HOW CAPTAIN PAMPHILE MADE THE COAST OF AFRICA AND FOUND HIMSELF CONSTRAINED TO LOAD UP WITH BLACK IVORY INSTEAD OF WHITE
The day after his arrival at Havre, Captain Pamphile received half a hogshead of raisins and six dozen pots of sweetmeats, which he ordered Double-Bouche to lock up in his private cupboard. That done, he busied himself getting the vessel fitted up for sea, which did not take long, for, as we have seen, the worthy mariner nearly always sailed in ballast and took on board his cargo in the open sea. So well did he work that at the end of the week he doubled the Cape of Cherbourg, and in a fortnight’s time he was cruising between the 47th and 48th parallels of latitude, just across the course which the ship “Zephyr “should take to reach New York from Nantes. The consequence of this clever manoeuvre was, that one fine morning, as Captain Pamphile, half asleep and half awake, was dreaming lazily in his hammock, he was roused from his semi-somnolence by the cry, “Sail — ho!” from the man on the look out.
The Captain sprang out of his hammock, seized a telescope, and without staying to put on his breeches, ran up on deck. His appearance in the dress of ancient mythology, might have seemed strange in a vessel where greater attention was paid to details than was the case on board the “Roxelane,” but it must be confessed to the shame of the crew, that not one of them paid the slightest attention to this infraction of the laws of decency, so accustomed were they to the
vagaries of the Captain. As to the latter, he quietly walked across the deck, climbed into the shrouds, mounted a few steps of the ratlines, and with as much self-possession as if he were clothed properly, commenced his inspection of the vessel which had been sighted. After a few moments he was certain that it was the vessel he expected; so. orders were promptly given to mount the carronades on their pivots and the piece of eight on its carriage. Then seeing that his orders were being obeyed with the customary smartness, the Captain ordered the helmsman to hold on the same course, and went below, so as to be able to present a more decent appearance on his meeting with his fellow-commander, Captain Malvilain.
When the Captain returned to the deck, the two vessels were about one league apart, and a sailor could recognize in the new arrival the sober steady gait of the honest merchantman, deeply laden, and with all its sails set making its five or six knots before a steady breeze; it was clear that if she had been tempted to bear away, the brisk and lively “Roxelane “could have overhauled the “Zephyr “in a couple of hours. But nothing was further from the thoughts of the latter’s crew than flight, confident as they were in the peace sworn by the Holy Alliance, and in the total and entire abolition of piracy, the funeral oration of which had been published by the “Constitutionnel,” before their departure. The vessel then continued her course on the faith of the treaties, and she was not more than half a gunshot from Captain Pamphile, when the following words rang out on board the “Roxelane,” and, carried by the wind, found their way to the astonished ears of the master of the “Zephyr.”
“Ship ahoy! Lower a boat, and send the captain on board of us.”
There was a moment’s pause, then the following reply came from the ship: “We are the merchant vessel ‘Zephyr ‘; captain, Malvilain; cargo, brandy; bound from Nantes to New York.”
“Fire!” said Captain Pamphile.
A flash of light and a cloud of smoke, followed by a noisy report, appeared on the forecastle of the “Roxelane,” and simultaneously the blue sky appeared through a rent in the foresail of the innocent and inoffensive ship, from which came the words, repeated slowly and distinctly, as if there had been some misinterpretation of the original statement:
“We are the trading ship ‘Zephyr ‘ — Captain, Malvilain — cargo, brandy — bound from Nantes to New York.”
“Ship ahoy!” replied the “Roxelane.”
“Lower away a boat and send your captain aboard us.”
Then, as the ship still appeared to hesitate, and the long eight was ready again, —
“Fire!” ordered Captain Pamphile, a. second time. And the ball ricocheted over the crests of the waves and lodged just eighteen inches above the water line.
“In the name of heaven, who are you, and what do you want?” came in a voice which the effect of the speaking trumpet made the more melancholy.
“Ship ahoy! Lower away a boat! Send your captain aboard us,” came from the imperturbable “Roxelane.”
