
The governor sent for a Genoese, named Gentil Imperial, a merchant
employed by the sultan to purchase slaves for him at Caiffa. He asked
me who I was, and my business at Damascus. On my replying that I was
a Frenchman returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he said they
had done wrong to detain me, and that I might depart when I pleased.
I accordingly set off, accompanied by a moucre, whom I had first
charged to carry my Turkish dress out of the town, because a
Christian is not permitted to wear a white turban there. At a short
distance a mountain rises, on which I was shown a house said to have
been that of Cain! During the first day we travelled over mountains,
but the road was good. On the second day we entered a fine country,
which continued cheerful until we came to Balbeck. My moucre there
quitted me, as I had overtaken the caravan. It was encamped near a
river, on account of the great heat of these parts; the nights are
nevertheless very cold, which will scarcely be believed, and the
dews exceedingly heavy. I waited on Hoyarbarach, who confirmed the
permission he had granted me to accompany him, and recommended me not
to quit the caravan.
On the morrow morning, at eleven o’clock, I gave my horse water, with
oats and straw, according to the custom of our countries. This time
the Turks said nothing to me; but at six o’clock in the evening,
when, having given him water, I was about fastening the bag, that
he might eat, they opposed it and took off the bag; for they will
not suffer their horses to eat but during the night, and will not
allow one to begin eating before the rest, unless when they are at
grass. The captain of the caravan had with him a mameluke of the
sultan, who was a Circassian, and going to Caramania in search of a
brother. This man, seeing me alone and ignorant of the language of
the country, charitably wished to serve me as a companion, and took
me with him; but, as he had no tent, we were often obliged to pass
the nights under trees in gardens. It was then that I was obliged to
learn to sleep on the ground, to drink nothing but water, and to sit
cross-legged. This posture was at first painful, but it was still
more so to accustom myself to sit on my horse with such very short
stirrups, and I suffered so much that, when I had dismounted, I could
not remount without assistance; but after a little time this manner
seemed even more convenient than ours.
That same evening, I supped with the mameluke; but we had only bread,
cheese, and milk. I had, when eating, a table-cloth, like the rich
men of the country. These cloths are four feet in diameter, and
round, having strings attached to them, so that they may be drawn up
like a purse. When they are used they are spread out; and when the
meal is over, they are drawn up with all that remains within them,
without their losing a crumb of bread or a raisin. But I observed
that, whether their repast had been good or bad, they never failed to
return thanks aloud to God.
[Illustration: RUINS OF THE TEMPLES AT BALBECK]
Balbeck is a good town, well inclosed with walls, and tolerably
commercial. In the centre is a castle, built with very large stones.
At present it contains a mosque, in which, it is said, there is
a human skull with eyes so enormous that a man may pass his head
through their openings. I cannot affirm this for fact, as none but
Saracens may enter the mosque.... As my companion, the mameluke,
and myself had no tent, we fixed our quarters in a garden. There we
were joined by two Turcomans of Satalia, returning from Mecca, who
supped with us. These men, seeing me well clothed and well mounted,
having a handsome sword and well-furnished tarquais, proposed to the
mameluke, as he afterwards owned when we separated, to make away
with me, considering that I was but a Christian and unworthy of
being in their company. He answered that, since I had eaten bread
and salt with them, it would be a great crime; that it was forbidden
by law; and that, after all, God had created the Christians as well
as the Saracens. They, however, persisted in their design; and as I
testified a desire of seeing Aleppo, the most considerable town in
Syria after Damascus, they pressed me to join them. I was ignorant
of their intention, and accepted their offer; but I am now convinced
they only wanted to cut my throat. The mameluke forbade them to come
any more near us, and by this means saved my life.
We set out from Balbeck two hours before day, and our caravan
consisted of from four to five hundred persons, with six or seven
hundred camels and mules; for it had great quantities of spicery. I
will describe the order of its march. The caravan has a very large
drum; and the moment the chief orders the departure, three loud
strokes are beaten. Every one then makes himself ready, and when
prepared, joins the file without uttering a word. Ten of our people
would, in such cases, make more noise than a thousand of theirs.
Thus they march in silence, unless it be at night, or that any one
should sing a song celebrating the heroic deeds of their ancestors.
At the break of day, two or three, placed at a great distance from
each other, cry out and answer one another, as is done from the
towers of the mosques at the usual hours. In short, a little before
and after sunrise, devout people make their customary prayers and
oblations. To perform these oblations, if they be near a rivulet,
they dismount, and with feet naked, they wash their whole bodies.
Should there be no rivulet near, at the usual time for these
ceremonies, they pass their hands over their bodies. The last among
them washes, and then turns to the south, when all raise two fingers
in the air, prostrate themselves, and kiss the ground thrice; they
then rise up and say their prayers. Persons of rank, to avoid failing
in their performance, always carry, when they travel, leathern
bottles full of water, which are suspended under the bellies of
camels or horses, and are generally very handsome.
* * * * *
The Turks bear well fatigue and a hard life; they are not incommoded,
as I have witnessed, during the whole journey, by sleeping on
the ground like animals. They are of a gay, cheerful humor, and
willingly sing songs of the heroic deeds of their ancestors. Any
one, therefore, who wishes to live with them must not be grave or
melancholy, but always have a smiling countenance. They are also men
of probity, and charitable toward each other. I have often observed,
that should a poor person pass by when they are eating, they would
invite him to partake of their meal, which is a thing we never do.
IV.
GEOFFREY OF VINSAUF.
[Sidenote: 1880.]
The children were talking, at their next meeting, of the curious
question, what makes one book interesting while another is dull.
“You can almost tell,” said Hester, “when you open a book, whether it
will be entertaining. It seems as if there were something in the look
of the page.”
Uncle Fritz set them to guessing what were the easiest books for
foreigners to read, in learning English. He told them that “The Vicar
of Wakefield” is one of the books given to all beginners. This is
because the English style is so simple.
“What makes books interesting to young people,” he said, “and, for that
matter, to old people, is human incident; and the more life-like this
incident,--nay, the more detail in it, within certain limits, of human
affairs,--the more will it interest the average reader.”
Blanche said that she was on the top of Mt. Washington once, when Mr.
Alger happened to be there. When he saw how she pointed out every
chimney-smoke and every shed or barn, which relieved the wide spread of
uninhabited forest, he told her it was the “human pathos” which gave
interest to the scene.
That is an admirable observation, and the expression is worth
remembering.
“Do you remember,” said Uncle Fritz, “how much interest you took in
Plutarch’s Lives? That is because they are all crowded with personal
anecdotes of the men he describes. In these bits of real life we see
the men. It is as you look on a street at night, when there is a flash
of lightning. You see the comers and goers for that instant, and, when
another flash comes, you see them again. For the moment you see them
well.
“Now our modern school of biography is very apt to drag us through the
book, and yet not let us see the man once plainly. ‘Whether Mr. Smith
were descended from Reginald Smythe, who crossed with the Conqueror, or
from Thomas the smith, who held the forge at the manor of Shoebury, is
not well known. The family first appears on the American registers in
the person of John Smith, who, with his wife Mary, crossed in the Cat,
Jones, master, in 1629,’ and so on, and so on.
“Ah me! I have read miles of such biographies.
“It is just so with histories and books of travel,” continued Uncle
Fritz. “If the man will tell you something about some real people, you
will read. But if he says, ‘The army this day advanced through an open
country,’ or ‘The fleet this day lay by, waiting for orders,’ you skip,
if you dare, because ‘army’ and ‘fleet’ do not interest you as Richard
and Saladin do.”
Alice said she supposed this was the reason why novels are pleasanter
reading than the dull histories.
Uncle Fritz smiled his approval, because he saw that the girl had
listened intelligently so far; and Alice said that they had been
reading Scott’s novel of “The Talisman” aloud, as they met to make
baby-clothing in their “Lend-a-Hand Club.” They had just come to the
loss of the banner, and they wanted terribly to look forward and see
what happened to the brave Scot.
“While you are waiting,” said Uncle Fritz, “suppose we take down the
true story of the Siege of Acre.” So he sent Fanchon for the book,
which proved to be the next volume of Bohn’s Antiquarian Library to
that which had the travels of Sir John Mandeville.
Uncle Fritz gave it to Alice to read about the Siege of Acre. But,
as she looked for that, she came to some earlier passages first,
describing the start for the Third Crusade; and once and again the
children recognized scraps which Sir Walter Scott had used.
The book is by Geoffrey of Vinsauf. It is called the Itinerary of
Richard I. As you will see, it has no lack of personal anecdote, or
“human pathos.”
[Sidenote: 1189.]
Saladin had got possession of nearly all the kingdom, and everything
succeeded to his wishes. Elated with his proud triumphs, he talked in
magnificent terms of the law of Mahomet, and pointed to the result of
his enterprise as a proof that it was superior to the law of Christ.
These insolent vaunts he often threw out in the presence of the
Christians, one of whom, well known to him for his loquacity, on a
certain occasion, inspired by the Almighty, turned him into ridicule
by the following reply: “God, who is the Father of the faithful,
judging the Christians worthy of reproof for their crimes, has
chosen thee, O prince, as his agent in this matter. Thus, sometimes,
a worldly father in anger seizes a dirty stick out of the mire,
wherewith when he has chastised his erring sons he throws it back
among the filth where he found it.”
Whilst these things were done in Palestine the Archbishop of Tyre
had embarked on shipboard, and already reported to Christendom the
news of this great calamity,[8] and the affliction of so small a
kingdom was felt as a calamity over many countries. Fame had carried
to the ears of all the kings and of all the faithful, that the
inheritance of Christ was occupied by the heathen. Some were affected
to tears by the news, and some were stimulated to vengeance. First of
all, Richard, the brave Earl of Poitou, assumed the cross to avenge
its wrongs, and took the lead of all, inviting others by his example.
His father Henry, King of England, was now declining in years; yet
the young man was not deterred by either his father’s advanced age,
or his own right to the throne, or the difficulties of so long a
voyage; no arguments could deter him from his purpose. The Almighty,
to reward the valor of this brave man, whom he had chosen to be the
first inciter of the others, reserved him, after the other princes
were dead or returned to their own country, to achieve his great work.
[Illustration: KING HENRY II. OF ENGLAND]
Some time after, Philip, King of France, and Henry, King of England,
took the cross at Gisors, followed by the nobles of both kingdoms,
with numbers of the clergy and laity,--all with equal aspirations,
bent upon the same design. So great was the ardor of this new
pilgrimage, that it was no longer a question of who would take
the cross, but who had not yet taken it. Several persons sent a
present of a distaff and wool to one another, as a significant hint
that whosoever declined the campaign would degrade himself as much
as if he did the duties of a woman: wives urged their husbands,
mothers their sons, to devote themselves to this noble contest;
and they only regretted that the weakness of their sex prevented
themselves from going also. The renown of this expedition spread so
extraordinarily, that many migrated from the cloister to the camp,
and, exchanging the cowl for the cuirass, showed themselves truly
Christ’s soldiers, in quitting their libraries for the study of arms.
The prelates of the churches publicly preached to one another the
virtue of abstinence, admonishing all men that, laying aside all
extravagance in dress, they should refrain from their accustomed
luxuries.
It was agreed also, both among nobles and bishops, by common consent,
that to maintain the pilgrims that were poor, those who remained at
home should pay tithes of their property; but the flagitious cupidity
of many took advantage of this to lay heavy and undue exactions
upon their subjects.... In process of time, Frederic, the Roman
emperor, assumed the insignia of the holy pilgrimage, and displayed,
both outwardly in his dress, and inwardly in his heart, the form of
a true pilgrim. So great a king, whose empire was bounded on the
north by the Northern Ocean, on the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
whose glory was augmented by continual victories, whose fortune had
experienced no check, resigns every pleasure and blandishment of
the world, and humbly girds on his sword to fight for Christ. His
bravery, especially in his declining years, is no less to be wondered
at than praised; for though he was an old man and had sons, whose age
and valor seemed better fitted to military service, yet esteeming
them insufficient, he took upon himself the charge of defending
Christianity; but when his sons urged him to let them discharge the
task which he had undertaken, either in his stead or in his company,
he left his eldest son to govern his empire, and the younger, whom he
had created Duke of Suabia, he took with him on the expedition; and
because the imperial majesty never assails any one without sending a
defiance, but always gives notice of war to his enemies, a herald is
dispatched from the emperor to Saladin, calling upon him to give full
satisfaction to Christendom, which he has injured, or failing to do
so, to prepare himself for war.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1190.]
The princes of all the empire followed him, and when they were met at
Mayence, according to the imperial edict, all of them joined with one
acclaim in taking the vow of so noble a pilgrimage....
Thus, then, led by the Holy Spirit, they flocked together on every
side; and whoever could have seen so many nations and princes under
one commander must have believed that the ancient glory of Rome was
not yet departed.
In this army of Christ were pontiffs, dukes, earls, marquises, and
other nobles without number; for if we were to recapitulate their
names and territories, the writer would become tedious, his reader be
disgusted, and his plan of brevity be overthrown. It was determined
by a prudent council that no one should go on this expedition whose
means could not provide him with supplies for one year. A large
number of carriages were constructed for the use of the pilgrims who
should be sick, that they might neither give trouble to the sound,
nor be left behind and perish. It had long been a question whether
the mass of the army should proceed by sea or land. But it seemed
that any number of ships, however large, would be insufficient to
transport so great a multitude. The emperor, therefore, urging
on the task which he had undertaken, determined to march through
Hungary; and so, though he was the last sovereign who took the vow of
pilgrimage, he was the first to carry it into effect.... Our army,
having entered the territories of the Turks, experienced no hostility
during several days. The sultan wished by his forbearance to allure
them into the heart of his dominions, until want of food and the
asperities of the road should give him more ready means of annoying
them. That nefarious traitor had seized the rugged mountain-tops,
the thickets of the woods, and the impassable rivers; and whilst he
professed to observe the treaty which he had made, he opposed arrows
and stones to our passage. This was the market and the safe-conduct
which he had promised us. Such is the faith that must be placed in
the unbelievers; they always esteem valor and treachery as equally
praiseworthy towards an enemy.
Moreover, they avoid, above all things, coming to close quarters and
fighting hand to hand; but they shower their arrows from a distance;
and with them it is no less glory to flee, than to put their enemies
to flight. They attack both extremities of the army, at one time the
rear, at another time the van; that, if by any chance they can be
separated, they may attack either the one or the other by itself.
Night brought with it neither sleep nor rest; for a terrific clamor
disturbed the army on every side. A shower of javelins pierced
through their tents; numbers of them were slain asleep, and the
enemy hung on them so incessantly that for six weeks they ate their
meals under arms and slept under arms, without taking off their
coats of mail. At the same time they were assailed by such violent
hunger and thirst, that when they lost their horses by the chances
of war, it was to them a consolation and source of delight to feed
on horse-flesh and drink the blood; in this manner, by the ingenuity
which necessity teaches, they found out an additional use for the
animals on which they rode.
There was a place between high rocks which was rendered so difficult
to pass by reason of the steep ascent and the narrowness of the paths
that when the first division of the army, led by the emperor’s son,
had passed through, the Turks suddenly rushed from their ambush on
the last division, and in their confidence of victory, attacked them
with lance and sword. The alarming news was carried to the duke, who
returned with headlong haste upon his march, eagerly retracing all
the difficulties which he had a little before rejoiced at having
surmounted. His rage heeded not danger; his cavalry were made to
gallop where, before, they could not even walk. In this manner,
whilst he was anxiously and incautiously seeking for his father on
every side, and incessantly shouting his father’s name, his helmet
was struck off by a stone, and his teeth knocked out, yet still
he remained immovable and unshaken.... At last, after many severe
attacks, the army arrives at Iconium, where that wicked traitor had
shut himself within the walls of the city. Our soldiers pitched their
tents at no great distance, uncertain what new disasters the morrow
might bring with it.
It was now about the end of Whitsuntide, and that same night so
violent and sudden a storm burst upon them that its fury was felt
even within the camp. In the morning, when the clouds were dispersed,
the sky became clear, and behold! the Turkish army appear around on
every side, with trumpets, drums, and horrid clang, ready to attack.
They had never before been seen in such multitudes, nor could they
have been conceived to have been so numerous. All this multitude
had been roused to arms by the sultan’s son, Melkin, who wished to
anticipate his father-in-law Saladin’s victory, and, trusting in the
number and valor of his men, was confident of success. Meanwhile the
sultan had ascended a lofty tower, where he sat in expectation, eying
the country beneath him, and the armies that were ready to engage;
and hoping in a short time to see accomplished what his sanguine mind
had promised. The emperor, seeing some of his men alarmed at the
unusual multitude of the enemy, displayed the confidence of a noble
chieftain, and raising his hands to heaven, gave thanks to God, in
the sight of all, that the inevitable necessity was at length arrived
for that combat which had so long been deferred by the flight of the
enemy.
At these words all were inspired with fresh ardor as they looked
on the emperor’s placid countenance, and one old man, weak though
he was, supplied an incentive of valor to many who were young and
strong. What God is so great as our God? All that multitude, who were
so sure of victory that they brought chains with them rather than
swords, were overthrown in a moment, and at once the city was taken
and occupied, and the enemy without vanquished; everywhere were blood
and death and heaps of slain; their number impedes their flight, and
they fall by those very means on which they had counted for triumph.
The battle is now fought hand to hand; the bows are snapped asunder;
the arrows no longer fly, and they have scarcely room to wield their
swords. Thus everything is thrown into confusion by the multitude,
and what our enemies intended for our ruin turns out to our greater
glory; the flying war, which had been waged among brambles and the
gorges of rocks, is now carried on in a fair and open field; the
Christians satiate their fury, which had so often been put forth
in vain. The Turks experience, against their will, how well their
enemies can fight hand to hand whom they had so often provoked at
a distance. This splendid victory was not granted unworthily by
the Divine excellence to His faithful servants; for they observed
chastity in the camp and discipline when under arms; in all, and
above all, was the fear of the Lord; with all was the love of their
neighbor; all were united in brotherly affection as they were also
companions in danger....
The victorious army now enters the Armenian territories; all rejoice
at having quitted a hostile kingdom, and at their arrival in the
country of the faithful. But, alas! a more fatal land awaits them,
which is to extinguish the light and joy of all. On the borders of
Armenia there was a place, surrounded on one side by steep mountains,
on the other side by the river Selesius. Whilst the sumpter-horses
and baggage were passing this river the victorious emperor halted.
He was indeed an illustrious man, of stature moderately tall, with
red hair and beard; his hair was partly turning gray, his eyelids
were prominent and his eyes sparkling; his cheeks short and wide; his
breast and shoulders broad; in all other respects his form was manly.
There was in him, as is read of Socrates, something distinguished and
awful; for his look denoted the firmness of his mind, being always
immovably the same, neither clouded by grief, nor contracted by
anger, nor relaxed by joy.
He so much reverenced the native language of Germany that although
he was not ignorant of other languages yet he always conversed with
ambassadors from foreign countries by means of an interpreter.
This great man having halted some time, in consequence of the
sumpter-horses crossing the river, became at last impatient of delay,
and wishing to accelerate the march he prepares to cross the nearest
part of the stream, so as to get in front of the sumpter-horses and
be at liberty to proceed.[9] O sea! O earth! O heaven! The ruler of
the Roman empire, ever august, in whom the glory of ancient Rome
again flourished, its honor again lived, and its power was augmented,
was overwhelmed in the waters and perished. If the mountains of
Gilboa, where the brave ones of Israel were slain, deserved to be
deprived of the dew and rain, what imprecations may we not deservedly
utter upon this fatal river, which overthrew a main pillar of
Christendom? There were some who said that the place had been marked
by a fatality from ancient times, and that the nearest rock had long
borne upon it these words inscribed, “Here the greatest of men shall
perish.” The lamentable report of his death was spread around, and
filled all with dismay. If we search all the traditions of history
and the fictions of romance, concerning the sorrows of mothers, the
sighs of brides, or the distresses of men in general, the present
grief will be found to be without example, never before known in any
age, and surpassing all tears and lamentations. There were many
of the emperor’s domestics present, with some of his kinsmen and
his son, but it was impossible to distinguish them amid the general
lamentation, with which all and each lamented the loss of their
father and their lord. This, however, was a consolation to all, and
they all returned thanks for it to Divine Providence, that he had not
died within the territories of the infidels.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1188.]
In the mean time Christ’s soldiers, who had been conveyed by sea to
the succor of the Holy Land, were laying siege to Acre. That the
order of the siege may be better understood, we will relate it from
the beginning. Guy, King of Jerusalem, after he had been a year
in captivity at Damascus, was released by Saladin, on the strict
promise that he should abjure his kingdom, and, as soon as possible,
go into exile beyond the sea. The clergy of the kingdom determine
to release the king from the bond of his oath; both because what is
done under compulsion deserves to be annulled, and because the bands
of the faithful who were on their way would find in him a head and a
leader. It was right, indeed, that art should overreach, and that the
treachery of the tyrant should be deceived by its own example.... But
God so ordered it that the counsel of Belial was brought to nought;
for the tyrant was baffled in his hopes of retaining the kingdom, and
the king was released by the sentence of the clergy from the enormity
of his promise.... Thus, then, when numbers had flocked together
to meet the king at Tripoli, the minds of all were inspired with
bravery, so that they not only strove to keep what they had retained,
but also to recover what they had lost.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1189.]
After a while the king assembled his army and proceeded to Tyre; but,
demanding admittance, was refused by the marquis, though the city
had been committed to his custody on the condition that it should be
restored to the king and the heirs of the kingdom. Not content with
this injury he adds insult to the breach of faith, for whenever the
king’s messenger, or any of the pilgrims, endeavored to enter the
town, they were treated harshly, and were in his sight no better than
Gentiles and publicans. But the Pisans, who possessed no small part
of the city, would not be induced to consent to his perfidy, but with
commendable rebellion stood up for the king’s rights. The marquis
directed not only insults but civil war against them, and they,
prudently withdrawing for a time, retired with others from the city
to the army. The troops had pitched their camp in an open plain, but
none of them were allowed to enter the city, even to buy provisions,
and they all found an enemy where they had hoped to find an ally.
Whilst these events were going on the marquis was afflicted by a
complaint to which he had long been subject; but, as it chanced to
assail him this time with greater violence than usual, he conjectured
that he had taken poison. Upon this he issued a harsh edict against
physicians who make potions; innocent men were put to death on false
suspicions, and those whose province it was to heal others now found
the practice of their art lead to their own destruction. The king was
urged by many to attack the city, but he prudently dissembled his
own wrong, and hastily marched with all the army he could collect to
besiege the town of Acre.
There were seven hundred knights, and others more numerous still,
collected out of all Christendom; but if we were to estimate the
whole army, its strength did not amount altogether to nine thousand
men. At the end of August, on St. Augustin’s day, two years after the
city had been taken, they bravely commenced that long and difficult
siege, which was protracted during two years longer before the city
surrendered. The Turks, from the battlements of the walls, beheld the
army approach, but without knowing who they were, or for what they
came. When they learnt the truth they feared not their approach, and
treated their intentions with derision. The men of Pisa, who chose
to proceed by sea, as shorter and easier, approached Acre in due
order in their ships and bravely occupied the shore; where they had
no sooner secured a station than they formed the siege on the side
towards the sea with equal courage and perseverance. The king, with
the rest of his army, fixed his tents on a neighboring hill, commonly
called Mount Turon, from which, by the eminence of the ground, he
overlooked the approach both by sea and land. This hill was higher
on the eastern side of the city; and, as it allowed the eye to
rove freely round, it gave a prospect over the plain on all sides,
far and wide. On the third day after their arrival the Christians
made an assault upon the town; and deeming it tedious to await the
effect of engines for throwing stones, together with other machines,
they trusted to the defence of their shields alone, and carried
scaling-ladders to mount the walls. That day would have put a happy
termination to the toil of so many days, if the malice of the ancient
enemy and the arrival of false information had not frustrated their
achievement when it was almost completed, for it was reported that
Saladin was at hand, and our men returned with speed to the camp,
but when they perceived that it was only a small body that had come
in advance they expressed indignation rather than complaint that the
victory had been snatched from them. They were, indeed, few that had
come, but fear had reported that an innumerable multitude was at
hand; for it is not unusual that things should be magnified through
terror.
The sultan, at this time, was besieging the castle of Belfort, and
when he heard what was going on he marched in haste with a large army
to Acre. Our men, unequal to cope with him, kept themselves within
the limits before described. The Turks assailed them perseveringly,
both morning and evening, trying every means to penetrate to the
hill-top; and thus those who came to besiege others were now besieged
themselves. In this position, then, were our men when the Morning
Star visited them from on high; for, behold! fifty ships, such as are
commonly called coggs, having twelve thousand armed men on board,
are seen approaching,--a grateful sight to our men on account of the
strait which they were in. Grateful is that which comes when prayed
for, more grateful still is that which comes contrary to our hope,
but grateful beyond all is that which comes to aid us in the last
necessity; yet ofttimes we suspend our belief concerning a thing we
so much long for, and cannot credit what we so much desire. Our army,
from the top of the hill, see the reinforcements coming, and dare
not hope for an event so joyful, and the new comers, also, look upon
the camp as an object of suspicion. When, however, they came nearer
and saw the ensigns of the Christian faith, a shout is raised on
both sides; their joyful feelings find vent in tears; they eagerly
flock together and leap into the waves to go and meet them. O happy
fleet, which, sailing from the Northern Ocean, and encountering a
voyage never before tried, passed over so many seas, so many coasts,
so many dangers, and came from Europe, along the shores of Africa, to
succor Asia in her distress! The crews of these ships were Danes and
Frisons, men inured to labor by the rigors of the north, and having
three qualities good in war,--large limbs, invincible minds, and
devout fervor for the faith.... To Acre, then, they came; and, having
pitched their camp between the city and Mount Turon, they turned
their invincible prowess to the destruction of the enemy, whom they
assailed, not by frequent skirmishes, but by one continued conflict;
for their prodigal valor and reckless fury exposed them to so many
dangers that afterwards, when the city was taken, hardly a hundred
men remained alive out of the twelve thousand.
* * * * *
At a season of calm, when Easter was close at hand, the marquis at
our request returned from Tyre, with a large equipment and supplies
of men, arms, and provisions. For by the provident care of the
chiefs, the king and marquis were pacified on the pretext that the
marquis should have possession of Tyre, Berytus, and Sidon, and on
condition that he should be faithful and strenuous for the interests
of the king and his kingdom.
* * * * *
At length the towns-people liked not their privation of liberty,
and determined to try the issue of a sea-fight. They, therefore,
led forth their galleys by twos, and keeping good order they rowed
into the offing to meet and attack those that were coming; our men
prepared to meet them as they came on, and since there was no means
of getting away, prepared to face them with greater resolution. On
the other hand our men got on board our war-ships, and straining to
the left by an oblique course, retreated to a distance and gave the
enemy free means of egress. The sea was perfectly tranquil and calm,
as if it favored the battle, and the rippling wave impeded neither
the shock of the attacking ship nor the stroke of the oars. As they
closed, the trumpets sounded on both sides. A terrific clang is
roused, and the battle is commenced by the throwing of missiles. Our
men implore the Divine assistance and ply their oars strenuously,
and dash at the enemy’s ships with their beaks. Soon the battle
began; the oars become entangled and they fight hand to hand, having
grappled each others’ ships together, and they fire the decks with
burning oil, which is vulgarly called Greek fire. That kind of fire,
with a detestable stench and livid flames, consumes both flint and
steel; it cannot be extinguished by water, but is subdued by the
sprinkling of sand, and put out by pouring vinegar on it. But what
can be more dreadful than a fight at sea? what more savage where such
various fates await the combatants? Some are tortured by the burning
flames; some, falling overboard, are swallowed by the waves; others,
wounded, perish by the enemy’s weapons. One galley, unskilfully
managed by our men, exposed its flank to the foe; and being set on
fire received the Turks as they boarded her on all sides. The rowers
in their fright fell into the sea; but a few soldiers, impeded by
their heavy armor, and restrained by ignorance of swimming, took
courage from desperation, and commenced an unequal fight; and
trusting in the Lord’s valor, a few of them overcame numbers; and
having slain the foe, they brought back the half-burnt vessel in
triumph. Another ship was boarded by the enemy, who had driven the
combatants from the upper deck, while those who were below strove
to escape by the help of their oars. Wondrous and terrible was the
conflict; for, the oars being pulled different ways, the galley was
drawn first one way, then the other, as the Turks drove it; yet our
men prevailed, and the enemy, who rowed on the upper deck, being
overcome and thrust down by the Christians, yielded. In this naval
contest the enemy lost both the galley and a galleon, together with
their crews; and our men, unhurt and joyful, gained a glorious
triumph.
Having drawn the captured galley on shore, they gave it up to be
plundered by both sexes, who came to meet them. On this, our women,
dragging the Turks by the hair, after treating them shamefully,
beheaded them.... A like sea-fight was never seen,--so destructive
in its issue, accomplished with so much danger, and completed with
so much cost. In the mean time the Turkish army from without, though
deeply bewailing our victory, persisted in making attacks upon our
men who were within the trench, endeavoring either to fill up the
completed portion, by casting back the earth, or to slay those who
resisted. Our men sustaining their attack, though with difficulty,
fight under great disadvantages, for they seemed unequal to contend
against so countless a multitude,--for the numbers of the assailants
continually increased, and we had to take precautions on the side
of the city lest they also should rush in and assault us. There was
amongst the assailants a fiendish race, very impetuous and obstinate;
deformed in nature, as they were unlike to the others in character;
of a darker appearance, of vast stature, of exceeding ferocity,
having on their heads red coverings instead of helmets; carrying in
their hands clubs bristling with iron teeth, which neither helmet nor
coat of mail could withstand; and they had a carved image of Mahomet
for a standard. So great was the multitude of this evil race, that
as fast as one party was thrown to the earth, another rushed forward
over them. Thus, by their constant attacks, they confounded our men
so much that we doubted which way to turn ourselves; for as there was
neither security nor rest, we were distressed on all sides; at one
time guarding ourselves from sallies of the besieged from the city,
at another from the incessant attacks of the enemy from without;
and again from the side of the sea, where their galleys were lying
in wait to convey the Turks into the city as they arrived, or to
intercept the succors which were coming to us, the Christians. At
length, by favor of the Divine mercy, our adversaries were driven
back and repulsed.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, according to the various events of war, as has been said,
success changing from one side to the other, there occurred manifold
incidents, not less wonderful than to be wondered at, which seem
worthy of our notice.... Amongst those who were carrying earth to
make a mound in the ditch for assaulting the town more easily was a
woman who labored with great diligence and earnestness, and went to
and fro unceasingly, and encouraged others unremittingly, in order
that the work might be accomplished; but her zeal put an end to
her life and labors; for while a crowd of all sexes and ages were
constantly coming and going to complete the work in question, and
while the aforesaid woman was occupied in depositing what she had
brought, a Turk, who had been lying in wait for her, struck her a
mortal blow with a dart. As she fell to the ground, writhing with the
violence of her pain, she entreated her husband and many others who
had come up to assist her, with tears in her eyes, and very urgently,
saying, “By your love for me, my dearest lord, by your piety as my
husband, and the faith of our marriage contracted of old, permit
not my corpse to be removed from this place but I pray and beseech
you, that since I can do nothing more towards the fulfilment of the
work, I may deem myself to have done some good, if you will allow
my lifeless body to be laid in the trench instead of earth, for it
will soon be earth.” Oh, zeal of woman, worthy of imitation! for she
ceased not, even dead, to help those who labored, and in her death
continued to show her zeal in the cause!
There were two friends, comrades in misfortune as well as in war,
so needy and distressed that the two possessed only one piece of
money, commonly called an angevin, and with that only they wished
to purchase something to eat; but what could they do? It was a mere
trifle, and worth little, even if there had been abundance of all
sorts of good things; and they had nothing else but their armor and
clothing. They considered for a long time very thoughtfully what
they should buy with that one little piece, and how it could be done
to ward off the pressing evil of the day. They at last came to the
resolution of buying some beans, since nothing was to be bought of
less value; with difficulty, therefore, they obtained, after much
entreaty, thirteen beans for their dinner, one of which, on returning
home, they found consumed by maggots, and therefore unfit for eating.
Upon this, by mutual agreement, they went a long distance in
search of the seller, who consented, not without difficulty and after
much supplication, to give them a whole bean in exchange.
* * * * *
[Illustration: RICHARD CŒUR-DE-LION]
On the Saturday before the festival of the blessed apostle Barnabas,
in the Pentecost week, King Richard[10] landed at Acre with his
retinue, and the earth was shaken by the acclamations of the exulting
Christians. The people testified their joy by shouts of welcome and
the clang of trumpets. The day was kept as a jubilee, and universal
gladness reigned around, on account of the arrival of the king,
long wished for by all nations. The Turks, on the other hand, were
terrified and cast down by his coming; for they perceived that all
egress and return would be at an end, in consequence of the multitude
of the king’s galleys. The two kings conducted each other from the
port, and paid one another the most obsequious attention. Then King
Richard retired to the tent prepared for him, and forthwith entered
into arrangements about the siege; for it was his most anxious care
to find out by what means, artifice, and machines they could capture
the city without loss of time.
No pen can sufficiently describe the joy of the people on the king’s
arrival, nor tongue detail it. The very calmness of the night was
thought to smile upon them with a purer air; the trumpets clanged,
horns sounded, and the shrill intonations of the pipe, and the
deeper notes of the timbrel and harp, struck upon the ear; and
soothing symphonies were heard, like various notes blended into
one; and there was not a man who did not, after his own fashion,
indulge in joy and praise,--either singing popular ballads to testify
the gladness of his heart, or reciting the deeds of the ancients,
stimulating by their example the spirit of the moderns. Some drank
wine, from costly cups, to the health of the singers, while others,
mixing together, high and low, passed the night in constant dances.
And their joy was heightened by the taking of Cyprus by King
Richard,--a place so useful and necessary to him, and one which would
be of the utmost service to the army. As a further proof of the
exultation of their hearts, and to illume the darkness of the night,
wax torches and flaming lights sparkled in profusion, so that night
seemed to be usurped by the brightness of day, and the Turks thought
the whole valley was on fire.
By the conjunction of the retinue of two kings an immense army of
Christians was formed. With the King of France, who had arrived on
the octaves of Easter, there came the Count of Flanders, the Count of
St. Paul, William de Garlande, William des Barres, Drogo d’Amiens,
William de Mirle, and the Count of Perche; and with them also came
the marquis, of whom we have before spoken, and who aspired to be
King of Jerusalem. But why should we enumerate them singly? There
was not a man of influence or renown in France who came not, then
or afterwards, to the siege of Acre; and on the following day of
Pentecost, King Richard arrived with an army, the flower of war,
and upon learning that the King of France had gained the good-will
and favor of all by giving to each of his soldiers three _aurei_ a
month, not to be outdone or equalled in generosity, he proclaimed by
mouth of herald, that whosoever was in his service, no matter of
what nation, should receive four statute _aurei_ a month for his pay.
By these means his generosity was extolled by all, for he outshone
every one else in merit and favors, as he outdid them in gifts and
magnificence. “When,” exclaimed they, “will the first attack take
place by a man whom we have expected so long and anxiously,--a man,
by far the first of kings, and the most skilled in war throughout
Christendom? Now let the will of God be done, for the hope of all
rests on King Richard!”
* * * * *
The King of France first recovered from his sickness and turned his
attention to the construction of machines and petrariæ, suitable
for attacks, and which he determined to ply night and day, and he
had one of superior quality, to which they gave the name of “Bad
Neighbor.” The Turks also had one they called “Bad Kinsman,” which by
its violent casts often broke “Bad Neighbor” in pieces, but the King
of France rebuilt it, until by constant blows he broke down part of
the principal city wall, and shook the tower Maledictum. On one side,
the petraria of the Duke of Burgundy plied; on the other, that of the
Templars did severe execution; while that of the Hospitallers never
ceased to cast terror among the Turks. Besides these, there was one
petraria, erected at the common expense, which they were in the habit
of calling the “petraria of God.” Near it there constantly preached a
priest, a man of great probity, who collected money to restore it at
their joint expense, and to hire persons to bring stones for casting.
By means of this engine a part of the wall of the tower Maledictum
was at length shaken down, for about two poles’ length. The Count of
Flanders had a very choice petraria of large size, which after his
death King Richard possessed; besides a smaller one, equally good.
These two were plied incessantly, close by a gate the Turks used to
frequent, until part of the tower was knocked down. In addition to
these two, King Richard had constructed two others of choice material
and workmanship, which would strike a place at an incalculable
distance. He had also built one put together very compactly, which
the people called “Berefred,” with steps to mount it, fitting most
tightly to it; covered with raw hides and ropes, and having layers
of most solid wood, not to be destroyed by any blows, nor open to
injury from the pouring thereon of Greek fire, or any other material.
He also prepared two mangonels, one of which was of such violence
and rapidity that what it hurled reached the inner rows of the city
market-place. These engines were plied day and night, and it is well
known that a stone sent from one of them killed twelve men with its
blow. The stone was afterwards carried to Saladin for inspection;
and King Richard had brought it from Messina, which city he had
taken. Such stones, and flinty pieces of the smoothest kind, nothing
could withstand; but they either shattered in pieces the object they
struck, or ground it to powder.
The city of Acre, from its strong position, and its being defended
by the choicest men of the Turks, appeared difficult to be taken
by assault. The French had hitherto spent their labor in vain in
constructing machines and engines for breaking down the walls with
the greatest care; for whatever they erected, at a great expense,
the Turks destroyed with Greek fire or some devouring conflagration.
Amongst other machines and engines which the King of France had
erected for breaking down the walls, he had prepared one, with great
labor, to be used for scaling it, which they called a “cat,” because
like a cat it crept up and adhered to the wall. He had also another
made of strong hurdle-twigs, put together most compactly, which they
used to call a “cercleia,” and under its covering of hides the King
of France used to sit, and employ himself in throwing darts from a
sling; he would thus watch the approach of the Turks, above on the
walls, by the battlements, and hit them unawares. But it happened one
day that the French were eagerly pressing forward to apply their cat
to the walls, when, behold! the Turks let down upon it a heap of the
driest wood, and threw upon it a quantity of Greek fire, as well as
upon the hurdle they had constructed with such toil, and then aimed
a petraria in that direction, and all having forthwith caught fire,
they broke them in pieces by the blows from their petraria. Upon this
the King of France was enraged beyond measure, and began to curse all
those who were under his command; and rated them shamefully for not
exacting condign vengeance of the Saracens, who had done them such
injuries. In the heat of his passion, and when the day was drawing
in, he published an edict, by voice of herald, that an assault should
be made upon the city on the morrow.... There happened a wonderful
event, not to be passed over in silence. There was a man of renown
for his tried valor and excellence, named Alberic Clements, who,
when he saw the French toiling to very little purpose, exerted his
strength in the vehemence of his ardor, exclaiming, “This day I will
perish, or, if it please God, I will enter into the city of Acre.”
With these words he boldly mounted the ladder; and as he reached the
top of the wall the Turks fell on him from all sides and killed him.
The French were on the point of following him, but were overwhelmed
by the pressure of numbers which the ladder could not hold, and
some were bruised to death, and others dragged out much injured.
The Turks shouted with the greatest joy and applause when they saw
the accident, for it was a very severe misfortune. They surrounded
and overcame Alberic Clements, who was left alone on the top of the
wall, and pierced him with innumerable wounds. He thus verified what
he had before said,--that he would die a martyr if he was unable to
render his friends assistance by entering Acre. The French were much
discouraged by his loss, and ceasing the assault gave themselves up
to lamentation and mourning on account of his death, for he was a man
of rank and influence and great valor.
Not long after the French miners, by their perseverance, undermined
the tower Maledictum, and supported it by placing beams of wood
underneath. The Turks also, digging in the same direction, had
reached the same part of the foundations; on which they entered into
a mutual treaty of peace that the Turks should depart uninjured, and
some of the Christians whom they held captive were, by agreement,
in like manner set at liberty. On discovering this the Turks were
very much chagrined, and stopped up the passages by which they had
gone out.... What can we say of this race of unbelievers who thus
defended their city? They must be admired for their valor in war, and
were the honor of their whole nation, and had they been of the right
faith they would not have had their superiors as men throughout the
world. Yet they dreaded our men, not without reason, for they saw the
choicest soldiers from the ranks of all Christendom come to destroy
them; their walls in part broken down, in part shattered, the greater
portion of their army mutilated, some killed, and others weakened by
their wounds....
Meanwhile, the petrariæ of the Christians never ceased, day and
night, to shake the walls, and when the Turks saw this they were
smitten with wonder, astonishment, terror, and confusion; and many,
yielding to their fears, threw themselves down from the walls by
night, and without waiting for the promised aid, very many sought,
with supplications, the sacrament of baptism and Christianity. There
was little doubt, and with good reason as to their merits, that they
presumptuously asked the boon more from the pressure of urgent fear
than from any divine inspiration; but there are different steps by
which men arrive at salvation.
