As Redwood had predicted, Erasmus’s absence from the conference was accepted with a certain polite alacrity. He confided his reasons to Campbell in the hope that the Governor, seeing the seriousness of his intentions, would give him some more explicit assurance of the troops and cannon. But Campbell was preoccupied and did no more than nod and mutter.
Nipke, the Young Soldier, turned out to be older than expected, stocky and taciturn, with a heavily lined face the colour of wet, reddish clay. He had a pine-log cabin beside a creek and a cowpen and a field of maize and two wives. Redwood had brought an interpreter with them, but there was scarcely need for one: Nipke knew enough English to understand what was wanted. He listened intently to their questions, though his face remained immobile. He had seen no black men on his forays to the south. There was said to be black men on Key Biscayne, but he had never seen any and did not believe it. There were escaped slaves living among the Upper Creeks, he had seen this himself, they had taken wives among the Indian women, but these men had come from the English colonies in the north.
He remained silent for a considerable time when asked if he would go ahead of the expedition as a scout. Erasmus was afraid he would refuse: he was settled here, with fish in the creek and game in the woods and his wives to grow the corn and feed the chickens. But he was quite willing to go – the hesitation had been merely a ploy to obtain better wages. They agreed finally on five shillings a day for him as leader and three for the others he would recruit to make up the scouting party – four more men would be needed. The money would be payable from that day onwards but not in advance; Redwood had warned him against this, as Nipke would almost certainly buy rum with the money and get into trouble of some kind or be found drunk and insensible just when he was needed. In sign of good intention, however, Erasmus gave the Indian a leather cartridge belt which he had brought with him.
The ride there and back and the protracted silences and solemn talk and the consumption of milk and maize cakes had taken up most of the day and it was mid-afternoon when they got back to St Augustine. Redwood had duties in the garrison and Erasmus made his way back to the Residence alone. He found an air of gloom there: the conference had broken up early, he was told, owing to the intransigence of the Indians.
‘They were not prepared to yield a single inch, sir, not one iota,’ Watson said, with solemn indignation. ‘The chiefs came to the rostrum one after the other, all of them in turn, Tallechea, Captain Aleck, Wioffke, Latchige, Chayhage, and all gave voice to the same sentiments.’
‘And what were they?’
‘They want to keep us to the tidewaters,’ Campbell said tersely. He was still in uniform, booted and spurred, with his cavalry sword at his side.
‘I am not clear what that means,’ Erasmus said.
‘Well, they are talking about the salt tide, of course. The saltwaters flow as far as Picolata and they are seeking to restrict English settlement to a line north of that as far as the mouth of the St John River.’
‘A meagre acreage indeed,’ Watson said, ‘and by no means offering scope for settlement on the scale we have in mind. By no means. It is quite unacceptable. And the tone of their speeches was threatening. Veiled threats, of course, but that is their way. They would be sorry, but they could not answer for the consequences if any cattle or white people strayed over the line. Yes, that was the sort of insolence they offered us, sir, the representatives of His Majesty in this new Colony of the Crown. It was all I could do to keep my countenance.’
‘I had no difficulty keeping mine, sir, by God,’ Campbell said with considerable asperity. Certain strains had begun to show between soldier and civilian. ‘A wrong word now and you are like to lose more than your countenance, Watson, you are like to lose your scalp, sir. Our intelligence gives their numbers at not less than five thousand. They know the ground, they have had years of fighting the Spanish over it; we oppose them with a few hundred men fresh from Europe, whose only training is to form a square in open ground and fire volleys.’
‘What grant of land are we demanding from them?’ Erasmus asked.
‘We must have the sweet waters too. We are asking for all the land east of the river from mouth to source. Also some portions on the west bank.’
‘That is a difference indeed. I cannot see why they should agree to such a thing.’
‘Well, we are now purposing to take a different tack with them.’ Campbell gave Erasmus a tight, cautious smile. ‘Have you ever sat at dinner with Indian chieftains?’ he said.
‘No, I can’t say I have.’
‘You will be doing so this evening, sir.’
‘What, you have invited them to dinner here?’
Watson chuckled suddenly, a rather startling and incongruous sound, seeming to rise from cavernous depths. ‘Not all of them,’ he said. ‘Nothing would be gained by that. We have asked two – Tallechea and Captain Aleck. They are the two most powerful men. These savages are so constituted, sir, the honour of an invitation to the governor’s house means a great deal, a very great deal, sir, both for those that are included and those that are left out. They will see that their threats of today have not had the effects intended, quite the reverse, in fact, quite the reverse, and it will puzzle them. I also have a little inducement of my own devising …’ He refused to say more than this, however, contenting himself with further chuckling sounds. ‘God willing,’ he said, restored to gravity, ‘we shall succeed by these means in creating discord and dissension among them.’