This time, whether the brig had made a mistake or not before, whether her crew were deaf or only pretending to be, there was no mistaking the necessity for obedience. A third shot, if this time it struck below the water’s line, the ship would be sunk! So the captain of the “Zephyr “lost no time in answering; and it was obvious to all eyes that he was anxious his crew should get the gig lowered as soon as possible.
As soon as it touched the water, six sailors slid down the falls one after another; the captain following them, took his seat in the stern, and the gig, unhooked from the ship, like a child leaving its mother, was rowed quickly across the space between the two vessels, and made for the brig’s starboard quarter; but a sailor standing on the bulwarks beckoned to them to come alongside to port, that is on the side reserved for honoured visitors. Captain Malvilain could not object to the manner of his reception, which was that due to his rank.
At the top of the ladder Captain Pamphile awaited his brother officer; then, as our worthy mariner was a man who knew how to conduct himself, he began by apologizing to Captain Malvilain for the lack of ceremony in his invitation to him. He followed up his apologies by inquiries as to his wife and children, and being assured that they were in good health, he invited the captain of the “Zephyr “down to his cabin, where he wished, he said, to discuss an affair of some importance.
Captain Pamphile’s invitations were generally given in such an irresistible manner that refusals were out of the question. Captain Malvilain therefore yielded with a good grace to the desire of his brother mariner, who, after bowing him in before himself, in spite of the polite refusal of this honour on the part of the-guest, closed the door behind him, telling Double-Bouche to excel himself if possible, so that Captain Malvilain might carry away a happy impression of the “Roxelane’s “hospitality.
In half an hour’s time Captain Pamphile half opened the door and gave, Georges, who was on duty in the saloon, a letter from Captain Malvilain to his chief officer; this letter conveyed an order to send on board the “Roxelane “a dozen of the fifty pipes of spirits shipped on the “Zephyr “by order of Ignace Pelonge et Cie. This was really two thousand bottles in excess of what was strictly necessary for Captain Pamphile to take; but, as a prudent man, he thought it well to allow for the possible wastage which a two months’ voyage might effect. Moreover, he could, if he chose, take the whole, and when thinking to himself of the power which his host used with such moderation, Captain Malvilain thanked our Lady of Guerrand that he had got off so cheaply.
The transfer was effected in about two hours, and Captain Pamphile, sticking to his system of politeness, was thoughtful enough to carry out the arrangements during dinner time, so that his colleague’s feelings should not be hurt by the sight of what was going on. They had got as far as the raisins and sweetmeats of the dessert, when Double-Bouche came and whispered a word to his master; the latter nodded as if satisfied, and ordered coffee. It was served at once, accompanied by a bottle of cognac, which the Captain at once recognized at the first sip as the same which he had tasted at the table of the Prefect of Orléans. This gave him a high opinion of the probity of Citizen Ignace Nicolas Pelonge, in that he sent his consignments out corresponding so closely with his samples.
Coffee finished and the twelve pipes stowed below, Captain Pamphile had no motive for any further detention of his colleague, so he conducted him, with the same marks of respect as he paid him on arrival, to the port gangway, where the gig was waiting, and took leave of him there, following him with his eyes to the “Zephyr “with looks full of incipient friendship. Then, as he saw him mount to his own deck and judged from the movements of the crew that he was about to get under way again, he again put the speaking trumpet to his lips, but this time it was to wish him a good voyage.
The “Zephyr,” as if she were only waiting for this, at once trimmed her sails to the wind and glided away towards the west, whilst the “Roxelane” huffed up till she headed nearly due south. Captain Pamphile continued, as they parted, to make signals of friendship, and Captain Malvilain returned the courtesy. This exchange of compliments was ended only by nightfall, and by sunrise the next day the two vessels were far out of sight of each other.
Two months subsequent to the events we have just described Captain Pamphile anchored at the mouth of the Orange River and ascended the stream with an escort of twenty well-armed sailors to pay his visit to Outavaro.