Saladin, perceiving the danger of delay, at length determined to
yield to the entreaties of the besieged; he was, moreover, persuaded
by his admirals and satraps, and his influential courtiers, who had
many friends and kinsmen amongst the besieged. The latter alleged
also that he was bound to them by his promise made on the Mahometan
law, that he would procure for them an honorable capitulation at the
last moment, lest, perchance, made prisoners at discretion, they
should be exterminated or put to an ignominious death, and thus the
law of Mahomet, which had been strictly observed by their ancestors,
be effaced by its dependence on him; and, nevertheless, very much
would be derogated from his name and excellence if the worshippers
of Mahomet should fall into the hands of the Christians. They also
begged to remind Saladin of the fact that they, a chosen race of
Turks, in obedience to his commands, had been cooped up in the city
and withstood the siege for so long a time; they reminded him too
that they had not seen their wives and children for three years,
during which period the siege had lasted; and they said it would be
better to surrender the city than that people of such merit should
be destroyed. The princes persuading the sultan to this effect that
their latter condition might not be worse than their former one, he
assented to their making peace on the best terms they could, and they
drew up a statement of what appeared to them the most proper terms of
treaty. On the messengers bringing back the resolution of Saladin and
his satraps the besieged were filled with great joy, and forthwith
the principal men of the city went to the kings, and, through their
interpreters, offered to surrender unconditionally the city of Acre,
the Cross, and two hundred and fifty noble Christian captives; and
when they perceived this did not satisfy them they offered two
thousand noble Christian captives, and five hundred of inferior rank,
whom Saladin would bring together from all parts of his kingdom, if
they would let the Turks depart from their city, with their shirts
only, leaving behind them their arms and property; and, as a ransom
for themselves, they would give two hundred thousand Saracenic
talents. As security for the performance of these conditions they
offered to deliver up, as hostages, all the men of noble or high
rank in the city. After the two kings had considered with the wisest
of the chiefs the opinion of all was for accepting the offer and
consenting to the conditions, that on taking the oath for security
and subscribing the terms of peace they might quit the city without
carrying anything with them, having first given up the hostages....
And when the day came that the Turks, so renowned for their courage
and valor, most active in the exercise of war, and famous for
their magnificence, appeared on the walls ready to leave the city,
the Christians went forth to look at them, and were struck with
admiration when they remembered the deeds they had done. They were
also astonished at the cheerful countenances of those who were thus
driven almost penniless from their city, their demeanor unchanged
by adversity; and those who but now had been compelled by sheer
necessity to own themselves conquered, and betake themselves to
supplication, bore no marks of care, as they came forth, nor any
signs of dejection at the loss of all they possessed--not even in
the firmness of their countenances, for they seemed to be conquerors
by their courageous bearing; but the form of superstitious idolatry
and the miserable error of sinfulness threw a stain upon their
warlike glories. At last, when all the Turks had departed, the
Christians, with the two kings at their head, entered the city
without opposition, through the open gates, with dances and joy and
loud vociferations, glorifying God and giving Him thanks, because He
had magnified His mercy to them, and had visited them, and redeemed
His people.
* * * * *
On the Wednesday before the feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, the
king and his army set out to Gadida to protect the city, but found
no one there, for the enemy had taken to flight when they heard of
his coming. On their way back the king attacked a fierce boar, which,
hearing the noise of the party passing by, had come out and stood
in the way. The fierce animal, foaming at the mouth with rage, and
with his shaggy hair bristling up, and his ears erect, seemed to be
collecting all his strength and fury to receive or make an attack. He
did not move from his place when the king shouted; nay, when the king
made a circuit round him, he also turned himself in his astonishment
round in a circle, and kept himself in the same place which he had
first occupied. The king, now making use of his lance for a hunting
spear, moved on to pierce him; and the boar, turning a little to
one side, prepared to meet him. The animal was of enormous size and
terrible aspect, and the lance which was boldly thrust against his
broad breast broke in two, from not being strong enough to bear
the force of both, as they were closing with each other. The boar,
now rendered furious by his wound, rushed with all his might upon
the king, who had not an inch of room, or a moment of time to turn
away; so putting spurs to his horse he fairly leapt over the animal,
unharmed, though the boar tore away the hinder trappings of his
horse, but the activity of the latter frustrated the blow, and the
part of the lance which was fixed in the animal’s breast prevented
him from coming to closer quarters. They then made a simultaneous
attack on each other, and the boar made a rapid movement, as if to
close with the king; but he, brandishing his sword, smote him with it
as he passed, and stunned him with the blow; then wheeled round his
horse, and, cutting the boar’s sinews, he consigned the animal to the
care of his huntsmen.
* * * * *
It also happened ... that while the king was staying there (at
Betnoble) they were much comforted by news which was brought to the
king; for a devout man, the abbat of St. Elie, whose countenance
bespoke holiness, with long beard and head of snow, came to the king
and told him that a long time ago he had concealed a piece of the
Holy Cross, in order to preserve it, until the Holy Land should be
rescued from the infidels and restored entirely to its former state,
and that he alone knew of this hidden treasure, and that he had often
been pressed by Saladin, who had tried to make him discover the Cross
by the most searching inquiries, but that he had always baffled
his questioners by ambiguous replies, and deluded them with false
statements; and that on account of his contumacy, Saladin had ordered
him to be bound, but he persisted in asserting that he had lost the
piece of the Cross during the taking of the City of Jerusalem, and
had thus deluded him notwithstanding his anxiety to find it. The
king, hearing this, set out immediately, with the abbat and a great
number of people, to the place of which the abbat had spoken; and
having taken up the piece of the Holy Cross with humble veneration,
they returned to the army; and, together with the people, they kissed
the Cross with much piety and contrition.
* * * * *
In the mean time our men, having by God’s grace escaped destruction,
the Turkish army returned to Saladin, who is said to have ridiculed
them by asking where Melech Richard was, for they had promised to
bring him a prisoner. “Which of you,” continued he, “first seized
him, and where is he? why is he not produced?” To whom one of the
Turks that came from the furthest countries of the earth, replied:
“In truth, my lord, Melech Richard, about whom you ask, is not here;
we have never heard since the beginning of the world that there ever
was such a knight, so brave, and so experienced in arms. In every
deed at arms he is ever foremost; in deeds he is without a rival, the
first to advance, and the last to retreat; we did our best to seize
him, but in vain, for no one can escape from his sword; his attack is
dreadful; to engage with him is fatal, and his deeds are beyond human
nature.”
V.
HERNANDO CORTES’S LETTERS.
[Sidenote: 1880.]
All this talk about Asia interested the children in the old geography
of Asia. They could see, by the map in Col. Yule’s book, how very vague
the notion of the eastern shore of Asia was. Marco Polo had sailed down
that shore; in fact, he came home that way.
“But,” said Tom Rising, “he knew no more about it than I knew of Cape
Ann and the Isle of Shoals, after I went from Boston to Mount Desert in
a steamer.”
“Exactly,” said Horace Feltham, “but you knew that there was no land
where you sailed over water, and Marco Polo knew the same.”
Then Uncle Fritz showed them a droll old map of the world made by Fra
Mauro, from the results of Marco Polo’s discoveries. The southeast
shore of Asia had a very suspicious curve, and Africa and Hindostan
and the other peninsulas were all squeezed into the same curve. He
explained to the children that this was done so that the whole of
the three Continents, which we call the Eastern Hemisphere, might be
brought up on one round plate, with Jerusalem for the centre.
[Illustration: HERNANDO CORTES]
“And this was the Asia that Columbus was looking for,” said Tom Rising.
“Yes, and this was the Asia Columbus thought he had found.
“He thought so, probably, till he died, and for a generation other
men thought so. It seems certain now that the coast of our own United
States was put down on the maps before it was really discovered. It is
doubtful how far the Cabots traced it. It is wellnigh certain that the
supposed discovery by the Verrazzani was all a lie. They found people
living stark naked early in March in the latitude of our New Jersey;
they found odorous palms and laurels in the same place at the same
time; wild roses and lilies in bloom. This is indeed ‘a lie with a
circumstance.’
“But all the same the coast of the United States was on the maps,
without any Cape Cod, without any Hudson River, without any Chesapeake
Bay. It is now supposed that, after Florida was discovered on
the south, and the regions around Newfoundland on the north, the
geographers were so certain that this was the Asiatic coast of Marco
Polo, that they drew it boldly in.”
When Uncle Fritz had explained this to the children, he made Sybil
trace the true eastern line of Asia, and compare it with the true
eastern line of America, and they were surprised and amused to see how
much they resembled each other.
[Sidenote: 1534.]
“When Cortes discovered California,” said Uncle Fritz, “he gave it that
name because in a romance of that time, called Esplandian, there was an
island called California, inhabited by Amazons, in the east of Asia.
Cortes thought he had struck the east of Asia. He thought California
was an island, and so he put California down on the map. And it has
stayed there long after everybody forgot the romance,--except Don
Quixote, and me.”
Some of the children said they liked Cortes better than they did
Pizarro.
“And well you may,” said Uncle Fritz. “Neither of them were Christian
gentlemen of the type of the nineteenth century. But Cortes was, in
every regard, much more of a man than Pizarro. And, of all the numerous
accounts of his marvellous adventures, none are better written than
those by himself.”
“If only,” cried Clem Waters, “he had written in English! I am always
groaning about that.”
This was a constant complaint of Clem’s. But Uncle Fritz told him
that in this case his difficulty was solved. Cortes’s letters to
the sovereign have now all been translated. They were found in one
receptacle or another, in different depositories in Europe, for Charles
V. was here or there or everywhere. But now six of them have been
found, and have been translated.
He sent Bob for the different editions of Cortes’s letters to the
sovereign, and, partly guided by Uncle Fritz’s marks and suggestions,
the children read the following passages:--
EXTRACT FROM CORTES’S THIRD AND FOURTH LETTERS.
[Sidenote: 1520.]
The next day, after mass, I sent a messenger to the town of Vera
Cruz to carry the good news that the Christians were alive, and that
I had entered the city, which was quiet. The messenger returned in
half an hour after his departure, covered with bruises and injuries,
crying aloud that all the Indians of the city were in arms, and that
they had raised the bridges; and soon after an attack was made upon
us by so great a multitude of people on all sides, that neither the
streets nor the roofs of the houses were visible on account of the
crowd, from whom proceeded the most violent outcries and terrible
shouts that could be conceived. Stones thrown by slings fell in such
numbers upon the garrison that it seemed as if they came down like
rain from the clouds; and darts and arrows were so thick that the
houses and squares were filled with them, and almost prevented our
walking about. I sallied forth at two or three different points,
where they were engaged stoutly with our men; and at one time,
when a captain had led forth two hundred men, they fell upon them
before he had time to form them in order, and killed four of their
number, besides wounding the captain and several others. I was also
wounded, and many of the Spaniards who were with me engaged in
another quarter. We destroyed few of the enemy, because they took
refuge beyond the bridges, and did us much injury from the roofs of
houses and terraces, some of which fell into our possession and were
burned. But they were so numerous and strong, and so well defended
and supplied with stones and other arms, that our whole force was not
sufficient to take them, nor to prevent the enemy from attacking us
at their pleasure.
[Illustration: CANNON OF CORTES’S TIME]
The attack on the fortress or garrison was made with such violence
that they succeeded in setting fire to several parts of it, and a
considerable portion of it was burned without our being able to
prevent it, until we cut away the walls and levelled a portion of
the building with the ground, by which we obstructed the progress
of the fire and extinguished it. And had it not been for the great
caution that I used in posting musketeers, archers, and several
pieces of artillery, they would have scaled our walls in broad
daylight without our being able to resist them. Thus we fought all
that day until the darkness of night enveloped us, and even then they
continued to assail us with noises and alarms till daylight. That
night I directed the breaches caused by the fire to be repaired,
together with all other parts of the garrison that seemed to require
it; and I arranged the quarters, determining who were to remain in
them the next day, and who were to be engaged without; at the same
time I caused suitable care to be taken of the wounded, who amounted
to more than eighty in number. As soon as it was daylight, the enemy
renewed the combat with still greater vigor than the day before, for
the number of them was so immense that there was no need of levelling
the guns, but only to direct them against the mass of Indians. And
although the fire-arms did much injury, for we played off thirteen
arquebuses besides matchlocks and cross-bows, they produced so little
impression that their effect scarcely seemed to be felt; since where
a discharge cut down ten or twelve men, the ranks were instantly
closed up by additional numbers, and no apparent loss was perceived.
Leaving in the garrison a sufficient force for its defence, and
as large as I could spare, I sallied forth with the rest, and
took from the enemy several bridges, setting fire to a number of
houses and destroying the people who defended them; but they were
so numerous, that although we did them much injury, the effect was
still imperceptible. Our men were compelled to fight all day long
without cessation, while the enemy were relieved at intervals by
fresh forces, and still had a superabundance of men. But we had none
of our Spanish force killed on this day, although fifty or sixty were
wounded, and we continued the contest till night, when we withdrew
wearied into the garrison. Seeing the great mischief done us by the
enemy in wounding and slaying our people, while they were either
unharmed, or if we caused them any loss, it was immediately repaired
by their great numbers, we spent all that night and the next day in
constructing three engines of timber, each of which would contain
twenty men, covered with thick plank to protect them from the stones
that were thrown from the terraces of houses. The persons to be
conveyed in the machines were musketeers and archers, together with
others provided with spades, pickaxes, and bars of iron, to demolish
the barricades erected in the streets and pull down the houses.
While we were building these machines, the enemy did not cease their
attacks; and so resolute were they, that when we sallied forth
from our quarters they attempted to enter them, and we had trouble
enough to resist their progress. Montezuma, who was still a prisoner
(together with his son and many other persons of distinction, who had
been secured at the beginning of operations), now came forward and
requested to be taken to the terrace of the garrison, that he might
speak to the leaders of his people and induce them to discontinue
the contest. I caused him to be taken up, and when he reached a
battlement projecting from the fortress, and sought an opportunity to
address the people who were fighting in that quarter, a stone thrown
by some one of his own subjects struck him on the head with so much
force that he died in three days after. I then gave his dead body to
two Indians who were amongst the prisoners, and taking it upon their
shoulders they bore it away to his people; what afterwards became of
it I know not. The war, however, did not cease, but increased in
violence and desperation every day. On the same day a cry was heard
in the quarter where Montezuma had been wounded, some of the enemy
calling to me to approach there, as certain of their captains wished
to confer with me. I accordingly did so, and we passed amongst them;
when, after a long parley, I asked them to discontinue their attacks,
since they had no good reason for it, having received many benefits
from me, and having always been treated well. Their answer was, that
I must depart and leave the country, when the war would immediately
cease; otherwise they were all resolved to die, or to destroy us.
This they did, as it appeared, to induce me to leave the fortress,
that they might cut us off at pleasure on our departure from the
city, when we were between the bridges. I answered them that they
need not suppose I asked for peace from fear, but that I was pained
to be under the necessity of injuring them and destroying so fine a
city as theirs. They replied that they should not cease their attacks
until I departed from the city.
After the engines were completed, immediately on the following day, I
sallied forth to gain possession of certain terraces and bridges; and
placing the engines in front, they were followed by four pieces of
artillery, with many bowmen and shield-bearers, and more than three
thousand native Tlascalans, who had come with me as auxiliaries,
subordinate to the Spanish troops. Having reached a bridge, we
brought the engines near to the walls of the terraces, together
with scaling-ladders, by means of which we ascended them. But the
multitude of people was so great that defended the bridge and the
terraces, and such showers of heavy stones were thrown from above,
and the movements of the engines were disconcerted, and a Spaniard
killed and many others wounded, without our being able to make any
progress, although we struggled hard for it, and fought from morning
till mid-day, when we returned sad enough to our quarters.
The enemy were so much encouraged by this unsuccessful movement
on our part, that they advanced almost to our doors, and took
possession of the great temple, to the loftiest and most considerable
tower of which nearly five hundred Indians, apparently persons of
rank, ascended, taking with them a large supply of bread, water,
and other provisions, and a great quantity of stones. Most of
them were armed with lances of large size, having points formed
of flint, broader and not less sharp than ours; and from this
position they did much mischief to the people in the garrison, as
it was very near. The Spanish soldiers attacked this tower two or
three times, and attempted to ascend it; but it was very lofty,
and the passage up difficult on account of its having more than a
hundred steps, and those above were well supplied with stones and
other means of defence, and favored by our not having succeeded in
gaining possession of the neighboring terraces; in consequence of
these circumstances, every time our soldiers attempted the ascent,
they came rolling down, many of them severely wounded; and the
other portions of the enemy’s force, seeing this, took courage,
and penetrated to the very garrison without fear. Being sensible
that if they continued their assaults while in possession of the
tower, besides doing us much harm, they would be encouraged in the
prosecution of the war, I sallied forth from the garrison, although
lame in my left hand from a wound I had received in the engagement
on the first day; and having tied a shield to my arm, I advanced to
the tower, attended by a number of Spanish soldiers, and caused it
to be surrounded at its base by a sufficient number of men, as was
quite practicable. This precaution was not a useless one, as the
troops stationed around the tower were attacked on all sides by the
enemy, who increased in numbers to favor those within; in the mean
time I began to ascend the stairs, followed by certain Spaniards.
While they who were above disputed the ascent with great courage, and
even overturned three or four of my followers, by the aid of God and
his glorious Mother, for whose house this tower had been designated,
and whose image had been placed in it, we succeeded in ascending,
and engaged with the enemy on the upper area, until I compelled them
to leap down to a lower terrace that surrounded it, one pace in
width. Of these terraces the tower had three or four, about sixteen
feet one above the other. Some of the enemy fell to the very bottom,
who, besides the injury received from the fall, were slain by the
Spanish soldiers stationed around the base. Those who remained on the
upper terraces fought so desperately that we were more than three
hours engaged with them before they were all despatched; thus all
perished, not one escaping. And your sacred Majesty may be assured
that so arduous was the attempt to take this tower, that if God had
not broken their spirits, twenty of them would have been sufficient
to resist the ascent of a thousand men, although they fought with the
greatest valor, even unto death. I caused this tower and the others
within the temple to be burned, from which they had removed the
images we had placed in them.
[Illustration: THE GREAT TEMPLE OF MEXICO]
The fierceness of the enemy was somewhat abated by the capture of
this position; and while they relaxed their exertions throughout
the city to a considerable degree, I directed my attention to
the neighboring terrace, and called to the chiefs who had before
conferred with me, but were now somewhat dismayed by what they had
witnessed. They immediately appeared, when I said to them that they
saw their inability to maintain their ground; that we should every
day do them much injury, destroy many lives, burn and lay waste the
city; and that we should persevere until nothing was left of it
or them. They answered, that they were well aware much harm would
befall them, and that many of them would lose their lives; but that
they were still determined to make an end of us, even if they should
all perish in the attempt; that I might see how the streets, public
squares, and terraces were filled with people, who were so numerous
that they had made a calculation that if twenty-five thousand of
them should fall to one of ours, we would be first exterminated, so
small was our number compared with theirs; that all the causeways
leading to the city had been destroyed (which was so far true that
only one of them remained), and thus we had no way of escape but by
water; that they knew well we had few provisions and but little fresh
water, and that ere long we should perish with hunger, even if they
did not kill us. They were, indeed, quite right in saying that had we
nothing else to contend with, hunger and want would soon put an end
to our lives. We exchanged many other words, each party sustaining
his own side. As soon as it was dark, I sallied forth with a number
of Spaniards, and as I found the people were taken by surprise, we
obtained possession of one street, in which we burned more than
three hundred houses. While the enemy were assembling in that quarter
in its defence, I speedily turned into another street, where I also
burned several houses, especially certain terraces that adjoined our
quarters, from which we had experienced much annoyance. Thus the
events of that night struck great terror into the enemy; and during
the same night I caused the engines, that had created confusion in
our ranks the day before, to be repaired and got in readiness.
The next morning, in order to follow up the victory God had granted
us, I sallied forth at break of day into the same street where
they had routed us the day before, and I found the enemy not less
prepared for defence than they were on the former occasion. But as
our lives and honor were now at stake, and as that street led to a
causeway that remained unbroken,[11] extending to the main land,
although interrupted by eight bridges very large and high, and the
street itself was filled with lofty terraces and towers; we put forth
so much resolution and spirit that, with the aid of our Lord, we
secured that day four of the bridges, and burned all of the terraces,
houses, and towers, as far as the last of these bridges. They had
erected during the previous night, on all the bridges, many strong
breastworks of unburnt bricks and clay, so that neither the guns nor
the cross-bows made any impression on them. We filled up the space
occupied by the four bridges with the unburnt bricks and the earth
from the breastworks, together with a great quantity of stones and
timber from the burnt houses, although this was not effected without
danger, and many Spaniards were wounded. The same night I used much
precaution in guarding the bridges, lest the enemy should succeed in
recovering them.
The next day in the morning I made another sally from our quarters,
and God gave us again success and victory, although the enemy
appeared in great numbers, and defended the bridges, protected
by strong entrenchments and ditches which they had formed during
the night; we took them all, and covered them up; and some of our
horsemen followed at the heels of the fugitives in the heat of
victory, and pursued them to the main land. While I was employed in
repairing the bridges and filling them up, messengers came to me in
great haste, reporting that the enemy had attacked the garrison,
and at the same time had sued for peace, several of their leaders
being in waiting to see me. I immediately went with two horsemen to
see what they wanted. These men assured me that if I would engage
not to punish them for what they had done, they would raise the
blockade, replace the bridges that had been destroyed, and restore
the causeways, and that hereafter they would serve your Majesty as
they had before done. They also requested that I would bring them a
priest of theirs whom I had taken prisoner, who was, as it were, the
commander-in-chief of their religion. He came and addressed them, and
brought about an arrangement between me and them; and it appeared
that they immediately despatched messengers to inform the captains
and the people who were in the camp that the attacks on the garrison
and all other offensive operations should cease. Upon this being done
we took leave of them, and I went to the garrison to procure some
food.
While I was beginning to take some refreshment, information was
brought me in great haste that the Indians had attacked the bridges
which we had taken the same day, and had killed certain Spaniards.
God only knows with what feelings I received this intelligence,
since I had thought that we had nothing more to trouble us after
having gained the possession of the avenue leading out of the city. I
mounted in the greatest possible haste, and galloped the whole length
of the street, followed by a few horsemen; and without stopping a
moment I dashed in amongst the Indians, and put them to flight whilst
I regained the bridges, and pursued them to the main land. As the
infantry were wearied, wounded, and panic-struck, they did not follow
me, and I saw the dangerous situation in which I was placed from
being unsupported by them. On this account, after having passed the
bridges, when I sought to return I found them in possession of the
enemy, and sunk to a great depth where we had filled them up; and
both sides of the causeway were covered with people, on the land and
water, who galled us with stones and arrows to such a degree that if
God had not been pleased to interpose mysteriously in our behalf, it
would have been impossible for us to escape thence; and, indeed, it
was rumored amongst the people in the city that I was dead. When I
reached the last bridge next the city I found all the cavalry that
had accompanied me fallen in, and one horse without a rider; and as
in this situation I could not pass, I rushed alone against the enemy,
and thus opened a passage by which the horsemen could extricate
themselves. After this I found the bridge free and passed over,
although with some trouble, as I had to leap my horse in one place
nearly six feet from one side to the other; but as I and my horse
were well protected by armor the enemy did us no harm more than to
cause our bodies a little pain.
Thus the enemy that night came off victorious, having regained four
of the bridges. The other four I left well guarded, and returned to
the garrison, where I constructed a bridge of timber that could be
carried by forty men. Seeing the dangerous situation in which we
were now placed, and the very serious injury that the Indians were
doing us every day; and fearing that they would also destroy the
remaining causeway, as they had done the others, and when that was
effected death would be our inevitable fate; and moreover, having
been often entreated by all my companions to abandon the place, the
greater part of whom were so badly wounded as to be disabled from
fighting, I determined to quit the city that night. I took all the
gold and jewels belonging to your Majesty that could be removed and
placed them in one apartment, where I delivered it in parcels to the
officers of your Highness, whom I had designated for this purpose in
the royal name; and I begged and desired the alcaldes, regidores, and
all the people, to aid me in removing and preserving this treasure;
I gave up my mare to carry as much as she could bear; and I selected
certain Spaniards, as well my own servants as others, to accompany
the gold and the mare, and the rest the magistrates above mentioned
and myself distributed amongst the Spaniards, to be borne by them.
Abandoning the garrison, together with much wealth belonging to your
Highness, the Spaniards and myself, I went forth as secretly as
possible, taking with me a son and two daughters of Muteczuma[12]
and Cacamacin, cacique of Aculuacan, with his brother, whom I had
appointed in his place, and several other governors of provinces and
cities that I had taken prisoners.
Arriving at the bridges (now broken up) which the Indians had left,
the bridge that I carried was thrown over where the first of them had
been, without much difficulty, as there was none to offer resistance,
except some watchmen who were stationed there, and who uttered so
loud cries, that before we had arrived at the second an immense
multitude of the enemy assailed us, fighting in every direction, both
by land and water. I sallied across with great speed, followed by
five horsemen and a hundred foot, with whom I passed all the (broken)
bridges swimming, and reached the main land. Leaving the people who
formed this advance party, I returned to the rear, where I found
the troops hotly engaged; it is incalculable how much our people
suffered, as well Spaniards as our Indian allies of Tascaltecal,
nearly all of whom perished, together with many native Spaniards and
horses, besides the loss of the gold, jewels, cotton cloth, and many
other things we had brought away, including the artillery. Having
collected all that were alive, I sent them on before, while with
three or four horse and about twenty foot that dared to remain with
me, I followed in the rear, incessantly engaged with the Indians,
until we at length reached a city called Tacuba (Tlacopan), beyond
the causeway, after encountering a degree of toil and danger, the
extent of which God only knows. As often as I turned against the
enemy, I met a shower of arrows and darts and stones, and there being
water on both sides, they assailed us without exposing themselves,
and without fear; for when we attacked them on the causeway, they
immediately leapt into the water, receiving little hurt, except
some few, who, when the multitude was so great as to trample upon
one another, fell and perished. Thus with great labor and fatigue
I brought off all this portion of our force without any of the
Spaniards or Indians being wounded or slain, except one of the horse
that had gone with me to the rear, where they fought with no less
fury than in front or on the flanks, although the hottest part of the
fight was in the extreme rear, where our men were constantly exposed
to fresh attacks from the inhabitants of the city.
[Illustration: MONTEZUMA]
Having reached the city of Tacuba, I found all our people gathered
together in the square, not knowing where to go; I gave immediate
directions to march into the country, before the inhabitants should
collect in greater numbers in the city, and that they should take
possession of the terraces, as the enemy would be likely to do us
much injury from them. Those who had led the van, saying that they
knew not in which direction to leave the city, I bade them remain
with the rear, while I took command of the van until I had led them
out into the open fields, where I waited till the rest came up.
When the rear arrived, I saw that they had suffered some loss, and
that they had left on the road much gold, which the Indians had
seized. I remained there until all our people had arrived, closely
pursued by the enemy. I kept the enemy at bay until the infantry
had taken possession of a hill on which there was a tower with a
strong building, which they took without suffering any loss, and I
maintained my position, not suffering the enemy to advance, until the
hill was taken;[13] and God only knows the toil and fatigue with
which it was accomplished; for of twenty-four horses that remained to
us, there was not one that could move briskly, nor a horseman able to
raise his arm, nor a foot-soldier unhurt who could make any effort.
When we had reached the building, we fortified ourselves in it; and
the enemy invested it, remaining till night without allowing us an
hour of rest.
In this defeat it was ascertained that one hundred and fifty
Spaniards lost their lives, together with forty-five mares and
horses, and more than two thousand Indians, our auxiliaries; amongst
the latter were the son and daughters of Muteczuma, and the other
caciques whom we had taken prisoners. The same night[14] about
midnight, thinking that we were not perceived, we sallied forth
from the building very secretly, leaving in it many lighted fires,
without knowing our route, nor where to go, except that one of the
Tascaltecal Indians who guided us promised to lead us to his country,
if the enemy did not embarrass the route. But guards had been
stationed around who noticed our movements, and gave the alarm to the
multitudes of people dwelling in that vicinity, of whom great numbers
were collected, who pursued us until daylight, when five horsemen
who went before as runners attacked some squadrons of people on the
road, and killed a number of them; these fled, supposing that there
was a greater number of horse and foot than appeared. When I saw
that the number of the enemy was increasing on all sides, I made a
disposition of our force, and out of those remaining unhurt I formed
squadrons, and placed them in front and rear, and on the flanks; I
put the wounded in the centre; and I also arranged the position of
the horse. During the whole of that day we were engaged in fighting
in every direction, so that during the whole night and day we did
not advance more than three leagues. It pleased our Lord when the
night came to show us a tower and a good house on a hill, where we
entrenched ourselves; and that night the enemy left us undisturbed,
except that near the dawn of day there was a sudden alarm that only
sprung from the constant apprehension we all had of the multitude of
people that was continually at our heels.
“You see,” said Uncle Fritz, “that it was not all sunshine with Cortes.
Now you shall read something of his resource as an explorer.”
EXTRACT FROM CORTES’S FIFTH LETTER.
[Sidenote: 1520.]
One day the idea struck me that by following down the river of that
village I might perhaps come to the other large river that empties
itself in the sweet gulfs, where I had left my brigantine, as well
as my boats and canoes. I consulted the matter with some of the
prisoners of that village, and they all seemed to agree in saying
that the two rivers communicated; but as they did not understand us
well, and they spoke a language totally different from those we had
hitherto met, no great reliance could be placed in their information.
Through signs, however, and aided by a few words in that language
which I understood, I begged that two of them should accompany ten
of my Spaniards, and show them the meeting of the two rivers. This
they promised to do, adding that the place was near at hand, and that
they would be back on the next day. And so it was, for God permitted
that after marching two leagues through very fine orchards, full of
cacao and other fruit trees, they should guide my men to the banks of
that large river, which they said communicated with the gulf, where
my shipping was. They even went so far as to say that the river’s
name was Apolochic, and that they had often navigated it. On their
return, the next day, I asked them how many days it would take a
canoe to go down the river to the gulfs, and having answered me that
five days were sufficient to accomplish the journey, I determined
upon sending thither two Spaniards, accompanied by one of the guides,
who offered to take them by crossroads known to him to the very spot
on the gulf where my ships were. I gave my men instructions to have
the brigantine, boats, and canoes taken to the mouth of that large
river, and that, leaving the vessel behind, they should try with one
of the canoes and a boat to ascend the river to the spot where the
other one joined it. This being done, and the men despatched on their
errand, I ordered four rafts to be constructed with pieces of timber
and very large bamboos, capable of supporting forty faneagues or
bushels of dried maize, and ten men each, without counting a quantity
of beans, peppers, and cacao, which each Spaniard afterwards threw
into it for his own private supply. The rafts being made, after eight
days’ hard work, and the provisions placed on them, the Spaniards I
had sent to the brigantine came to me and said that, after ascending
the river during six consecutive days, they had found it impossible
for the boat to go on, and had left it behind with ten Spaniards to
guard it; that, prosecuting their journey with the canoe, they had
arrived at a place, about one league down the river, where, worn out
by fatigue, and unable to use their oars, they had left it hidden
among the bushes; that on their way up the river they had met
Indians, and fought occasionally with them, and although they were
then few in number, they had reason to fear that they would come
back in force, and wait for their return. I immediately sent people
to look out for the canoe, and bring it alongside of the rafts; and
having placed on these all the provisions we had collected, chose
among my people those who were most capable of directing those rafts,
and avoiding by means of great poles the many floating timbers and
gigantic trees with which the bed of the river was covered, and
which rendered the navigation extremely dangerous. The remainder
of my people, under a captain appointed for the purpose, I sent to
the gulf by the same route which we had followed in coming up to
Chacujal, with instructions that if they arrived before me they
were to wait at the place of our landing until I should come for
them, and that if, on the contrary, I was before them on the spot,
I would not move until they came. As to myself, I embarked in the
canoe with only two cross-bow men, the only ones disposable in all my
suite. Though the journey I was about to undertake was exceedingly
dangerous, owing to the impetuosity and strength of the current, as
well as the almost certainty that the Indians would wait for us on
our passage, I nevertheless preferred this route by water to the
other by water, because our stock of provisions went this way, and
I could thus watch better over it. And so, trusting myself in the
hands of God, our Saviour, I began descending the river with such
rapidity, owing to the strength and violence of the current, that
in less than three hours’ navigation we came to the spot where the
boat had been left. Here we attempted to lighten the rafts by putting
part of their cargo in the boat, but it was found impracticable, for
no human effort could stop the rafts, driven on as they were by a
rapid current. I then embarked in the boat, and gave orders that the
canoe, well fitted with good oars, should go in front of the rafts,
in order to see whether any Indians lay in ambush, or whether we came
to any dangerous pass in the river; I myself remaining behind with
the boat ready to give assistance to the rafts, as it was clear to me
that, in case of need, I might more easily help from the rear than
if placed in the van. In this order we went down that river, until
about sunset, when one of the rafts struck violently against a piece
of timber that held fast to the bottom. So strong was the shock, that
the raft was almost entirely submerged, and although the violence of
the waters at that spot made it float again, half its cargo was lost.
Three hours later in the night, I heard in front of us the shouting
of some Indians, but not choosing to leave the rafts behind, I did
not go forward to ascertain what it might be. The shouting, however,
ceased, and we heard no more of it for some time. A little later in
the night I again heard the shouts, at what seemed to me a shorter
distance; but I could not ascertain the fact, for the canoe went, as
I have said, in front, and then three of the rafts, and I followed
in the rear with the fourth, which, owing to the accident sustained,
could not go so fast.
In this manner we proceeded for some length of time, until we came
to a turning of the river, where the current was so strong that,
notwithstanding all our efforts, rafts and boat were cast on shore.
Some time before this, hearing no longer those alarming shouts,
confidence had returned to my people, and I myself, taking off my
helmet--for I was ill with fever at the time--had laid my head on my
hand to see if I could rest. It was soon, however, ascertained that
the shouting we had heard in the distance came from that particular
spot, for the Indians, who knew the river well, as inhabiting its
banks, and being almost born on it, had followed us for some time
along the shore, knowing very well that we should be cast by the
current on the very spot where they were waiting in ambush for
us. No sooner, therefore, did the canoe and rafts reach the place
where the Indians lay concealed than we were assailed by a volley
of arrows from the shore that wounded almost every man on board;
though, knowing that most of us remained still behind, the attack
of the Indians was by no means so strong or furious as the one
they afterwards made on us. Thus assailed, the people in the canoe
attempted to come back and give me notice of the danger, but they
never succeeded in porting the helm, owing to the strength of the
current. When, however, it came to our turn to strike the land, the
Indians gave a most terrific shout, and assailed us with such a
volley of arrows and stones that not one man on board escaped without
a wound. I, myself, was struck by a stone on the head, the only part
of my body that was unarmed, having taken off my steel cap some time
before. God, however, permitted that at the spot where this happened
the banks of the river should be high and the waters deep. To this
circumstance we owed our salvation; for the night being dark, some of
the Indians who attempted to leap upon the rafts and boat fell into
the water, and I believe that a good number of them were drowned in
this way. The current itself soon extricated us from the danger, so
that a few minutes after this we scarcely heard their shouts.
The rest of the night passed without encounter of any sort, though
from time to time we still heard in the distance, or from the sides
of the river, the Indian war-cries.
The shores, I observed, were covered with villages and plantations,
and there were, besides, many fine orchards with cacao and other
fruit trees.
At dawn of day we were five leagues from the mouth of that river that
empties itself into the gulf, and where the brigantine was waiting
for us, and about the hour of noon we arrived on the spot, so that in
four-and-twenty hours we ran no less than twenty long leagues down
that river.
Having given orders that the provisions on the rafts should be
transferred immediately to the brigantine, I was informed, to my
great disappointment, that most of the maize was wet, and that if
I could not have it dried I ran a risk of losing the whole stock,
whereby all the trouble we had in procuring it would have proved in
vain. I immediately caused the dry maize to be put aside and stored
in the brigantine, and as to that which had been spoilt by water,
I had it thrown into the two boats and in two canoes, and sent it
in haste to the village for the purpose of drying; the shores of
that gulf being so swampy and low that there was no spot, however
small, where the operation could be effectually carried on. My men,
therefore, went away with the boats and canoes, but I gave them
orders to send the same back to me, the brigantine and one remaining
canoe being sufficient to convey all my people. Soon after their
departure I set sail in the brigantine, and steered towards the
place where it was agreed that I should wait for the people coming
from Chacujal by land. I waited for them three days, at the end of
which they all arrived in good spirits, and with no other loss but
that of a Spaniard, who having eaten of some herbs he saw in the
fields died almost immediately after. They also brought with them an
Indian, whom they had surprised and taken prisoner near the place
where I left them. This Indian was dressed differently and spoke a
language unknown in these parts. I had already begun to interrogate
him by signs, when a man was found among the prisoners who said he
understood a little of his dialect. In this manner we learned that he
was a native of Teculutlan. No sooner did I hear that name pronounced
than I recollected having heard it repeated on other occasions, and
when I returned to the village I consulted certain memoranda of mine,
where I actually found that name written as being that of a place
across the country, between which and the Spanish establishments in
the South Sea, governed by Pedro de Alvarado, one of my captains,
there was only a distance of seventy-eight leagues. The above
memoranda further stated that the village of Teculutlan had been
visited by Spaniards, and as the Indian bore also testimony to the
fact, I was very much pleased at receiving such intelligence.
My people being all congregated together, and the boats not having
yet returned, we consumed all the dry grain we had in store, and
embarked on board the brigantine, though, the vessel being so very
small, we had the greatest difficulty to move. It was my idea to
cross the gulf to that village where we had landed at first, because
I recollected that the maize plantations were very fine and in full
grain, though not sufficiently ripe for our cutting. Five-and-twenty
days had elapsed since that time, and it was to be hoped that a
good deal of it was dry enough for us to keep; and it so happened;
for being one morning in the middle of the gulf we saw the boats
and canoes coming towards us, and, having sailed altogether in that
direction, recognized the place where the village was. Immediately
after landing, all my people, Spaniards as well as Indians, besides
forty native prisoners, went straight forward to the village,
where they found several maize plantations in the finest possible
condition. The natives, if there were any at the place, not having
shown themselves or made any opposition, my men reaped as much of
that maize as they could, every man of us, Christian or Indian,
making that day three journeys, fortunately very short, from the
village to the ship, loaded with as much grain as he could carry. The
brigantine being filled as well as the boats, I went to the village
myself, leaving there all my people engaged in that most providential
harvest; I afterwards sent to them the two boats, and one more
belonging to a vessel from New Spain, and that had been lost in those
waters, and four canoes. In these vessels all my people embarked,
after having, as I said before, brought sufficient provision to last
us all for many a day. It was, indeed, a most providential supply,
and one that compensated us for all our past troubles; for had we not
found it at that moment we should all have perished through hunger.
“How much of the Cortes wonders do you believe, Uncle Fritz?”
This was Horace Feltham’s question.
Uncle Fritz said that there were two sets of opinions about it. For
himself, when Cortes squarely said that a thing was thus and so, he
took it as probably true, with due allowance for a man’s praise of his
own achievements, and for Spanish and travellers’ exaggeration.
But a great deal of what you find in the received accounts of the
conquest must be set down as belonging to the same school of romance as
in the same days wrote tales of chivalry or lives of saints. Especially
where men do not tell what they saw themselves must you be careful when
you are dealing with these Spanish authorities.
VI.
FRA MARCO AND CORONADO.
[Sidenote: 1880.]
When the children came in the next week they found Col. Ingham’s large
study-table cleared from books and papers, and quite covered with a
display of earthenware.
Blanche asked if there were to be an æsthetic wedding; she told him his
table seemed to be covered with wedding presents.
“I do not know how the young brides would like my crockery,” said the
colonel, laughing, “but you see I could fit out any of you.” There
was a gigantic soup-tureen, pitchers of grotesque shapes, curious
water-bottles for travellers to carry at their sides, and every sort of
cup, of saucer, and tall vases. The material of some was black; of the
tureen and most of the larger objects yellow ware, painted with quaint
pictures of beasts and of birds and sometimes of men.
He bade them see how closely these things resembled the pottery dug
from the western mounds, which he had shown them when they went with
him to the Peabody Museum in Cambridge; and, at a nod from him, Tom
Rising took down the first volume of Bryant’s History, which is really
“Gay’s,” and which is for young people a good history of the United
States. Here they found pictures of earthenware from the mounds, and
the children engaged eagerly in comparing them with specimens on the
table.
Over the sofa was thrown a great rug, woven or knit in black and white
wool, and smaller rugs or mats of the same size hung over the chairs.
“Are they from the mounds, Uncle Fritz?”
“These are not,” said he; “these are all modern, so far as I know. Your
mother, Blanche, has just now come back from Santa Barbara, and I dare
say some of these hard-working people sold her some of their rugs. They
keep up their native industries and sometimes come to the stations to
sell their work. Through New Mexico and Arizona, the road passes quite
near to the pueblos, as they are called, of these industrious Indians,
who, under different names, have always held those valleys. They are
people who believe in the ‘Together.’ The necessity of uniting to
irrigate the land holds them together. They live in these houses, two,
three, or four stories high, of which Mr. Cargill has lent us these
pictures.”
And then Uncle Fritz showed them some beautiful photographic views
of the “pueblos,” or villages. “Pueblos,” which originally means
“peoples,” is the name which the Spaniards of Mexico give to any such
town.
[Illustration: AN INDIAN PUEBLO]
“By keeping together in these towns, which are almost fortresses, they
have defied the roving Indians, like the Camanches and the Apaches,
since Cortes’s day. Indeed, the Spaniards found them an even match.”
Then the children found that Col. Ingham had laid out for them
the original records, which are still rare, of the first Spanish
explorations. Eager for more gold, the viceroy Mendoça sent, as early
as 1540, an expedition to discover this country under Coronado. It
was a party of three hundred Spaniards with eight hundred native
Mexicans.
They were tempted to it by the lying stories of Father Marco, who is
one of the princes of lying.
“Four Spaniards, one of whom was a negro, named Stephen, had crossed
the continent from the Gulf of Mexico, after the failure of Narvaez.
You will find about them in the first volume of the Popular History
there, Bryant’s. Father Marco got hold of the negro, and, under his
guidance, went north from the then settled parts of Mexico. When he
came home he told a grand rigmarole about these pueblos, which probably
looked then very much as they look now.
“Here is a part of his letter in your dear old Hakluyt.”
Blanche read aloud what Uncle Fritz had marked for her.
[Sidenote: 1540.]