They parted on this, Erasmus to rest and refresh himself after his ride. When he descended again it was to find the two chiefs already at table, seated opposite the Governor and Superintendent, with the half-breed interpreter, whose name was Forrest, a little further down. Redwood entered at the same time as himself and they were introduced together. Erasmus found himself looking into two faces that seemed closely similar in their foreignness, mahogany-coloured, with a regard at once fiery and sombre under prominent brows. His hand, when he extended it, was gripped firmly, not shaken, and his forearm too was grasped for a moment. The Indians smelled of woodsmoke and some kind of sweet oil they had rubbed into the skin – their faces glistened slightly with it. They were not now in ceremonial headdresses but plain headbands and they wore waistcoats over cotton shifts and breeches of fringed buckskin.
Campbell had been to great trouble with the food, making sure the Indians were served with things they were used to and liked: roast wild turkey, maize cakes, pumpkin, sour oranges filled with honey. No rum or brandy was put out, as Creeks generally had a fatal weakness for spirits, but there was wine and root-beer.
Tallechea and Captain Aleck ate in silence, cutting their meat with the small knives they carried at their belts, using their fingers to carry it to their mouths, eating round the bones very delicately and neatly. Erasmus was surprised at their self-containment and the ease and grace of their movements; the unaccustomed surroundings and the alien manners of their hosts seemed to occasion them no physical constraint. Even their silence struck Erasmus as due more to their custom than to any shyness or lack of ease. Only the eyes were savage; these held a constant gleaming light, not changed by what they rested on.
When they had finished eating, both remarked through the hatchet-faced Mr Forrest on the excellence of the meal, nodding heavily for emphasis and uttering deep exclamations. Captain Aleck complimented the Governor on the size and splendour of his house and said that a man who lived in such a stronghold need have no fear of enemies. Following upon this, Tallechea made a brief speech. They knew him as Tama, Flame of Tongue. He hoped there would always be straight paths between their nations. The English had kindled their fire on the sea coast, and it was the will of the Giver of Breath that they and the red men should live in amity, so that their children might grow up to be men.
In reply, the Governor welcomed them to his table and expressed the hope that there would be further occasions of a similar kind, as Tallechea and Captain Aleck were his red brothers and particularly dear to him, but that the paths could not run straight so long as the red people would not behave generously towards their white brothers in the matter of the land. What was being asked was something they could easily spare. As they knew, the ships from Georgia had arrived and now lay at anchor. They contained blankets and ammunition and rum and many things his red brothers desired. But if they gave no land they could expect no presents. The Great King would ask him what he had got for his presents. And how would he answer? He hoped that Tallechea and Captain Aleck, as dear friends and intended Large-Medal Chiefs, would speak to their people and prevent them from taking the same un-constructive attitudes as they had today.
The two Indians listened impassively. But it seemed to Erasmus that the quality of their stillness had deepened with the mention of the ships. After a long, reflective pause, Captain Aleck asked for the Governor’s words about medal chiefs to be more fully explained to them, as they had not heard of this matter before. Nor had Erasmus, but he realized at once that this must be what the Superintendent had been so archly mysterious about earlier.
Watson began to speak now with the utmost solemnity. The Great White King had provided special medals to be bestowed upon those of his red children that showed friendship for their English brothers. These medals showed the Great King’s face and they were of bronze. Some were as big as a man’s palm and they were intended for the most important men, who would be known as Large-Medal Chiefs. Some were smaller, about the size of a dollar. These medals, both large and small, were to be hung round the necks of those who had shown their love for the Great King. This would be done in a special ceremony before all the headmen of the nation.
The Creeks listened to this intently but without further comment. After further assurances of friendship they took a dignified leave. Before Mr Forrest left he was instructed by the Governor, on whom he knew his trade in liquor would in future depend, to move among the Greeks and whenever he heard differences of policy among them to point out the value of English friendship and the line they should take next day at the conference.
‘We must leave no stone unturned,’ Campbell said, on parting that night. ‘An interpreter moves in both worlds. He has an aura about him, he inspires trust.’ He looked at Erasmus with his small, canny smile, the twinkle in his eyes as relentless as ever. ‘These are cunning fellows we are dealing with, Mr Kemp, and we must try to match them, however much it goes against the grain.’