Captain Pamphile, who was an acute observer, noticed with astonishment that a great change had come over the country since he had left it. Instead of the rich plains covered with rice and maize, with the roots of the crops bathed in the waters of the river, instead of the flocks and herds which used to come, bleating and lowing, to refresh themselves on its banks, there was nothing but unfilled land and a silent desert. At first he thought he had made a mistake and had come to the Fish instead of the Orange River; but having taken observations, he found that his calculations were correct, and, in fact, after twenty hours’ journey up the river, he came in sight of the capital of the Little Namaquas.
The town was inhabited only by women, children, and old men, all in the direst poverty; for this is what had happened. Immediately after Captain Pamphile’s departure Outavari and Outavaro, attracted, the one by the two thousand, the other by the fifteen hundred bottles of brandy which they were to receive for their ivory, had both started from their respective sides on a grand hunting expedition. Unfortunately the elephants were to be found in an extensive forest, which lay as neutral ground between the Little Namaquas’ country and that of the Kaffirs. So no sooner did the two parties meet each other and understood that their objectives were the same, and that the success of one nation meant the detriment of the other, than the embers of the old feud which had never been quenched between the sons of the east and of the west, broke out into flame once more. Each party, being armed for the chase, was equally prepared for war, and so, instead of listening to the advice of some of the greybeards and acting in concert to obtain the four thousand tusks, they attacked each other, and on the first day of their meeting fifteen Kaffirs and seventeen Namaquas lay dead on the battlefield.
From that day forth there reigned bloody and relentless war between the two tribes, in the course of which Outavari was killed and Outavaro wounded. The Kaffirs elected a new chief, and Outavaro recovered. Thus, both leaders being in their places again, the strife went on more briskly than before, and each party called up all its warriors to keep its army up to strength. In the end each nation had made a supreme effort to back up its chief by calling up all its population from the ages of sixteen to sixty to join the army, and the forces of the two nations had been for a few days lying thus face to face, so that one general action was likely to decide the fate of the war.
This is how it came to pass that there were only women, children, and dotards left in the Namaquas capital; and they were already, as we have said, in a state of absolute destitution. As for the elephants, they were gaily slapping each other with their trunks and taking advantage of the preoccupation of their human enemies, browsing at their ease on the fields of maize and rice surrounding the deserted villages.
Captain Pamphile saw in the twinkling of an eye what steps he ought to take. His agreement had been personal with Outavari and not with his successor. He was therefore free to do as he liked about the latter, and his natural ally was obviously Outavaro. He ordered his men to overhaul their muskets and pistols and served out four dozen cartridges to each man. Then he asked for a young Namaqua sufficiently intelligent to act as a guide, and timed his march so as to arrive in camp at dead of night.
All was carried out exactly as he planned, and on the second night, about eleven o’clock, Captain Pamphile entered Outavaro’s tent, where the latter, who had decided on attacking the next morning, was holding council with the oldest and wisest of his nation’s leaders.
Outavaro recognized Captain Pamphile with the certainty and promptitude which is a characteristic of the memory of the savage; thus, directly he saw him, he rose and came forward with one hand on his mouth and the other on his heart, as if to signify that heart and tongue were one in the speech he was about to make. He said in broken Dutch that, as he had failed to carry out his bargain, the tongue which had lied and the heart which had deceived were both Captain Pamphile’s to be torn out and thrown to his dogs, as was the befitting punishment of the liar and the deceiver. The Captain, who spoke Dutch like William of Orange, answered that he had no use for the tongue and heart of Outavaro, that his dogs were quite satisfied already, having found the pathway strewn with corpses of Kaffirs, and that he had come prepared to make a much better offer than that which his faithful friend and ally, Outavaro, proposed. This was, that he should help Outavaro in his war with the Kaffirs, on the understanding that all prisoners made during or after the battle should become the sole property of Captain Pamphile, to do with as he or his appointed agents might decide. Captain Pamphile, it will be surmised from his style, had been a lawyer’s clerk previous to his developing into a buccaneer.