Thus I travelled three days’ journey through towns inhabited by
the same people, of whom I was received as I was of those which
I had passed, and came into a town of reasonable bigness, called
Vacupa, where they showed me great courtesies, and gave me great
store of good victuals, because the soil is very fruitful, and may
be watered. This town is forty leagues distant from the sea, and
because I was so far from the sea, it being two days before Passion
Sunday, I determined to stay there until Easter, to inform myself
of the islands, whereof I said before that I had information; and
so I sent certain Indians to the sea by three several ways, whom
I commanded to bring me some Indians of the sea-coast and some of
those islands, that I might receive information of them; and I sent
Stephen Dorantez, the negro, another way, whom I commanded to go
directly northward, fifty or threescore leagues, to see if by that
way he might learn any news of any notable thing which we sought to
discover. And I agreed with him that if he found any knowledge of
any peopled and rich country which were of great importance, that he
should go no farther, but should return in person, or should send
me certain Indians with that token which we were agreed upon, that
if it were but a mean thing he should send me a white cross one
handfull long; and if it were any great matter, one of two handsfull
long; and if it were a country greater and better than Nueva España,
he should send me a great cross. So the said Stephen departed from
me on Passion Sunday after dinner, and within four days after the
messengers of Stephen returned unto me with a great cross as high
as a man, and they brought me word from Stephen that I should
forthwith come away after him, for he had found people which gave
him information of a very mighty Province, and that he had certain
Indians in his company which had been in the said Province, and that
he had sent me one of the said Indians. This Indian told me that it
was thirty days’ journey from the town where Stephen was, into the
first city of the said Province, which is called Cevola. He said also
that there are seven great cities in this Province, all under one
Lord; the houses are made of lime and stone, and are very great; and
the least of them with one loft overhead, and some of them two and
three lofts, and the house of the lord of the Province of four, and
that all of them joined one into the other in good order, and that
in the gates of the principal houses there are many Turkish stones
(Turquoise stones) cunningly wrought, whereof he said they had
there a great many; also that the people of this city are very well
dressed, and that beyond this there are other provinces, all which
are much greater than these seven cities.... I deferred my departure
to follow Stephen Dorantez, because I thought he would stay for me,
and also to attend the return of my messengers whom I had sent to the
sea, and who returned to me Easter Day, bringing with them certain
inhabitants of the sea-coast, and of two of the islands; of whom I
understood that the islands mentioned were scarce of victuals, as I
had learned before, and that they are inhabited by people who wear
shells of pearls upon their foreheads, and they say that they have
great pearls and much gold. They informed me of thirty-four islands,
and that they traffic with one another upon rafts. This coast
stretches northward as is to be seen. These Indians of the coast
brought me certain targets made of cowhides very well dressed, which
were so large that they covered them from head to foot, with a hole
in the top to look out of; they are so strong that a cross-bow (as I
suppose) will not pierce them....
Having considered the former report of the Indians and the evil means
which I had to prosecute my voyage as I desired, I thought it not
good to wilfully loose my life as Stephen did, and so I told them
that God would punish those of Cevola, and that the Viceroy, when he
understood what had happened, would send many Christians to chastise
them, but they would not believe me, for they said that no man was
able to withstand the power of Cevola; and herewithal I left them and
went aside two or three stones east, and when I returned I found an
Indian of mine which I had brought from Mexico, called Marcus, who
wept and said to me: “Father, these men have consulted to kill us,
for they say that through your and Stephen’s means their fathers are
slain, and that neither man nor woman of them shall remain unslain.”
Then again I divided among them certain other things which I had to
appease them, whereupon they were somewhat pacified, though they
still showed great grief for the people which were slain. I requested
some of them to go to Cevola to see if any other Indian had escaped,
with intent that they might learn news of Stephen, which I could not
obtain at their hands. When I saw this I said to them that I purposed
to see the city of Cevola, whatever came of it. They said that none
of them would go with me. At the last, when they saw me resolute,
two of the chief of them said they would go with me; with whom and
with my Indians and interpreters I followed my way till I came within
sight of Cevola, which is situated on a plain at the foot of a round
hill, and makes sure to be a fair city, and is better situated than
any that I have seen in those parts. The houses are built in order,
according as the Indians told me, all made of stone with divers
stories and flat roofs, as far as I could discern from a mountain,
whither I ascended to view the city. The people are somewhat white,
they wear apparel, and lie in beds, their weapons are bows, they
have emeralds and other jewels, although they esteem none so much as
turquoises, wherewith they adorn the walls of the porches of their
houses, and their apparel and vessels, and they use them instead of
money through all the country. Their apparel is of cotton and of
ox-hides, and this is their most commendable and honorable apparel.
They use vessels of gold and silver, for they have no other metal;
whereof there is greater use and more abundance than in Peru, and
they buy the same for turquoises in the province of the Pintados,
where there are said to be mines of great abundance. Of other
kingdoms I could not obtain so particular instruction. Divers times
I was tempted to go thither, because I knew I could but hazard my
life, and that I had offered unto God the first day that I began my
journey; in the end I began to be afraid, considering in what danger
I should put myself, and that if I should die the knowledge of this
country should be lost, which in my judgment is the greatest and the
best that hitherto has been discovered; and when I told the chief men
what a goodly city Cevola seemed to me, they answered me that it was
the least of the seven cities, and that Totonteac is the greatest
and best of them all, because it has so many houses and people that
there is no end of them. Having seen the disposition and situation of
the place I thought good to name that country “el nuevo regno de San
Francisco,” in which place I made a great heap of stones by the help
of the Indians, and on the top thereof I set up a small slender cross
because I wanted means to make a greater, and said that I set up that
cross and heap in the name of the most honorable Lord Don Antonio de
Mendoça, Viceroy and Captain-General of Nueva España, for the emperor
our lord, in token of possession, according to my instruction; which
possession I said that I took in that place of all the seven cities,
and of the kingdoms of Totonteac, of Acus, and of Marata. Thus I
returned with much more fear than victuals, and went until I found
the people which I had left behind me with all the speed that I could
make, whom I overtook in two days’ travel, and went in their company
till I had passed the desert, where I was not made so much of as
before; for both men and women made great lamentation for the people
which were slain at Cevola, and with fear I hastened from the people
of this valley and travelled ten leagues the first day, and so I
went daily eight or ten leagues, without staying until I had passed
the second desert, and though I was in fear yet I determined to go
to the great plain, whereof I said before that I had information,
being situated at the foot of the mountains, and in that place I
understood that this plain is inhabited for many days’ journey
toward the east, but I dared not enter into it, considering that if
hereafter we should inhabit this other country of the seven cities,
and the kingdoms before mentioned, that then I might better discover
the same, without putting myself in hazard, and leave it for this
time, that I might give relation of the things which I had seen. At
the entrance of this plain I saw but seven towns only of a reasonable
bigness, which were far off in a low valley, being very green and a
most fruitful soil, out of which ran many rivers. I was informed that
there was much gold in this valley, and that the inhabitants work
it into vessels and thin plates, wherewith they strike and take off
their sweat, and that they were people that will not suffer those
of the other side of the plain to traffic with them, and they could
not tell me the cause of it. Here I set up two crosses and took
possession of the plain and valley in like sort and order as I did
at other places before mentioned; and from thence I returned on my
voyage with as much haste as I could make, until I came to the city
of Saint Michael, in the province of Culiacan, thinking there to
have found Francis Vazquez de Coronado, Governor of Nueva Galicia,
and finding him not there I proceeded on my journey till I came to
the city of Compostella, where I found him. I do not write here many
other particularities, because they are impertinent to this matter; I
only report that which I have seen, and which was told me concerning
the countries through which I travelled, and of those which I had
information of.
When Blanche had read so far, Uncle Fritz bade her give him the book.
“You see,” he said, “all this talk about the seven cities was very
exciting to them, because they all had a legend about seven cities
which had been founded by seven Portuguese bishops, ages before.
“When the Cabots came back to England from their first voyage, it was
reported that they had found ‘the seven cities.’ And when this lying
Father Marco reported seven cities, Mendoça thought he had found the
seven cities of the seven bishops.
“Oddly enough, it seems to prove that these pueblo Indians had and have
a fancy of building their towns in groups of seven. At least, there are
two or three such instances.
“On the strength of this report by the Friar, Coronado started with
his party. They had a long march northward parallel with the Gulf
of California. They came out near the Gila River, where you will
find ‘Casa Grande’ on the map. This means ‘Great House.’ It still
stands, and they call it Montezuma’s house to this day. Then Coronado
persevered across the desert and found the ‘seven cities.’ They were,
doubtless, just such pueblos as these you have the pictures of now. He
was dreadfully disappointed.”
And Uncle Fritz bade Horace Feltham read Coronado’s report.
It remains now to certify your honor of the seven cities, and of the
kingdoms and provinces whereof the provincial father made report to
your lordship; and to be brief, he said the truth in nothing that
he reported, but all was quite contrary, saving only the names of
the cities, and great houses of stone; for although they are not
wrought with turquoises, nor with lime, nor bricks, yet they are
very excellent good houses of four or five lofts high, wherein are
good lodgings and fair chambers with lathers[15] instead of stairs,
and certain cellars under the ground very good and paved, which are
made for winter, they are like stones; and the lathers when they are
high for their houses are in a manner movable and portable, which
are taken away and set down where they please, and they are made of
two pieces of wood with their stepps, as ours are. The seven cities
are seven small towns, all made with these kind of houses that I
speak of, and they stand all within four leagues together, and they
are all called the kingdom of Civola,[16] and every one of them
have their particular name, and none of them is called Civola, but
altogether are called Civola; and this town which I call a city I
have named Granada, as well because it is somewhat like it, and also
in remembrance of your lordship. In this town where I now remain
there may be some two hundred houses, all compassed with walls, and I
think that with the rest of the houses which are not walled, there
may be altogether five hundred. There is another town near this,
which is one of the seven, and is somewhat larger than this, and
another as large, and the other four are somewhat less, and I send
them all painted to your lordship with the voyage; and the parchment
wherein the picture is was found here with other parchments. The
people of this town seem to me of a reasonable stature and witty,
yet they seem not to be such as they ought, of that judgment and wit
to build these houses such as they are. For the most part they are
naked, except their private parts which are covered; and they have
painted mantles like those which I send to your lordship. They have
no cotton wool growing because the country is cold, yet they wear
mantles, as your honor may see by the show thereof, and yet it is
true that there was found in their houses certain yarn made of cotton
wool. They wear their hair on their heads like those of Mexico, and
they are well nurtured and conditioned, and they have a good quantity
of turquoises, which with the rest of the goods which they had,
except their corn, they had conveyed away before I came thither; for
I found no women there, nor no youth under fifteen years old, nor
no old folks above sixty, saving two or three old folks, who stayed
behind to govern all the rest of the youth and men of war. There were
found in a certain paper two points of emeralds and certain small
stones broken which are in color somewhat like very bad granates, and
other stones of crystal, which I gave one of my servants to lay up
to send them to your lordship, and he lost them, as he told me. We
found here guinea cocks, but few. The Indians tell me in all these
seven cities that they do not eat them, but they keep them only for
their feathers. I do not believe them, for they are excellently good,
and larger than those of Mexico. The season of this country and the
temperature of the air is like that of Mexico, for sometimes it is
hot and it rains, but hitherto I never saw it rain, but once there
fell a little shower with wind, as they are wont to fall in Spain.
The snow and cold are wont to be great, as the inhabitants of the
country say, and it is very likely to be so, both in respect to the
manner of the country and by the fashion of their houses, and their
fires and other things which this people have to protect them from
the cold. There is no kind of fruit nor fruit trees. The country
is all plain, and is on no side mountainous, albeit there are some
hills and bad passages. There are small stores of fowl: the cause is
the cold, and because the mountains are not near. There is no great
store of wood, because they have sufficient wood for their fuel four
leagues off in a wood of small cedars. There is most excellent grass
within a quarter of a league, for our horses, as well to feed them
in pasture, as to mow and make hay, whereof we stood in great need,
because our horses came hither so weak and feeble. The victuals which
the people of this country have is maize, whereof they have a great
store, and also small white peas and venison, which by all likelihood
they feed upon (though they say no) for we found many skins of deer,
of hares, and of conies. They eat the best cakes that I ever saw,
and everybody generally eats them. They have the finest order and
way to grind that we ever saw in any place; and one Indian woman of
this country will grind as much as four women of Mexico. They have
most excellent salt in kernel, which they fetch from a certain lake a
day’s journey from here. They have no knowledge of the North Sea,
nor of the Western Sea, neither can I tell to which we be nearest.
But in reason they should seem to be nearest to the Western Sea, and
at the least I think I am an hundred and fifty leagues from thence,
and the Northern Sea should be much farther off. Your lordship may
see how broad the land is here. Here are many sorts of beasts, bears,
tigers, lions, porcupines, and certain sheep as big as an horse, with
very great horns and little tails. I have seen their horns so big
that it is a wonder to see their greatness. Here are also wild goats,
whose beards likewise I have seen, and the paws of bears and the
skins of wild boars. There is game of deer, ounces, and very large
stags, and all men are of opinion that there are some bigger than
that beast which your lordship bestowed upon me, which once belonged
to John Melaz. They travel eight days’ journey into certain plains
lying toward the North Sea. In this country there are certain skins
well dressed, and they dress them and paint them where they kill
their oxen, so they say themselves.
[Illustration: MOQUI WOMAN GRINDING CORN]
“The salt,” said Uncle Fritz, “was from the great Salt Lake, or some
place near it. As for the cakes, see what Lieut. Bourke writes to me.
He is in our army now, and has lived among the Moquis, who, as he
thinks, still inhabit the towns which Coronado called ‘Cibola.’”
And Fergus read from Lieut. Bourke’s letter:--
[Sidenote: 1874.]
“The Moquis still make very good cakes and still use the stone
‘metals’ for grinding corn and seeds as their ancestors did in 1541.
Their meal is reddish and purplish in color, and the bread or cake
is baked as a thin sheet, thinner than pie-crust, and afterwards
rolled into the shape of a banana. When I visited them with General
Crook in 1874, they used, besides corn, grass-seeds, acorns, and the
seeds of sunflowers, which they cultivated in large fields.”
VII.
THE JESUIT RELATIONS.
[Sidenote: 1880.]
When the children met Col. Ingham the next week, Fergus said that as
they came out he had been telling the others that he had always wished
that people would tell more of the beginnings of America. “To tell the
truth,” said Fergus, “I had supposed they did not know; but when we
made our camp on the Maguadavik River last summer, when I really felt
as if we were the first settlers in a wilderness, I wondered very much
whether John Smith did just that thing at Jamestown, or whether he
began in some other way.”
“We may as well confess,” said Col. Ingham, “that our people here were
very reticent; also, they seem to have had very little paper, very few
pens, and almost no ink. My mother used to say that they must have
taken solemn oaths that they would record nothing interesting; and when
you do find a bright bit of early New England narrative, it is because
some faithful ‘modern’ has gone over a dozen old stories and picked out
one plum here and one there, and put them all into one cake for you.
“But there do exist narratives that go into just the sort of detail
you ask for, Fergus. Fortunately for us, the Jesuit fathers, who were
the special literary men of their time, were obliged to write letters
home from the points where they were at work, and more fortunately the
Society of Jesuits found it advisable to print them. Within a few years
past these narratives have been translated and printed in this country.
You will find them in the best of the large Public Libraries. You will
find that some of them come very near your own homes.”
“Does not Mr. Parkman quote them?”
“Yes, and his skilful use of them and other materials like them is what
makes his books so fascinating for you boys. Here is a story of a poor
fellow who tried the hospitality of the Six Nations,--the French, you
know, called them ‘Iroquois.’”
“Why, we rode out to see them from Syracuse, when I made my famous
visit to Grace.”
“The same. See how they would have treated you a hundred and fifty
years ago had you been a French girl.
“Father Isaac Jogues was born of good family in the city of Orleans,
France. He was sent out into New France in the year 1636, and was
attached to the Mission among the Hurons, where he stayed for six
years. At the end of this time he was sent to Quebec on some of the
business connected with the Mission there. The following is his own
narrative.”
FATHER JOGUES’S STORY.
[Sidenote: 1636.]
The Superior of the Huron Mission sent for me and proposed to me a
journey to Quebec,--a terrible journey on account of the difficulty
of the travelling there and back, and also because of the ambuscades
of Iroquois, who murder many of the Indians friendly to the French.
This was merely a proposition, not in any way a command, but I
accepted eagerly in spite of all the dangers and hazards. We started
off then and began our journey and our dangerous adventures at the
same time.
The distance was three hundred leagues, and in this distance we had
to make forty carriages of our boats and all our baggage around
rapids and waterfalls. Although the Indians were very expert in this
method of travelling, we experienced several little shipwrecks which
were attended with loss of our baggage and danger to our lives.
But at last, after thirty-five days’ hard travel, we reached Three
Rivers, from which place we descended to Quebec. We finished our
business at Quebec in a fortnight, and on the first day of August,
1642, we started from Three Rivers on our homeward voyage. We had
passed the first day and night and were proceeding quietly on the
second morning when some of the men in the first canoe shouted to
us that they had seen some footprints on shore. We all landed and
examined the tracks they had seen. We could not agree as to what they
were. Some said Iroquois, and others said that they were Algonquins,
friends of ours. But Eustace Ahatsistari said:--
“Algonquins or Iroquois it matters little; there are not more of them
than there are of us, so let us go on without fear.” Eustace was our
captain, and all the rest deferred to him both because of his feats
of arms and for his prudence and goodness.
So we went onward, up the river; but we had scarcely got on half
a league when a volley of arquebuse balls came upon us from an
ambuscade on shore. The Hurons, for the most part, were so frightened
at the noise that they abandoned their canoes and their arms and
fled into the depths of the woods. Otherwise the discharge did us
small harm, for only one Huron was wounded, and he but slightly in
his hand.
There were four of us Frenchmen, one of whom had escaped with the
Hurons, and eight or ten Christian Indians, and together we made
such head against the enemy that, although it was thirty to ten or
a dozen, the issue would have been doubtful had not another band
of forty Iroquois, who were hiding on the other side of the river,
opened fire upon us.
Upon this the Hurons lost courage, and those who could fled,
abandoning their comrades to the enemy. One Frenchman, René Goupil,
being left alone, was surrounded and captured, together with some
of the brave Hurons. I also was taken and so was our brave Captain
Eustace. One other Frenchman who had been captured, seeing an
opportunity, escaped, but suddenly the thought coming to him that
he was abandoning his Faith and his comrades, he stopped short and
determined to come back to us. But as he turned he saw five of the
Iroquois rushing up to him. One of them aimed his arquebuse at him
but missed. The Frenchman’s piece did not miss, and the Indian fell
back stone-dead. As soon as he had fired the other four Indians threw
themselves upon him with the madness of lions, or rather of devils.
They beat him with clubs, they bit him with their teeth, they tore
him with their nails and transfixed him with their swords. As I
approached him to give him some comfort they fell upon me also and
used me badly. In fact, so enraged were they against the French that
they cruelly tortured René Goupil and me also, biting our fingers
with their teeth in a terrible manner and beating us with sticks.
Finally they all came together again. Those who had been chasing the
Hurons returned, and they began all together to rejoice over their
prey with loud shouts of joy.
We started, then, to be conducted into a strange country. One old
man refused to embark when the Iroquois took to their boats, and
the Indians murdered him. There were twenty-two of us in all. For
the thirteen days which were taken up in the journey I suffered
almost insupportable bodily tortures and mental distresses beyond
comparison. Hunger, the glowing heat, the threats and hatred of
these leopards, the pain of our wounds,--all these were nothing to
the inward grief that I felt at the thought of our Hurons, all firm
Christians. I had thought that they would have been the support of
this growing Church, and I saw them condemned to death.
A week after we left the banks of the great River St. Lawrence we
fell in with two hundred Iroquois who had just returned from an
excursion against the French and their Indian allies. As soon as
they saw us they thanked the Sun for having put us in their power,
and immediately afterward fired a volley from their arquebuses as
a salute to the victors. They then sought out a level plain upon
the hill and then went to find clubs and thorny sticks. Thus armed
they placed themselves in two rows, one hundred on one side and one
hundred on the other, and having stripped us of our clothing they
forced us to pass through this path of pain and anguish. As we ran by
they delivered lusty blows upon our backs with all their strength.
They made me run last that I might be the more exposed to their rage.
I had hardly run half-way when I fell to the ground from the pain
and from the blows. Seeing this the Indians redoubled their efforts.
I was unable to force myself to rise, partly through my weakness and
partly because I thought I might as well die there. Seeing me fall
they threw themselves upon me, and God alone knows how long they beat
me. But when they saw that I had not fallen by accident and that I
was really too near death to arise, since their anger was not yet
appeased, and also because they wished to carry me alive into their
own country, they picked me up and carried me, all bleeding, out of
the torture, but soon began again to ill-treat me. It would take too
long to tell of the sufferings they inflicted upon me. They broke
one of my fingers, they crushed the others with their teeth, and
also tore my flesh by their nails, with the rage of demons, and when
my strength failed me they applied fire to my arms and legs. They
treated my companions in like manner. Among the Hurons the brave and
valiant christian, Eustace, was treated most cruelly.
These warriors having offered up a sacrifice of our blood pursued
their way, and we went ours. On the tenth day after our departure we
arrived at a place where we quitted our boats to march on land. This
part of the journey was very painful. The Iroquois who had charge of
me, having more baggage than he could carry easily, placed a heavy
load upon my own back, torn and mangled as it was. For three days
we ate nothing but berries which we picked as we went along. The
heat of the day, at the hottest part of the summer, and the pain of
our wounds weakened us so that we had to march behind the rest. One
night when we were a little way from the others I suggested to René
Goupil that he should escape. In fact we might have done it, but for
my part I would rather have suffered all kinds of torment than have
abandoned those whom I might have been able to console. René, seeing
that I wished to follow my little flock, would not quit me. “I will
die with you,” said he, “and I will never abandon you.”
One night we arrived at a little river distant about a quarter of a
league from the first village of the Iroquois. We found on the banks
an assemblage of men and boys armed with sticks with which they beat
us with their usual cruelty. I had on my hands but two finger-nails
left. These they tore off with their teeth, cutting the flesh to the
bone with their own long finger-nails.
After they had satisfied their cruelty they carried us in triumph
into the first village, where all the young people were without the
gates ranged in rows, armed with sticks, some of them with iron tips
which they got from the Dutch. We had to march around among those
young people and receive beatings and torturings like those I have
described to you. When night had come they brought us to the cabins
to be sport for the children. They gave us a little Indian meal
boiled in water. They made us lie down, binding us, hand and foot,
to four posts stuck in the ground, in the form of a Saint Andrew’s
Cross. The children, to teach further cruelty to their parents,
threw live coals and hot ashes upon our stomachs, taking pleasure in
seeing our flesh grill and blacken. O God! what a night! To remain
in a very constrained position without the power of moving, to be
unable to defend ourselves from the attack of the thousands of vermin
which assailed us from every side, to be still suffering from recent
wounds, to have nothing on which to sustain life,--in truth, these
are grave torments, but God is over all. At sunrise they carried us
out again, and for three days and three nights we endured tortures
which I have been trying to describe.
We passed in this way through these villages, and in each village we
were beaten and tortured terribly. Finally they allowed us to settle
down and try to cure our wounds.
* * * * *
When these poor captives had got back a little of their strength, the
chiefs of the country began to talk of sending them back to Three
Rivers to return them to the French. The business went so far that
they considered that it was all arranged; but finally the chiefs
found that they could not agree as to the terms, and so the Father
and his companions were left as before, in the fear each moment that
they would be put to death.
These barbarians have the custom of giving the prisoners, whom they
do not wish to put to death, to those families who have lost some of
their number in war. These persons take the place of the dead and
become members of the family, which alone holds the power of life and
death over them. In such cases no one else dares to do anything to
them; but when they keep some one as public prisoner, without giving
him to any one in particular, the poor man is at all times in danger
of instant death. If some wretch kills him, no one cares. He is only
enabled to drag on his miserable life through the charity of those
who take pity on him. In such a condition was our good Father, and so
also was one of his companions. The other Frenchmen had been given to
a family in place of an Iroquois warrior who had fallen in battle....
The Father’s narrative goes on:--
I left the village in which I was held captive, on Saint Ignatius’
day, to go with some Iroquois on an excursion for trading and
fishing. After we had finished our business with the Dutch we set
to fishing at a place on the river seven or eight leagues below the
Dutch village. While we were cleaning the fish we had caught, there
came a report that a band of Iroquois had returned from an expedition
against the Hurons, of whom they had killed five or six and captured
four. Of these four prisoners they had burned two in my village with
great cruelties. At this my heart was weighed down with a bitter
regret that I had neither been able to see these poor victims nor to
console and baptize them. I feared too that something of the sort
might happen again, and I therefore went to an old woman who had been
very kind to me and said to her:--
“My aunt, I wish to return to our village. I cannot stay here. It
is not that I expect to be treated more kindly at the village,
where indeed I am daily exposed to every species of torture and
am compelled to be witness of most horrible cruelties, but my
heart tells me that I should allow no man to suffer death without
endeavoring to offer him baptism.”
She approved of my words and gave me something to eat on the road.
I embarked in the first canoe that was going up the river to our
village, accompanied and conducted by five or six Iroquois. When we
had reached the Dutch on the river, I learned that our village was
much incensed against all the French, and that they only awaited my
return in order to burn me alive.
The cause of this was as follows. Some time ago, among all the bands
of Iroquois who were continually going upon the war-path against
the Algonquins, the Hurons, and the French, there was one band which
took the idea of going to spy out the French and their savage allies.
Among this band was a Huron who had been captured by the Iroquois
and had been adopted into the tribe. This man came to me to ask if I
had any letters to send to the French, hoping no doubt to get some
information in this way. But as I did not doubt that the French would
be upon their guard against him, and moreover as I thought it very
necessary that the French should know something of the plans and
designs of their enemies, I found means of procuring a bit of paper
upon which to write a message. I knew very well the danger to which
I exposed myself, and I knew too that if anything should happen to
these warriors the blame would fall upon me; that they would hold
me responsible and would accuse my letters. I foresaw that I should
be put to death, but death seemed to me easy and agreeable when I
reflected that it would be used for the well-being and consolation
of the French, and the poor Indians who learn from them the word of
the Lord. I gave, then, my letter to the young warrior, who never
returned. The story that his comrades brought back was that he had
carried the letter to the fort of Richelieu, and that as soon as
the French had caught sight of them they had fired a cannon at them
so that they had fled, scattering in all directions, leaving one of
their canoes, together with their guns and powder and ball and some
other baggage.
When these news were brought to the village they cried out that my
letters were the cause of this treatment. The report went around and
at last came to my ears; they reproached me with their bad luck and
spoke of nothing but burning me, and if I had been at the village at
the return of the warriors, fire, rage, and cruelty would have cost
me my life. Unhappily another band returning from Montreal, where
they had been beaten by the French, told of one of their men who had
been killed and two who were wounded. Everybody considered me the
cause of this ill-luck and was awaiting my return with impatience.
To resume my story. The Captain of the post of Dutch, where we were
at this time, knowing pretty well the state of the Indians’ mind
toward me, and knowing too that the Chevalier de Montmagny had
forbidden the Indians of New France to make any attacks upon the
Dutch, showed me the means of saving myself. “Here,” said he to me,
“here is a ship at anchor which is to sail in a few days. Get into
it quietly. It is going first to Virginia and then to Bordeaux or La
Rochelle.”
I thanked him much for the offer, but told him the Indians would
surely find out that he had assisted me to escape and might cause his
people some trouble.
“No, no,” said he, “fear nothing, get on board. The chance is good,
you will never find a better one.”
I was perplexed at his words, doubting whether it would not redound
more to the glory of God if I should expose myself to the danger of
fire and to the fury of the Iroquois, with the hope of saving some
poor soul. I said then to him that I held the occasion to be of such
importance that I could not immediately come to a decision, and I
begged of him to give me the night to think it over. He was much
astonished, but granted my request, and I promised to tell him on the
next morning what resolve I had come to.
I spent the night in meditation and prayer, and came at last to the
conclusion that it would be more agreeable to God if I should take
this chance which was offered me to escape.
When day was come, therefore, I paid my respects to the Dutch
Governor and told him my thoughts and the resolution to which I had
come. He called the owners of the vessel and told them his plan,
begging them to receive and hide me, and, in a word, to carry me back
to Europe. They replied that if I could once set foot on the deck of
the vessel I might be sure that I should not leave it until I landed
at the wharf at Bordeaux or La Rochelle.
“Very well, then,” said the Governor to me, “return with your
Indians, and towards evening or at night come quietly to the river.
You will find a little boat which I shall have placed there that you
may go secretly to the ship.”
After giving my humble thanks to these gentlemen I went away from
the Hollanders that I might the better conceal my plan. At night I
retired with ten or a dozen Iroquois into a barn where we were to
pass the night. Before lying down I went out of the place to see how
I might most easily escape. The dogs of the Hollanders, who were
roaming about, seeing me come out, fell upon me. One of them bit a
large piece out of my leg, which gave me such pain that I returned
as soon as possible into the barn. The Iroquois immediately shut the
door tightly and lay down round about me. There was one of them whose
duty it was to take especial care in guarding me, and he lay down in
front of the door of the barn.
Seeing myself shut up in this way I feared that I might never be
able to escape. I passed all this night without sleep, and in the
morning I heard the crowing of the cocks. Soon after, the servant of
a Dutch workman, who had given us shelter in his barn, entered by
some door, I know not what. I made him a sign softly, since I did not
understand Flemish, to drive away the dogs. He went out and I after
him, taking all my baggage, namely, a breviary and a crucifix. As
soon as I got out of the barn, without making any noise or awakening
my guards, I passed through the gate in the fence surrounding the
farm and ran straight to the river in which the ship was at anchor.
In doing this I had great difficulty, on account of my wounded leg,
but finally accomplished the distance, and found the boat, as the
captain had told me. But unfortunately the tide had gone down, and
the boat was high and dry on land. I could not push it into the water
on account of its weight, and so I shouted out to the ship. I do not
know whether they heard me or not; at any rate, nobody appeared.
The sun was by this time rising and would soon apprise the Iroquois
of the theft of myself which I had made. Fearing that they would find
me engaged in my innocent amusement I left off shouting, and, praying
God to increase my strength, I applied myself once more to the boat.
I did so well that I soon got the stern in the water and after that
the rest of it. Having got it afloat, I jumped into it, and rowed
quickly to the ship without being perceived by any of the Iroquois.
The sailors put me down in the hold to hide me, and I passed two days
in the ship in such an uncomfortable manner that I feared each minute
that I should die of suffocation. I remembered in this plight the
story of Jonas in the belly of the whale.
On the second night of my captivity the Dutch minister visited me to
tell me that the Iroquois were making a great disturbance about my
disappearance, and that the Hollanders living around were afraid that
they would burn down their houses and kill their beasts. They had
good ground for this fear, for the Indians were provided with good
arquebuses. I besought him to give me up to them if on account of me
all this tumult was arising, and told him that I never had wished to
save myself at the risk of others’ lives and goods.
Finally I came up from my hiding-place, and though the sailors were
much ashamed, saying that they had given their word that I should be
saved and that they must hold to it at all costs, I went on shore
to the Governor’s house, where they concealed me. These goings and
comings were achieved in the night so that I was not discovered. The
Dutch Captain told me that it was necessary to yield to the storm and
wait until the spirits of the Indians were a little calmed. So I am
now a voluntary prisoner in the house of the Governor. The ship in
which I was to sail has gone without me.
In another letter:--
Finally I am delivered. The Lord has sent one of his angels to take
me out of captivity. The Iroquois have finally become pacified by the
Dutch Governor, who gave them presents as a ransom to the amount, I
believe, of three hundred livres, which I must return to him. When
everything was straightened out I was sent to Manhattan, where the
Governor of the whole country resides. He received me kindly, gave me
a suit of clothes, and sent me across the ocean in a bark. We landed
in Falmouth in England, and from thence I crossed over to France.
“Poor man!” said Laura, when the reading was done. “I do not wonder the
frontier’s people came to hate the Indians.”
“It is worth while,” said Uncle Fritz, “when you hear people talk of
Arcadian homes and the simplicity of nature to know what those words
mean.”
The Pictorial History is generally lying on the table, or brought out
before these American readings are finished; and Tom had the third
volume open at the picture of the massacre at Schenectady, where two
snow sentinels stood at the gateway of the palisades, and made no
opposition to the French and Indians when they rushed in.
“This was long after Father Jogues, I suppose,” he said.
[Sidenote: 1689-90.]
“Oh, yes. The massacre did not happen until Leisler’s time, in the
winter of 1689-90; and, by the way, one of the most vivid of the
genuine American ballads was printed in Albany then and there about
that massacre.”
“Where do you find about it, Uncle Fritz?”
[Sidenote: 1614-1775.]
“Oh, there is no local history better provided for than that of New
York. Look there, on the lower shelf; there are twelve volumes of their
documents which you owe to Mr. Bogart’s kindness.”
The children had learned by this time not to dread a book because it
was big and had a dull name, and the various tables soon had different
groups dipping through the big volumes. Letters of priests; letters of
Indians, with their marks in place of signatures; quarrels of governors
with their people; the awful tragedy when Leisler was executed;
Captain Kidd and all his history,--unfolded themselves in the manner
in which they were written down at the time; buried for a hundred
years and more in archive-rooms, and then brought to light again. The
children read a scrap here and a scrap there with fearful violation of
chronology, but gaining just the “color” for the history which letters
written at the time give, and which nothing else gives. Nothing is
more surprising to young readers than to see how very small were the
beginnings of an American State. Through the period of the century
between Father Jogues and 1736 the whole population of the State of New
York was a mere handful, Schenectady a frontier town, and Albany an
insignificant fort.
The young people were surprised when the bell rang for tea. Hester
confessed, as she walked out with Uncle Fritz, that there had been
times when she should not have thought that she could have found half
an hour’s amusement in reading old documents. “I owe that to you, Uncle
Fritz,” she said prettily.
“Perhaps I have taught you how to skip,” he said. “That is one of the
greatest of accomplishments.”
* * * * *
Here are two verses of the old ballad:--
“From forth the woods of Canada
The Frenchmen tooke their Way
The People of Schenectady
To captivate and slay.
“They march’d for two & twenty Dais
All through the deepest Snow;
And on a dismal Winter Night
They strucke the Cruel Blow.”
VIII.
NORTHERN DISCOVERIES.
[Sidenote: 1881.]
On New Year’s Day, after the children had given their pretty presents
to Uncle Fritz, and after he had shown them his New Year’s cards and
other greetings, he asked if they had brought anything to read.
“We are all alive about the Indians,” said Laura. “We have seen Miss La
Flesche, who is lovely, and we have heard her talk Indian. She never
would have roasted Father Jogues by a slow fire. Is she the same sort
as the Iroquois?”
Uncle Fritz sent for the second volume of the Archæologia Americana,
and showed them Mr. Gallatin’s map of the United States, and the
division of it into nine great Indian families. Fergus said the map
was copied in a volume of Bancroft’s History. The children saw that
the Massachusetts Indians are Algonkins, or, as Mr. Gallatin says,
Algonkin-Lenape. The Iroquois, who were so cruel to the poor Jesuit
Father, are of another race.
“I am glad,” said Blanche, “that it was no cousin of my nice Waban who
did such awful things.”
Blanche lives on Waban Street, though the sign-painters spell it Wabon.
Uncle Fritz said grimly that he was glad Blanche knew he was “nice.”
The children saw that the Algonkin family covered most of the United
States north of the Gulf States and east of the Mississippi, excepting
New York and most of Pennsylvania, where were Iroquois tribes; and
that there were Iroquois tribes west of the Niagara in the peninsula
of Canada. They saw that the Algonkins extended far north, half up the
side of Hudson’s Bay.
“But, you know,” said Uncle Fritz, “that they are all great wanderers.
You may catch a bit of dialect thousands of miles off from the tribe
where you first found it. When Mr. Bartlett was on the frontier of
Mexico, he happened to notice a sort of ‘click,’ like the Zulu ‘click,’
in the language of the Apaches, the roving horsemen of those regions.
Mr. Bartlett is a very accurate linguist, and he remembered that Dr.
Richardson said of the Athapescans on the Arctic Ocean that they had
such a ‘click.’ He looked in their vocabularies, and he found they used
some of the same words the Apaches did. These Apaches had strayed away
from them, nobody knows when.”
“Apache sounds like Athapescan,” said Fergus; and Uncle Fritz nodded
approval of the bold etymology.
“Well, then,” said Tom Rising, “I suppose any of these people painted
yellow on the map, these Chippeways and the rest, can read your Eliot’s
Bible, Uncle Fritz.”
“No, my boy, that is asking too much. For the Massachusetts dialect
and Eliot’s spelling of it are now two hundred years old, and probably
always our Indians differed from the Hudson’s Bay Indians, for
instance, as much as Italians from Frenchmen. Still Eliot’s grammar
and dictionary are useful now to the missionaries among any Algonkin
tribes.”
The children began comparing words in the vocabulary in Mr. Gallatin’s
book, and trying to learn them. Here is the Indian for “man,” from one
language of each of the nine great Eastern races. Mr. Gallatin gives
specimens of forty-four languages, which are all grouped under these
nine divisions:--
MAN in a language of
_Eskimaux_ is TUAK.
_Athapescans_ is TENNEE.
_Algonkins_ is WOSKETOMP.
And, among Algonkins, the children took the Massachusetts language, so
as to know what Blanche’s “nice” Waban said.
_Iroquois_ is UNGUOH.
_Sioux_ is WONGAHAH.
_Catawbas_ is YABRECHA.
_Cherokees_ is ASKAYA.
_Choctaws_ is HOTTOK NOKNI.
_Muskhogees_ is ISTAHOUANUAH.
The _Pawnees_, west of these divisions, called “man” TSAEKSH.
“And now,” said Uncle Fritz, who had been looking among his Arctic
books, “if you want to find about your nice Algonkins of Hudson’s Bay
and their neighbors, look at my marks in Hearne’s Travels here.”
“I remember in an old atlas the Arctic Ocean was marked ‘Sea seen by
Mr. Hearne.’”
“This is that man. On the night between July 17 and July 18, 1771,
while your grandfather, Tom, was discussing with other assembly-men
here in Boston, how they should circumvent Gov. Hutchinson, Hearne, by
the light of a sun which was above the horizon, was making the drawing
from which this map which I showed you was made. And I am sorry to say
your ‘nice’ Algonkins, who were with him, were destroying some tents
they found of Northern Indians.
“Now you will find some curious things in Hearne’s book.”
And the children followed Uncle Fritz’s book-marks and read these
passages:--
[Sidenote: 1771.]
When on the northwest side of Seal River I asked Captain Chawchinahaw
the distance and probable time it would take before we could reach
the main woods, which he assured me would not exceed four or five
days’ journey. This put both me and my companions in good spirits,
and we continued our course between the west by north and northwest,
in daily expectation of arriving at those woods, which we were told
would furnish us with everything the country affords. These accounts
were so far from being true that, after we had walked double the time
here mentioned, no signs of woods were to be seen in the direction we
were then steering, but we had frequently seen the looming of woods
to the southwest.
The cold being now very intense, our small stock of English
provisions all expended, and not the least thing to be got on
the bleak hills, we had for some time been walking on; it became
necessary to strike more to the westward, which we accordingly did,
and the next evening arrived at some small patches of low, scrubby
woods, where we saw the tracks of several deer and killed a few
partridges. The road we had traversed for many days before was in
general so rough and stony that our sledges were daily breaking, and
to add to the inconveniency the land was so barren as not to afford
us materials for repairing them; but the few woods we now fell in
with amply supplied us with necessaries for those repairs, and as
we were then enabled each night to pitch proper tents, our lodging
was much more comfortable than it had been for many nights before
while we were on the barren grounds, where, in general, we thought
ourselves well off if we could scrape together as many shrubs as
would make a fire. But it was scarcely ever in our power to make any
other defence against the weather than by digging a hole in the snow
down to the moss, wrapping ourselves up in our clothing and lying
down in it, with our sledges set up edgeways to windward.... By this
time I found that Captain Chawchinahaw had not the prosperity of
the undertaking at heart; he often painted the difficulties in the
worst colors, took every method to dishearten me and my European
companions, and several times hinted his desire of our returning back
to the factory. But, finding I was determined to proceed he took such
methods as he thought would be most likely to answer his end; one
of which was that of not administering toward our support, so that
we were a considerable time without any other subsistence but what
our two home-guard Indians procured, and the little that I and the
two European men could kill, which was very disproportionate to our
wants, as we had to provide for several women and children who were
with us. Chawchinahaw finding that this kind of treatment was not
likely to complete his design, and that we were not to be starved
into compliance, at length influenced several of the best Northern
Indians to desert in the night, who took with them several bags of my
ammunition, some pieces of iron-work, such as hatchets, ice-chisels,
files, etc., as well as several other useful articles. When I became
acquainted with this piece of villany, I asked Chawchinahaw the
reason of such behavior. To which he answered that he knew nothing
of the affair, but as that was the case it would not be prudent, he
said, for us to proceed any farther, adding that he and all the rest
of his countrymen were going to strike off another way in order to
join the remainder of their wives and families; and, after giving us
a short account of how to steer our course for the nearest part of
Seal River, which he said would be our best way homeward, he and his
crew delivered me most of the things they had in charge, packed up
their awls, and set out toward the southwest, making the woods ring
with laughter, and left us to consider our unhappy situation, near
two hundred miles from Prince of Wales’s fort, all heavily laden,
and our strength and spirits greatly reduced by hunger and fatigue.
Our situation at that time, though very alarming, would not permit
us to spend much time in reflection, so we loaded our sledges to the
best advantage, but were obliged to throw away some bags of shot and
ball, and immediately set out on our return. In the course of the
day’s walk we were fortunate enough to kill several partridges, for
which we were all very thankful, as it was the first meat we had had
for several days; indeed, for the five preceding days we had not
killed as much as amounted to half a partridge for each man, and
some days had not a single mouthful. While we were in this distress
the Northern Indians were by no means in want, for as they always
walked foremost they had ten times the chance to kill partridges,
rabbits, or any other thing which was to be met with than we had.
Besides this advantage they had great stocks of flour, oatmeal,
and other English provisions, which they had embezzled out of my
stock during the early part of the journey, and as one of my home
Indians, called Mackachy, and his wife, who is a Northern Indian
woman, always resorted to the Northern Indians’ tents, where they
got amply supplied with provisions when neither I nor my men had a
single mouthful, I have great reason to suspect they had a principal
hand in the embezzlement; indeed, both the man and his wife were
capable of committing any crime, however diabolical. In our course
down Seal River we met a stranger, a Northern Indian, on a hunting
excursion, and though he had not met with any success that day yet
he kindly invited us to his tent, saying he had plenty of venison
at my service, and told the Southern Indians that as there were two
or three beaver-houses near his tent, he should be glad of their
assistance in taking them, for there was only one man with three
women at the tent.
[Illustration: HEARNE’S DRAWING OF PRINCE OF WALES FORT, HUDSON’S BAY]
Though we were at that time far from being in want of provisions, yet
we accepted his offer, and set off with our new guide for his tent,
which, by a comparative distance, he told us, was not above five
miles from the place where we met him, but we found it to be nearer
fifteen, so that it was the middle of the night before we arrived at
it. When we drew near the tent the usual signal for the approach of
strangers was given by firing a gun or two, which was immediately
answered by the man at the tent. On our arrival at the door the good
man of the house came out, shook me by the hand, and welcomed us to
his tent, but as it was too small to contain us all he ordered his
women to assist us in pitching our tent, and in the mean time invited
me and as many of my crew as his little habitation could contain,
and regaled us with the best in the house. The pipe went round pretty
briskly, and the conversation naturally turned on the treatment
we had received from Chawchinahaw and his gang, which was always
answered by our host with “Ah! if I had been there, it should not
have been so!” But, notwithstanding his hospitality on the present
occasion, he would most assuredly have acted the same part as the
others had done, if he had been of the party....
When the Indians design to impound deer they look out for one of the
paths in which a number of them have trod, and which is observed to
be still frequented by them. When these paths cross a lake, a wide
river, or a barren plain, they are found to be much the best for the
purpose, and if the path run through a cluster of woods capable of
affording materials for building a pound, it adds considerably to
the commodiousness of the situation. The pound is built by making
a strong fence with brushy trees, without observing any degree of
regularity, and the work is continued to any extent, according to
the pleasure of the builders. I have seen some that were not less
than a mile round, and am informed that there are others still more
extensive. The door, or entrance of the pound, is not larger than a
common gate, and the inside is so crowded with small counter-hedges
as very much to resemble a maze, in every opening of which they
set a snare, made with thongs of parchment deer-skins well twisted
together, which are amazingly strong. One end of the snare is usually
made fast to a growing pole, but if no one of a sufficient size
can be found near the place where the snare is to be set, a loose
pole is substituted in its room, which is always of such size and
length that a deer cannot drag it far before it gets entangled among
the other woods, which are all left standing except what is found
necessary for making the fence, hedges, etc.
The pound being thus prepared, a row of small brushwood is stuck up
in the snow on each side the door or entrance, and these hedge-rows
are continued along the open part of the lake, river, or plain, where
neither stick nor stump besides is to be seen, which makes them the
more distinctly observed. These poles, or brushwood, are generally
placed at the distance of fifteen or twenty yards from each other,
and ranged in such a manner as to form two sides of a long acute
angle, growing gradually wider in proportion to the distance they
extend from the entrance of the pound, which sometimes is not less
than two or three miles; while the deer’s path is exactly along the
middle, between the two rows of brushwood. Indians employed on this
service always pitch their tent on or near an eminence that affords a
commanding prospect of the path leading to the pound, and when they
see any deer going that way, men, women, and children walk along
the lake or riverside under cover of the woods till they get behind
them, then step forth to open view, and proceed towards the pound in
the form of a crescent. The poor timorous deer, finding themselves
pursued and at the same time taking the two rows of brushy poles to
be two ranks of people stationed to prevent their passing on either
side, run straight forward in the path till they get into the pound.
The Indians then close in and block up the entrance with some bushy
trees that have been cut down and lie at hand for that purpose. The
deer being thus enclosed the women and children walk round the
pound to prevent them from breaking or jumping over the fence, while
the men are employed spearing such as are entangled in the snares,
and shooting with bows and arrows those which remain loose in the
pound....
Agreeably to my instructions, I smoked my calumet of peace with the
Copper Indians, who seemed highly pleased on the occasion; and, from
a conversation held on the subject of my journey, I found they were
delighted with the hopes of having a European settlement in the
neighborhood, and seemed to have no idea that any impediment could
prevent such a scheme from being carried into execution. Climates
and seasons had no weight with them, nor could they see where the
difficulty lay in getting there; for though they acknowledged that
they had never seen the sea at the mouth of the Copper River clear
of ice, yet they could see nothing that should hinder a ship from
approaching it, and they innocently enough observed that the water
was always so smooth between the ice and shore that even small boats
might get there with great ease and safety. How a ship was to get
between the ice and the shore never once occurred to them.
Whether from hospitality, or from the great advantages which they
expected to reap by my discoveries, I know not; but I must confess
that their civility far exceeded what I could expect from so
uncivilized a tribe, and I was exceedingly sorry that I had nothing
of value to offer them. However, such articles as I had I distributed
among them, and they were thankfully received by them. Though they
have some European commodities among them, which they purchase
from the Northern Indians, the same articles from the hands of an
Englishman were more prized. As I was the first whom they had ever
seen, and in all probability might be the last, it was curious to see
how they flocked about me, and expressed as much desire to examine me
from top to toe as a European naturalist would a nondescript animal.
They, however, found and pronounced me to be a perfect human being,
except in the color of my hair and eyes; the former, they said, was
like the stained hair of a buffalo’s tail, and the latter, being
light, were like those of a gull. The whiteness of my skin also was,
in their opinion, no ornament, as they said it resembled meat which
had been sodden in water till all the blood was extracted. On the
whole, I was viewed as so great a curiosity in this part of the world
that during my stay there, whenever I combed my head, some or other
of them never failed to ask for the hairs that came off, which they
carefully wrapped up, saying, “When I see you again, you shall see
your hair.”...
When a friend for whom they have a particular regard is, as they
suppose, dangerously ill, they have recourse to another extraordinary
superstition, which is no less than that of pretending to swallow
hatchets, ice-chisels, broad bayonets, knives, and the like, out of
a superstitious notion that undertaking such desperate feats will
have some influence in appeasing death, and procure a respite for
their patient. On such extraordinary occasions a conjuring-house is
erected, by driving the ends of four long small sticks, or poles,
into the ground at right angles, so as to form a square of four,
five, six, or seven feet, as may be required. The tops of the poles
are tied together, and all is close covered with a tent-cloth or
other skin, exactly in the shape of a small square tent, except that
there is no vacancy left at the top to admit the light. In the
middle of this tent the patient is laid, and is soon followed by
the conjuror or conjurors. Sometimes five or six of them give their
joint assistance, but before they enter they strip themselves quite
naked, and as soon as they get into the house, the door being well
closed, they kneel round the sick person and begin to blow at the
parts affected, and then in a very short space of time sing and talk
as if conversing with familiar spirits, which they say appear to them
in the shape of different beasts and birds of prey. When they have
had sufficient conference with those necessary agents, or shadows, as
they term them, they ask for the hatchet, bayonet, or the like, which
is always prepared by another person with a long string fastened to
it by the haft, for the convenience of hauling it up again after they
have swallowed it, for they very wisely admit this to be a necessary
precaution, as hard and compact bodies, such as iron and steel, would
be very hard to digest, even by the men who are enabled to swallow
them. Besides, as those tools are in themselves very useful, and not
always to be procured, it would be very ungenerous in the conjurers
to digest them, when it is known that barely swallowing them and
hauling them up again is fully sufficient to answer every purpose
that is expected from them.
At the time when the forty and odd tents of Indians joined us,
one man was so dangerously ill, that it was thought necessary the
conjurers should use some of those wonderful experiments for his
recovery; one of them therefore immediately consented to swallow a
broad bayonet. Accordingly, a conjuring-house was erected in the
manner above described, into which the patient was conveyed, and he
was soon followed by the conjurer, who, after a long preparatory
discourse, and the necessary conference with the familiar spirits,
or shadows, as they call them, advanced to the door and asked for
the bayonet, which was then ready prepared, by having a string tied
to it, and a short piece of wood tied to the other end of the string
to prevent him from swallowing it. I could not help observing that
the length of the bit of wood was not more than the breadth of the
bayonet; however, as it answered the intended purpose, it did equally
well as if it had been as long as a handspike. Though I am not so
credulous as to believe that the conjurer absolutely swallowed the
bayonet, yet I must acknowledge that in the twinkling of an eye he
conveyed it to--God knows where; and the small piece of wood, or one
exactly like it, was confined close to his teeth. He then paraded
back and forth before the conjuring-house for a short time, when he
feigned to be greatly distressed in his stomach and bowels; and,
after making many wry faces, and groaning most hideously, he put his
body into several distorted attitudes very suitable to the occasion.
He then returned to the door of the conjuring-house, and after making
many strong efforts to vomit, by the help of the string he at length,
and after tugging at it for some time, produced the bayonet, which
apparently he hauled out of his mouth, to the no small surprise of
all present. He then looked round with an air of exultation and
strutted into the house, where he renewed his incantations, and
continued them without intermission twenty-four hours. Though I
was not close to his elbow when he performed the above feat, yet
I thought myself near enough to have detected him. Indeed, I must
confess that it appeared to me to be a very nice piece of deception,
especially as it was performed by a man quite naked.
Not long after this sleight-of-hand work was over some of the Indians
asked me what I thought of it, to which I answered that I was too
far off to see it so plain as I could wish, which indeed was no more
than the strictest truth, because I was not near enough to detect the
deception. The sick man, however, soon recovered, and in a few days
afterwards we left that place and proceeded to the southwest.[17]...
I do not remember to have met with any travellers into high northern
latitudes who remarked their having heard the Northern Lights make
any noise in the air as they vary their colors or position, which may
probably be owing to the want of perfect silence at the time they
made their observations. I can positively affirm that in still nights
I have frequently heard them make a rustling sound and crackling
noise, like the waving of a large flag in a fresh gale of wind.
This is not peculiar to the place of which I am now writing, as I
have heard the same noise very plain at Churchill River, and in all
probability it is only for want of attention that it has not been
heard in every part of the northern hemisphere where they have been
known to shine with any degree of lustre....
The beaver being so plentiful the attention of my companions was
chiefly engaged on them, as they not only furnished delicious food,
but their skins proved a valuable acquisition, being a principal
article of trade as well as a serviceable one for clothing, etc. The
situation of the beaver-houses is various. Where the beavers are
numerous they are found to inhabit lakes, ponds, and rivers, as well
as those narrow creeks which connect the numerous lakes with which
this country abounds, but the two latter are generally chosen by them
when the depth of water and other circumstances are suitable, as
they have then the advantage of a current to convey wood and other
necessaries to their habitations, and because, in general, they are
more difficult to be taken than those that are built in standing
water.
There is no one particular part of a lake, pond, river, or creek,
of which the beavers make choice for building their houses on, in
preference to another, for they sometimes build on points, sometimes
in the hollow of a bay, and often on small islands; they always
choose, however, those parts that have such a depth of water as
will resist the frost in winter and prevent it from freezing to
the bottom. The beavers that build their houses in small rivers or
creeks, in which the water is liable to be drained off when the
back supplies are dried up by the frost, are wonderfully taught by
instinct to provide against that evil by making a dam quite across
the river, at a convenient distance from their houses. This I look
upon as the most curious piece of workmanship that is performed by
the beaver; not so much for the neatness of the work as for its
strength and real service, and at the same time it discovers such a
degree of sagacity and foresight in the animal of approaching evils
as is little inferior to that of the human species, and is certainly
peculiar to those animals.
The beaver-dams differ in shape according to the nature of the place
in which they are built. If the water in the river or creek have
but little motion the dam is almost straight, but when the current
is more rapid it is always made with a considerable curve, convex
toward the stream. The materials made use of in those dams are
drift-wood, green willows, birch, and poplars, if they can be got,
also mud and stones intermixed in such a manner as must evidently
contribute to the strength of the dam, but in these dams there is
no other order or method observed, except that of the work being
carried on with a regular sweep, and all the parts being made of
equal strength. In places which have long been frequented by beavers
undisturbed, their dams by frequent repairing become a solid bank,
capable of resisting a great force both of water and ice, and as the
willow, poplar, and birch generally take root and shoot up, they
by degrees form a kind of regular-planted hedge, which I have seen
in some places so tall that birds have built their nests among the
branches.
Though the beaver which build their houses in lakes and other
standing waters may enjoy a sufficient quantity of their favorite
element without the assistance of a dam, the trouble of getting wood
and other necessaries to their habitations without the help of a
current must, in some measure, counterbalance the other advantages
which are reaped from such a situation, for it must be observed that
the beaver which build in rivers and creeks always cut their wood
above their houses so that the current, with little trouble, conveys
it to the place required.
The beaver-houses are built of the same materials as their dams
and are always proportioned in size to the number of inhabitants,
which seldom exceed four old and six or eight young ones; though, by
chance I have seen above double that number. These houses, though not
altogether unworthy of admiration, fall very short of the general
description of them; for, instead of order or regulation being
observed in rearing them, they are of a much ruder structure than
their dams.
Those who have undertaken to describe the inside of beaver-houses
as having several apartments appropriated to various uses, such as
eating, sleeping, store-houses for provisions, etc., must have been
very little acquainted with the subject, or, which is still worse,
guilty of attempting to impose on the credulous by representing the
greatest falsehoods as facts. Many years residence among the Indians,
during which I had an opportunity of seeing hundreds of these houses,
has enabled me to affirm that everything of the kind is entirely
void of truth; for, notwithstanding the sagacity of those animals,
it has never been observed that they aim at any other conveniences
in their houses than to have a dry place to lie on, and there they
usually eat their victuals which they occasionally take out of the
water. It frequently happens that some of the large houses are found
to have one or more partitions, if they deserve that appellation,
but that is no more than a part of the main building left by the
sagacity of the beaver to support the roof. On such occasions it is
common for those different apartments, as some are pleased to call
them, to have no communication with each other except by water;
so that in fact they may be called double or treble houses rather
than different apartments of the same house. I have seen a large
beaver-house built in a small island that had near a dozen apartments
under one roof; and, two or three of these only excepted, none of
them had any communication with each other but by water. As there
were beaver enough to inhabit each apartment it is more than probable
that each family knew its own, and always entered at their own door,
without having any further connection with their neighbors than a
friendly intercourse, and to join their united labors in erecting
their separate habitations and building their dams where required.
It is difficult to say whether their interest on other occasions was
anyways reciprocal.
Travellers who assert that the beaver have two doors to their houses,
one on the land side and the other next the water, seem to be less
acquainted with those animals than others who assign them an elegant
suite of apartments. Such a proceeding would be quite contrary to
their manner of life, and at the same time would render their houses
of no use, either to protect them from their enemies or guard them
against the extreme cold of winter.
The quiquepatches or wolverines are great enemies to the beaver, and
if there were a passage into their houses on the land side would
not leave one of them alive wherever they came. I cannot refrain
from smiling when I read the accounts of different authors who
have written on the economy of these animals, as there seems to be
a contest between them who shall most exceed in fiction. But the
“Compiler of Wonders of Nature and Art” seems, in my opinion, to have
succeeded best in this respect, as he has not only collected all
the fictions into which other writers on the subject have run, but
has so greatly improved on them that little remains to be added to
his account of the beaver, beside a vocabulary of their language, a
code of their laws, and a sketch of their religion, to make it the
most complete natural history of that animal that can possibly be
offered to the public.... To deny that the beaver is possessed of
a very considerable degree of sagacity would be as absurd in me as
it is in those authors who think they cannot allow them too much. I
shall willingly grant them their full share, but it is impossible
for any one to conceive how, or by what means, a beaver, whose whole
height when standing erect does not exceed two feet and a half, or
three feet at most, and whose fore-paws are not much larger than a
half-crown piece, can “drive stakes as thick as a man’s leg into the
ground, three or four feet deep.” Their “wattling those stakes with
twigs” is equally absurd, and their “plastering the inside of their
houses with a composition of mud and straw, and swimming with mud and
straw on their tails” are still more incredible. The form and size
of the animal, notwithstanding all its sagacity, will not admit of
its performing such feats, and it would be as impossible for a beaver
to use its tail as a trowel, except on the surface of the ground on
which it walks, as it would have been for Sir James Thornhill to
have painted the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral without the assistance
of a scaffolding. The joints of their tail will not admit of their
turning it over on their backs on any occasion whatever, as it has
a natural inclination to bend downwards, and it is not without some
considerable exertion that they can keep it from trailing on the
ground. This being the case they cannot sit erect, like a squirrel,
which is their common posture, particularly when eating, or when
they are cleaning themselves as a cat or squirrel does, without
having their tails bent forward between their legs, and which may not
improperly be called their trencher.
So far are the beaver from driving stakes into the ground when
building their houses, that they lay most of the wood crosswise, and
nearly horizontal, and without any other order than that of leaving
a hollow or cavity in the middle; when any unnecessary branches
project inward they cut them off with their teeth, and throw them in
among the rest, to prevent the mud from falling through the roof.
It is a mistaken notion that the wood-work is first completed and
then plastered; for the whole of their houses, as well as their
dams, are from the foundation one mass of wood and mud, mixed with
stones, if they can be procured. The mud is always taken from the
edge of the bank, or the bottom of the creek or pond, near the door
of the house; and though their fore-paws are so small, yet it is
held close up between them, under their throat, that they carry both
mud and stones, while they always drag the wood with their teeth.
All their work is executed in the night, and they are so expeditious
in completing it that in the course of one night I have known them
to have collected as much mud at their houses as to have amounted
to some thousands of their little handfuls, and when any mixture of
grass or straw has appeared in it, it has been, most assuredly, mere
chance, owing to the nature of the ground from which they had taken
it. As to their designedly making a composition for that purpose, it
is entirely void of truth.... As they are seen to walk over their
work and sometimes to give a flap with their tail, particularly when
plunging into the water, this has, without doubt, given rise to the
vulgar opinion that they use their tails as a trowel, with which they
plaster their houses, whereas that flapping of the tail is no more
than a custom, which they always preserve, even when they become tame
and domestic, and more particularly so when they are startled....
When the beaver which are situated in a small river or creek are
to be taken the Indians sometimes find it necessary to stake the
river across to prevent them from passing, after which they endeavor
to find out all their holes or places of retreat in the banks.
This requires much practice and experience to accomplish, and is
performed in the following manner: Every man being furnished with
an ice-chisel, lashes it to the end of a small staff about four or
five feet long; he then walks along the edge of the banks and keeps
knocking his chisels against the ice. Those who are well acquainted
with that kind of work well know by the sound of the ice when they
are opposite to any of the beaver’s holes or vaults. As soon as they
suspect any they cut a hole through the ice big enough to admit an
old beaver, and in this manner proceed till they have found out all
their places of retreat, or at least as many of them as possible.
While the principal men are thus employed, some of the understrappers
and the women and children are busy in breaking open the house, which
at times is no easy task, for I have known these houses to be five
and six feet thick, and one in particular was more than eight feet
thick on the crown. When the beaver find that their habitations are
invaded they fly to the holes in the banks for shelter, and on being
perceived by the Indians, which is easily done by attending to the
motion of the water, they block up the entrance with stakes of wood,
and then haul the beaver out of its hole, either by hand, if they
can reach it, or with a large hook made for that purpose, which is
fastened to the end of a long stick.
The beaver cannot keep under water long at a time, so that when their
houses are broken open, and all their places of retreat discovered,
they have but one choice left, as it may be called, either to be
taken in their houses or their vaults. In general they prefer the
latter; for where one beaver is taken in the house many thousands are
taken in their vaults in the banks....
On the eleventh of January, as some of my companions were hunting,
they saw the track of a strange snow-shoe, which they followed, and
at a considerable distance came to a little hut where they discovered
a young woman sitting alone. As they found that she understood their
language, they brought her with them to the tents. On examination
she proved to be one of the Western Dog-ribbed Indians, who had been
taken prisoner by the Athapuscow Indians in the summer of 1770, and
in the following summer, when they were near this part, she had
eloped from them with an intent to return to her own country; but the
distance being so great, and having, after she was taken prisoner,
been carried in a canoe the whole way, the turnings and windings of
the rivers and lakes were so numerous that she forgot the track,
so she built the hut in which we found her to protect her from the
weather during the winter, and here she had lived from the first
setting in of the fall.
From her account of the moons past since her elopement, it appeared
that she had been near seven months without seeing a human face,
during all which time she had supported herself very well by snaring
partridges, rabbits, and squirrels; she had also killed two or three
beaver and some porcupines. The methods practised by this poor
creature to procure a livelihood were truly admirable, and are great
proofs that necessity is the real mother of invention. When the few
deer-sinews that she had an opportunity of taking with her were all
expended in making snares and sewing her clothing, she had nothing
to supply their place but the sinews of the rabbits’ legs and feet;
these she twisted together for the purpose with great dexterity and
success. The rabbits, etc., which she caught in those snares not only
furnished her with a comfortable subsistence, but of the skins she
made a suit of neat and warm clothing for the winter. It is scarcely
possible to conceive that a person in her forlorn situation could
be so composed as to be capable of contriving or executing anything
that was not absolutely necessary to her existence; but there were
sufficient proofs that she had extended her care much farther, as all
her clothing, besides being calculated for real service, showed great
taste, and exhibited no little variety of ornament. The materials,
though rude, were very curiously wrought, and so judiciously placed
as to make the whole of her garb have a very pleasing, though rather
romantic appearance.
Her leisure hours from hunting had been employed in twisting the
inner rind or bark of willows into small lines, like net-twine, of
which she had some hundred fathoms by her; with this she intended to
make a fishing-net as soon as the spring advanced. Five or six inches
of an iron hoop made into a knife, and the shank of an arrow-head of
iron, which served her as an awl, were all the metals this poor woman
had with her when she eloped, and with these implements she had made
herself complete snow-shoes and several other articles. Her method
of making a fire was equally singular and curious, having no other
materials for that purpose than two hard, sulphurous stones. These,
by long friction and hard knocking, produced a few sparks, which
at length communicated to some touchwood; but as this method was
attended with great trouble, and not always with success, she did not
suffer her fire to go out all winter.
The singularity of the circumstance, the comeliness of her person,
and her accomplishments, occasioned a contest between several of the
Indians of my party who should have her for a wife, and the poor girl
was actually won and lost at wrestling by near half a score of them
the same evening....
From the middle to the latter end of March, and, again, in the
beginning of April, though the thaw was not general, yet in the
middle of the day it was very considerable. It commonly froze hard
in the nights, and the young men took the advantage of the mornings,
when the snow was hard crusted over, and ran down a good many moose;
for in those situations a man with a good pair of snow-shoes will
scarcely make any impression on the snow, while the moose, and even
the deer, will break through it at every step up to the belly.
Notwithstanding this, however, it is very seldom that the Indians
attempt to run deer down. The moose are so tender-footed and so
short-winded that a good runner will generally tire them in less
than a day, and very frequently in six or eight hours; though I have
known some of the Indians continue the chase for two days before
they could come up with and kill the game. On those occasions the
Indians, in general, only take with them a knife or bayonet, and
a little bag containing a set of fire-tackle, and are as lightly
clothed as possible; some of them will carry a bow and two or three
arrows, but I never knew any of them to take a gun, except such as
had been blown or bursted, and the barrels cut quite short, which,
when reduced to the least possible size to be capable of doing any
service, must be too great a weight for a man to run with in his hand
for so many hours together.
When the poor moose are incapable of making farther speed they stand
and keep their pursuers at bay with their head and forefeet, in the
use of which they are very dexterous, especially the latter, so that
the Indians who have neither a bow or arrows, nor a short gun with
them, are generally obliged to lash their knives or bayonets to the
end of a long stick and stab the moose at a distance. For want of
this necessary precaution some of the boys and foolhardy young men
who have attempted to rush in upon them have frequently received such
unlucky blows from their forefeet as to render their recovery very
doubtful....
When two parties of Indians meet, the ceremonies which pass between
them are quite different from those made use of in Europe on similar
occasions; for when they advance within twenty or thirty yards of
each other they make a full halt, and in general lie or sit down on
the ground, and do not speak for some minutes. At length one of them,
generally an elderly man, if any be in company, breaks silence by
acquainting the other party with every misfortune that has befallen
him and his companions from the last time they had seen or heard
of each other, and also of all deaths and other calamities that
have befallen any other Indians during the same period, at least as
many particulars as have come to his knowledge. When the first has
finished his oration another aged orator, if there be any, belonging
to the other party, relates, in like manner, all the bad news that
has come to his knowledge, and both parties never fail to plead
poverty and famine on all occasions. If these orations contain any
news that in the least affect the other party it is not long before
some of them begin to sigh and sob, and soon after break out into
a loud cry, which is generally accompanied by most of the grown
persons of both sexes, and sometimes it is common to see them all,
men, women, and children, in one universal howl. The young girls
in particular are often very obliging on those occasions, for I
never remember to have seen a crying match but the greatest part
of the company assisted, although some of them had no other reason
for it but that of seeing their companions do the same. When the
first transports of grief subside they advance by degrees, and both
parties mix with each other, the men always associating with the men
and the women with the women. If they have any tobacco among them,
the pipes are passed round pretty freely, and the conversation soon
becomes general. As they are on their first meeting acquainted with
all the bad news, they have by this time nothing left but good,
which in general has so far the predominance over the former that
in less than half an hour nothing but smiles and cheerfulness are
to be seen on every face, and if they be not really in want small
presents of provisions, ammunition, and other articles often take
place, sometimes by way of a gift, but more frequently by way of
trying whether they cannot get a greater present. They have but few
diversions; the chief is shooting at a mark with bow and arrows, and
another out-door game, called Holl, which in some measure resembles
playing with quoits, only it is done with short clubs, sharp at
one end. They also amuse themselves with dancing, which is always
performed in the night. Besides these diversions they have another
simple indoor game, which is that of taking a bit of wood, a button,
or any other small thing, and after shifting it from hand to hand
several times, asking their antagonist, “Which hand is it in?” When
playing at this game, which only admits of two persons, each of
them have ten, fifteen, or twenty small chips of wood like matches,
and when one of the players guesses right he takes one of his
antagonist’s sticks and lays it to his own, and he that first gets
all the sticks from the other in that manner is said to win the game,
which is generally for a single load of powder and shot, an arrow, or
some other thing of inconsiderable value.
IX.
HUMBOLDT’S TRAVELS.
[Sidenote: 1881.]
One of the boys said that Hearne’s Travels seemed to bring them quite
within our own time. The stately great quarto is dedicated to the
Hudson’s Bay Company, and in his holidays last summer Bedford had seen
packages addressed to their agents, lying at the station at Montreal.
Tom Rising said that in the preface to Hearne’s Travels there was a
reference to a lively quarrel between him and Mr. Dalrymple.
Col. Ingham said that Mr. Dalrymple was one of the map-makers who
stayed at home, and had to plot or put down the observations of the men
who travelled. Hearne’s latitudes and longitudes did not prove to be
quite exact. But, as to the main point, that there was a Northern Ocean
somewhere near the parallel of 70°, he settled that matter.
“But now,” said he, “you begin to come to the time when geography
itself becomes a science. You had better look into some of the
magnificent Humboldt books. You all know his name, and what he did is
what you would all like to do. Here he was, a young German gentleman,
with plenty of money and a taste for natural history. His family
was important enough for him to secure good recommendations among
diplomatists and such people. He had the favor of governments, and he
had money enough to go where he pleased.
“At that time, almost the first time, the Spanish government relaxed a
little the secrecy in which it had tried to keep all the world ignorant
of all its immense possessions. They gave Humboldt in 1799 full power
to go where he chose in their provinces in America and the East Indies.
Humboldt went, and spent nearly five years in America.
“He was in Washington in 1804, and saw President Jefferson, who was
himself a bit of a naturalist.”
The boys and girls got down different volumes of Humboldt’s Travels.
Some of them are very elegant, and there is one atlas of prints of
curious things he saw in Mexico and South America, in which, to their
joy, they found the origins of many pictures still extant in the school
geographies.
Laura was looking at his Life. “Why, Uncle Fritz, they were educated by
our dear old Campe.”
“Who is our dear old Campe?” said Emma. “I never heard of him.”
“Campe is--oh, yes, you have, only you forget--he is the man who made
the little Robinson Crusoe.”
“Oh, he is the stone-axe man?” asked Tom Rising.
Yes, he is the stone-axe man. What the children meant was this,--that
he wrote a Robinson Crusoe which some of them had read, in which
Robinson Crusoe had a stone axe. In the original Robinson Crusoe, by
the Englishman, Defoe, Robinson was supplied with the necessaries of
life from the wreck of the ship, just as “Crusoe in New York” was
supplied from the old junk-shop which had that name. But the French
philosopher, Rousseau, said that for a book of education it should
show how a man would fare who had actually nothing but his hands.
So this German minister Campe, who had been a chaplain in the army, and
had become a teacher of youth, in the hope of thus ameliorating the
condition of mankind, wrote his famous Robinson the Younger. I believe
he does let Robinson have a jackknife when he is thrown upon the beach,
though that violates the principle. When it becomes necessary for
Robinson to cut down trees he walks along on the beach, and there he
finds a stone sharp on one edge and in the shape of an axe-head. What
is more, by great good luck the water has worn through a hole in the
stone just where the handle of the axe should be fitted. So Robinson
put a handle into the stone and went on his way conquering and to
conquer.
This absurdity of the accidental axe-head so impressed the children
that they always called the book the stone-axe Robinson. Still it was a
book they liked to take down from the Colonel’s shelves, and it would
be a good book now to put in public libraries. The catalogue title of
it in English is “The New Robinson Crusoe.” In Germany it is better
known, probably, than the original. In the early editions it takes the
form of a conversation between a father and his children.
Tom Rising said, “That virtuous boy, who asks the priggish questions,
must have been Alexander von Humboldt’s brother.”
“And the stupid boy,” said Bob, “who hardly knows the difference
between a needle and a fish-hook, he is Alexander von Humboldt himself.
Stupid boys, if they are only stupid enough to be neglected by the
schoolmasters, always turn out remarkable men.”
The children laughed at Bob’s frank confession of his theory of life,
but Col. Ingham, who feared that the talk was becoming heretical,
bade Fanchon read some of Humboldt’s own accounts of his notion in
travelling.
HUMBOLDT’S JOURNEY TO THE EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS.
[Sidenote: 1799.]
From my earliest youth I felt an ardent desire to travel into distant
regions seldom visited by Europeans. This desire is characteristic of
a period of our existence when life appears an unlimited horizon, and
when we find an irresistible attraction in the impetuous agitations
of the mind and the image of positive danger. Though educated in a
country which has no direct communication with either the East or
the West Indies; living amidst mountains remote from coasts, and
celebrated for their numerous mines, I felt an increasing passion
for the sea and distant expeditions. Objects with which we are
acquainted only by the animated narrations of travellers have a
peculiar charm; imagination wanders with delight over that which is
vague and undefined, and the pleasures we are deprived of seem to
possess a fascinating power, compared with which all we daily feel in
the narrow circle of sedentary life appears insipid. The taste for
herborization, the study of geology, rapid excursions to Holland,
England, and France, with the celebrated Mr. George Forster, who had
the happiness to accompany Captain Cook in his second voyage round
the globe, contributed to give a determined direction to the plan
of travels which I had formed at eighteen years of age. No longer
deluded by the agitations of a wandering life, I was anxious to
contemplate Nature in all her variety of wild and stupendous scenery;
and the hope of collecting some facts useful to the advancement of
science incessantly impelled my wishes towards the luxuriant regions
of the torrid zone. As personal circumstances then prevented me from
executing the projects by which I was so powerfully influenced, I had
leisure to prepare myself during six years for the observations I
proposed to make on the New Continent, as well as to visit different
parts of Europe, and to explore the lofty chain of the Alps, the
structure of which I might afterwards compare with that of the Andes
of Quito and of Peru....
From the time of leaving Graciosa the horizon continued so hazy
that, notwithstanding the considerable height of the mountains of
Canary,[18] we did not discover that island till the 18th of June. On
the morning of the 19th we discovered the point of Naga, but the peak
of Teneriffe was still invisible. The land, obscured by a thick mist,
presented forms that were vague and confused. As we approached the
road of Santa Cruz we observed that the mist, driven by the winds,
drew nearer to us. The sea was strongly agitated, as it most commonly
is in these latitudes. We anchored after several soundings, for the
mist was so thick that we could scarcely distinguish objects at a few
cables’ distance, but at the moment we began to salute the place the
fog was instantly dispelled. The peak of Teyde appeared in a break
above the clouds, and the first rays of the sun, which had not yet
risen on us, illumined the summit of the volcano. We hastened to the
prow of the vessel to behold the magnificent spectacle, and at the
same instant we saw four English vessels lying to and very near our
stern. We had passed without being perceived, and the same mist which
had concealed the peak from our view had saved us from the risk of
being carried back to Europe.[19]
The Pizarro stood in as close as possible to the fort, to be under
its protection. It was on this shore that in the landing attempted
by the English two years before our arrival, in July, 1797, Admiral
Nelson had his arm carried off by a cannon-ball....
Though the captain had orders to stop at Teneriffe to give us time
to scale the summit of the peak, if the snows did not prevent our
ascent, we received notice, on account of the blockade of the English
ships, not to expect a longer delay than four or five days. We
consequently hastened our departure for the port of Orotavo, which is
situated on the western declivity of the volcano, where we were sure
of finding guides. I could find no one at Santa Cruz who had mounted
the peak, and I was not surprised at this. The most curious objects
become less interesting in proportion as they are near to us; and I
have known inhabitants of Schaffhausen, in Switzerland, who had never
seen the fall of the Rhine but at a distance....
About three in the morning, by the sombrous light of a few
pine-torches, we started on our journey to the summit of the Piton.
We scaled the volcano on the northeast side, where the declivities
are extremely steep; and after two hours’ toil we reached a small
plain, which, on account of its elevated position, bears the name
of Alta Vista. This is the station of the _neveros_, those natives
whose occupation is to collect ice and snow, which they sell in
the neighboring towns. Their mules, better practised in climbing
mountains than those hired by travellers, reach Alta Vista, and the
_neveros_ are obliged to transport the snow to that place on their
backs. We turned to the right to examine the cavern of ice, which is
at the elevation of 1,728 toises, consequently below the limit of
perpetual snows in this zone. Probably the cold which prevails in
this cavern is owing to the same causes which perpetuate the ice in
the crevices of Mount Jura and the Apennines.... Day was beginning to
dawn when we left the ice-cavern. We observed, during the twilight,
a phenomenon which is not unusual on high mountains, but which the
position of the volcano we were scaling rendered very striking. A
layer of white and fleecy clouds concealed from us the sight of
the ocean and the lower region of the island. This layer did not
appear above eight hundred toises high; the clouds were so uniformly
spread, and kept so perfect a level, that they wore the appearance
of a vast plain covered with snow. The colossal pyramid of the peak,
the volcanic summits of Lancerota, of Forteventura, and the isle of
Palma, were like rocks amidst the sea of vapors, and their black
tints were in fine contrast with the whiteness of the clouds.
While we were climbing over the broken lavas of the Malpays, we
perceived a very curious optical phenomenon, which lasted eight
minutes. We thought we saw on the east side small rockets thrown
into the air. Luminous points, about seven or eight degrees above
the horizon, appeared first to move in a vertical direction; but
the motion was gradually changed into a horizontal oscillation.
Our fellow-travellers, our guides even, were astonished at this
phenomenon, without our having made any remark on it to them. We
thought, at first sight, that these points which floated in the air
indicated some new eruption of the great volcano of Lancerota, for
we recollected that Bouguer and La Condamine, in scaling the volcano
of Pichincha, were witnesses of the eruption of Cotopaxi. But the
illusion soon ceased, and we found that the luminous points were the
images of stars magnified by the vapors....
The road, which we were obliged to clear for ourselves, across the
Malpays, was extremely fatiguing. The ascent is steep, and the blocks
of lava rolled beneath our feet. Unfortunately the listlessness of
our guides contributed to increase the difficulty of the ascent.
Unlike the guides of the valley of Chamouni, or the nimble-footed
Guanches, who could, it is asserted, seize the rabbit or the
wild goat in its course, our Canarian guides were models of the
phlegmatic. They had wished to persuade us on the preceding evening
not to go beyond the station of the rocks. Every ten minutes they
sat down to rest themselves, and when unobserved they threw away the
specimens we had collected. We discovered at length that none of them
had ever visited the summit of the volcano....
We had yet to scale the steepest part of the mountain, the Piton,
which forms the summit. The slope of this small cone, covered with
volcanic ashes and fragments of pumice-stone, is so steep that
it would have been almost impossible to reach the top had we not
ascended by the old current of lava, the _débris_ of which have
resisted the ravages of time. We ascended the Piton by grasping these
half-decomposed scoriæ, which often broke in our hands.
Vesuvius, three times lower than the peak of Teneriffe, is
terminated by a cone of ashes almost three times higher, but with
a more accessible and easy slope. Of all the volcanos which I have
visited, that of Jorullo, in Mexico, is the only one that is more
difficult to climb than the peak, because the whole mountain is
covered with loose ashes.
When we gained the summit of the Piton, we were surprised to find
scarcely room to seat ourselves conveniently. We were stopped by
a small circular wall of lava, with a base of pitchstone, which
concealed from us the view of the crater. The west wind blew
with such violence that we could scarcely stand. It was eight in
the morning, and we suffered severely from the cold, though the
thermometer kept a little above freezing point. For a long time we
had been accustomed to a very high temperature, and the dry wind
increased the feeling of cold....
Notwithstanding the heat we felt in our feet on the edge of the
crater, the cone of ashes remains covered with snow during several
months in winter. The cold and violent wind, which blew from the time
of sunrise, induced us to seek shelter at the foot of the Piton. Our
hands and faces were nearly frozen, while our boots were burnt by the
soil on which we walked. We descended in the space of a few minutes
the Sugar-Loaf which we had scaled with so much toil, and this
rapidity was in some respects involuntary, for we often rolled down
on the ashes....
As we approached the town of Orotava, we met great flocks of
canaries. These birds, well known in Europe, were in general
uniformly green; some, however, had a yellow tinge on their backs;
their note was the same as the tame canary. The yellow canaries are a
variety, which has taken birth in Europe, and those we saw in cages
at Orotava and Santa Cruz had been bought at Cadiz, and in other
parts of Spain. But of all the birds of the Canary Islands, that
which has the most heart-soothing song is unknown in Europe. It is
the capirote, which no effort has succeeded in taming, so sacred is
its soul to liberty. I have stood listening in admiration of his soft
and melodious warbling in a garden at Orotava, but I have never seen
him sufficiently near to ascertain to what family he belongs....
* * * * *
On the 3d and 4th of July, we crossed that part of the Atlantic where
the charts indicate the bank of the maalstrom, and towards night we
altered our course to avoid the danger, the existence of which is
however doubted. It would have been, perhaps, as prudent to have
continued our course. The old charts are filled with rocks, some of
which really exist, though most of them are merely the offspring of
those optical illusions which are more frequent at sea than in inland
places.
From the time we entered the torrid zone we were never weary of
admiring at night the beauty of the southern sky, which as we
advanced to the south opened new constellations to our view. The
pleasure we felt in discovering the Southern Cross was warmly shared
by those of our crew who had visited the colonies. In the solitude
of the seas we hail a star as a friend, from whom we have been
long separated. The Portuguese and the Spaniards are peculiarly
susceptible of this feeling; a religious sentiment attaches them to
a constellation, the form of which recalls the sign of the faith
planted by their ancestors in the deserts of the New World. The
two stars which mark the summit and the foot of the cross having
nearly the same right ascension, it follows that the constellation is
almost perpendicular at the moment when it passes the meridian. This
circumstance is known to the people of every nation situated beyond
the tropics or in the Southern Hemisphere. It has been observed at
what hour of the night, in different seasons, the cross is erect
or inclined. It is a time-piece which advances very regularly four
minutes a day, and no other group of stars affords to the naked eye
an observation of time so easily made. How often have we heard our
guides exclaim in the savannahs of Venezuela, or in the deserts
extending from Lima to Truxillo, “Midnight is past, the cross
begins to bend.” How often these words remind us of that affecting
scene, where Paul and Virginia, seated near the source of the river
Lataniers, conversed together for the last time, and when the old
man, at the sight of the Southern Cross, warns them that it is time
to separate....
* * * * *
The banks of the Manzanares are very pleasant, and are shaded
by mimosas and other trees of a gigantic growth. A river, the
temperature of which in the season of the floods, descends as low as
twenty-two degrees,[20] while the air is at thirty and thirty-three
degrees, is an inestimable benefit in a country where the heat is
excessive during the whole year, and where it is so agreeable to
bathe several times in a day. The children pass a considerable part
of their lives in the water; all the inhabitants, even the women of
the most opulent families, know how to swim; and in a country where
man is so near the state of nature, one of the first questions asked
on meeting in the morning is, whether the water is cooler than on the
preceding evening. One of the modes of bathing is curious. We every
evening visited a family in the suburb of the Guayquerias. In a fine
moonlight night, chairs were placed in the water; the men and women
were lightly dressed, and the family and strangers assembled in the
river, passed some hours in smoking cigars and talking, according to
the custom of the country, of the extreme dryness of the season, of
the abundant rains in the neighboring districts, and particularly
of extravagances of which the ladies of Cumana accuse those of the
Caracas and the Havannah. The company were under no apprehension of
the crocodiles, which are now extremely scarce, and which approach
men without attacking them. We never met with them in the Manzanares,
but with a great number of dolphins, which sometimes ascend the river
in the night, and frighten the bathers by spouting water.
The pearl-breeding oyster abounds on the shoals which extend from
Cape Paria to Cape la Vela. It is warmly alleged by some historians
that the natives of America were unacquainted with the luxury of
pearls. The first Spaniards who landed in Terra Firma found the
savages decked with pearl necklaces and bracelets; and among the
civilized people of Mexico and Peru pearls of a beautiful form
were extremely sought after. Benzoni relates the adventure of one
Luigi Lampagnano, to whom Charles the Fifth granted the privilege
of proceeding with five carvels to the coast of Cumana to fish for
pearls. The colonists sent him back with this bold message,--“that
the emperor was too liberal of what was not his own, and he had no
right to dispose of the oysters which live at the bottom of the sea.”
Among the mulattoes whose huts surround the salt lake we found a
shoemaker of Castilian descent. He received us with an air of gravity
and self-sufficiency which in those countries characterize almost
all persons who are conscious of possessing some particular talent.
He was employed in stretching the string of his bow and sharpening
his arrows, to shoot birds. His trade of shoemaker could not be very
lucrative in a country where the greater part of the inhabitants go
barefooted, and he only complained that, on account of the dearness
of European gunpowder, a man of his quality was reduced to use
the same weapons as the Indians. He was the sage of the plain; he
understood the formation of the salt by the influence of the sun and
full moon; the symptoms of earthquakes; the marks by means of which
mines of gold and silver are discovered, and the medicinal plants,
which, like all the other colonists from Chili to California, he
classified into hot and cold. Having collected the traditions of his
country he gave us some curious accounts of the pearls of Cubagua,
objects of luxury which he treated with the utmost contempt. To show
us how familiar to him were the sacred writings, he took a pride in
reminding us that Job preferred wisdom to the pearls of the Indies.
After a long discourse on the emptiness of human grandeur, he drew
from a leathern pouch a few very small opaque pearls, which he forced
us to accept, enjoining upon us at the same time to notice on our
tablets that a poor shoemaker of Araya, but a white man, and of noble
Castilian race, had been enabled to give us something which, on the
other side of the sea, was sought for as very precious. I here
acquit myself of the promise I made to this worthy man, who refused
to accept of the slightest recompense.
When a traveller, newly arrived from Europe, penetrates for the
first time into the forests of South America, he beholds nature
under an unexpected aspect. He feels at every step that he is not
on the confines, but in the centre of the torrid zone; not in one
of the West India Islands, but on a vast continent where everything
is gigantic,--mountains, rivers, and the mass of vegetation. If he
feels deeply the beauty of picturesque scenery, he can scarcely
distinguish what most excites his admiration, the deep silence of
these solitudes, the individual beauty and contrast of forms, or that
vigor and freshness of vegetable life which characterize the climate
of the tropics. We walked for some hours under the shade of arcades
which scarcely admit a glimpse of the sky; the latter appeared to
me of an indigo-blue, the deeper in shade because the green of the
equinoctial plants is generally of a stronger hue, with somewhat of a
brownish tint. In this place we were struck, for the first time, with
the sight of those nests in the shape of bottles or small bags which
are suspended from the branches of the lowest trees, and which attest
the wonderful industry of the orioles, which mingle their warblings
with the hoarse cries of the parrots and the maccaws. These last, so
well known for their vivid colors, fly only in pairs, while the real
parrots wander about in flocks of several hundreds. A man must have
lived in those regions, particularly in the hot valleys of the Andes,
to conceive how these birds sometimes drown with their voices the
noise of the torrents which dash down from rock to rock....
The road skirted with bamboos led us to the small village of San
Fernando, situated in a warm place, surrounded by very steep rocks.
This was the first mission we saw in America. The missionary was
a Capuchin, a native of Aragon, far advanced in years, but strong
and healthy. His extreme corpulency, his hilarity, the interest he
took in battles and sieges, ill accorded with the ideas we form in
northern countries of the melancholy reveries and the contemplative
life of the missionaries. Though extremely busy about a cow which
was to be killed next day, the old monk received us with kindness
and permitted us to hang up our hammocks in a gallery of his house.
Seated, without doing anything the greater part of the day, in an
arm-chair of redwood, he complained bitterly of what he called the
indolence and ignorance of his countrymen. Our missionary, however,
seemed well satisfied with his situation; he treated the Indians
with mildness, he beheld his mission prosper, and he praised with
enthusiasm the waters, the bananas, and the dairy produce of the
district. The sight of our instruments, our books, and our dried
plants drew from him a sarcastic smile, and he acknowledged, with a
_naïveté_ peculiar to the inhabitants of those countries that, of all
the enjoyments of life, not excepting sleep, none were comparable
to the pleasure of eating good beef; thus does sensuality obtain an
ascendency where there is no occupation for the mind.
[Illustration: BARON HUMBOLDT]
The days we passed at the Capuchin convent in the mountains of
Caripe glided swiftly away, though our manner of living was simple
and uniform. From sunrise to nightfall we traversed the forests
and neighboring mountains to collect plants. When the winter rains
prevented us from undertaking distant expeditions we visited
the huts of the Indians or those assemblies in which the alcaldes
every evening arrange the labors of the succeeding day. We returned
to the monastery only when the sound of the bell called us to the
refectory to share the repast of the missionaries. Sometimes,
early in the morning, we followed them to the church, to attend
the _doctrina_,--that is to say, the religious instruction of the
Indians. It was rather a difficult task to explain dogmas to these
neophytes, especially those who had but a very imperfect knowledge
of the Spanish language. On the other hand, the monks are yet almost
totally ignorant of the language of the Chaymas; and the resembling
sounds confuse the poor Indians, and suggest to them the most
whimsical ideas. I saw a missionary laboring earnestly to prove
that _inferno_, hell, and _invierno_, winter, were not one and the
same thing. The Chaymas are acquainted with no other winter than
the season of rains, and consequently they imagined the “hell of
the whites” to be a place where the wicked are exposed to frequent
showers. The missionary harangued to no purpose; it was impossible
to efface the first impression produced by the analogy between the
two consonants. He could not separate in the mind of the neophyte the
ideas of _rain_ and _hell_. The same men who manifest quickness of
intellect, and who are tolerably well acquainted with the Spanish,
were unable to connect their ideas, when, in our excursions around
the convent, we put questions to them through the intervention of the
monks. They were made to affirm or deny whatever the monks pleased;
and that wily civility, to which the least cultivated Indian is no
stranger, induced them sometimes to give to their answers the turn
that seemed to be suggested by our questions. Travellers cannot be
enough on their guard against this officious assent when they seek
to confirm their own opinions by the testimony of the natives. To put
an Indian alcalde to the proof, I asked him one day whether he did
not think the little river of Caripe, which issues from the cavern of
the Guacharo, returned into it on the opposite side by some unknown
entrance after having ascended the slope of the mountain. The Indian
seemed greatly to reflect on the subject, and then answered, by way
of supporting my hypothesis, “How else, if it were not so, would
there always be water in the bed of the river, at the mouth of the
cavern?”
We remained a month longer at Cumana, employing ourselves in the
necessary preparations for our proposed visit to the Orinoco and the
Rio Negro. We had to choose such instruments as could be most easily
transported in narrow boats, and to engage guides for an inland
journey of ten months, across a country without communication with
the coasts. The astronomical determination of places being the most
important object of this undertaking, I felt desirous not to miss the
observation of an eclipse of the sun which was to be visible at the
end of October; and in consequence I preferred remaining till that
period at Cumana, where the sky is generally clear and serene. It was
now too late to reach the banks of the Orinoco before October, and
the high valleys of Caracas promised less favorable opportunities,
on account of the vapors which accumulate round the neighboring
mountains. I was, however, near being compelled by a deplorable
occurrence to renounce, or at least to delay for a long time, my
journey to the Orinoco. On the 27th of October, the day before the
eclipse, we went as usual to take the air on the shore of the gulf.
It was eight in the evening, and the breeze was not yet stirring. The
sky was cloudy, and during a dead calm it was excessively hot.
We crossed the beach which separates the suburb of the Guayqueria
Indians from the embarcadero. I heard some one walking behind us, and
on turning I saw a tall man of the color of the Zambos, naked to the
waist. He held almost over my head a great stick of palm-tree wood,
enlarged to the end like a club. I avoided the stroke by leaping
towards the left; but M. Bonpland, who walked on my right, was less
fortunate. He did not see the Zambo so soon as I did, and received
a stroke above the temple, which levelled him with the ground. We
were alone, without arms, half a league from any habitation, on a
vast plain bounded by the sea. The Zambo, instead of attacking me,
moved off slowly to pick up M. Bonpland’s hat, which, having somewhat
deadened the violence of the blow, had fallen off and lay at some
distance. Alarmed at seeing my companion on the ground, and for some
moments senseless, I thought of him only. I helped him to raise
himself, and pain and anger doubled his strength. We ran towards
the Zambo, who, either from cowardice, common enough in people of
this caste, or because he perceived at a distance some men on the
beach, did not wait for us, but ran off in the direction of the
Tunal, a little thicket of cactus. He chanced to fall in running,
and M. Bonpland, who reached him first, seized him round the body.
The Zambo drew a large knife; and in this unequal struggle we should
infallibly have been wounded if some Biscayan merchants, who were
taking the air on the beach, had not come to our assistance. The
Zambo, seeing himself surrounded, thought no longer of defence. He
again ran away, and we pursued him through the thorny cactuses. At
length, tired out, he took shelter in a cow-house, whence he suffered
himself to be quietly led to prison. M. Bonpland was seized with
fever during the night; but, being endowed with great energy and
fortitude, and possessing that cheerful disposition which is one of
the most precious gifts of nature, he continued his labors the next
day. The inhabitants of Cumana showed us the kindest interest. It was
ascertained that the Zambo was a native of one of the Indian villages
which surround the great lake of Maracaibo. He had served on board a
privateer belonging to the Island of St. Domingo, and in consequence
of a quarrel with the captain he had been left on the coast of
Cumana, when the ship quitted the port. Having seen the signal which
we had fixed up for the purpose of observing the height of the tides,
he had watched the moment when he could attack us on the beach. But
why, after knocking one of us down, was he satisfied with simply
stealing a hat? In an examination he underwent his answers were so
confused and stupid that it was impossible to clear up our doubts.
Sometimes he maintained that his intention was not to rob us; but
that, irritated by the bad treatment he had suffered on board the
privateer of St. Domingo, he could not resist the desire of attacking
us when he heard us speak French. Justice is so tardy in this country
that prisoners, of whom the jail is full, may remain seven or eight
years without being brought to trial; we learned, therefore, with
some satisfaction, that a few days after our departure from Cumana
the Zambo had succeeded in breaking out of the castle.
We quitted the shores of Cumana as if it had been our home. This was
the first land we had trodden in a zone towards which my thoughts had
been directed from earliest youth. There is a powerful charm in the
impression produced by the scenery and climate of these regions, and
after an abode of a few months we seemed to have lived there during a
long succession of years.
AROMATIC SHRUBS.
We spent a long time in examining the fine resinous and fragrant
plants of the Pejual. Wandering in this thick wood we suddenly found
ourselves enveloped in a thick mist; the compass alone could guide
us; but in advancing northward we were in danger at every step of
finding ourselves on the bank of that enormous wall of rocks, which
descends perpendicularly to the depth of six thousand feet towards
the sea. We were obliged to halt. Surrounded by clouds sweeping
the ground, we began to doubt whether we should reach the eastern
peak before night. Happily the negroes who carried our water and
provisions rejoined us, and we resolved to take some refreshment.
Our repast did not last long. Possibly the Capuchin brother had not
thought of the great number of persons who accompanied us, or perhaps
the slaves had made free with our provisions on the way; be that as
it may, we found nothing but olives and scarcely any bread. Horace,
in his retreat at Tibur, never boasted of a repast more light and
frugal; but olives, which might have offered a satisfactory meal to
a poet, devoted to study, and leading a sedentary life, appeared an
aliment by no means substantial for travellers climbing mountains.
We had watched the greater part of the night, and we walked for nine
hours without finding a single opening. Our guides were discouraged;
they wished to go back, and we had great difficulty in preventing
them. We sent off half our servants with orders to hasten the next
morning to meet us, not with olives, but with salt beef.
COW-TREE.
In returning from Porto Cabello to Aragua, we stopped at the farm
of Barbula, near which a new road to Valencia is in the course of
construction. We had heard several weeks before of a tree, the sap
of which is a nourishing milk. It is called the cow-tree, and we
were assured that the negroes of the farm, who drink plentifully
of this vegetable milk, consider it a wholesome aliment. It was
offered to us in a calabash. We drank considerable quantities of it
in the evening before we went to bed, and very early in the morning,
without feeling the least injurious effect. Among the great number of
curious phenomena which I have observed in the course of my travels,
I confess there are few that have made so powerful an impression on
me as the aspect of the cow-tree. It is at the rising of the sun that
this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The negroes and natives
are seen hastening from all quarters, furnished with large bowls to
receive the milk, which grows yellow and thickens at the surface;
some empty their bowls under the tree itself, others carry the juice
home to their children.
HOWLING MONKEYS.
Before I trace the scenery of the llanos I will briefly describe the
road we took from Nueva Valencia, to the little village of Ortiz, at
the entrance of the steppes. We left the valley of Aragua on the 6th
of March before sunrise. We passed over a plain richly cultivated,
keeping along the southwest side, by the lake of Valencia, and
crossing the ground left uncovered by the waters of the lake. We
were never weary of admiring the fertility of the soil, covered with
calabashes, water-melons, and plantains. The rising of the sun was
announced by the distant noise of the howling monkeys. Approaching
a group of trees which rise in the midst of the plain, between
those parts which were anciently the islets of Don Pedro and La
Negra, we saw numerous bands of Araguatos moving as in procession,
and very slowly, from one tree to another. A male was followed by
a great number of females, several of the latter carrying their
young on their shoulders. The howling monkeys, which live in society
in different parts of America, everywhere resemble each other in
their manners, though the species are not always the same. Wherever
the branches of the neighboring trees do not touch each other, the
male who leads the party suspends himself by the callous part of
his tail, and, letting fall the rest of his body, swings himself
till he reaches the neighboring branch. The whole file performs
the same movements in the same spot. It is almost superfluous to
add how dubious is the assertion of Ulloa, and so many otherwise
well-informed travellers, according to whom the monkeys with a
prehensile tail form a sort of chain, in order to reach the opposite
side of a river. We had opportunities during five years of observing
thousands of these animals, and for this very reason we place no
confidence in statements possibly invented by Europeans themselves,
though repeated by the Indians of the missions, as if they had been
transmitted to them by their fathers. Man, the most remote from
civilization, enjoys the astonishment he excites in relating the
marvels of his country. He says he has seen what he imagines may
have been seen by another. Every savage is a hunter, and the stories
of hunters borrow from imagination in proportion as the animals of
which they boast the artifices are endowed with a high degree of
intelligence.
FINDING WATER.
After having passed two weary nights on horseback, and having sought
in vain by day for some shelter from the heat of the sun, we arrived
before night at the little Hato del Caymen,[21] called also La
Guadaloupe. It was a solitary house in the steppes, surrounded by
a few small huts covered with reeds and skins. The cattle, oxen,
horses, and mules are not penned, but wander freely over an extent
of several square leagues. There is nowhere any enclosure; men,
naked to the waist and armed with a lance, ride over the savannahs
to inspect the animals, bringing back those that wander too far from
the pastures of the farm, and branding all that do not bear the mark
of their proprietor. These mulattoes, who are known by the name of
_peones llaneros_, are partly freedmen and partly slaves. Their
food is meat dried in the air and a little salted, and of this even
their horses sometimes partake. Being always in the saddle, they
fancy they cannot make the slightest exertion on foot. We found an
old negro slave, who managed the farm in the absence of his master.
He told us of herds of several thousand cows that were grazing on
the steppes, yet we asked in vain for a bowl of milk. We were
offered in a calabash some yellow, muddy, and fetid water drawn from
a neighboring pool. The indolence of the inhabitants of the llanos
is such that they do not dig wells though they know that almost
everywhere, at ten feet deep, fine springs are found in a stratum of
red sandstone. After suffering one half the year from the effects of
inundations, they quietly resign themselves during the other half to
the most distressing deprivation of water. The old negro advised us
to cover the cup with a linen cloth and drink as through a filter,
that we might not be incommoded by the smell, and might swallow less
of the yellowish mud deposited in the water. We did not then think
that we should afterwards be forced during whole months to have
recourse to this expedient. The waters of the Orinoco are always
loaded with earthy particles; they are even putrid, where dead bodies
of alligators are found in the creeks, lying on beds of sand, or
half-buried in the mud.
No sooner were our instruments safely placed than our mules were set
at liberty to go, as they say here, “to search for water.” There
are little pools round the farm which the animals find, guided by
their instinct, by the view of some scattered tufts of mauritia,
and by the sense of humid coolness caused by little currents of
air amid an atmosphere which to us appears calm and tranquil. When
the pools of water are far distant, and the people of the farm are
too lazy to lead the cattle to these natural watering places, they
confine them during five or six hours in a very hot stable before
they let them loose. Excess of thirst then augments their sagacity,
sharpening as it were their senses and their instinct. No sooner is
the stable opened than the horses and mules rush into the savannahs.
With upraised tails and heads thrown back they run against the wind,
stopping from time to time as if exploring space; they follow less
the impressions of sight than of smell, and at length announce, by
prolonged neighings, that there is water in the direction of their
course.
ELECTRICAL EELS.
Having obtained very uncertain results from an electric eel which
had been brought to us alive, but much enfeebled, we repaired to the
Caño de Bera, to make our experiments in the open air, and at the
edge of the water. The Indians told us that they would “fish with
horses” (embarbascar con caballos).[22] We found it difficult to form
an idea of this extraordinary manner of fishing, but we soon saw our
guides return from the savannah, which they had been scouring for
wild horses and mules. They brought about thirty with them, which
they forced to enter the pool. The extraordinary noise caused by the
horses’ hoofs makes the fish issue from the mud, and excites them
to the attack. These yellowish and livid eels, resembling aquatic
serpents, swim on the surface of the water, and crowd under the
bellies of the horses. A contest between animals of so different
an organization presents a very striking spectacle. The Indians,
provided with harpoons and long, slender reeds, surround the pool
closely, and some climb up the trees, the branches of which extend
over the water. By their wild cries and the length of their reeds
they prevent the horses from running away and reaching the bank of
the pool. The eels, stunned by the noise, defend themselves by the
repeated discharge of their electric batteries. For a long interval
they seem likely to prove victorious. Several horses sink beneath the
violence of the invisible strokes which they receive from all sides,
in organs the most essential to life, and, stunned by the force and
frequency of the shocks, they disappear under the water. In less than
five minutes two of our horses were drowned. The eel, being five feet
long, and pressing itself against the belly of the horses, makes a
discharge along the whole extent of its electric organ. It is natural
that the effect felt by the horses should be more powerful than that
produced upon man by the touch of the same fish at only one of his
extremities. The horses are probably not killed, but only stunned.
They are drowned from the impossibility of rising amid the prolonged
struggle between the other horses and the eels.
We had little doubt that the fishing would end by killing
successively all the animals engaged, but by degrees the impetuosity
of this unequal combat diminished and the wearied gymnoti dispersed.
They require a long rest and abundant nourishment to repair the
galvanic force which they have lost. In a few minutes we had five
large eels, most of which were but slightly wounded.
CROCODILES.
The Indians told us that at San Fernando scarcely a year passes
without two or three grown-up persons, particularly women who fetch
water from the river, being drowned by the crocodiles. They related
to us the history of a young girl of Uritucu, who, by singular
intrepidity and presence of mind, saved herself from the jaws of a
crocodile. When she felt herself seized she sought the eyes of the
animal and plunged her fingers into them with such violence that the
pain forced the crocodile to let her go, after having bitten off the
lower part of her left arm. The girl, notwithstanding the enormous
quantity of blood she lost, reached the shore, swimming with the hand
that still remained to her. In those desert countries, where man is
ever wrestling with nature, discourse daily turns on the best means
that may be employed to escape from a tiger, a boa, or a crocodile;
every one prepares himself in some sort for the dangers that may
await him. “I knew,” said the young girl of Uritucu coolly, “that the
cayman lets go his hold if you push your fingers into his eyes.” Long
after my return to Europe I learned that in the interior of Africa
the negroes know and practise the same means of defence. Who does not
recollect, with lively interest, Isaac, the guide of the unfortunate
Mungo Park, who was seized twice by a crocodile, and twice escaped
from the jaws of the monster, having succeeded in thrusting his
fingers into the creature’s eyes while under water.
JAGUARS.
Near the Joval nature assumes an awful and extremely wild aspect.
We there saw the largest jaguar we had ever met with. The natives
themselves were astonished at its prodigious length, which surpassed
that of any Bengal tiger I had ever seen in the museums of Europe.
The animal lay stretched beneath the shade of a large zamang.[23]
It had just killed a chiguire, but had not yet touched its prey, on
which it kept one of its paws. The vultures were assembled in great
numbers to devour the remains of the jaguar’s repast. They presented
the most curious spectacle; by a singular mixture of boldness and
timidity they advanced within the distance of two feet from the
animal, but at the least movement he made they drew back. In order to
observe more nearly the manners of these creatures we went into the
little skiff that accompanied our canoe. Tigers very rarely attack
boats by swimming to them, and never but when their ferocity is
heightened by a long privation of food. The noise of our oars led the
animal to rise slowly and hide itself behind the bushes that bordered
the shore. The vultures tried to profit by this moment of absence to
devour the chiguire, but the tiger leaped into the midst of them, and
in a fit of rage, expressed by his gait and the movement of his tail,
carried off his prey to the forest.
We passed the night in the open air, in a plantation, the proprietor
of which employed himself in hunting tigers. He wore scarcely any
clothing, and was of a dark brown complexion like a Zambo. This did
not prevent his classing himself amongst the whites. He called his
wife and daughter Doña Isabella and Doña Manuela. Without having
ever quitted the banks of the Apure, he took a lively interest in
the news of Madrid, enquiring eagerly respecting “those never-ending
wars and everything down yonder” (todas las cosas de alla). He knew,
he said, that the king was soon to come and visit “the grandees of
the country of Caracas,” but he added with some pleasantry, “as the
people of the court can eat only wheaten bread, they will never pass
beyond the town of Victoria, and we shall not see them here.” I had
brought with me a chiguire, which I had intended to have roasted,
but our host assured us that such “Indian game” was not food fit for
“nos otros caballeros blancos” (white gentlemen like ourselves and
him). Accordingly he offered us some venison which he had killed the
day before with an arrow, for he had neither powder nor fire-arms.
We supposed that a small wood of plantain-trees concealed from us
the hut of the farm; but this man, so proud of his nobility and
the color of his skin, had not taken the trouble of constructing
even a hut of palm-leaves. He invited us to have our hammocks hung
near his own, between two trees; and he assured us, with an air of
complacency, that if we came up the river in the rainy season we
should find him beneath a roof. We soon had reason to complain of a
system of philosophy which is indulgent to indolence, and renders a
man indifferent to the conveniences of life. A furious wind arose
after midnight, lightnings flashed over the horizon, thunder rolled,
and we were wet to the skin. During this storm a whimsical incident
served to amuse us for a moment. Doña Isabella’s cat had perched upon
the tamarind-tree, at the foot of which we lay. It fell into the
hammock of one of our companions, who, being hurt by the claws of
the cat, and suddenly aroused from a profound sleep, imagined he was
attacked by some wild beast of the forest. We ran to him on hearing
his cries, and had some trouble to convince him of his error. While
it rained in torrents on our hammocks and on our instruments which we
had brought ashore, Don Ignatio congratulated us on our good fortune
in not sleeping on the shore, but finding ourselves in his domain,
among whites and persons of respectability. Wet as we were, we could
not easily persuade ourselves of the advantages of our situation,
and we listened with some impatience to the long narrative our host
gave us of his pretended expedition to the Rio Meta, of the valor he
had displayed in a sanguinary combat with the Guahibo Indians, and
“the services that he had rendered to God and the king, in carrying
away Indian children from their parents to distribute them in the
missions.” We were struck with the singularity of finding in that
vast solitude a man believing himself to be of European race, and
knowing no other shelter than the shade of a tree, and yet having
all the vain pretensions, hereditary prejudices, and errors of
long-standing civilization!
A COMFORTABLE NIGHT.
On the 1st of April, at sunrise, we quitted Señor Don Ignatio and
Señora Doña Isabella, his wife.... Beyond the Vuelta del Cochino
Roto, in a spot where the river has scooped itself a new bed, we
passed the night on a bare and very extensive beach. The forest being
impenetrable we had the greatest difficulty in finding dry wood to
light fires, near which the Indians believe themselves in safety from
the nocturnal attacks of the tiger. The night was calm and serene,
and there was a beautiful moonlight. The crocodiles, stretched along
the shore, placed themselves in such a manner as to be able to see
the light. We thought we saw that its blaze attracted them, as it
attracts crayfish, and other inhabitants of the water. The Indians
showed us the tracks of three tigers in the sand, two of which were
very young. A female had no doubt conducted her little ones to drink
at the river. Finding no tree on the strand, we stuck our oars in
the ground, and to these we fastened our hammocks. Everything
passed tranquilly till eleven at night, and then a noise so terrific
arose in the neighboring forest that it was almost impossible to
close our eyes. Amid the cries of so many wild beasts howling at
once, the Indians discriminated such only as were at intervals heard
separately. These were the soft little cries of the sapajous, the
moans of the alouate apes, the howlings of the jaguar and couguar,
the peccary, and the sloth, and the cries of the curassao, the
parraka, and other gallinaceous birds. When the jaguars approached
the skirt of the forest our dog, which till then had never ceased
barking, began to howl and seek for shelter beneath our hammocks.
Sometimes, after a long silence, the cry of the tiger came from the
tops of the trees, and then it was followed by the sharp and long
whistling of the monkeys, which appeared to flee from the danger
which threatened them. We heard the same noises repeated during the
course of whole months, whenever the forest approached the bed of the
river. The security evinced by the Indians inspires confidence in the
minds of travellers, who readily persuade themselves that the tigers
do not attack a man lying in his hammock.
When the natives are interrogated on the causes of the tremendous
noise made by the beasts of the forest at certain hours of the
night, the answer is, “They are keeping the feast of the full moon.”
I believe this agitation is most frequently the effect of some
conflict that has arisen in the depths of the forest. The jaguars,
for instance, pursue the peccaries and the tapirs, which, having no
defence but in their numbers, flee in close troops, and break down
the bushes they find in their way. Terrified at this struggle, the
timid and mistrustful monkeys answer, from the tops of the trees,
the cries of the large animals. They awaken the birds that live in
society, and by degrees the whole assembly is in commotion. It is
not always in a fine moonlight, but more particularly at the time of
a storm and violent showers that this tumult takes place among the
wild beasts. “May Heaven grant them a quiet night and repose, and
us also!” said the monk who accompanied us to the Rio Negro, when,
sinking with fatigue, he assisted in arranging our accommodations for
the night.
A PLEASANT WALK.
We stopped at noon in a desert spot called Algodonal. I left my
companions while they drew the boat ashore and were occupied in
preparing our dinner. I went along the shore to get a near view
of a group of crocodiles sleeping in the sun, and lying in such
a manner as to have their tails, which were furnished with broad
plates, resting on one another. This excursion had nearly proved
fatal to me. I had kept my eyes constantly fixed towards the river;
but, whilst picking up some spangles of mica agglomerated together
in the sand, I discovered the recent footsteps of a tiger, easily
distinguishable from their form and size. The animal had gone towards
the forest, and turning my eyes on that side I found myself within
eighty paces of a jaguar that was lying under the thick foliage of
a ceiba. No tiger ever appeared to me so large. There are accidents
in life against which we may seek in vain to fortify our reason. I
was extremely alarmed, yet sufficiently master of myself and of my
motions to enable me to follow the advice which the Indians had so
often given us as to how we ought to act in such cases. I continued
to walk on without running, avoided moving my arms, and I thought I
observed that the jaguar’s attention was fixed on a herd of capybaras
which was crossing the river. I then began to return, making a large
circuit towards the edge of the water. As the distance increased
I thought I might accelerate my pace. How often was I tempted to
look back in order to assure myself that I was not pursued! Happily
I yielded very tardily to this desire. The jaguar had remained
motionless. These enormous cats with spotted robes are so well fed
in countries abounding in capybaras, peccaries, and deer that they
rarely attack men. I arrived at the boat out of breath, and related
my adventure to the Indians. They appeared very little interested by
my story, yet, after having loaded our guns, they accompanied us to
the ceiba beneath which the jaguar had lain. He was there no longer,
and it would have been imprudent to have pursued him into the forest,
where we must have dispersed, or advanced in single file, amidst the
intertwining lianas.
ONE-EYED MEN.
Beyond the Great Cataracts of the Orinoco an unknown land begins.
It is partly mountainous, receiving at once the confluents of the
Amazon and the Orinoco. We found but three Christian establishments
above the Great Cataracts, along the shore of the Orinoco, in an
extent of more than a hundred leagues; and these three establishments
contained scarcely six or eight white persons, that is to say,
persons of European race. We cannot be surprised that such a desert
region should have been at all times the land of fable and fairy
visions. There, according to the statements of certain missionaries,
are found races of men, some of whom have eyes in the centre of
the forehead, while others have dogs’ heads, and mouths below the
stomachs. There they pretend to have found all that the ancients
relate of the Garamantes, of the Arimaspes, and of the Hyperboreans.
It would be an error to suppose that these simple and often rustic
missionaries had themselves invented all these exaggerated fictions;
they derived them in great part from the recitals of the Indians. A
fondness for narration prevails in the missions, as it does at sea,
in the East, and in every place where the mind seeks amusement. A
missionary, from his vocation, is not inclined to scepticism; he
imprints on his memory what the natives have so often repeated to
him, and when returned to Europe and restored to the civilized world
he finds a pleasure in creating astonishment by a recital of facts
which he thinks he has collected, and by animated description of
remote things. These stories, which the Spanish colonists call “tales
of travellers and of monks,” increase in improbability in proportion
as you increase your distance from the forests of the Orinoco, and
approach the coasts inhabited by the whites. When at Cumana, Nueva
Barcelona, and other seaports which have frequent communication with
the missions, if you betray any sign of incredulity, you are reduced
to silence by these few words: “The fathers have seen it, but far
above the Great Cataracts.”
PLAGUE OF FLIES.
Persons who have not navigated the great rivers of equinoctial
America, for instance, the Orinoco and the Magdalena, can scarcely
conceive how, at every instant, without intermission, you may be
tormented by insects flying in the air, and how the multitude of
these little animals may render vast regions almost uninhabitable.
Whatever fortitude be exercised to endure pain without complaint,
whatever interest may be felt in the objects of scientific research,
it is impossible not to be constantly disturbed by the mosquitos,
zancudos, jejens, and tempraneros, that cover the face and hands,
pierce the clothes with their long, needle-formed suckers, and
getting into the mouth and nostrils occasion coughing and sneezing
whenever any attempt is made to speak in the open air. In the
missions of Orinoco, in the villages on the banks of the river,
surrounded by immense forests, the _plaga de las moscas_, or
the plague of the mosquitos, affords an inexhaustible subject
of conversation. When two persons meet in the morning the first
questions they address to each other are: “How did you find the
zancudos during the night? How are we to-day for the mosquitos?”...
“How comfortable must people be in the moon!” said a Salive Indian to
Father Gumilla. “She looks so beautiful and so clear that she must be
free from mosquitos.”...
INTERLOCKED RIVERS.
During the night we had left the waters of the Orinoco, and at
sunrise found ourselves as if transported to a new country, on
the banks of a river the name of which we had scarcely ever heard
pronounced, and which was to conduct us by the portage of Pimichin
to the Rio Negro, on the frontiers of Brazil. “You will go up,” said
the president of the missions, who resides at San Fernando, “first
the Atabapo, then the Temi, and finally the Tuamini. When the force
of the current of ‘black waters’ hinders you from advancing you
will be conducted out of the bed of the river through forests which
you will find inundated. Two monks only are settled in those desert
places between the Orinoco and the Rio Negro, but at Javita you will
be furnished with the means of having your canoe drawn overland in
the course of four days to Caño Pimichin. If it be not broken to
pieces you will descend the Rio Negro without any obstacle, as far as
the little fort of San Carlos; you will go up the Cassiguiare, and
then return to San Fernando in a month, descending the upper Orinoco
from east to west.” Such was the plan traced for our passage, and
we carried it into effect without danger, though not without some
suffering, in the space of thirty-three days.
X.
A YOUNG MAN’S VOYAGE.
[Sidenote: 1881.]
“Uncle Fritz,” said Horace, “why did you say, when we were talking of
Humboldt, that those were the days of boys?”
“Oh, my boy, I am very sorry I said so, if it seemed as if those were
more the days of boys than these are. There were never times when young
men, well-trained, came to the front more readily than they do now.
What I meant to say was, that in just that period of the Napoleon wars,
old things had been so thoroughly broken up that boys had chances they
had not fifty years before. Those boys have since become old men. They
have written their lives and adventures, and so there is a literature
of that time about the adventures of youngsters, which we do not have
of earlier times, and cannot, as yet, have of later.
“Will you go into Lady Oliver’s sitting-room, take the steps, and look
along the books at C till you find two little volumes of Cleveland’s
Travels?”
Horace found the book in a moment. It is a miscellaneous collection in
that room, and they catalogue themselves by the convenient way, for
such a collection, of standing in alphabetical order of the authors.
“Now, here,” continued Uncle Fritz, “is a charming little book of
adventures, written at the end of life by a gentleman who was sent out
from Salem very young, in command of a vessel which was to go to Mocha
for coffee. But they stopped at Havre, in France, first. There the
vessel was recalled, and poor Cleveland found himself in a strange port
without an adventure.
“What does he do but make one. He bought a little Dover packet-boat
of thirty-eight tons. Packet-boats between Dover and Calais were not
worth much when France was at war with England. He had fifteen hundred
dollars with which to buy a cargo. Two friends contributed each a
thousand, on condition that all three should share equally when the
voyage was over. This little vessel he meant to take to the Island of
Bourbon, knowing well what that market required. See what happened to
him.”
A VOYAGE WITH FOUR SAILORS.
[Sidenote: 1797.]
The difficulty of procuring men seemed to increase with each
additional day’s detention. Those whom I engaged one day would desert
the next, alarmed by some exaggerated story of our first attempt. In
the course of three weeks I shipped no less than four different men
as mates, and as many different crews, and each in turn abandoned
me. At length I procured an active and capable young seaman from
a Nantucket ship, one whom the captain recommended, as mate, and
another man and a boy in addition to George, who had held true to
his engagement. I was desirous of procuring one more, but my attempt
to do so was unsuccessful, and, fearing that by any delay for this
purpose I might lose those already on board, I sailed immediately.
Our expedition had become a subject of general conversation in the
town, and the difficulty of getting away the Indiaman (as she was
called) was known to every one. The day, therefore, that we sailed
the pier-head was again thronged with people, who cheered us as
we passed by, wishing us “un bon voyage,” but no small portion of
them considered us as bound to certain destruction. It was now the
21st day of December, a season of the year when the loss of a few
hours only of the easterly wind then blowing might be attended with
disagreeable, if not disastrous consequences. We therefore set all
our sail to improve it, and, while making rapid progress towards
the channel, were brought to by a British frigate, commanded by Sir
R. Strachan. The boarding officer was very civil. He declared our
enterprise to be a very daring one, caused us as little detention as
possible, and, returning to his ship, immediately made the signal
that we might proceed.
It was soon very evident that no person on board, excepting the
mate and myself, was capable of performing the very common and
indispensable business of steering; and though there was no doubt
our men would soon learn, yet, in the mean time, we had the prospect
before us of a tedious, though not very laborious course of duty. As
the wind continued to be favorable, our passage down the Channel was
easy and expeditious, and the day after leaving Havre we passed by
and in sight of the Island of Ushant. We were now in a position to
feel the full effect of the westerly gales, which are so prevalent
at this season of the year; and in order to have plenty of sea-room
in case of encountering one, I directed a course to be steered which
should carry us wide of Cape Ortegal....
A sufficient time had now elapsed since leaving Havre (it being the
third day) to give me a very tolerable knowledge of my crew, whose
characters, peculiarities, and accomplishments were such that a
sketch of them may not be without interest to the reader. My mate,
Reuben Barnes, was a young man of nineteen or twenty, who, having
been engaged in the whale-fishery, had profited by that excellent
school to acquire not only the knowledge of the seaman’s profession,
but also enough of the mechanic arts to fish a spar with dexterity,
to caulk a seam, or to make a bucket or a barrel. The intelligence,
activity, watchfulness, and adroitness of this young man relieved me
from much anxiety and care, and in his conduct with me he evinced all
the steadiness and fidelity which the recommendation he brought, as
well as the place of his birth, had led me to expect.
Decidedly the most important personage of my foremast hands was the
black man, George, who had dared to embark on our second voyage,
after having shared in the disasters of the first. In his capacity
and dialect, George was the veriest negro that can be imagined. For
honesty, fidelity, and courage he may have been equalled, but can
never have been surpassed. He stood about six feet and three inches,
was rather slender, very awkward, and of a much more sable hue than
common, but with an expression of countenance mild and pleasing. With
simplicity of character approximating to folly, he united a degree
of self-conceit which led him to believe that he could do whatever
could be done by another, and, in some cases, to suppose he could
make great improvements,--an instance of which occurred before we
had been out a week. In his previous voyages George had been cook,
and had therefore nothing to do with the compass; but now, having to
take his regular turn at steering, he was greatly puzzled with its
unsteadiness. He could steer in the night with tolerable accuracy,
by giving him a star by which to steer, but the compass appeared to
him to be calculated only to embarrass. With a view of remedying this
difficulty George had taken off the cover to the till of his chest,
on which, having marked the points of the compass, and pierced a
hole in the centre for the pivot, he brought it aft, and with great
appearance of complacency and expectation of applause, placed it on
deck before the helmsman, with the proper point directed forward to
correspond with the course, and then exclaimed: “Dair, massa, dat
compass be teady. George teer by him well as anybody.”
But this simplicity and conceit was more than redeemed by his tried
fidelity and heroic courage, of which the following is a remarkable
instance: George had been a slave to some planter in Savannah; and
one day, being in the woods with his master, they encountered an
Indian, who was hunting. Some dispute arising, the Indian, having the
advantage of being armed, threatened to shoot them. In consequence
of this threat they seized him and took away his gun, but after a
little while, and with urgent entreaties and fair promises from him,
they were induced to return it, first taking the precaution to dip
it into water to prevent an immediate use of it. This served again
to rouse the anger of the Indian, who immediately took the readiest
means for drying it. In the mean time George and his master had
entered a canoe, and, pursuing their way in a narrow river or creek,
had got a long distance from the spot where they had left the Indian,
when, on looking back, they perceived him running after them on the
bank. On arriving abreast of them he immediately took aim, which
George perceiving threw himself as a shield between his master and
the ball, and was so severely wounded that his life was for many
weeks despaired of. After a confinement of six months he entirely
recovered, and, as a reward, his master gave him his liberty.
At the time he engaged with me he had been a sailor about two years,
and had been so invariably cheated out of his wages that he had no
other means of clothing himself than the advance I paid him. Such
treatment had been productive of a tinge of misanthropy, and it
was not until after long acquaintance that he gave me his entire
confidence. As this acquaintance continued for many years (even as
long as he lived), and as he was a sharer of my various adventures, I
shall have frequent occasion to mention his name in connection with
my own while narrating them.
My other man had been a Prussian grenadier. He had served in the
army of the Duke of Brunswick at the time of his invading Holland to
restore the authority of the Stadtholder, and in other campaigns; but
having a dislike to the profession, he had deserted, and had been
about eighteen months a sailor in English vessels. During this time
he had not acquired such a knowledge of steering that we could leave
him at the helm without watching him, and however brave he may have
been in the ranks, he was the veriest coward imaginable when called
to the performance of duties aloft. In addition to this incapacity he
possessed a most ungovernable temper; and, being a powerful man, we
had considerable difficulty in keeping him at all times in a state
of subordination,--a difficulty which was in some degree augmented
by his very imperfect knowledge of our language and the consequent
embarrassment he found in making himself understood.
The last as well as the least of our members was a little French boy
of fourteen years, who possessed all the vivacity peculiar to his
countrymen, and who, having been some time on board the Carmagnole
and other privateers, had acquired many of the tricks of a finished
man-of-war’s man. Some months’ residence in an English prison had
given him the command of a few English words, but they were not of a
selection that indicated much care in the teacher.
It was not uncommon for George, the Prussian grenadier, and the
French boy to get into a warm debate on the relative merits of their
respective countries, for they were all men of great vivacity and
patriotism; and sometimes (probably from not understanding each
other) they would become so angry as to render it necessary for the
mate to interfere to restore tranquillity. At such moments I used to
think that if Hogarth could have been an observer his genius would
have done justice to the group. It may fairly be presumed, however,
that such a ship’s company, for an India voyage, was never before
seen, and, moreover, that we “ne’er shall look upon its like again.”
[Sidenote: 1798.]
For several days after passing the Isle of Ushant, the wind was
light from northwest and west-northwest, accompanied with a heavy
swell from that quarter, and though our progress was in consequence
slow, it was proportionally comfortable. Before we had reached the
latitude of Cape Finisterre the light wind, before which we had been
sailing with all our canvas spread, died away, and left us some hours
becalmed. During this time one of our pigs had got overboard and was
swimming away from the vessel. George, being an excellent swimmer,
did not hesitate to go after him; but when he had caught him, at
the distance from us of about twenty fathoms, a light puff of wind,
termed by seamen a cat’s-paw, took the sails aback, and suddenly
increased our distance from George, who perceiving it and becoming
alarmed let go the pig and swam for the vessel, crying out lustily,
as he approached, “I dead, I dead!” As he had not been long in the
water, nor used such exertion as to cause extraordinary exhaustion,
I was apprehensive that he might be attacked by a shark. We threw
towards him a spar and set immediately about clearing away the boat,
but before we could be ready to launch it George had seized the spar,
and, by its aid, had succeeded in getting alongside. When taken on
board he did not hesitate to express his belief that our going from
him was intentional, and that, had the breeze continued, we should
have left him for the purpose of saving his wages. Nor was it until
after long experience, and repeatedly receiving his wages when due,
that he would acknowledge that he had judged me erroneously.
The day succeeding this adventure we had another, which nearly
brought our voyage to a close. Early in the morning we fell in with
the British frigate, Stag. The wind was so light and its influence
on the manœuvres of the ship so counteracted by a deep and hollow
swell that, getting sternway, her counter came in contact with
our broadside with a tremendous force, which threatened immediate
destruction, and which must have been the result but for the order
instantly given and obeyed to “fill away.” This saved us from a
second shock, and we were happy to perceive we had received no other
damage than that of breaking the rail. The officer of the frigate
very politely offered to send their carpenter on board to repair
this, but I declined, from my desire of not losing a moment’s time in
advancing towards those latitudes where gales of wind were of less
frequent occurrence. When we were released from this visit the mate
immediately set about exercising his ingenuity as carpenter; and,
with great application, he completed the repairs, in a workmanlike
manner, on the third day after meeting the accident.
We had now advanced far into the second week of our departure. The
wind, though light, was fair, and the prospect was favorable for
the continuance of good weather. These encouraging circumstances
led me to hope that we should reach the tropical latitudes without
encountering a gale, and also without meeting what was more to be
dreaded, any one of those Spanish or French privateers, which had
frequented the track we were passing, and whose conduct, in many
instances, to defenceless merchant vessels had nearly equalled that
of the ancient buccaneers.
We had passed by many vessels, but had carefully avoided speaking
with any one. At length, on a very fine morning, as the sun rose,
and when we were about fifty leagues west of Cadiz, we perceived a
small sail in the northwest. At ten o’clock she was equally plain
to be seen, and by noon we were satisfied she was in chase of, and
was gaining on us. We kept steadily on our course, hoping that an
increase of wind would give us an advantage, or that some other
object might divert their attention. But our hopes were fallacious.
The wind rather decreased, and when this was the case we observed
she appeared to approach us faster. By two o’clock we perceived she
had lateen sails, and hence had no doubt of her being a privateer.
Soon after she began to fire at us, but the balls fell much short. As
the wind continued very light it was soon apparent that we could not
escape, as we perceived that her progress was accelerated by means
of a multitude of sweeps. To run any longer would only have been
incurring the risk of irritating the captain of the buccaneer; we
therefore rounded to and prepared to be plundered.
As they came up with us, about five o’clock, they gave such a shout
of “Bonne prise! bonne prise!” as would be expected from banditti
subject to no control; but I felt considerable relief in the
persuasion that, as their flag indicated, they were French, and not
Spanish. After the shouting had ceased I was ordered, in very coarse
terms, to hoist out my boat and come on board with my papers. I
replied that I had not men sufficient to put out the boat. The order
was reiterated, accompanied with a threat of firing into us. I then
sent my men below and waited the result, which was that they got
out their own boat. The officer who came on board I suppose to have
been the captain himself, from the circumstance of his being a very
intelligent man, and from my presence not being required on board
the privateer. A cursory examination of our papers convinced him of
our neutral character, and the exhibition of a passport, with a seal
and signature of one high in authority in the French government,
while it astonished, seemed also to satisfy him that the less trouble
and detention he gave us the better, as he immediately ordered his
ruffians to desist from clearing away for opening the hatches, which
they had already begun, and to go on board their boat, where, after
wishing me a good voyage and regretting the detention he had caused,
he joined them, and they returned to their privateer and sailed in
pursuit of other adventures.
The result of this rencontre was better than I had anticipated,
aware, as I was, of the general insubordination on board of Vessels
of this description. I had feared that, even if the chief had been
disposed to prevent his men from plundering, it would not have been
in his power, and I was much relieved by finding myself mistaken.
Pursuing a course for the Cape de Verde Islands, we came in sight
of them the thirtieth day from leaving Havre. It was my intention
to stop at Port Praya to obtain a supply of fruit and vegetables,
but I was prevented by a gale of wind, in which we lay to twelve
hours, and had a fair opportunity of testing the good properties of
the vessel for this important purpose. This was the only gale of any
severity that we experienced during the passage; and, as evidence
that it was of no inconsiderable violence, a ship came into the Cape
of Good Hope, three days after our arrival there, which had lost her
mizzenmast in the same gale.
It is well known to all who have crossed the ocean, and may easily
be imagined by those who have not, that a passage at sea presents to
the observer little else, from day to day, than the same unbounded
and (in tropical climes) unvaried horizon; the same abyss of waters,
agitated more or less as it is acted upon by the wind; the same
routine of duties to be performed on board, which, in the trade
winds, have seldom even the ordinary excitement caused by reducing
and making sail; and when this monotonous round is interrupted by
speaking a vessel, by catching a porpoise, or by seeing a whale, the
incident is seized with avidity as an important item to be inserted
in the ship’s log-book, or journal of the day’s transaction.
As our experience was of this kind I have only to notice that we
crossed the equator in the longitude of 25°, and that we met with no
occurrence, worthy of note, from the time of our leaving the Cape
de Verde Islands to our arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, excepting
that one night, when going before the wind with a strong breeze, the
Prussian soldier brought over the main boom with such violence as to
part the sheet and rouse all hands from their slumbers. As there was
a considerable sea, it was not without great difficulty and risk that
the boom was again secured.
On passing the equator we discovered that one of our casks of water
had nearly leaked out; and, having failed to fill up the empty ones,
it was doubtful if we had sufficient to carry us to the Isle of
France. This consideration, and the desire of obtaining refreshments
and a short respite from the fatigue and anxiety of such a passage,
determined me to stop at the Cape, as I believed, also, that our
cargo might be sold advantageously there.
Shaping our course accordingly, we came in sight of the Table Mount
on the 21st March, 1798, just three months from the time of our
leaving Havre. We were so near in before dark as to perceive that we
were signalled at the lion’s head, but were not able to reach the
anchorage until between nine and ten o’clock in the evening. We had
scarcely dropped our anchor when we were boarded by a man-of-war’s
boat; the officer of which, finding we were from France, immediately
hurried me ashore, in my sea-garb, to see the Admiral (Sir Hugh C.
Christian), who, surrounded by a group of naval officers, appeared
very earnest for such European news as I could give them. After
passing nearly an hour with the Admiral, who treated me with great
civility, and answering the many questions which were asked by the
company, the officer who took me from my vessel was desired to
convey me on board again; an hour having been previously named by
the Admiral at which I was to meet him, the next morning, at the
government house.
The arrival of such a vessel from Europe naturally excited the
curiosity of the inhabitants of the Cape, and the next morning being
calm, we had numerous visitors on board, who could not disguise
their astonishment at the size of the vessel, the boyish appearance
of the master and mate, the queer and unique characters of the two
men and boy who constituted the crew, and the length of the passage
we had accomplished.
Various were the conjectures of the good people of the Cape as to
the real object of our enterprise. While some among them viewed it
in its true light, that of a commercial speculation, others believed
that under this mask we were employed by the French government for
the conveyance of their despatches, and some even went so far as to
declare a belief that we were French spies, and, as such, deserving
of immediate arrest and confinement. Indeed, our enterprise formed
the principal theme of conversation at the Cape during the week
subsequent to our arrival.
At the hour appointed I presented myself at the government house, and
was introduced to the Governor, Lord Macartney, in whose company I
found, also, the Admiral. There was so much urbanity and affability
in the reception I met with from the Governor as well as the Admiral
that it inspired me with confidence and prevented my feeling any
embarrassment. The Governor very politely handed me a chair; and,
seated between these two distinguished men, I was prepared to
answer, to the best of my knowledge, such questions as they should
ask me, and to give them all the information respecting European
affairs that my residence in that country and my recent departure
enabled me to do. It was just at this period that the flotilla was
assembling in the ports of the Channel for the invasion of England,
and on this subject in particular they were very earnest to obtain
information, seeming to be not without apprehension that an invasion
was really intended. While I related to them what had come under my
own observation with regard to the preparation and what I had heard
from others, I expressed to them the belief, founded on the desperate
nature of the undertaking, that nothing more was intended by it than
to keep England in a state of alarm, and to cause a corresponding
increase of expenses.
Having interrogated me to their satisfaction on the political affairs
of France, they adverted to the more humble business of the object
of my enterprise, which the Admiral did not hesitate to declare
he believed to be for the conveyance of despatches for the French
government; and, in this belief, informed me that he should take
measures to prevent my going to the Isle of France. At the same time,
and as an additional evidence of this persuasion, he had ordered
that a search should be made on board my vessel for the supposed
despatches, and that all the letters and papers found on board should
be brought to him. Consequently, my journal, book of accounts, and
private letters and papers were submitted to his inspection, and the
letters I had for French gentlemen in the Mauritius were all broken
open.
On the conclusion of my visit to the Governor, who gave me permission
to dispose of my cargo here if I desired, I went to the house of an
old acquaintance, where I had lodged in a former voyage, and in what
he considered more propitious times. Both he and his family seemed
glad to see me, and invited me to take up lodgings there again; but
the safety of my vessel required my presence on board not less in
port than at sea, and I therefore declined.
The day following my letters and papers were returned to me by the
secretary of the Admiral, and I was surprised by a proposition from
him for the purchase of my vessel. I delayed giving an answer until
the next day, and in the mean time my inquiries led me to believe
that my cargo would sell advantageously, but there was nothing but
specie which would answer my purpose to take away for it, and this
was prohibited. With a provision for the removal of this difficulty,
and a good price for my vessel, I was prepared to negotiate with
the secretary. Meeting him, therefore, at the time appointed, and
both being what in trade is called off-hand men, we soon closed
the bargain by his engaging to pay me, on delivery of the Caroline
and stores, five thousand Spanish dollars, and to obtain for me
permission to export ten thousand. This so far exceeded the cost
of the vessel, and was even so much more than I had expected to
receive at the Isle of France, that I considered myself already well
indemnified for all my trouble and anxiety.
As the Admiral was pressing to have the vessel discharged, it was
my intention to land the cargo, next day, on my own account; but in
the mean time, I contracted with the merchant, at whose house I now
resided, for the whole of it, at a moderate advance on the invoice;
it being agreed that he was to pay the duties, the expense of
landing, etc. My spirits were now much elevated with my success, and
with the prospect of soon being rid of the Caroline and of the care
inseparable from having such a vessel, so circumstanced.
But I was allowed but a short period to my exultation; new and
alarming difficulties awaited me, of which I had no suspicion, and
which were more harassing than the dangers of the winds and the
waves. It appeared that the duties on entries at the custom house
were a percentage on the invoice, and that it was a very common
practice with the merchants to make short entries. The purchaser
was aware that, to stand on equal footing with other merchants,
he must do as they did; but he seems not to have reflected that,
being known to be more hostile to the English government than any
other individual at the Cape, he would be rigidly watched, and, if
detected, would have less indulgence than any other. The consequence
was a detection of the short entry and seizure of vessel and cargo.
The merchant went immediately, in a supplicating mood, to the
collector, in the hope of arranging the affair before it should
become generally known; but it was all in vain.
The only alternative which seemed now to be left me was to appeal to
the highest authority, and I determined to write to Lord Macartney
and prove to him that, by my contract for the sale of the cargo, the
duties were not to be paid by me, and that consequently I should
have derived no benefit had the attempt for evading them succeeded;
but that, on the other hand, if the vessel and cargo were to be
confiscated I should be the sufferer, as it was doubtful if the
merchant could make good the loss. I hoped that he might thus be
induced to advise a less severe course than the collector intended
to pursue. But how to write a suitable letter embarrassed me. I had
no friend with whom to advise. I was entirely ignorant of the manner
of addressing a nobleman, and at the same time was aware of the
necessity of doing it with propriety. In this dilemma I remembered
to have seen, in an old magazine on board, some letters addressed to
noblemen. These I sought as models, and they were a useful guide to
me. After I had completed my letter in my best hand, and enclosed
it in a neat envelope, I showed it to the Admiral’s secretary, who
appeared to be friendly to me. He approved of it, and advised my
taking it myself to his lordship immediately.
As the schoolboy approaches his master after having played truant,
so did I approach Lord Macartney on this occasion. I delivered my
letter to him; and, after hastily reading it, he sternly said,
“he could not interfere in the business; there were the laws, and
if they had been infringed the parties concerned must abide the
consequence,” but added, “he would speak to the collector on the
subject.” This addition, delivered in rather a milder tone, led me
to encourage the hope that the affair would not end so disastrously
as if left entirely to the discretion of the collector. Nor were my
hopes unfounded, as the next day the vessel and that part of the
cargo yet remaining on board were restored to me, while the portion
in the possession of the collector was to be adjudged in the fiscal
court, where it was eventually condemned, to the amount of about two
thousand dollars.[24] The success of my letter was a theme of public
conversation in the town, and was the means of procuring me the
acquaintance of several individuals of the first respectability.
The delay caused by this controversy with the collector was
unfavorable to the views of the Admiral, who began to evince symptoms
of impatience, and would probably have taken out the cargo with
his own men if we had not set about it with earnestness as soon as
the vessel was released from seizure. Having, the day following,
completed the unlading, I delivered the vessel to the officer who was
authorized to take possession. In two days after she was expedited
with a lieutenant and competent number of men (I believe for India);
and, in a subsequent voyage, I learned that she had never been heard
of afterwards.
“Now,” said Uncle Fritz, “that man went to sea at eighteen, at
twenty-one he commanded a vessel. See what your friend Richard H.
Dana--yes, Two-Years-before-the-Mast Dana--says of such commanders.
Here is a scrap from his review of Cleveland’s book.
“‘We do not hesitate to say that an intelligent, firm young man, who,
at the age of eighteen or twenty, after some years spent in receiving
an education on shore, enters for the first time the nautical service,
makes a long voyage before the mast, keeps his watch and carries on
duty a year or so in each of the inferior grades of office, by the
help of his books and a close practical observation and diligent
attention while master, and the acquired habit of commanding others and
relying upon himself, will work a ship better at thirty than one of
the same age would do who was set adrift at twelve, and has stayed in
the forecastle splicing ropes and hauling out ear-rings until he was
six-and-twenty.’”
“That advice,” said Tom Rising, “does not seem to favor Bob’s escape
from his tyrants by the sheets of his bedroom, and going a-whaling
before he knows a vulgar fraction from a noun predicate.”
Uncle Fritz laughed. “If you want to know how these youngsters crossed
oceans in boats with such assistants, read what Captain Cleveland wrote
at sixty-seven years of age.
“‘To the present sixty-eighth year of my life I have never taken a
drop of spirituous liquor of any kind; never a glass of wine, of
porter, ale, or beer, or any beverage stronger than tea or coffee; and,
moreover, I have never used tobacco in any way whatever, and this
not only without injury but, on the contrary, to the preservation of
my health. Headache is known to me by name only, and, excepting those
fevers which were produced by great anxiety and excitement, my life has
been free from sickness.’ Now go on with your story.” So Tom went on.
It is probable that the officer in charge, having been accustomed
only to large and square-rigged vessels, was not aware of the
delicacy of management which one so small and differently rigged
required, and to this her loss may be attributed.
The various drawbacks on my cargo, arising from seizure, some damage,
and some abatement, reduced the net proceeds to about the original
cost. This, with the amount of the vessel, I collected in Spanish
dollars, making together, after my various disbursements, the sum of
eleven thousand dollars, which I kept in readiness to embark in the
first vessel that should enter the bay on her way to India or China.
“But,” said Uncle Fritz, “you must not suppose that these gentlemen
found it all sunshine in such enterprise. Look further and you will
find my mark at an adventure Cleveland had in Valparaiso. That will
show you what is meant in our history by ‘Spanish claims,’ or claims
on the Spanish government. It will show you, also, how prompt and how
brave these adventurers had to be.”
[Sidenote: 1802.]
On entering the Bay of Valparaiso we were boarded by a naval officer
from a guardacosta, then lying in port. He desired us not to cast
anchor till the captain had presented himself to the Governor and
obtained his permission. Consequently, while Mr. Shaler accompanied
this officer to the Governor, we lay off and on in the bay. More than
an hour had elapsed before his return with a permission to anchor,
and to remain till a reply could be received from the Captain-General
at Santiago to our request for leave to supply our wants, for which a
despatch was to be forwarded immediately.
We were surprised to find no less than four American vessels lying
here, viz.: the ship Hazard of Providence, on a voyage similar to our
own, detained on suspicion of being English, from the circumstance
of being armed; the ship Miantonomo and schooner Oneco of Norwich,
Conn., each with valuable cargoes of seal-skins taken at the Island
of Masafuera, both detained, and finally confiscated on a charge
of having supplied English privateers, then on the coast, with
provisions which they had obtained at Talcahuaua; and the ship Tryal,
of Nantucket, a whaler, also detained for alleged illicit trade. If
we were surprised to meet so many of our countrymen here, we were
equally mortified, and in some degree alarmed for our own safety,
to find them all under seizure. Yet, while we violated no law, and
required no other than the privileges secured to us by treaty, we
could not believe that we should be molested.
On the third day after the Governor’s messenger had been despatched
a reply was received from the Captain-General, the purport of which
was that our passage had been so good that we could not be in want
of provisions if we had provided such quantity in Europe as we ought
to have done. But if it were otherwise, and our wants were as urgent
as represented, the mode by which we proposed paying for them, by
a bill on Paris, was inadmissible; and, therefore, that it was his
Excellency’s order that we should leave the port at the expiration
of twenty-four hours after this notification. On remonstrating with
the Governor, and pointing out to him the inhumanity of driving
us to sea, while in possession of so small a supply of the first
necessaries of life, he very reluctantly consented to our remaining
another post, and even promised to make a more favorable report on
the urgency of our necessities than he had done. But, as the order
was reiterated, we doubted his having performed his promise, and
therefore determined to write directly to the Captain-General. In
conformity with this decision Mr. Shaler addressed a letter to the
Captain-General, in the Spanish language, expressing his surprise at
the order for his departure, without affording him the supplies which
were indispensable, and for which provision had been made by treaty.
“Presuming that his Excellency’s intentions had been misconceived by
the Governor, he had ventured to disobey the order, and to remain
in port till the reception of his Excellency’s reply.” A prompt and
very polite answer to the letter was received, granting us permission
to supply ourselves with everything we desired; and, what was very
extraordinary, giving us further permission, which had not been
asked, of selling so much of the cargo as would be sufficient to pay
for the supplies. After which he desired we would leave the port
immediately, and added that if we entered any other port on the coast
we should be treated as contrabandists.
The latter paragraph of his Excellency’s letter evidently conveyed
a doubt in his mind whether our destination and the object of our
voyage was what we had stated it to be. But, having subjected
ourselves to the mortification of having the correctness of our
statement doubted, there seemed to be no other remedy than patience
and forbearance. At any rate, our embarrassments were more entirely
relieved than we had anticipated. We procured our provisions and
paid for them in manufactures, and were engaged in settling our
accounts preparatory to our departure on the morrow, having already
exceeded a month since our arrival.
But we were unconscious of what a day would bring forth, and entirely
unprepared for a train of unfortunate events, in which every American
in port was more or less involved. It appeared that a part of the
cargo of the ship Hazard consisted of muskets. These were demanded
by the Governor, on pretext of being contraband of war, and were
very properly refused by Captain Rowan, who stated to the Governor
that they were taken on board at a neutral port, that they were not
destined to any port of the enemies of Spain, and that they did not
come under the sixteenth article of the treaty.
During our stay here we had ascertained that the actual Governor of
the place was with his family on a visit to the capital, and that
the person with whom we had been treating, and who represented here
the Majesty of Spain, Don Antonio Francisco Garcia Carrasco, was an
officer of inferior grade, acting as governor during the absence of
his superior. Don Antonio was about sixty years of age, of pleasing
manners, of prepossessing countenance, and apparently of amiable
disposition, but of no decision of character; of contracted mind,
puffed up with vanity, and confounded at the audacity that should
dare to refuse compliance with an order given in the name of his
king; indeed, in his person, character, and capacities, there was
a striking resemblance to the portrait drawn by Cervantes of the
celebrated Governor of Barrataria.
The pride of the Governor was evidently wounded by the refusal of
Rowan to obey his demand of the muskets, and his subsequent measures
to obtain them were calculated to exhibit his folly, and to increase
his mortification and hostile feelings. To suppose, with his feeble
means, that he could coerce a compliance with his demand, was to
suppose the American to be as great a poltroon as himself. As far,
however, as the attempt could prove it, he certainly did expect to do
so.
The troops of the garrison, about thirty in number, with drums
beating and colors displayed, were seen marching from the castle
to the sea-shore, in the afternoon of the day on which the muskets
had been refused. Rowan, who was on the alert, saw them embark in
a large launch, accompanied by the Governor, and prepared himself
for resistance. The launch, which with rowers and soldiers was
excessively crowded, approached the Hazard with the royal colors
flying. When within hail of the ship the Governor stood up, and
demanded if he might come on board. Rowan replied that he should be
happy to be honored with his company, but that he would not permit
any one of his soldiers to come on board. The launch approached
nearer to the ship, to enable the parties to converse with more ease.
The Governor again formally demanded the surrender of the arms, and
was again refused. He remonstrated, and urged the consequences of
resisting the authority of the King’s representative. But it was
all unavailing, and perceiving that neither threats nor persuasion
had the desired effect, that armed sentries were stationed at the
gangways of the ship, and the proper precautions taken against a
_coup de main_, he returned to the shore with his soldiers, deeply
mortified, excessively irritated, and vowing vengeance.
But it is not unusual that what is done in the moment of great
excitement is not of the most judicious character, and that by
suffering ourselves to be controlled by our passions, we commit acts
which increase the absurdity of a ridiculous position, and augment
our embarrassments. This was precisely the case with the Governor,
in this instance. Without adverting to consequences, but influenced
by the violence of his passion, he, immediately on landing, ordered
every American who could be found on shore to be arrested and shut up
in the castle. Shaler, Rouissillon, and myself, being of this number,
were accordingly arrested, and, with four others of our countrymen,
were marched to prison in charge of a file of soldiers, who by their
conversation during the time, evinced that their feelings were in
unison with those of the Governor.
At the same time with the order for our arrest, and as if to
consummate his folly, the Governor made another attempt to
intimidate, by ordering the captain of a large Spanish ship, which
mounted eighteen heavy guns betwixt decks, to bring his broadside to
bear on the Hazard, and order her colors to be hauled down in token
of submission, on penalty of being sunk. After what had occurred,
to make such a threat, without daring to take the responsibility
of executing it, served only to increase the awkwardness of the
Governor’s position. While all, both on shore and on board the
shipping, were watching with intense interest the result of this
threat, a man was observed on board the Hazard engaged in nailing the
colors to the mast. A more significant reply could not possibly be
made. The Governor was foiled, and a calm succeeded the storm, during
the time required to despatch a courier to the Captain-General, and
to receive his instructions in the case.
Our arrest prevented our sailing, as we intended to do, the same
evening. Having passed a most uncomfortable night, without beds, in
the castle, where we were annoyed by myriads of fleas, and having
been without food of any kind since noon of the preceding day, we
wrote to the Governor in the morning, requesting to be provided with
food and beds. Our letter was returned unopened; but about noon, by a
verbal message from the Governor, we were informed that liberty was
given us to go on board our respective ships. We were doubtful of
the propriety of availing ourselves of this liberty, so ungraciously
proffered, till an apology should be made to us for the aggression.
It was finally settled that Shaler, being the most important person,
as master of the vessel, should remain in prison. We therefore sent
to him a bed and provisions. This was a determination for which the
Governor was entirely unprepared, and which seemed to confound him.
With characteristic imbecility, he went to the castle, and greeting
Mr. Shaler with apparent cordiality, begged him to go on board his
vessel, and proceed to sea. This Shaler offered to do, on condition
of receiving a written apology for imprisoning us. He declined giving
it. Permission was then asked to send an express with a letter to the
Captain-General. This he peremptorily and angrily refused, and then
suddenly started off to superintend the preparations which he was
making to compel a surrender of the Hazard, the orders for which he
expected to receive the next day.
Although the ostensible reason for refusing a compliance with
the Governor’s orders to go to sea was to obtain satisfaction,
yet the real cause of our delay was the hope and belief of being
able to render essential service in aiding to extricate Rowan
from his difficulties. It was evident that the Governor desired
only the sanction of the Captain-General to attempt coercion;
and, in expectation of receiving it, he was making the requisite
preparations. The soldiers of the garrison, and the populace, were
busily engaged, under the direction of the Governor, in placing
cannon in every direction to bear on the ship. The inhabitants of
the houses in the vicinity left them, and retired to the hills. The
activity and bustle of business had given place to the preparation
and excitement of war, and the confusion and apprehension could
hardly have been exceeded if the town had been on the point of being
taken by assault.
While Mr. Rouissillon and myself were walking through one of the
streets we encountered the Governor, who saluted us, and asked me if
I was not next in command on board to Mr. Shaler. Answering in the
affirmative, he ordered me to go on board, and proceed to sea. On my
rejoining that I could not go without my captain, he threatened to
seize the vessel, and without waiting for a reply, left us abruptly,
and apparently in an angry mood. In the course of the following day,
being the fourth from the beginning of hostilities, the express
arrived from Santiago, bringing a letter to Captain Rowan from the
Captain-General. It contained such promise of redress, if he would
comply with the requisitions of government by delivering up the arms,
that he was induced to yield. The arms were accordingly delivered
to the order of the Governor, and his receipt taken for them. The
portentous cloud, which had been lowering over the affairs of our
countrymen in this place, appeared to be now dissipated. The colors
of defiance, which had been waving on the ships and at the castle
from the beginning of the dispute, were hauled down; the cannon which
had been transported to the beach were returned to their ancient
position; the sentries were no longer seen at the gangways of the
Hazard; the old women and children returned to their habitations;
and everything indicated peace and repose.
This repose, however, was only the treacherous calm that precedes
the hurricane. The Governor could not brook the indignity he had
suffered. The vengeance he had vowed, and which he had not the
courage to take openly, he determined to execute treacherously; and
his measures, which were taken with great secrecy, and with the
stimulus of plunder, were executed with such success as must have
satisfied his highest ambition, and served as a balm to his wounded
feelings.
On the evening of the day when the muskets were surrendered, Mr.
Rouissillon and myself made a visit to the Governor, and found him
to be as affable and pleasant as was naturally to be expected on
attaining the object of which he had so long been in pursuit. He
hoped we should proceed to sea the next day, and inquired why Rowan
did not come on shore; adding, to our surprise, that if he did not
come voluntarily he should use coercion. We assured him of our belief
that his not having been on shore that day was accidental, and not
from any apprehension of molestation, begged him not to think of
coercion, and offered our guarantee that he should present himself at
the castle in the morning. On leaving the Governor we went on board
the Hazard and reported to Rowan our conversation with the Governor.
He had no hesitation in determining to act in accordance with his
desire by visiting him as early as it was permitted strangers to be
on shore.
BOARDING THE HAZARD.
Fearing, in this instance, a too ready compliance, in which case the
opportunity for revenge would escape him, the Governor must have had
everything planned and prepared in the evening, probably while we
were with him, to execute his cowardly design in the morning, before
it was permitted to Rowan to come on shore. The launches, which were
used to transport wheat from the shore to the large ship before
mentioned, passed and repassed near the Hazard while thus engaged;
consequently, they would excite no suspicion when approaching the
ship. An enterprize involving so little risk, and which promised so
golden a harvest of plunder, had not to wait for the requisite number
of men. About two hundred ruffians, armed with pistols, swords, and
knives, embarked in the launches used for carrying wheat, and boarded
the Hazard on each side, while her men were entirely off their guard,
unsuspicious of any cause of hostility. To save their lives, such of
the crew as were able made a hasty retreat to the hold. But there
were two poor fellows lying sick in their hammocks, and these were
both dangerously wounded. Rowan was screened from the vengeance of
the banditti by the interference of an officer, taken immediately on
shore, and sent to the castle.
The scene of plunder and confusion which ensued beggars all
description. Perceiving that the mischief was likely to be more
extensive than he had imagined, the Governor went on board with a
party of soldiers to arrest its progress. But he soon discovered that
it is easier to set a mob in motion than to control it afterwards.
With his utmost efforts, aided by the soldiers, and by the commandant
of the custom-house guards and his satellites, he was incapable of
resisting the progress of the plunderers, until, being satiated, they
retreated with their booty to the shore as opportunity offered. When
there were but few remaining he succeeded in driving them away, and
placed the ship in charge of the mates.
CALL ON THE GOVERNOR.
After such an achievement, such a gathering of laurels, there
was some hazard to a foreigner in calling on the Governor, even
though it were to compliment him. But, being determined that the
Captain-General should have our version, of the transaction, I
called on him at noon for leave to send an express to the capital to
complain of the outrage, and to demand that redress there which we
asked in vain here. In an angry tone, and instead of replying to my
request, he inquired if we were desirous of provoking him to serve
us in the manner he had done the ship. I replied that I hoped there
was no danger of our causing him any provocation, but should it be
our misfortune to do so to the extent intimated, there could exist no
cause for such violent measures as had been used towards the ship,
as no resistance would be made. I then remarked on the advantage
that would result to the government in keeping away the rabble, and
thus securing the whole property. I stated, also, that there were
many valuable instruments, charts, and books on board which would be
useful to the Spanish marine, but which might be destroyed if, as he
suggested, “he served us in the manner he had done the ship”; and I
repeated a hope that he would not do so. Seeing that I was not to be
intimidated, and was, moreover, determined not to go to sea without
communicating with the Captain-General, he at length reluctantly
consented to our sending an express....
LETTERS.
The letter written by Mr. Shaler in Spanish, and complaining of the
outrageous conduct of the Governor to the unoffending citizens of
a friendly power, was sent by a courier. It produced an interchange
of several letters, the purport of which was, on one side, to deny
the right of any foreign vessel to traverse these seas, which, his
Excellency said, like the territory, belonged exclusively to his
Catholic Majesty; on the other, to refute the absurd doctrine of any
nation’s possessing an exclusive right to any particular sea, and
giving chapter and verse in the treaty, not only for our right to
sail where we please, but to enter their ports and demand succor. His
Excellency closed the correspondence by expressing a hope that if
we did not admit their exclusive right to these seas, we would, at
least, allow them to be masters in their own ports....
WAIT ON THE GOVERNOR.
Having assisted in bringing Rowan’s affairs into such a train
as promised a speedy and satisfactory adjustment, there existed
no farther inducement to remain longer in port. Accordingly,
having settled our various accounts of disbursements, Mr. Shaler,
accompanied by Mr. Rouissillon, waited on the Governor to notify him
of his intention to proceed to sea next morning, and to take leave.
He received them with great cordiality, expressed much regret at what
had occurred, promised to remedy the mischief as far as he was able,
offered us every facility in his power to insure our departure at the
time appointed, and, though it would not have been surprising if he
had wished us to the devil, on the contrary, wished us a good voyage.
There was a number of our unfortunate countrymen in port, principally
the crews of the condemned vessels, who had lost their little all,
and whose situation excited commiseration. We knew that if they
could get to Masafuera with the provisions they could obtain here,
they would, by pursuing their vocation, soon bring up arrears.
We determined, therefore, to go so far out of our way as to give
them all passages thither. They all very gratefully accepted our
invitation. Being ready on the 21st of April, and on the point of
leaving the port, a message was brought from the Governor, requesting
to see Mr. Shaler. He went immediately to him, and found, to his
astonishment, that he wanted him to defer his departure a few days.
It appeared that some suspicious or malicious person had suggested to
this silly governor that our object in taking so many men on board
was to capture the large ship, then on the point of sailing for Lima.
To guard against this, he begged Mr. Shaler to defer sailing till
forty-eight hours after that ship had sailed, and, moreover, hoped we
would not revenge ourselves on any unarmed Spanish vessel we might
chance to meet....
QUICKSILVER.
The time we had agreed to wait had not quite expired when we were all
taken aback again. It appeared that one of our sailors, an Irishman,
who had deserted, had given information that we had many kegs of
dollars on board, stowed under the ballast. As he had pointed out
precisely where they were, an armed force came on board by order of
the Governor, and, proceeding directly to the place indicated by the
sailor, found, instead of kegs of dollars, kegs of quicksilver, of
which they took away four, giving a receipt for them.
We flattered ourselves that this aggression would be the means of
opening the way for our going to the capital. Renewing, therefore,
our correspondence with the Captain-General, to complain of this
outrage, and remarking on our entire want of confidence in the
capacity or honesty of the Governor and his advisers, we reiterated
our request for leave to repair to Santiago for the more speedy
adjustment of our grievance. In reply, his Excellency remarked on the
loss of time which our coming to Santiago would cause, and observed
that the difficulty could be easily adjusted at Valparaiso by
answering satisfactorily the following questions, viz.: Why was the
quicksilver hidden under the ballast? To whom does it belong? To what
port destined? These interrogatories, being solemnly propounded by
the Governor to Mr. Shaler, a notary public being present, he replied
to the first that it was not hidden; to the second, that it belonged
to the owners of the vessel and cargo; to the third, that its
destination was round the world; and to this deposition he took an
oath on an odd volume of Shakespeare, presented him by the Governor
for that purpose.
The result of this investigation was immediately despatched to the
Captain-General, and an answer returned by his Excellency with
the least possible delay, the purport of which was that the four
kegs of quicksilver should be restored to us on board, and that
we should then leave the port without further delay.... During
this controversy, the men whom we intended taking to Masafuera had
dispersed in various directions, so that having on board only our
original small complement of men, the authorities had no cause to
apprehend any acts of piracy from us.
TAKING LEAVE.
The functions of Don Antonio as Governor _ad interim_ having ceased
on the arrival of his senior from Santiago, when we were on the
point of sailing, we made him a visit as soon after his arrival
as etiquette would permit. He gave us a most cordial, frank, and
friendly reception, and expressed much regret at having been absent
on our arrival; as, he said, not only would the trouble we had
experienced have been avoided, but he would have obtained permission
for us to visit Santiago. The order for our departure, however, being
now given by the Captain-General, was irrevocable, and he therefore
hoped there would be no further delay. On taking leave he inundated
us with civilities and good wishes, promising, moreover, to use his
best endeavors to bring the affair of our unfortunate countryman,
Rowan, to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion. These civilities,
professions, and promises passed with us for no more than they were
worth, after the observations our opportunities had afforded us of
judging of the character and motives of action of the authorities
here.
It was now the 6th of May, being two and a half months from the date
of our arrival,--a long time, considering that we were allowed only
twenty-four hours by the Captain-General to remain in port; and for
the third time had settled our accounts, and made all ready for our
departure. No further obstacle to our sailing occurring, and having
taken leave of our acquaintance and countrymen, we left Valparaiso to
the great satisfaction of the Governor and authorities, no less than
of ourselves.
“Another such book,” said Uncle Fritz, “is Captain Bennett Forbes’s
account of his reminiscences. But as you are all Boston bred, I suppose
you have all seen that.”
And it proved that they had.
XI.
THE NORTHWEST.
[Sidenote: 1881.]
“Uncle Fritz, you spoke of Jefferson as a geographer or naturalist.”
“Oh, yes,” said Uncle Fritz, “when he was in France he was a great deal
with the philosophical set, who all thought that if people knew the
length of a degree of the meridian, and could rightly analyze water,
all would be well.”
“They should learn Dr. Watts,” said Esther.
“Dr. Watts! Frenchmen learn Dr. Watts?”
“Why, Dr. Watts implies that knowing is not quite enough. Don’t you
remember?
‘Who know what’s right, not only so,
But also _practise_ what they know.’”
And Esther gave a very funny emphasis and accent to “practise,” just as
she said Mr. Ockley, the Sunday-school teacher at North Holderness, did.
Uncle Fritz, not displeased with the comment, went on to say that some
of Jefferson’s worst follies and some of his most sensible enterprises
were dictated by his wish to be called a philosopher. “Of the whole set
of the philosophers whom he used to meet in the society of Paris, about
the time when the French Revolution was brewing, he only came to an
important post of power.
“One of his theories was peaceful war. He thought that the United
States could starve Europe into submission, if he cut off all trade.
But alas! It was the United States which starved, and Europe did not
know that anything was happening.
“Then he had a plan for keeping his navy on land, and carrying it about
in carts wherever the enemy might attack. But this never worked well.
“But he wrote an interesting book on the resources of Virginia,--he was
president of the Philosophical Society, and when you go and visit Mary
Lesley, at Philadelphia, she will take you to the library, and show you
no end of curious things in the archives, which have to do with him.
“I have a copy of a letter which he wrote to our old friend, Phil.
Nolan, when he was hunting wild horses in Texas. His namesake, Mr.
Joseph Jefferson, was kind enough to hunt that up for me in the State
Department at Washington.
“Philip Nolan was the first person to bring back to the United States
any accurate knowledge of the wonderful resources of Texas. The
Spaniards caught him there, violated their own safeguard, and killed
him in 1801. That is probably the reason why we have no answer to Mr.
Jefferson’s letter to him.
“Then, when Jefferson was well established in the presidency, he
determined to find what there was between the Mississippi and the
Pacific. Nobody who had left any reliable account had ever gone across
in the regions north of Mexico.
“If you will look in the Popular History again,” said Uncle Fritz,
“where you were looking when we had the Coronado reading, you will find
how four poor fellows of Narvaez’s expedition straggled across from
the gulf, slaves most of the time to Indians, in the years following
1528. But after them there was no authentic account of any passage.
“It is odd enough,” continued Uncle Fritz, “that every cyclopædia,
till within a few years, says that Carver, who went from here to Lake
Superior in 1768, went to the Pacific. You will find that in the
earlier editions of Appleton. So the old French cyclopædias say that
Chateaubriand, in 1792, went to the Pacific. In truth, he never went
beyond the Red River of Louisiana. Lewis and Clarke were the first men
to cross the Rocky Mountains and back, from the Mississippi to the
Pacific.
[Sidenote: 1804.]
“You see that as long ago as 1792, in that very fur-trade of which
Captain Cleveland gives you some account, Robert Gray, from Salem, here
in the ship Columbia, discovered the Columbia River. He sailed up,
gave his vessel’s name to it, and on that discovery, in a considerable
measure, rested, at one time, our claim to Oregon. Jefferson selected
two captains from the army, Meriwether Lewis and George Clarke, and
bade them organize an expedition to find this same Columbia River and
descend to the sea. This they did in the years 1804, 1805, and 1806.
You see, there were as yet no steamboats. They had to row, sail, and
tow, on their way up the Missouri, till they came to the mountains.
Slow work it was, to be sure. Then they bought horses from the Indians
and crossed the passes,--in the same regions where the Northern Pacific
Railroad was built in our own time,--and to them are due the names of
Lewis’s River and Clarke’s River, the two branches which unite in the
Columbia River.
“When they came back, they had not been heard from for more than two
years.
“This was the beginning of a series of government explorations which
have lasted till our time. The authorities at Washington publish every
year valuable reports of their agents in the Ethnological Department,
in the Irrigation Department, and in the Alaskan Department. Keep
your eyes on these reports. They do not get into book stores, but are
distributed with great liberality at Washington to any persons who
are interested. Of all the books made out of the journals of those
explorations, Irving’s ‘Astoria’ and ‘Captain Bonneville’ are the most
entertaining. Later down Francis Parkman’s book, when he spent a summer
with the Sioux, is charming.[25] Fremont is very entertaining. There
are several of his reports.
“Suppose we try the Great Northwest. That is a country which, before
Fulton invented the steamboat, seemed so useless that we almost lost it
at the treaty of Ghent by the mere indifference of our own negotiators.
“It was our dear old John Quincy Adams who hung on. He hated the
English so that he would not let them have even a wilderness if he
could help it.”
[Sidenote: 1814.]
Then Uncle Fritz asked Clement to bring him the third volume of Adams’s
Memoirs,[26] and he showed Clem. some of his marks at passages in the
negotiation of the treaty of 1814 with England.
“Mr. Gallatin told them that if they considered the remainder of the
article, the forty-ninth parallel of latitude, an equivalent, he wished
them to understand that we attached no importance to it at all. It
would, indeed, be a convenience to have the boundary settled; but the
lands there were of so little value, and the period when they might be
settled so remote, that we were perfectly willing that the boundary
there should remain as it is now, and without any further arrangement.”
“Why, Uncle Fritz, it was the State of Minnesota which Gallatin says
was of so little value,” said Bedford, who was on the floor, with
Colton’s Atlas open.
“To be sure it was, my boy. But please think what the State of
Minnesota would be without steamboats and without railroads. And even
in 1814, even Mr. Gallatin did not dream of what steamboats were to do.
[Sidenote: 1823.]
“But the steamboat was already pushing its nose into every river of
the West. And nine years after that remark of Mr. Gallatin, Col. Long
was sent up there to see where the new boundary--which is our present
boundary of 49° north latitude--would run. The old boundary of the
first treaty had proved quite impossible, because the Mississippi did
not rise where they thought it did.”
“And with Col. Long,” said Col. Ingham, “your readings connect with
Uncle Fritz. For this same Col. Long afterwards was interested
in railroads, and invented a locomotive which should burn hard
coal,--anthracite. When I was a boy, Mr. Hale bought one of these
engines for the Boston and Worcester Railroad. Those were days,
Bedford, when a good-natured boy had more rights than he has now, and
rules and regulations were not so many. I used to be a good deal at the
railroad station in Washington Street, and more than once have I coaxed
a good-natured engine-driver to give me a ride on ‘Col. Long,’ as we
always called his engine. What her real name was I have forgotten.
“But Laura did not come here to hear stories about locomotives; she is
all ready to read.”
And Laura read from the narrative of an expedition to the source of St.
Peter’s River.
PLAN OF THE PARTY.
The success which attended the expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and
the important information which it imparted concerning the nature
of the valley drained by the Missouri and its tributaries, of which
nothing was known but what had been observed by Lewis and Clarke,
induced the Government of the United States to continue its endeavors
to explore the unknown wilds within its limits. The first object
which appeared to it deserving of investigation was the district of
country bounded by the Missouri, the Mississippi, and the northern
boundary of the United States.
Accordingly it was determined in the spring of 1823, by the
executive, that an expedition be immediately fitted out for exploring
the river St. Peter’s and the country situated on our northern
boundary between the Red River of Hudson’s Bay and Lake Superior.
The command of the expedition was intrusted to Major S. H. Long, and
he received orders from the War Department, dated April 25, 1823,
from which the following is taken:--
“The route of the expedition will be as follows: commencing at
Philadelphia, thence proceeding to Wheeling in Virginia, thence to
Chicago via Fort Wayne, thence to Fort Armstrong or Dubuque’s Lead
Mines, thence up the Mississippi to Fort Anthony, thence to the
source of the St. Peter’s River, thence to the point of intersection
between Red River and the forty-ninth degree of north latitude,
thence along the northern boundary of the United States to Lake
Superior, and thence homeward by the lakes.
“The object of the expedition is to make a general Survey of the
country on the route pointed out, together with a topographical
description of the same, to ascertain the latitude and longitude of
all the remarkable points, to examine and describe its productions,
animal, vegetable, and mineral, and to inquire into the character,
customs, etc., of the Indian tribes inhabiting the same.”...
The party travelled in light carriages from Philadelphia to Wheeling,
where they disposed of them and purchased horses in exchange. The
usual route through Lancaster, Columbia, York, and Gettysburg, was
travelled. Here they left the Pittsburg turnpike road and reached
Hagerstown in Maryland by a cross road; from Hagerstown they
continued along the Maryland turnpike road to Cumberland, where
it unites with the national road, upon which they travelled to
Wheeling....
The country about the Muskingum appears to have been at a former
period the seat of a very extensive aboriginal population. Everywhere
do we observe in this valley remains of works which attest at the
same time the number, the genius, and the perseverance of those
departed nations. Their works have survived the lapse of ages, but
the spirit which prompted them has disappeared. We wander over the
face of the country; wherever we go we mark the monuments which they
have erected; we would interrogate them as to the authors of these
mighty works, but no voice replies to ours save that of the echo.
The mind seeks in vain for some clew to assist it in unravelling the
mystery. Was their industry stimulated by the desire of protecting
themselves against the inroads of invaders, or were they themselves
the trespassers? did they migrate to this spot, and if so, whence
came they? who were they? where went they? and wherefore came they
here? Their works have been torn open; they have been searched
into, but all in vain. The mound is now levelled with the sod of
the valley; the accumulated earth, which was perhaps collected
from a distance into one immense mass to erect a monument, deemed
indestructible, over the remains of some western Pharaoh, is now
scattered over the ground so that its concealed treasure may be
brought to light. Every bone is accurately examined, every piece
of metal or fragment of broken pottery is curiously studied; still
no light has as yet been thrown upon the name and date of the once
populous nation which formerly flourished on the banks of the
numerous tributary streams of the Ohio.
Such were the reflections suggested to us by our visit to the
numerous mounds and Indian works which abound in this part of the
country, the first of which we observed in the small village of
Irville, situated eleven miles west of Zanesville. It has been
opened, and as usual it has yielded bones. This mound was about
fifteen feet in diameter and four and a half in height; it appears to
have had an elliptic basis. Our guide told us that he was present at
the opening of it, and that there were a number of human bones, and
among others a tolerably entire skeleton which laid with its head to
the northwest; the arms were thrown back over the head. Besides the
bones there were numerous spear and arrow points, and of the latter
we picked up one on the spot. There was also a plate of copper of
the length of the hand, and from five to six inches in width; it was
rolled up at the sides and had two holes near the centre; its weight
we were told might have been about a quarter of a pound, but was
probably heavier; for it must have been very thin, if, with those
dimensions, it weighed so little. What could have been the use of it,
except as an ornament, was not determined; indeed, the inhabitants
of that part of the country are so much accustomed to dig up the
bones and remains of the aborigines that they are very careless about
observing or recording the objects found, and the circumstances
under which they were discovered. We are told that pieces of copper,
and even of brass, had been frequently collected. The copper may
be easily accounted for without a reference to a higher degree of
civilization or to an intercourse with nations more advanced in the
arts. The existence of native copper strewed upon the surface of the
ground in many places will easily account for the circumstance of its
being used by the natives as an ornament, in the same manner that the
Copper Indians of the north have been known, from the earliest days
of their discovery by the whites, to adorn their persons with it; but
we cannot account for the discovery of ornaments of brass unless we
admit an intercourse with nations that had advanced in civilization.
The existence, therefore, of fragments of this alloy in mounds
appears to us doubtful; for, if true, the Indians who constructed
them must have been much more refined than we can suppose they
were, or they must have had intercourse with civilized nations. The
erection of these mounds, which appear to be in a great measure
contemporary, was certainly much anterior to the discovery of this
continent in the fifteenth century; and therefore it is not from
Europeans that these pieces of brass were obtained, if, again we
repeat it, they have been found interred in these works.
Besides this mound there are many others in the immediate vicinity
of Irville, some of which have very great dimensions. We observed
one near the road, which had been but recently excavated at its
summit; it was perhaps thirty-five or forty feet high. These mounds
were for the most part overgrown with bushes; we could discover no
order or plan in their relative positions, and from the scattered
and irregular manner in which they lie, it does not appear that
they were intended to be connected with any work of defence; it is
more probable that they were erected as mausoleums over the remains
of the dead, and that the difference in their size was intended to
convey an idea of the difference in the relative importance of those
whose bones they covered. We were informed that this valley and the
neighboring hills abound in excavations resembling wells. We met with
none of these; they are said to be very numerous, and are generally
attributed to the first French adventurers, who, being constantly
intent upon the search of the precious metals, commenced digging
wherever they observed a favorable indication. Not having seen any of
these, we could not pretend to express an opinion upon their origin,
but from the number in which they are represented to be, as well as
from their dimensions, they appear to us far exceeding the abilities
of those to whom they are attributed, and to have required a much
more numerous and permanent population than these adventurers are
known to have brought over with them; we would, therefore, prefer
the opinion which ascribes them to the nations that erected the
mounds, and who may have sunk these wells, either for purposes of
self-defence according to the usual mode of Indian warfare, or as
habitations, in the manner known to be practised by some tribes,
or, finally, for some other cause as yet undiscovered. Their great
depth, which is said at this time to exceed twenty feet, may be
considered as an objection to the opinion which we have advanced. The
supposition of Mr. Atwater that these wells, which he states to be
at least a thousand in number, were opened for the mere purpose of
extracting rock-crystal and horn-stone, appears to us too refined.
Whatever may have been the advances in civilization of these nations,
we have no reason to believe that they had carried them so far as
to be induced to undertake immense mining operations for the mere
purpose of obtaining these articles.
“All this,” said Uncle Fritz, “is about Ohio, you see. Now if you will
turn over to my mark you will find something farther off.”
AN INDIAN TRIBE.
While travelling over the prairie which borders upon that part of St.
Peter that connects Lac-qui-parle with Big Stone Lake, our attention
was aroused by the sight of what appeared to be buffaloes chased
across the prairie. They, however, soon proved to be Indians. Their
number, at first limited to two, gradually increased to near one
hundred. They were seen rising from every part of the prairie, and
after those in the advance had reconnoitered us and made signals that
we were friends by discharging their guns, they all came running
toward us, and in a few minutes we found ourselves surrounded by a
numerous band. They had at first been apprehensive that we might be
enemies, and this was the cause of the different manœuvres which they
made previous to discharging their guns. The effect of these guns
fired upon the prairie in every direction, and by each as soon as he
had required the requisite degree of certainty that the strangers
were friends, was really very beautiful.
As they approached we had an opportunity of observing that these
Indians were good-looking and straight; none were large, nor were
remarkable for the symmetry of their forms. They were for the most
part destitute of clothing, except the breech-cloth which they wore.
Some of them, and particularly the young men, were dressed with
care and ostentation. They wore looking-glasses suspended to their
garments. Others had papers of pins, purchased from the traders, as
ornaments. We observed that one who appeared to be a man of some
note among them had a live sparrow-hawk upon his head by way of
distinction; this man wore, also, a buffalo-robe, on which eight
bear-tracks were painted. Some of them were mounted on horseback,
and were constantly drumming with their heels upon the sides of
their horses, being destitute of whip and spur. Many of them came
and shook hands with us, while the rest were riding all round us in
different directions. They belonged, as we were told, to one of the
tribes of the Dakotas. Their chief being absent, the principal man
among them told us that they had thirty lodges of their people at the
lower end of the lake, and invited us to visit them, which invitation
we accepted. These Indians demonstrated the greatest friendship
and affection at seeing us. The village to which they directed us
consisted of thirty skin-lodges, situated on a fine meadow on the
bank of the lake.
Their permanent residence, or at least that which they have occupied
for the last five years, is on a rocky island in the lake, nearly
opposite to, and within a quarter of a mile of their present
encampment. Upon the island they cultivate their cornfields, secure
against the aggressions of their enemies. They had been lately
engaged in hunting buffalo, apparently with much success.
The principal man led us to his lodge, wherein a number of the
influential men were admitted, the women being excluded. But we
observed that they, with all the children, went about the lodge,
peeping through the crevices, and not unfrequently raising the skins,
to observe our motions. They soon brought in a couple of large wooden
dishes filled with pounded buffalo meat boiled, and covered with the
marrow of the same animal; of this we partook with great delight. It
was the first time that several of the party had tasted fresh buffalo
meat; and it was the first meal made by any of us upon fresh meat
since we had left Fort Anthony.
During the entertainment Major Long made known to them the objects
of the expedition, at which they appeared very much gratified. As
we rose to depart we were informed that another feast was preparing
for us in one of the adjoining tents, of which we were invited to
partake. We were too familiar with Indian manners not to know that
the excuse of having just eaten a very hearty meal would not be
considered as sufficient among them; and so we readily resigned
ourselves to the necessity of again testifying our friendly
disposition by doing honor to their meal. It consisted of a white
root, similar in appearance to a small turnip; it is called by the
French _pomme blanche_. It was boiled down into a sort of mush, and
was very much relished by most of the party; had it been seasoned
with salt or sugar, it might have been delicious. This was held, even
by the guides, to be a great treat. As we were rising from this meal
we were informed that a third was preparing for us. We begged to
decline it, having a considerable distance to travel that afternoon;
but we were informed that this would be a great disappointment to
him who had prepared the feast, as, in order to outdo all the others,
he had killed a dog, which is considered not only as the greatest
delicacy, but also as a sacred animal, of which they eat only on
great occasions. In order to meet his wishes we deferred our journey
for an hour, but the repast not being then prepared we were compelled
to leave the village, to the great and manifest mortification of our
third host, and to the no small disappointment of most of our party,
who were desirous of tasting of the sacred animal. In order to make a
return for the civilities which we had received at the hands of the
Indians, we informed them that if they would despatch a messenger
with us we would send them from a neighboring trader’s house some
tobacco, all ours having been lost on the river. They gladly accepted
the proposal, and sent two lads with us for it. We met on the bluff
which commands the superintendent’s house an Indian who claims the
command of the Mahkpatoons. We had declined his invitation to stay at
his lodge in the afternoon, being desirous of reaching Mr. Moore’s
house as early as possible, but we promised to return about sunset,
and he accordingly made all due preparations to receive us. The chief
and his principal men were in waiting. We entered the skin-lodge, and
were seated on fine buffalo-robes spread all around; on the fire,
which was in the centre of the lodge, two large iron kettles, filled
with choicest pieces of buffalo, were placed. When the chief took his
seat he had near him a large pouch or bag, decorated with but little
taste, although he seemed to have gathered up all that he could
collect in the way of ornament. Among other things we observed an
old and dirty comb. He had, since our first visit, bedaubed his face
with white clay. After the usual preliminaries of shaking of hands,
smoking the pipe of peace, etc., we proceeded to the feast, which was
found excellent. The buffalo meat had been selected with care, the
fat and the lean judiciously portioned out, the whole boiled to a
proper degree; and in fine, though our appetites were not stimulated
to a long fast, this repast was one of the best of which we had ever
partaken. Our hosts were gratified and flattered at the quantity
which we ate; the residue of the feast was sent to our soldiers. In
this, and every other instance where we have been invited to a feast
by the Indians, we observed that they never eat with their guests.
Tatanka Wechachita is the nephew of a man of considerable distinction
among these Dakotas. Since the death of his uncle he has attempted
to be considered as his successor; but the former was never duly
acknowledged as chief, this title residing in Nunpakea, a man of
considerable bravery, who, by the influence of his family and his
talents, acquired that dignity in preference to his first cousins on
the death of their father.
Our host boasted of many flags and medals which his uncle had
obtained from our government, and which were then in his possession;
these and the influence of his great magician may probably secure
to him the dignity to which he aspires if he has talent enough to
uphold it. After the feast was over our host rose, shook hands with
all the gentlemen of our party, then resumed his seat and delivered
a speech which at the time appeared to us very pertinent and
interesting. It was delivered with apparent feeling, but not without
some hesitation. Having expressed to Renville our satisfaction at the
speech, he immediately observed that it expressed too much adulation
and too much whining; had Tatanka Wechachita been the chief that he
professed himself to be, his tone would have been more imposing, and
his style more dignified and decisive.
“Brothers, the subject upon which I am to address you is grievous
to me; and this grief is the motive which has thus far prevented me
from speaking to you. Since the lamented death of my revered uncle,
who died last year, I hate been called upon to succeed him, but as I
am not endued with experience to know how to direct myself, I shall
follow the advice which I have received from him, and therefore I
rejoice at seeing you, and I am gratified at your visit.
“I regret that my followers are now all absent. This is our hunting
season. In the autumn we collect in our villages to meet the traders.
Had you seen us thus collected, you would have found me at the head
of a large and powerful band of men. At present I am alone; still I
am pleased to see you.
“Brothers, there are two roads which we Dakotas usually travel;
my uncle trod both these paths. The first led him to the British,
far towards the rising sun. From them he received both kindness
and honor; they made him many presents, among which were flags
and medals. The other road led him to the Americans at St. Louis;
this road he subsequently travelled. From them he, in like manner,
received flags and medals. These he has bequeathed all to me.
“I should have unfurled my flags at your approach, but I am
unacquainted with the customs of your nation, and I am new in the
duties of my rank. I am ignorant how to act; but I am desirous of
following the advice of my dying uncle, who bade me remain at peace
with the Americans, and always consider them as my friends; and as
such I hold you.
“My friends, I am poor and very destitute; not so was my uncle. But I
have as yet followed neither of the roads which he travelled. Since I
have been called upon to rule over my people I have dwelt among them,
and have not been able to visit St. Louis in order to obtain presents
of powder and tobacco.
“I have already told you that my followers are absent; they are
hunting at the north; I have left with them my flags. I know not
whither you are going, but I presume you may meet them. They will
exhibit to you my flags, and you will know them, for they are those
of your nation. I shall send them word of your intention to travel
that way, and bid them if they see you to treat you with becoming
respect, assist you, supply you with provisions, and with whatever
else you may require.
“My friends, I am poor, and could not do much; but I have prepared
this little feast. You have partaken of it, and it has gratified me.
I am young, and inexperienced in speaking, but I have done my best.
Again I thank you for your flattering visit.”
While riding quietly across the prairie, with the eye intent upon the
beautiful prospect of the buffaloes that were grazing, our attention
was suddenly aroused by the discharge of a gun in the vicinity of the
river (Red River), which flowed about half a mile west of the course
that we were then travelling. While we were reckoning up our party to
know if any had straggled to a distance, we saw two Indians running
across the prairie; their number increased very soon to twelve or
fifteen, who hastened towards us, but as soon as they came near our
party, stopped and examined us with minuteness, after which they
presented their hands to us; we gave them ours. It was immediately
observed that they were in a complete state of preparation for war,
being perfectly naked with the exception of the breech-cloth. They
had even laid their blankets by. All of them were armed with guns,
apparently in very good order, or with bows and arrows, and some
with both. Their appearance, though at first friendly, soon became
insulting. Their party had, in the mean while, increased to thirty
or forty, so that they outnumbered ours. We found that they belonged
to the Wahkpakota or Leaf Indians, whose character, even among their
own countrymen, is very bad. We availed ourselves of Mr. Snelling’s
knowledge of the language to communicate to them, in the course of
conversation, our objects and intentions, as well as the friendly
reception which we had met with on the part of Wanotan and the other
Indians whom we had seen. In a tone rather imperative than courteous,
they expressed their wish that we should go to their camp and speak
to their old chief. This we declined doing, informing them that some
of our party had separated from us, and that we had a long journey to
travel.
They pointed to the sun, which was then low in the horizon, and added
that we had no time to proceed further, and that we had better encamp
with them that night.
While this conversation was going on Mr. Say remarked that, either
through design or accident, the Indians had intermixed themselves so
with our party that every one of our number was placed between two or
more of theirs. Mr. Snelling overheard them talking of our horses,
admiring them, and examining the points of each; one of their band
had even ventured so far as to ask him which horse was considered the
best of the party.
Finding that all further conversation was a waste of time, and
having given them as much tobacco as our small stock allowed us to
spare, Major Long mounted his horse and gave his men orders to march.
The Indians attempted no opposition at the time, but after we had
travelled about a quarter of a mile, they following in our rear, a
gun was fired at some distance on the prairie to the right of our
line, and a number of mounted Indians were seen in that direction
coming towards us. Those who had followed us then made a signal to
them that we were white men, and ran up to desire that, as their
chief was then coming up, we would stop and shake hands with him. The
party halted until the mounted Indians had come up and greeted us
in the usual manner. Observing that their chief was not among them,
Major Long again set his men in motion, but before we had proceeded
far several of them ran up to the head of the line, fired their guns
across our path, reloaded them immediately, and formed a crescent
in front of the leader to prevent him from proceeding. At that time
the number of Indians must have been about seventy or eighty, while
ours amounted only to twenty-five. Their intentions could not be
misunderstood. It was probable they did not care to harm our persons,
but they were anxious to pilfer our baggage, and especially to secure
our horses; and as we were resolved not to part with them without a
struggle, it was evident that the first gun fired would be the signal
for an attack which must end in the total destruction of our party;
for the number of the Indians, and their mode of dispersing upon the
prairie, and continually changing their situation during a skirmish,
would have given them a very great advantage over us, as, in order to
protect our horses and baggage, we would have remained in a body, and
exposed to their arrows and balls. But even in such a case they must
have lost some of their number, and this consideration, all-powerful
with Indians, probably induced them to defer their attack until
night, when their advantages would be still greater; and hence their
anxiety that we should encamp in the vicinity. Had Major Long been
entirely free to act as he pleased he would have avoided all further
conversation, and have proceeded the whole night without stopping
at all that evening; but this he could not do so long as some of
the gentlemen were separated from us, for in such a case they would
easily have been cut off by the Indians. It was to give them a chance
to overtake us that he had continued the conference so long, and that
he finally decided upon encamping at a point of wood then in sight,
but further than that which had been proposed by the Indians.
With this view the Major ordered his men to march, when one of the
Indians advanced up to the head of the line, stopped the horse of
the leader, and cocked his gun. The soldier who was there, and whose
name was George Bunker, immediately imitated this action, determined
to be prepared for a shot as soon as his antagonist. At this moment
Major Long marched up to the head of the line and led off his party.
There can be no doubt that the resolution thus manifested had a great
influence in preventing the Indians from making an immediate attack.
The party being again safely united, Major Long considering that if
an attack was intended it would be made a short time before daylight,
determined to allow the horses to rest until midnight, when the moon,
rising, would make it safe and pleasant to travel. Accordingly at
that hour we resumed our line of march. Our preparations were made
with the greatest expedition and silence, so as not to be observed
by the Indians at a distance, and to avoid disturbing the old
Indian sleeping, or affecting to sleep, under one of our carts.
In the latter purpose, however, we failed; the old man awoke, and
seeing what we were about, he left us immediately, notwithstanding
the attempt made to amuse him with conversation until we should be
ready to start; but we could not detain him; we saw him walk over
the prairie, and by the light of the moon traced his figure until he
approached near to the river, when he disappeared in the woods. This
was the last Dakota whom we saw....
Had not our attention been seriously occupied by the hostile
disposition manifested by these Indians we should have taken much
interest in witnessing one of their great diversions.
Some time before we met them we observed a fine buffalo bull, who
seemed to challenge a combat with our party; he travelled for about
two miles abreast of us, and almost within gun-shot; his eyes were
intently bent upon us. Though occasionally driven off by our dog, he
would constantly return, and continue in a parallel line, as though
he were watching our motions. This fearless character, so unlike
that of buffaloes in general, excited our surprise and admiration;
and accordingly we determined to spare him and see how long he would
continue to travel with us. But the noble animal offered too strong a
temptation to the Indians. Seeing him stop at the same place where we
halted, a few of them, especially the youngest of the party, ran up
to him, and in a few moments several balls and perhaps a dozen arrows
had reduced the animal to his last gasp. They then approached on all
sides, and while he was engaged in keeping off those on his left the
youths on his right would come so near him as to draw his attention
to them; the animal appeared galled, his rage was extreme, but his
weakness was equally so. At length some of them came very near to him
and caught hold of his tail: at this moment he was observed to be
tottering; they all drew off, the animal fell, and after two or three
convulsive throes he expired. A shout from the Indians announced the
death of their victim. This seemed to be a schooling for the youngest
of their party, a few of whom were mere boys.
XII.
SIBERIA AND KAMCHATKA.
[Sidenote: 1881.]
They were talking about the Nihilists, and being exiled to Siberia.
Some of the children had been at the theatre two years ago, and had
seen the Exiles of Siberia, with white paper snow, and real oxen to
draw the sledge.
Bertha asked, with a shudder, whether anybody ever came back to tell
the story.
“Why, Bertha, Uncle Fritz himself built a telegraph across the Lake of
Baikal.”
Then they all looked at Uncle Fritz. But he would not go into any
detail of his Siberian adventures. It is a subject on which he is
always shy. But the boys got out “The Ingham Papers,” and began looking
for “Nofpo Ston” on the map.
“If you will go to the fountain of all knowledge,” said Will Withers,
“that is, to Robinson Crusoe, you will have a good travelling knowledge
of Siberia.”
“Siberia!” cried Alice. “It is not a year since you all said that
Robinson Crusoe lived in the Oronooko.[27] I was disgraced. I thought
he lived in Juan Fernandez before. And now I am told that he raised
his melons under the shade of an avalanche, and that the savages were
clothed in bear-skins, and skated across to his island. I am in
despair.”
“My dear Alice,” said Will, who is very fond of her, “if he had never
come back from the ‘great river Oronooko,’ we should never have known
anything about him.”
“All the same,” the girl persisted, “he came home to England. The fact
of his coming home does not prove that the book told about Siberia. Now
see here,--here is dear Uncle Fritz’s table copy.”
As has been said already, Robinson Crusoe is one of seven books always
at Uncle Fritz’s side. Sure enough, there was not a word about Siberia
on the titlepage.
But Will was not to be defeated. “Why do you read me the titlepage to
the first volume?” he said. Then he turned to the title of the second
volume, “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.”
“You see he went to Nanquin, where your famous Capt. Cleveland could
not go. A Chinese exclusiveness had not been settled on then. He went
to the great city of Peking, and here he sold opium, among other
things.”
“Just as he had sold slaves before,” said Alice, and she pretended to
shudder. “A famous hero, indeed!”
“My dear Alice, it was the error of his time. That is what you must
always say.” And the boy rapidly turned the pages. “See! ‘Robinson
joins a caravan proceeding to Moscow,’ and here, ‘I could not but
discover an infinite satisfaction that I was so soon arrived in a
Christian country.’”
“But here,” persisted Alice, “they are burning an idol.”
“I cannot help that,” said poor Will, who was no match for her in
changing his ground and hopping from point to point. “All the same,
it was Siberia”; and as he turned he read in triumph, “I came to
Tobolski, the capital city of Siberia, where I continued some time.”
“I should think he would,” said Uncle Fritz. “There is a very decent
hotel there now. I stayed there a good while. I saw the annual
gathering of the convicts before they were scattered to the villages.
Tobolsk is the place where they meet.”
“Uncle Fritz, you should write your travels in Siberia. If no one has
been there since poor Robinson Crusoe, and nobody but Will Withers
knows that, you should make a book.”
The old gentleman smiled grimly. But he said that plenty of people had
gone to Kamchatka and to Siberia also. And he sent Alice for Peter
Dobell’s travels. “That’s a very good book, and you may read me to
sleep by hunting up my marks in it. I read that book as I was floating
down the Obi River on a timber raft.”
“I had a great deal rather read your book, Uncle Fritz,” said the girl,
with admiration.
“For that, my dear child, you must wait till it is written.” So Alice
began:--
A POORGA.
[Sidenote: 1812.]
We were happy on the 9th to inhale the fresh air, and leave our
smoky habitation at Timlatee to pursue our journey, which now lay
over a mountainous country, along the sea-coast, and almost wholly
bare of timber. The morning was clear and cold, but the wind blew
rather fresh from the sea, and the white clouds hurried rapidly over
the blue expanse. About ten o’clock the Toyune of Govenskoy came to
me and said, “We must not stop at twelve to-day, as usual, to take
our luncheon, as I perceive we are going to have one of those cold
poorgas, which on these plains are very violent; and we may be frozen
to death, should we not chance to meet with the Reindeer Karaikees.
For a long distance,” added he, “there is no house, or hut, or any
sort of shelter: therefore order your people to push on, and keep
close together; for if the Karaikees are here, they will be on the
middle of the moor, but yet a considerable distance from us.”
Knowing how well the natives of that country understand the weather,
although I could see nothing that indicated a storm, I gave orders as
he directed, and he led the way with his own dogs. These, he said,
were his hunting dogs, and could be relied on. We went on quite well,
and briskly, until a little before twelve o’clock, when, all of a
sudden, the wind began to blow with great violence, and, drifting the
snow in quantities, thickened the atmosphere so that we could not see
a yard before us. For the first part of our progress the sky above
our heads was clear; but this, after a while, became covered with
black clouds, and a kind of sharp sleet descended, which was borne
on the wind so violently that we could no longer keep our faces to
windward, and were obliged to stop. As we had lost our way from the
commencement, the Toyune came to me to hold a consultation as to what
was to be done. I told him he was an inhabitant of the country, and
must be the better judge, and I should leave it to him to decide. He
said, “As it is impossible to make a fire, if we remain here and the
poorga continues all night, we shall all be frozen to death. We had,
therefore, better keep moving; but don’t you give a dram to any one
till I tell you; for watky is not good at such a time. I have great
confidence in my dogs, and if there is a reindeer on the plain they
will find him.”
After this speech he pushed on his dogs to take what road they liked,
first giving orders to the party to watch each other strictly and
not to separate on any account. To our surprise the dogs, instead
of taking what we imagined to be the road, turned off from the sea
and brought the wind nearly on our backs. Although this alarmed
many, who thought they were going wrong, they found it much more
comfortable than to go against the sharp sleet which tore the skin
from their faces. We continued travelling in this manner for upwards
of two hours. The poorga raged with redoubled fury; the clouds of
sleet rolled like a dark smoke over the moor, and we were all so
benumbed with cold that our teeth chattered in our heads. The sleet,
driven with such violence, had got into our clothes, and penetrated
even under our parkas, and into our baggage, wherever there was the
smallest crevice.
At length the Toyune’s dogs began to snuff the air, bark loudly,
and set out at full speed. It was like a shock of electricity. The
rest of the dogs followed this example, and strained every nerve
to keep pace with them. Our hearts now beat high, for we were sure
the dogs smelt the reindeer, and this emotion had already infused a
warmth through our veins, as we anticipated the happiness of finding
shelter from a dreadful storm that threatened us with death. In about
ten minutes more we had the ineffable pleasure of finding ourselves
near a large Karaikee jourta, where we saw a fine fire blazing. The
Karaikees had all run out with their clubs and spears to defend
their reindeer from the dogs, which our drivers, benumbed as they
were, could hardly keep from running on the herd that surrounded the
jourta. The Karaikees, who were to leeward of us, had heard the dogs
for some time, and, anticipating our arrival, had already killed a
fine fat buck, and the women were skinning him when we arrived.
Our host was a fine hospitable old man, who possessed a herd of
nearly three hundred sleek reindeer, and he seemed overjoyed to have
us for guests. He made me sit down on some nice warm bear-skins
spread near the fire, which was in the centre of the jourta. Behind
me was a place apart, well hung and lined with deer-skins, for me to
sleep on.
My interpreter, who was of Karaikee origin, found out at last that
the host was a relation of his. This circumstance occasioned much
joy, and was the cause of the death of another fine buck to regale
his relation. The Toyune of Evashka being in possession of an order
from government to collect the tax and tribute from the Reindeer
Karaikees in that quarter, he made the interpreter explain his powers
to the other Toyune, and ask him if he was prepared to pay them. He
replied that he would pay the tribute with great cheerfulness, but
he could not pay the tax in money, because he had none, nor did he
know how to get it. “I wish,” said he to me, “as you are going to St.
Petersburg you would tell the Emperor that the Reindeer Karaikees,
though a wild people, are good loyal subjects, and are always ready
to pay the tribute in furs, although they cannot pay him money. Our
habits of life,” continued he, “are such that we never buy or sell
anything for money; how then can he expect us to find it? When I want
tobacco, knives, kettles, needles, or watky, I buy them with fox,
sable, and deer skins, and I know nothing farther of trade; besides,
I have heard that amongst you who trade for money the effect often
spoils the heart and creates bad blood between man and man. I am
glad, therefore, there is so little money amongst our Karaikees,
who are warm-tempered.” After having made this speech, which was
delivered in a serious tone, he ordered a bundle of fox and sable
skins to be brought, and, throwing them at the feet of the Toyune,
“There,” said he, “is our tribute. Let the interpreter write me a
paper and do you sign it to say you have received it.”
This request being complied with, and the afternoon being very fine
and serene, we deemed it best to resist the kind invitation of the
chief to pass the night with him, and proceeded on our journey.
After leaving Tolbachik, the roads were good, and we soon arrived at
Oushkee. Here the inhabitants were few, and those few miserable. I
therefore distributed some presents amongst them which I had brought
for that purpose. My distribution was nearly finished when I observed
a lad whose features I recognized, and I immediately asked him where
he belonged. He said, “I am from the Tigil coast, and have been sent
here to assist travellers, and I helped to row you down the river
last summer. As I have been always very busy I have been but once at
the chase; but I killed a sable, and I kept it on purpose to repay
your kindness for the knife and flints you gave me.” Seeing that this
poor fellow was misery personified, not a shirt on his back, and the
skin dress he had on all in tatters, I refused to accept his offer.
He burst into tears and was about to leave the room when I made him
return, and took his sable from him in return for what I had ordered
to be given him, at which he seemed quite happy.
“Look further on,” said Uncle Fritz. “Find that which I have marked ‘A
Gentle Hint.’ It tells how they cut short visits when the stores run
low.”
And Hugh read first:--
A GENTLE HINT.
The Kamtchadales are not only grateful for favors, but they think
it absolutely necessary to make some return for a present, and are
highly offended if it is refused. One of my Chinese servants, who was
a very good-hearted fellow, was so affected at the circumstance I
have told and the miserable appearance of the boy, that he went and
brought one of his blue Nankin shirts and made him a present of it.
All the Kamtchadales I met with were Christians of the Greek
persuasion, and appeared attentive to their devotions. Their
hospitality is excessive, and it is carried to an extreme amongst
themselves that becomes ridiculous. They pay one another visits which
last for a month or six weeks, until the generous host, finding his
stock of provisions exhausted, is forced to give a hint to his guest
to take his departure. This is managed by presenting to him at dinner
a dish called _tolkootha_, a kind of olio, or hodge-podge, composed
of a number of meats, fish, and vegetables, all mixed together, and
very difficult to prepare. It is the _dernier ressort_ of the master
of the house, and the moment this dish is served up the guests take
the hint and leave him the following day without feeling in the least
dissatisfied.
The first thing a traveller must do, on arriving at a Kamtchadale
house, is to treat the family with tea, of which they are excessively
fond. I once saw a Kamtchadale drink eleven half-pint bowls of tea
at a sitting, and he declared he could have completed the dozen had
there been water enough in the kettle. They speak very slowly, with
rather an effeminate voice, making use of the simplest language, but
almost always with good sense. When they do not wish to come to the
point directly they convey their meaning by some curious allegory,
having relation to bears, dogs, fishing, and hunting.
PRINCE ZACHAR.
A circumstance occurred whilst we were at Govenskoy that inspired
me with respect for the greatness of soul, the courage, and the
_sang-froid_ exhibited by my friend, the Prince Zachar, and revealed
to me at once the cause of the great influence he possessed over the
Karaikees of the coast. My Klutchee Kyoorchiks begged of me to give
them some watky to buy reindeer, silk, parkas, and boots, and one of
the prince’s men, who had drunk too much of it, became quite furious.
With a large knife in his hand he sought the prince, crying out that
he was an unjust man, and he would stab him. The other Karaikees
tried in vain to stop him until he had got quite near to the prince’s
dwelling, when he called with all his force, “Come out, Zachar,
if you dare! I am prepared to kill you!” Zachar, who was quietly
drinking tea with me, heard all of a sudden this extraordinary
summons, which the interpreter immediately explained to me. The
prince put down his cup of tea and, rising slowly from his seat, went
out of the jourta. I followed him closely, with a pair of loaded
pistols, which I always kept ready in case of necessity. When he
perceived that I followed him he desired the interpreter would tell
me not to interfere, as he would very soon settle the affair himself.
During this time the drunken Karaikee foamed with rage and was trying
to extricate himself from the crowd that surrounded him. Zachar,
who had already thrown off his parka, now unbuttoned his shirt,
exposed his breast, and ordering the crowd to stand aside, advanced
boldly up to the Karaikee, and then, with a terrible voice and an
undaunted countenance, he said to him, “Here is the breast of your
prince; strike at it if you dare!” The Karaikee seemed thunderstruck;
he raised his hand, but was afraid to strike, and the knife fell to
the ground. “Coward,” said Zachar, “you have saved your life, for if
you had aimed a blow at me I would have thrown you down at the same
instant, and your own knife should have drawn your heart’s blood.”
He then ordered his men to confine him till he should be sober, and
returned with me to finish his tea.
THE REINDEER.
The reindeer may fairly be called the ox of these countries, and not
the horse, as some people have called him. He does not possess either
the noble temper or the docility of the latter animal. When the snow
is deep and the roads are difficult, if the reindeer be pressed to
exert himself, he becomes restive and stubborn, and neither beating
nor coaxing will move him. He will lie down and remain in one spot
for several hours, until hunger presses him forward; and if, at the
second attempt, he is again embarrassed, he will lie down and perish
in the snow for want of food.
A Karaikee related to me the story of a keeper whose herd was
dispersed in that way, but who, by very great exertions, after four
or five days, collected them together again. However, he found he had
wandered far beyond his usual haunts, and lost his way, so that he
remained and roamed about with his herd nearly two years before he
had the good fortune to meet with any of the Reindeer Karaikees.
We had now arrived at the last Karaikee ostrog on that coast, and it
became necessary to direct our course to Kammina, across the moors,
for two hundred and fifty versts, where there was scarcely a forest,
much less a hut, to afford us shelter from the weather, should it
prove bad again.
Here I separated from my friends, the Toyune of Evashka and the
Prince Zachar, with real regret, for they had behaved to me with the
kindness of brothers. On parting Zachar observed to me, “You are too
late in the season; but you must do the best you can. I therefore
advise you, even though the distance will be greater, to follow, as
much as possible, the course of the creeks and rivers. There you will
find shelter should a poorga commence; but on the moors, at this late
period, it is very dangerous.”
SLEEPING IN SNOW.
Early on the morning of the 19th we started again. It began to
snow not long after our departure, and before mid-day the wind had
increased to a storm, and my guide said we should have a regular
poorga. We therefore directed our course for a small creek or branch
that unites Veyvinskoia to Kammina River. We were not long before we
got there, and followed its winding course, whilst its high banks
defended us from the rigors of the snowstorm. After travelling in
this way about an hour, we stopped to prepare our dinner, but found
the wind and snow beat over the banks with such violence that we
could not keep our fire burning five minutes at a time. After many
attempts we persisted no longer, and contented ourselves with eating
some cold boiled venison that had fortunately been prepared the day
before; and very happy were we that my Chinese cook had been so
provident. By the time we had finished our cold repast, we found it
impossible to proceed any farther, and, drawing our sledges close
under the windward bank of the creek, with the dogs in front, we
passed the night on this dreary spot. A dismal night it was, for
the snow and sleet beat in whirlwinds over the bank with unceasing
violence; and it was impossible to hold one’s face towards the wind
for an instant. Although I slept in a kibitka that I tried to close
up as tightly as possible, the snow beat into the crevices; and when
I first awoke I found myself completely covered, and with difficulty
extricated myself. The dogs, sledges, and men were so entirely
concealed that I could only discern the marks where they lay; and I
beat about and trampled amongst them some time before I could rouse
them.
As the latter part of the night was warmer, and the snow fell in
immense quantities, or rather drifted over us, we slept very warmly
and comfortably. On the 20th, the wind having abated, and the weather
proving mild, we determined to set off again, first spending an hour
or two in shaking the snow off our clothes, baggage, and sledges,
where it was found in abundance. It was absolutely necessary to
depart, for not a stick of wood, nor even a twig, could we find
to make a fire; and we travelled on until near eleven o’clock in
the day before we arrived where there was wood enough to boil the
tea-kettle. With what pleasure and satisfaction did we swallow a warm
and cheering cup of tea, that delicious beverage, far exceeding every
other when one is cold and weary! Ardent spirits will warm you more
quickly, but their effects are not so lasting, and occasion a stupor
that makes you feel afterwards quite drowsy.
SLEIGHING IN MAY.
We got off early on the 8th, and, although the surface of the snow
was still soft, I found we got forward much better than on the day
before. Travellers in this country during the spring should always
take advantage of the night; indeed, the sun in the day being
excessively hot, shining upon you for fourteen hours, and thawing
a deep snow, is sufficient to prove the advantage of travelling by
night. A tedious spring day, in a high northern latitude, with a hot
sun reflected from the glassy surface of an immense snow-covered
plain, entirely destitute of trees, not only inflames the eyes, but
creates a lassitude of the body and mind. We had now a plain to
cross of about a hundred versts in length, and about twenty versts
in breadth, bounded on either side by steep mountains. Here the
snow, which we frequently fathomed, was often four, and never less
than three orshins deep, a measurement equal to from seven to nine
English feet. We got away early on the 12th of May, and took care to
move briskly, the surface being frozen, and still strong enough to
bear the deer. The guide directed his course towards the centre of
the plain, from an idea that when the snow became soft, we should
find it not so deep there as close under the mountains. However, it
proved the contrary; and we were not a little alarmed at the fearful
distance that lay between us and the only places where we could
procure food for our deer, now scarcely able to crawl, either by
driving or coaxing.
Although I beat the road myself for them, on snow-shoes, they
plunged in so deeply as to be obliged to stop and lie down every
ten or twelve yards, panting for breath. My Karaikee interpreter,
with one of the Tongusees, drew the sledge after them; and about one
o’clock in the day we were all so worn down we were obliged to rest
ourselves. To add to our disappointment the nearest mountain appeared
yet a considerable distance off. After a while the driver said we
must continue our journey, and force the deer on in the best way
we could, for if they remained twenty or thirty hours more without
food, they would be too weak to proceed at all, and must perish in
the snow. Indeed, I was well aware of the danger, and was prepared to
walk as long as I had a sinew to support my tired limbs.
Having been every day since I left Towisk on snow-shoes, I became
a practised pedestrian in this way; nor found myself inferior to
the natives of the country. In fact, without snow-shoes, I should
have been like a man in the middle of the ocean, who knew not how
to swim, and was without even a chip to save him from drowning. It
was impossible to drive through such snows, when a deer with the
greatest difficulty carried a small portion of baggage, and when that
oftentimes was obliged to be taken from his back to enable him to
extricate himself. I had taken care also to teach my servants to walk
in snow-shoes whilst in Kamtchatka.
Between six and seven in the evening I thought I perceived the last
row of trees which intercepted our view of the mountains; and we
pushed eagerly on to pass it. Our disappointment was excessive when
we could plainly distinguish two more intersections; but again,
not seeing anything beyond them, we consoled ourselves with the
idea that those were certainly the last. Arriving at them, we were
chagrined to find the largest stream we had yet encountered. This,
however, after being completely soaked through, and our strength
almost exhausted, we contrived to pass. When on the other side, there
were yet some versts between us and the foot of the mountain, which
the Karaikee declared he was too weak to accomplish. The Tongusee
likewise complained, but said we were now so near that, if I could
give him a little food of any sort to recruit his strength, we might
remain on the spot where we were until the baggage-deer came up with
us, while he would take his own to the mountains to pasture. I now
recollected that my cook formerly kept in my sledge one of the small
vessels with the deer’s feet he had boiled down. On examination I
found it, together with a little salt, and we were all not a little
rejoiced thereat, being at a great distance from my baggage, and
having taken nothing but water all the day. As we had no bread, and
but a small portion of jelly for each person, we were obliged to make
up the deficiency by drinking two or three large draughts of water.
Scanty as was our repast, we were all much refreshed. I had often
supped more plentifully, but certainly never with a better appetite.
Immediately after, the Tongusee, whom I armed with a Spanish knife
and a spear to protect him against the bears, left us, whilst the
Karaikee and myself collected wood, made a large fire, and placing a
quantity of bushes before it on the snow, wrapped ourselves up in our
parkas and went to sleep.
Between three and four in the morning of the 13th, I was awaked by
the arrival of my servants and the baggage-deer. They had followed
the track we had made, without which, they said, the deer would
never have been able to accomplish the distance. We now got a good
breakfast, and then started again under the hottest sun I had yet
experienced. Both deer and men suffered so much from the heat they
could scarcely crawl, and it was eleven o’clock before we arrived at
the mountain. Our deer were obliged to go to the summit before moss
could be procured.
After getting over the first mountain, on looking round to examine
our party, we found these two fellows had absconded with two of
the reindeer that were not laden. This was a most unpleasant
circumstance, as I was told that they knew the road better than any
of the rest. The road proved like that before described, except that
the snow was not quite so deep. Descending the mountain, we came to
an open stream, narrow, deep, and rapid, and were obliged to make a
bridge to take over the sledges, the deer going about a verst higher
up, where there was a spot fordable. One of them had the slender
remains of my stock of biscuit and my skin coverings on his back,
which he contrived to shake from him into the stream; and, before
we could recover them, the biscuits were all completely soaked and
spoiled. Pitching our tent on a rising ground on the opposite side,
I dried a dozen of them that were not broken in the sun; the rest we
consumed at once, as we perceived they would not keep in that state.
A MOUNTAIN HOME.
It was my intention, on going to rest, to have awakened about ten
o’clock at night in order to set out early; but the severe fatigue
we had undergone the day before made me sleep soundly until after
midnight. On awaking I called aloud for some time before any one
came. At length one of my Chinese servants entered my tent, and told
me the Tongusees were nowhere to be found! I now roused my guide
and the Karaikee, when, to our grief and astonishment, we perceived
these unfeeling rascals had gone off in the night, not leaving us
even a single deer for food, and returning by the road they came.
We were now five in number, namely, the Cossack, a Karaikee, two
Chinese servants, and myself, left, with all our baggage, on one of
the highest mountains in Siberia, in a wild, uninhabited country! We
had already been twelve days from Towisk, and had therefore every
reason to believe we were not more than three or four days’ march
from some Tongusee tabboon; but, as we were all totally ignorant of
the road, it was difficult to decide which way to direct our course.
The Cossack, who did not deserve the name, was a perfect woman in
character, more alarmed than anybody else, frightening the young
Karaikee and my servants, and proposing a hundred different schemes.
I would not listen to any of them, until I had weighed the matter
maturely, and examined well the country about us. The first thing,
however, was to see what stock of provisions we had. I found it to
consist of a few pounds of reindeer meat almost spoiled, two or
three pounds of rice, a small quantity of Manilla sweet chocolate,
our biscuits reduced in number to twelve, about the size of a dollar
each, two or three small lumps of sugar remaining, and a very small
quantity indeed of salt and pepper, but fortunately a little box full
of good tea. After this review of our provisions, I felt assured
that, with rigid economy, we could keep our bodies and souls together
for at least twelve or fifteen days. In the mean time it was highly
probable I should be able to shoot something to assist in preventing
us from starving. I had a map of Kamtchatka that included the shores
of the Ochotsk Sea, on the Siberian side, as far as Zamsk, and,
assisted by a pocket-compass, showed me on which side the sea lay.
But the Cossack declared he had seen it the day before from the
mountain on the opposite side of the rivulet. I therefore determined
we should go together to a high peak only a few versts distant, to
assure ourselves whether it was or was not the sea that he had seen.
When about to depart we looked in vain for our snow-shoes, of which
it appeared those fellows had robbed us to prevent our overtaking
them suddenly. About six o’clock on the morning of the 17th we left
the encampment, and, although we kept in the tracks of the reindeer,
we sunk above our knees at every step and suffered the severest
fatigue before attaining the height from whence we expected to behold
the sea. At the first view the expanse appeared to me no more than an
immense extent of low ground covered with fog. The Cossack persisted
to the contrary and showed me a valley on the opposite side where
we could distinguish the trees and which appeared so very different
from that before us that I was induced to give in to his opinion of
its being the ocean. Not feeling perfectly satisfied, however, on the
subject I told him we must visit, on the following morning, the ridge
of mountains that surrounded us in the form of a crescent, about
thirty versts in extent. This, I added, might be easily accomplished
by making ourselves snow-shoes with the boards of our sledges. He
seemed lost, and wavering every minute, sometimes proposing one
thing and sometimes another, and at length asked that he and the
Karaikee might go in search of reindeer men, while we remained on the
mountain to await their return. I was obliged to put a stop to any
further proposals of that kind by telling him that I was perfectly
aware of his cowardice and deceit, and that, as I was ignorant of
the character of the Karaikee, I should watch them both narrowly.
“You see,” said I, “how I am armed, and I shall put the first man to
death who attempts anything improper or disobeys my orders.” This
threat had the desired effect; he became instantly more obedient.
On my return to the tent I armed my Chinese servants, privately
desiring them to keep a strict watch on the other two, as I had
reason to believe they wished to rob us of our provisions and make
their escape. At night, before I went to sleep, I collected all the
provisions together, also my little axe, knife, guns, and pistols,
and slept near them. The Karaikee and Cossack I placed in the middle
of the tent, and my Chinese servants at each side of them.
I should have premised that previously to going to rest I visited
another height, about two versts off, on the same side as that where
our tent stood. Though I could not discover the sea I had the good
fortune to find my snow-shoes amongst the bushes, the Tongusees
having hidden them purposely.
On the 18th of May, at three o’clock in the morning, we set out on
our excursion after I had armed myself with two guns, in full hopes
that, as we had seen some tracks in coming up the mountain, we
should have the good fortune to meet with a bear. With much labor
and fatigue we contrived to climb the summit of the highest mountain
of the opposite ridge. We had now an extensive view of the country
around us and were most wofully disappointed in beholding the sea
that we thought we had seen the day before transmuted into trees,
hills, and plains! We now found ourselves immediately opposite our
tent, having a steep descent to make, a rivulet of considerable size
to cross in the valley, and the high mountain to ascend on which it
stood. As the snow was soft and my snow-shoes large I drew them both
together, and, sitting down on them, held my two guns with my left
arm, the butts resting on the snow-shoes, and with a short stick
in my right hand to guide myself I went down with the rapidity of
lightning. The Cossack followed safely in my path.
LOST IN A WILDERNESS.
Our companions were greatly dejected on hearing that all appearance
had vanished of the sea, which the Cossack was so confident of having
seen. The Karaikee said he had been considering the distance we had
made, and thought it was too great to attempt to return, and he was
willing now to obey my orders and accompany me through whatever road
I chose to take. I explained to them the necessity of firmness and
an unaltered resolution, telling them that they must put their trust
in God, while exerting every nerve and all their fortitude of mind
to keep themselves from sinking under the incessant fatigue we must
inevitably experience, for that we had but a scanty allowance of
food, and must push on in full hopes of being able to procure more by
the road, though we could form no judgment as to when the period of
our troubles and labors would arrive.
I made the Cossack and the Chinese join their hands to ours, and,
turning to the East, cross themselves as I did to confirm their
promise, assuring them that I would eat, drink, sleep, and work the
same as the rest, nor require of them one single act that I was not
ready and willing to assist in performing myself. We left on this
spot everything superfluous in the way of clothes, etc., making the
sledges as light as possible. The Cossack and myself led the way. I
soon perceived that we should have some difficulty in accomplishing
the business, but the danger was not so great as we imagined. Having
only a scanty portion of food we drank tea twice every twenty-four
hours, and in the morning we took thin rice-water, with a small lump
of chocolate each, to make it palatable. We perceived that, laborious
as was our march, this nourishment was enough to keep us alive
until it should please Heaven to direct us where we might procure,
with our guns, the means of living well. I was pleased at finding
my companions more cheerful and seemingly determined to exert all
their fortitude, courage, and perseverance so necessary to conquer
difficulties and insure our safety. We were an unfortunate little
band, thrown upon a wide wilderness, but relying on heaven and our
good stars, entirely ignorant of the country, and having nothing but
a pocket-compass to direct us towards the ocean, as to which, whether
it was one hundred or twenty versts distant, we could not possibly
tell....
On the 31st we threw everything away except what was absolutely
necessary. Just as we were about to depart, on the evening of this
day, two wild geese flew over us. I fired at them and thought I
had missed, but my Chinese boy declared he heard the shot strike
and had seen them alight, about two hundred yards off, on a spot
which he pointed out. The Cossack and myself repaired thither with
all possible speed. One of the geese fled at our approach, and the
other that was wounded remained in the middle of a large bog, where,
if shot, I was fearful we should find great trouble in getting it.
After shooting it I entered the bog, but found the surface of a tough
sod that sank down, bringing the mud and water to my middle without
breaking. I had used the precaution to take a large stick in my
hand, or I should not have been able to extricate myself. The sod
at length broke and let me down to my arm-pits, and I was obliged to
tell the Cossack, who was a much lighter man, to try what he could
do. He succeeded remarkably well until he got nearly back with the
goose, when he sunk suddenly up to his neck, and began to roar and
bawl in a most hideous manner, being so alarmed at the same time that
he could hardly make use of the stick. I had the utmost difficulty
to get near him with the other stick, which he laid hold of, and I
pulled him out, almost suffocated with mud. Dangerous as was the
situation of my companion, his ridiculous figure made me burst into
a fit of laughter, and the Chinese joined me heartily; this caused
him to scream the more loudly, in order to impress me with the fuller
idea of his perilous situation. When extricated from the bog he
crossed himself a dozen times and then laughed as heartily as myself.
Indeed, the goose was such a prize as gave us spirits to laugh....
In the evening I went to the summit of the mountain again, imagining
that as the sun descended I might discover better what was on the
opposite side of some extensive low grounds that lay before us.
Whilst there, and holding my compass to take the direction for our
route of the following day, I thought I plainly saw, at a great
distance to the northward and eastward, three or four men, and as
many reindeer or horses. I immediately called out to the two Chinese
to light a large fire, and making the Cossack and Karaikee come up to
me endeavored to point out to them the objects that had just met my
eyes. Although I felt confident I saw men and animals moving, I could
not with all my care direct their sight so as to distinguish them,
and they persisted in saying they could see nothing. This made me
quite unhappy....
Scarcely had we made our fire when the grass all around us was in
a blaze, obliging us to move to another spot; and the fire raged
with such violence it was in vain to attempt extinguishing it. At
length the woods--the whole country around--were on fire. We were
not sorry for an accident that might, perhaps, if any of the natives
were near, bring them to the spot. It also helped to destroy some
large swarms of mosquitoes that plagued us not a little on our
arrival. Indeed, we suffered almost as much from these insects as
from fatigue and hunger. Those flying leeches of Siberia never
quitted us day or night, unless when on the mountains, or when the
wind blew hard enough to sweep them away. We got off early on the
4th, and had a most fatiguing time till twelve o’clock, when the
sun became so oppressive it was impossible to proceed any farther
without refreshment. The skin being chafed from our shoulders, and
our feet sore, added to the difficulty of wading the deep marshes
that occurred at every instant; we were all completely exhausted.
My two Chinese, for the first time, lay down and began to cry! I
consoled them with the assurance that we must either discern the
sea, or arrive at some place where we should find plenty of food, in
the course of a day or two; and that it was a folly to give up when
we were now at the moment of getting over our difficulties. Taking
out the rest of the small biscuits that I had carefully preserved,
I divided them equally between the Cossack, the Karaikee, and
themselves, and having boiled our kettle, and drunk heartily of tea,
the whole party was soon put into good spirits again. As I kept no
part of this slender provision for myself, it was some time before
I could prevail upon the two Chinese to eat their biscuit without
sharing it with me. However, I would not take it from them; for,
although I was tired, I did not feel my strength exhausted as they
did.
While my companions slept I drew on my boots, that scarcely deserved
the name, and made an excursion with my gun to see if I could find
any game, and also to examine the route necessary to be pursued
in the afternoon. It grieved me considerably to perceive that the
impediments we had met in the morning increased so much as to render
it necessary to proceed due south. I was almost in despair, when I
beheld six large sea-gulls flying in that direction, and which at
length seemed to alight near a forest some distance off, which place,
however, I thought we should be able to reach, by exerting ourselves,
before seven or eight in the evening. I returned immediately to my
companions, who were not a little delighted by this joyful news, the
Karaikee assuring me there must be a large river or lake near, as the
kind of gulls I had seen strongly indicated this.
We now found the way moss-covered, dry, and even, and between six and
seven in the evening arrived at the forest. To our great astonishment
we beheld what we supposed a narrow lake of great length, forming a
crescent, the opposite banks being also covered with fine timber.
Here we determined to pass the night, and pitched our tent behind a
small copse, that concealed it from the lake, in order to prevent
its frightening away any water-fowl that might visit it. This being
accomplished, leaving the Chinese and Cossack to boil the tea-kettle,
the Karaikee and myself went to examine the lake. On approaching
the banks I discovered two small ducks quite near the shore, and
had the good fortune to shoot them both at one shot. Running to the
water-side to pick them up, God only knows the inexpressible joy that
filled our hearts when we beheld the water move, and satisfied our
senses that we were on the banks of a large river. It was somewhat
remarkable that the obstacles I had met with during the last two
days, and which disheartened me so much, had yet, by turning me aside
from the route I wished to take, been the cause of our falling in
with this fine stream so favorable to our wishes. We felt satisfied
it must bring us to the ocean, from which, by all appearances, we
could not be far removed. My companions were overjoyed beyond measure
at this discovery, since we could now make a raft, and descend to
the sea without undergoing such severe fatigue as heretofore, not to
mention the pleasing anticipation of being daily enabled to procure
plenty of food.
On the 6th of June I went out very early with my gun, but finding no
game, picked some handfuls of keesletya to make soup for our dinner
with the remaining duck, and returned to my companions. A number
of fine trees lay before us on the ground. I therefore marked out
those which I thought best suited for our raft. The Cossack said he
would cut them whilst I should go out in search of food, so that we
all might be enabled to work the following morning, and leave that
place in the evening. Although I walked a considerable distance
during the morning, and saw a deer and several geese, ducks, and
gulls, they were all so wild it was impossible to get within shot
of them. I returned, quite dejected and tired, along the banks of
the river, seating myself in the bushes, about two hundred yards
above our tent, where I was determined to stay and shoot something
to afford us a dinner on the following day. It was not long before a
gull came flying over my head. I shot it, and shortly after a fine
duck that fell into the river just before me. Leaning on my gun, I
pulled off my boots in order to wade after it. Just as I had got them
off, seeing the current seizing my prize, I rushed into the water,
fearful of losing it, and forgetting I had a gun in my hand until I
was out of my depth and obliged to swim. The weight of my clothes and
of the double-barrelled fowling-piece embarrassed me so much that
I could not keep myself above water, and, sinking several times, I
was at length obliged to let go my favorite gun, and even then with
difficulty kept myself from sinking. Luckily, some bushes grew up not
far below me, having their tops above the water, which I attained
and laid hold of, though I still found myself out of my depth. Here
the duck was entangled, and I secured it. There was a bush for every
four or five yards between me and the shore, and I swam from one to
another, holding the duck in my mouth, and arriving where it was
shallow enough to wade before my friends got near enough to aid me.
I regretted exceedingly the loss of a gun that had been so useful,
but we had two remaining which were sufficient for our purpose. On
the 7th we all labored hard to finish our raft, as we had food for
that day, and were to trust to our good stars to furnish us on the
following. I employed myself in cutting down immediately two large
dead trees for the side-pieces; and before two o’clock in the day we
had all the timbers well lashed together, and the raft ready to be
launched in the water. After dinner we launched our raft, which to
our great joy did not swim too low, and proved in fact everything
that we could have wished. It was composed of fifteen lower timbers,
of the thickness of a man’s thigh, and about sixteen or eighteen
feet long, two cross-pieces at each end, to which they were strongly
lashed with manilla rope and thongs, and a layer of poles and bushes
placed above all to sit on. Thus prepared, we placed our baggage upon
it, and committed ourselves to the surface of a fine large river
with a current running at the rate of more than five miles an hour.
Before quitting this place we all returned thanks to Heaven in the
most solemn manner for having conducted us thus far in safety, and
prayed fervently for a continuation of the Almighty protection we
had so often experienced. We soon discovered a material difference
between walking and our present method of travelling, having floated
at our ease, before nine at night, a greater distance than we had
made during any three days before. We had also the pleasure, for the
first time, of being free from mosquitoes and gnats. Just before
we stopped for the night I killed a fine large sheldrake that came
flying by. I determined to stop every night at ten or eleven o’clock,
and start again at four in the morning, being fearful lest during the
twilight we might run foul of rocks or trees in the way, and injure
our raft so as to oblige us again to go on foot. We encamped this
night close on the bank of the river amongst some dry grass, and not
far from a mountain called Sunkapskoy, which the Cossack thought he
knew he had traversed in the winter, and near to which was a Tongusee
tabboon. Between two and three in the morning a swan came floating
down the river. I fired at it with my rifle, and missed. Seeing it
fly toward a lake at the back of the tent, where we heard another
one, I repaired thither and got a shot at it from behind a bush,
within forty or fifty yards. The bird rose and flew a little way,
and then to our great joy fell dead in the middle of the lake. The
Cossack, tying two pieces of old timber together with a thong he had
in his pocket, floated himself along on them, and brought the swan
safely to shore. This stock of animal food put the whole party in
good spirits, and we continued our route on the raft, finding the
current increasing every hour, and promising to convey us rapidly
to the ocean. During the day I shot another swan and a duck. We
soon discovered that the mountain that the Cossack thought he knew
was much farther from the sea than he imagined, and after we had
floated near it, he did not recollect any of the country around. The
river was extremely crooked, sometimes carrying us west, sometimes
east, and in fact to all points of the compass. On the 8th, in the
evening, we stopped early, and had, for the first time since we left
the mountain, what we thought a good supper, though we were still
fearful of consuming meat more than once a day, the wild fowl being
excessively shy and difficult to shoot.
The weather became so raw and uncomfortable, being accompanied with a
drizzling rain, that we stopped earlier than usual, and continued to
halt until four o’clock in the morning of the 10th, when we proceeded
again, though a chill fog prevailed, and a good deal of wind. We had
a most unpleasant time, but, anxious to arrive at the ocean, would
not lie by, particularly as the stream had increased in rapidity, and
now hurried us along with considerable swiftness. About one o’clock,
although we were nearly in the middle of the river, which was here
upwards of a verst wide, we were suddenly seized by a whirlpool; and
in spite of our utmost efforts, having nothing but poles to guide the
raft, were drawn violently towards the left bank, and forced under
some large trees, which had been undermined by the water, and hung
over the surface of the stream, the roots still holding them fast to
the shore. I saw the danger to which we were exposed, and called out
to every one to lie flat on his face and hold fast to the baggage.
The branches were so thick it was impossible for all to escape, and
there being barely room to admit the raft under them, they swept off
the two Chinese, the Karaikee, my tin box with all my papers and
valuables, our soup-kettle, etc., etc. Nothing now remained but a
small tea-kettle and a few other things that happened to be tied fast
with thongs. The Karaikee and one of the Chinese seized hold of the
branches that swept them off, and held their heads above water, but
the youngest of the Chinese having floated away with the current, the
Cossack and myself had the greatest difficulty in paddling the raft
up to him. We came just in time to poke our poles down after him as
he sank for the third time. Fortunately he seized it, and we drew him
upon the raft half drowned. As the current was running at the rate of
six or seven miles an hour, we were carried more than half a verst
down before we gained the shore. The other Chinese and the Karaikee
crying out aloud for assistance, I ran up the shore as quickly as I
could, taking a long pole with me, and leaving the Cossack to take
care of the raft and the young Chinese. When I arrived at the spot
my Chinese cook informed me he had seized my tin box with one hand,
and was so tired of holding with the other that, if I did not come
soon to his assistance, he must leave it to the mercy of the current.
Whilst I attempted to walk out on the body of the tree, whose
branches they were holding, one of the roots broke, and very nearly
separated it from the shore. I was therefore obliged to jump off and
stride to one that was two feet under water, hauling myself along by
the branches of the others, and at length I got near enough to give
the Chinese a pole. He seized fast hold, and I pulled him between
two branches, enabling him to get a leg over one, and keep his body
above water. Thus placed, he tied the tin box with his handkerchief
to the pole, and I got it safely ashore. I was now obliged to return
and assist the Karaikee, who held by some branches far out, and where
there were no others near enough for him to reach, in order to draw
himself in. After half an hour’s labor I got them both on the bank,
neither of them knowing how to swim, and both much exhausted by the
cold and the difficulty of holding so long against a rapid current.
As the wind commenced blowing very hard, we concluded to stay all
that day where we were, it being likewise necessary to dry our
clothes, papers, etc., which were all completely wet.
In the afternoon the wind died away, and the sun shone out clear,
when I commenced drying my papers, and found many of the most
valuable of them totally ruined. The ink in some was quite effaced,
and others were so stuck together that they were destroyed in my
attempting to separate them. At six in the evening we made an
excursion along the banks of the river, to see if we could discover
any of the things we had lost, and kill some game. In our rambles
we frightened a duck from off her nest, and got six eggs. Shortly
after I killed a swan with my rifle, and the poor Karaikee going for
it, had the pleasure to find his bundle of clothes that had been
swept from the raft. We had lost nearly all our cooking utensils:
fortunately our spoons and cups were in our pockets. A small
tea-kettle without a cover had to serve for every purpose. The top of
my tin box we employed as a dish, pouring our soup into it that we
might eat it more conveniently with our spoons. We felt severely the
loss of our soup-kettle, being obliged to make our dinner and drink
our tea from the same vessel. In consequence of the high wind that
prevailed, and its being quite unsafe for our frail bark to proceed,
we remained here until four o’clock in the afternoon of the 11th,
when we departed, though it was still blowing hard, with drizzling
rain, making the weather quite cold and uncomfortable. We became
so wet and chilled that we stopped early in the evening. We left
our resting place between four and five on the 12th, with a rapid
current that conveyed us swiftly along. About mid-day we espied a
Tongusee canoe hung up between two trees, and the appearance of some
wood freshly cut made me immediately push for the shore, inspired
with the hope of finding there some inhabitants. In this expectation
we were disappointed, though there was every appearance of persons
having visited the spot but a short time before. We were not a little
overjoyed to find the canoe with paddles and everything complete. Our
raft was much water-soaked and swimming deep, and without the canoe
we should have been obliged to remain a day somewhere in order to
repair it, and put some additional logs to make it float higher. The
canoe we now lashed to one side, put the Karaikee in one end and the
Cossack in the other, with a considerable portion of our baggage,
and lightened the raft, so that it swam as high as we could wish. We
found those two persons with their paddles could turn it more quickly
and better than all five of us had been able to do with poles.
We now floated on a fine, deep, and wide river, and, though extremely
crooked, beautiful beyond conception, winding down amongst romantic
mountains and through large bodies of rich lowlands, interspersed
with lakes, rivulets, and meadows covered with fine grass. It
appeared a matter of surprise to me that so fine a stream, apparently
possessing abundance of game and fish, should be entirely destitute
of neighboring inhabitants. We saw numbers of fish constantly playing
about us, and contrived a hook with a small nail, but had not the
good fortune to catch any of them. The current seemed to increase
as we descended, and we set off before four on the 13th to take
advantage of it. About ten o’clock I discovered a jourta not far
from the edge of the left bank, and casting off the canoe despatched
the Cossack and Karaikee to examine it. They soon returned,
informing me it was a winter jourta of the Tongusees, but was then
quite deserted, and that there was not the smallest appearance of
inhabitants anywhere near. The day was hot and calm, and our visit
to the shore brought off to us a swarm of mosquitoes that pestered
us continually,--an annoyance we had not experienced for some days
previously in consequence of the wind and rain. My companions often
complained of not having meat enough, and seemed displeased at my
dealing it out sparingly. This was, however, absolutely necessary by
reason of the difficulty of killing game, for we perceived that as we
descended the river became wider, and the water-fowl scarcer and more
difficult of approach; besides which it was quite uncertain whether
we should meet inhabitants at the sea-coast, and perhaps, when there,
we might again find game scarce and difficult to shoot. On the 14th
the current increased in rapidity to such a degree that it cost us
considerable pain and labor to guide our raft in safety, and we felt
grateful to Heaven for having fallen with the canoe, without which
we could never have descended this part of the river on so frail a
vehicle.
We ran aground three or four times, and twice got entangled in the
trees that hung over the stream, but fortunately escaped without
accident. Perceiving a very dangerous place just below us, and
being too near the shore to prevent the raft’s being drawn into
the whirlpool, we pulled in and landed on the bank immediately
opposite to us. We then dragged the raft up for about a hundred
yards, assisted by the counter current that generally prevails near
the edge of a stream. By this precaution we got nigh enough to
be able to make an offing sufficient to prevent being thrown upon
another dangerous place we had seen below, composed of fallen trees,
roots, etc., thrown up like an island, over which the water foamed
in a cataract. Not long after we had landed I observed the Karaikee
examining with great attention the spot where we were and the
surrounding mountains, and at length he began to pray and to cross
himself with great fervency, the tears running down his cheeks in a
stream. I approached him to inquire the cause of his emotion, when
he exclaimed: “That is our mountain; our village is not far off, for
on this spot I caught some hares last winter. I know that we are now
not far from Grebay, a small Yakut village on the sea-coast, at the
mouth of the river, which is called Cowvah, and only twenty versts
from Towinsk. But a short distance below this is the branch on which
Towinsk stands, emptying itself into the bay, about ten versts higher
up, and if it had been earlier in the season we might have descended
it with a raft, but I perceive the water is now too low to attempt
it.”
It will be easier for my readers to imagine than for me to express
the joy we all experienced at this cheering news. We boiled our
kettle and made all the meat we had into soup, determined to have a
feast after such a long term of short allowance. This, however, was
only a comparative feast, as our whole stock amounted to a third of
a swan and a teal. Our repast finished we pushed off our raft with
great spirits, paddling with all our strength to obtain the midway
channel and avoid the dangers which, like Scylla and Charybdis,
threatened us on either hand. The current ran at the rate of eight
or nine knots an hour in turbulent eddies that twisted us round and
round, in spite of our best exertions. We had, however, the good
fortune to escape unhurt, but afterwards ran aground several times,
and with great difficulty got the raft off (by all jumping into the
water) and that not without injuring it materially. Between two and
three o’clock in the afternoon we found ourselves in a fine wide
channel, with a moderate current, and on the beach, not far below us,
descried a man and two boys mending a canoe. The effect the sight
of human beings had upon us is not to be described. Every soul shed
tears of joy, and when these people approached with their canoe to
assist us it was impossible to resist the impulse, or to answer their
questions. Our tears flowed in streams, and we were all so unmanned
we could only reply to them by signs. The elder person proved to be a
Yakut, whom I had known when I passed before. This good Yakut, when
he recognized me, jumped upon the raft, clasped me in his arms, and
shed tears in abundance, exclaiming, “Thank God! Thank God! you are
all saved.” He informed me that the Tongusees having confessed their
leaving us on the mountain, the old chief, living near to Towinsk,
had despatched his son, with twenty-five head of reindeer, in search
of us, and that every one there had given us up for lost, knowing
how difficult it was to procure food on those deserted plains and
mountains in the spring of the year.
On inquiry we found that had we taken any other route than the one we
came we must inevitably have perished!
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1881.]
“Dear Uncle Fritz,” said Alice, shivering, “did anything as bad as that
ever happen to you?”
“Not for so many days,” said he, patting her shoulder as they walked
into supper. “But I have eaten smoked salmon cold with more appetite
than I now have for Ellen’s hot muffins.”
When they were seated at the table, and the decomposition of the
muffins had begun, Bob Edmeston followed up what Alice had said.
“You see, Alice,” said he, “that the excitement of discovery carries
men on. For me, I mourn that nothing is left unknown for the explorers
of this age.”
They all laughed at his melancholy, and Philip asked him what was the
source of Mink Brook, and Laura if he would tell her where the water of
the Shannock factories emptied into the sea.
“I will not be bullied,” said Bob. “I do not know these things because
my education has been neglected. But, alas! some one knows them. They
are on the map of Rhode Island. What I thirst for is the unknown, yet
not unknowable. Alas! the discoverers have wrested this from me.”
“Not at all,” said Uncle Fritz. “You have only to ask at the Public
Library for the Journal of the Geographical Society, or the Bulletin de
la Geographie, and you will see that there is as good discovery as ever
going on to-day.”
“One comes to love these explorers,” said Bertha. “Here I never heard
of your Mr. Dobell’s wife nor children nor home; but I have been
crying, without knowing it, because he was so hungry.”
Fergus said, rather seriously, that we always sympathized with men who
gave themselves for an idea. It might be obedience to an Emperor, it
might be the source of a river,--we were always glad to follow a man in
proportion as he was unselfish.
Bob Edmeston, without going into the philosophy of the thing, said
there were lots of interesting books on the shelf the Dobell volumes
came from.
So there are, and so it happens that the next volume of this series
will be
STORIES OF DISCOVERY TOLD BY DISCOVERERS.
INDEX.
Abbott, Jacob, 10.
Acre, 50;
Siege of, 71, 81;
assault on the town, 83;
arrival of Richard I., 89;
surrender of Acre, 97;
heroic incidents of siege, 87, 88, 93, 94.
Adams, John Quincy, 256;
memoirs of, 256.
Adventures, Captain Bonneville’s, 256.
Albany, 156.
Aleppo, 66.
Algonquins, the, 143, 157, 158, 159, 160.
Alpine Club, 8, 9.
Apaches, the, 158.
“Arabian Nights,” 31;
Lane’s translation of, 31, 32.
Astoria, 256.
Athapescans, the, 158.
Aurora Borealis, 170.
Balbeck, 66.
Bancroft’s History of the United States, 157.
Beaver, the, 170-178;
habitat of, 170, 171;
dams of, described, 172;
beaver-houses, 173, 174;
absurd stories concerning, 175;
hunting the beaver, 177, 178.
Bertrandon de la Brocquière, 45;
joins the Crusaders, 46;
their route, 46;
travelling in the desert, 47;
reaches Gaza, 48;
pilgrimage to Nazareth, 49;
the town of Acre, 50;
gardens of Jaffa, 51;
in Damascus, 52;
Baruth, 53;
Mount Tabor, 55;
description of a caravan, 58;
the shrine of Mohammed, 59;
Damascus blades, 61;
Turkish customs, 65, 66, 67, 68.
Bethlehem, 34.
Blue Hills, the, 8, 9.
Bohn’s Library, 33, 45, 71.
Bryant’s History of the United States, 127.
Buffalo-hunt, a, 273, 274.
Cabots, the, 102, 135.
California, origin of the name, 102.
Canary Islands, the, 188-193.
Caravan, description of, 58.
Casa Grande, 135.
“Cat,” a, 93.
Cathay, the Chan of, 37-43.
Cevola, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 136.
Charles V., Emperor of Germany, 103.
Chateaubriand, François, Vicomte de, 255.
Clements, Alberic, death of, 93, 94.
Cleveland, Captain, early history of, 221, 222;
buys a packet-boat in Havre, and starts out to see the world, 221;
his first crew, 221;
some novel experimenting with the compass, 224, 225;
a Prussian grenadier, 225, 226;
a group worthy of Hogarth, 226;
adventure with an English frigate, 227;
encounter with a privateer, 228, 229;
arrives at Cape of Good Hope, 231;
is suspected of being a spy, 232;
further difficulties encountered, 233-236;
sells vessel and cargo, 236, 238;
a voyage in South American waters, 238;
arrives at Valparaiso, 238;
difficulty with the Spanish Governor, 239, 240;
arrested, 243;
further hostilities, 244-246;
boarding the Hazard, 246, 247;
calls on the Governor, 248-250;
final leave-taking, 251, 252;
Captain Cleveland at sixty-seven concerning himself, 237, 255.
Cleveland’s Travels, 220, 221;
opinion of his book, 237;
extracts from, 221-237, 238-252.
Columbia River, discovery of, 255.
Columbus, Christopher, 37, 101, 102.
Conversation, Uncle Fritz’s rules for, 9.
Coronado, Vasquez de, expedition of, 128, 129, 135;
discovery of the Gila River; Casa Grande, 135;
Civola, 136, 137;
description of the country, and its people, 136-139.
Cortes, Hernando, 101, 102, 103;
extracts from letters of, 103-125;
attack on colony of, at Vera Cruz, 104;
uprising in city of Mexico, 104, 105, 106;
Montezuma, attempting to pacify the Indians, is wounded to death, 106;
Cortes retreats to Tacuba, 115;
is defeated at Tacuba and Indian allies are slain, 116, 117;
again retreats, 117, 118;
Cortes as an explorer, 118-125.
Cow-tree, the, 204.
Crusaders, the, 45-68;
the Third Crusade, 71-100.
Cyprus, taking of, 90.
Dakotas, the, 263-269.
Damascus, 51, 52;
blades of, 61.
Dana, Richard Henry, 237.
Defoe, Daniel, 185.
Dobell, Peter, travels of, 277-308.
Electrical eels, method of fishing for, 208, 209.
Eliot, John, Apostle to the Indians, 158.
Ephrata, _see_ Bethlehem.
Fra Marco, 127;
a prince of liars, 129;
his remarkable account of the country he explored, 129-135;
Coronado’s opinion of Fra Marco, 136.
Frederic Barbarossa, 73, 74, 77, 78;
tragic death of, 79, 80.
Fulton, Robert, 256.
Gay’s History, _see_ Bryant’s History of the United States.
Gila River, 135.
Goeffrey of Vinsauf, 69, 71.
Goupil, René, 144, 145, 146, 147.
Greek fire, 85.
Guy, King of Jerusalem, 80.
Hakluyt, quoted, 129.
Hazard, the, 239;
seizure of 246, 247.
Hearne’s Travels, 159, 160;
extract from, 160-183.
Henry II. of England, 72, 89.
Hudson’s Bay Company, 184.
Humboldt, Alexander, early history of, 184, 185;
Travels of, 185;
visits Washington, 185;
extract from his own account of his travels, 187;
his fondness for the sea, 187;
love of Nature, 188;
plans to study the Western Continent, 188;
arrives at the Canaries, 188;
the volcanoes of Teneriffe, 189-192;
Orotava, 192;
flocks of canaries, 192, 193;
the Southern Cross, 193, 194;
Manzanares, the, 194;
bathing in, 195;
pearl-oysters of the South American coast, 195;
South American scenery, impressive character of, 197;
Caripe, convent of, 199;
preaching to the Indians, 199;
Cumana, 200, 201;
encounter with an Indian, 201, 202;
aromatic shrubs, 203;
the cow-tree, 204;
howling monkeys, 205, 206;
a search for drinking-water, 206, 207;
electrical eels, 208;
crocodiles, 209;
jaguars, 210, 211;
a primitive South American grandee, 211-213;
a midnight concert in the forest, 214;
the Land Beyond the Great Cataracts, 216-217;
interlocked rivers, 218-219.
Hurons, the, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 149, 150.
Indians, division into families, 157, 158, 159;
dialects of, compared, 158, 159;
Indians of the North, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 181,
182, 183;
an Indian Robinson Crusoe, 178, 179, 180.
Iroquois, the, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 152, 153,
154, 157.
Irving, Washington, 256.
Itinerary of Richard I., 71;
extract from, 71-100.
Jaguar, the, 210, 211.
Jefferson, Thomas, 185, 252, 254.
Jesuits, Society of, 141, 142.
Jogues, Father Isaac, 142;
sent as missionary to New France, 142;
travels to Quebec, 143;
homeward journey, 143;
is attacked by hostile Iroquois, and captured, 143, 144;
capture of René Goupil, 145;
suffers the most cruel tortures, 145, 146, 147;
captivity, 148, 149, 150;
his escape is planned, 151;
escapes, and is concealed on a ship bound for France, 152, 153;
voluntarily gives himself up, 154;
release from captivity, 154;
Dutch Governor makes terms with the Iroquois, 154;
Massacre at Schenectady, 155, 156.
Kamtchadales, the, 282, 283.
Kamchatka, Dobell’s travels in, 277;
the Kamtchadales, 282, 283;
Prince Zachar, 283;
the reindeer, 284;
sleeping in the snow, 285;
sleighing in May, 287;
among the mountains, 290;
lost in a wilderness, 294-308.
Kublai Khan, 15, 19-26.
Lady Oliver House, 7.
Lewis and Clarke, expedition of, 255, 258.
Loadstone, 35, 36.
Long, Major S. H., 257;
commands government-expedition to the Northwest, 258;
route ordered, 258;
object of journey, 259;
relics of the mound-builders, 259-263;
meets with Dakota Indians, 263-265;
Indian banquets, 266, 267;
speech of the Chief, 268, 269;
encounter with hostiles, 269-273;
a buffalo-hunt, 273, 274.
Mandeville, Sir John, 10, 31;
travels of, 31;
sources of his tales, 32;
selections from, 34-43;
why Sir John did not tell about Paradise, 43, 44.
Manhattan, 154.
Manzanares, the, 194, 195.
Mecca, 58, 59.
Mendoça, Don Antonio de, 128, 133.
Minnesota, state of, 256, 257.
Mississippi, source of, 257.
Mohammed, shrine of, 59.
Montezuma, 106;
children of, 114, 117.
Moorish feast, a, 53.
Moose-hunting, 180, 181.
Moquis, the, famed for their cakes, 139, 140.
Narvaez, expedition of, 129, 255.
New York, province of, 156.
Nolan, Philip, 254.
Northwest, the, 253-274.
Ohio, mounds of, 260-263.
Oregon, claim to, 255.
Oregon trail, the, 256.
Orinoco, the, 206, 207, 216, 217, 218, 219.
Orotava, 189, 192, 193.
Parkman, Francis, 142, 256.
Peabody Museum, the, 127.
_Petrariae_, 91, 92, 95.
Philip, Duke of Burgundy, 45.
Philip II. of France, 72, 90, 91, 93.
Pizarro, Gonzalo, 103.
Plutarch’s Lives, 70.
Polo, Marco, 10, 11;
Col. Yule’s edition of, 11, 30;
Irving’s account of, 11;
his father and his uncle, voyages of, 11, 12;
the Great Khan, 12;
Marco Polo sets out on his travels, 12;
return after twenty-four years, 12;
reception to his countrymen, 13;
is taken prisoner, 13;
begins to write the story of his wanderings, 14, 15, 16;
Persia and the Three Wise Men, 16, 17, 18;
Cublay Khan, 19;
the rebellion of Nayan, 20;
Caidu, 20;
battle between Nayan and the Khan, 22, 23;
Nayan’s defeat and surrender, 24.
Post-houses, 26-29, 102.
Post-houses in Tartary, 26-29.
Pottery, Indian, 127, 128.
Pueblos, 128, 129, 132, 136, 137.
Richard I. of England, 72;
landing of, at Acre, 89;
joins forces with the King of France, 90, 91, 92, 99;
Turkish estimate of, 99, 100.
Rio Negro, 219.
Robinson Crusoe, 185, 275;
the New, 185, 186;
further adventures of, 276, 277.
Roses, origin of, 34.
Royal Mendicant, story of, 35.
St. Paul, Vision of, 53.
Saladin, 71, 74, 75, 77, 80, 82, 83, 95, 96, 99.
Schenectady, 155, 156;
massacre at, 155;
early American ballad about the massacre, 155, 156.
Siberia, 275;
a Siberian snowstorm, 278, 279;
Siberian hospitality, 279-281.
Sindbad the Sailor, Fifth Voyage of, 36.
Six Nations, the, _see_ Iroquois.
South America, travels in, 187-219.
Southern Cross, the, 193, 194.
Spanish claims, 239.
Tabor, Mount, 55.
Talisman, the, 70, 71.
Tamerlane, 52.
Tartars, the, 40, 41.
Teneriffe, volcano of, 188, 189;
the ascent of the Peak, 189-192.
Terrestrial Paradise, 37, 44.
Three Wise Men, the, 16, 17, 18.
Tobolsk, 277.
Turks, manners and customs of, 65, 66, 67, 68;
valor of, 94, 95, 96, 99.
Tyre, 81, 84, 85;
archbishop of, 72.
United States, northern boundary of, 256, 257.
Verrazzani, 102.
Vesuvius, Mount, 191, 192.
Vicar of Wakefield, 69.
Washington, government reports published at, 256.
Washington, Mount, 69.
Watts, Isaac, 253.
World, early maps of, 101, 102.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] “How to Do It,” pp. 29-60.
[2] So Yule corrects Irving, who says 1250.
[3] “Early Travels in Palestine.” In Bohn’s Antiquarian Library.
[4] See “Stories of the Sea.”
[5] We follow the spelling of the old English versions, even when they
vary from each other.
[6] Mountour,--an old English rendering of the French _mountagnette_,
meaning a raised platform.
[7] This is an early mention of portable fire-arms in the East; they
were at this time novelties in Europe.
[8] The news of Saladin’s victories in Tyre, Antioch, Acre, etc.
[9] This was the river of Kalycadnus in Seleucia. The estimate given of
Frederic I. by Geoffrey is confirmed by other history.
[10] His father, Henry II. of England, had died since Richard joined
the Crusades.
[11] This is the street to Tacuba, now a village on solid ground, which
was then covered entirely by the lakes.
[12] This is always the spelling in Cortes’s letters.
[13] Called the hill of Muteczuma, on which is now a celebrated
sanctuary of the Lady de los Remedios.
[14] This is the night known as the sorrowful night, _la noche triste_.
[15] Old English spelling for ladders. Observe the word “lath” hidden
in “lathers.”
[16] The Civola of Hakluyt is the Cibola and Cevola of the other
writers. The change between _b_ and _v_ is not unfrequent.
[17] Mr. Hearne afterwards gives rather a lame explanation of the least
important part of this trick.
[18] Isla de la Gran Canaria.
[19] For this was in time of war.
[20] Of Reaumur’s thermometer. Each degree is equal to 2¼ of our
thermometers, and the zero is our 32°.
[21] “Farm of the Alligator.”
[22] Excite the fish with horses.
[23] A species of mimosa.
[24] As a favor to the merchant, I consented to share the loss with him.
[25] The Oregon Trail.
[26] Memoirs of John Quincy Adams.
[27] See Stories of the Sea, p. 107.
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