This proposal was too good to be refused, and it was received with enthusiasm, not only by Outavaro, but by the whole council of war. The oldest and wisest of the councillors took their cups from their lips and their quids from their cheeks to offer both to the white chief. But the latter said majestically that it was for him to treat the assembly, and he sent Georges to go and bring from his baggage two ells of Virginian tobacco twist and four bottles of the Orléans spirits, which were received and duly handed round with expressions of the deepest gratitude.
When the repast was over, as it was then about one o’clock in the morning, Outavaro sent them all away to sleep at their posts, and stayed alone with Captain Pamphile, so as to settle with him the plan of the coming battle.
Captain Pamphile, knowing that the first duty of a general is to obtain a clear idea of the ground on which he is to manoeuvre, and considering it improbable that there was a good map of the country to be had, he asked Outavaro to guide him to the loftiest point of the neighbourhood, the moon being bright enough to light up the country as clearly as it would be illuminated in the twilight of northern latitudes. There was just what was required, in the shape of a small hill on the edge of the forest, where the right wing of the Little Namaquas rested. Outavaro signified to Captain Pamphile to follow in silence, and led him along a path on which they were obliged to spring like tigers at times and at others to crawl like serpents. Fortunately in the course of his adventures Captain Pamphile had crossed many worse places in the morasses and virgin forests of America, so in half an hour’s time he had crawled and climbed to such purpose that he found himself and his guide on the top of the hillock.
Then, although the Captain was accustomed to contemplate the grandest scenery in nature, he could not help pausing to admire the panorama which lay before him. The forest made a vast semicircle, within which was contained the forces of the two nations. It formed a great black mass which threw its shadow across the two camps, seeming impenetrable to the eye, and uniting the horns of the semicircle, forming the chord of an arc, ran the Orange River like a liquid riband of silver. Beyond, again, the landscape was lost in the horizon which, without a visible boundary, stretched away to the country of the Great Namaquas.
All this immense tract, which kept even at night its warm and clear-cut features, was lit up by the bright tropical moon, which alone knows what goes on among the unexplored wastes of the African Continent. From time to time the silence was broken by the howls of the hyenas and jackals which followed in the track of the two armies; while again, above all, rose the roar of some prowling lion. At this sound all became silent, as if the universe was listening to its Master’s voice, from the song of the humming-bird which sings its love-song from the petals of a flower, to the voice of the hissing serpent, which, erect above the undergrowth, calls in its own fashion for its mate. Then once more the lion’s voice is hushed, and all the many sounds, which were silenced by his roar, break forth again upon the jungle and the night.
Captain Pamphile, as we have said, remained for a moment gazing at the sight before him; but, as we know, the worthy sailor was not the man to allow sentimental considerations to interfere for long with the serious business which had brought him to the spot. Thus his second thoughts brought him back full into the midst of his material interests. Then he observed, on the far side of a small stream which flowed from the depths of the forest into the Orange, the whole of the Kaffir army lying asleep in their bivouacs, watched over by a few sentinels, who might have been taken for statues. Like the Little Namaquas, they seemed resolved to offer battle on the morrow, and to be waiting, with a firm front, the onslaught of their foes. Captain Pamphile reconnoitred their position at a glance, and calculated the chances of a surprise; then, as he had settled his plans, he made a sign to his companion, and they returned to camp as stealthily as they had left it. He had scarcely got back before he aroused his men, took twelve with him, leaving eight with Outavaro, and accompanied by about one hundred Little Namaquas, whom their chief had ordered to follow the white captain, he plunged into the forest, made a long march in a particular direction, and so came out and hid himself and his men in the fringe of wood which covered the rear of the Kaffir position.
He disposed his men so that between each pair of sailors, who were extended at considerable intervals, there should be ten to twelve Namaquas; he made all lie down, and awaited events.
There was not long to wait; at daybreak, loud shouts announced to Captain Pamphile that the battle had begun. Soon among the shouts rose the sound of sustained musketry, and this was quickly followed by a panic among the enemy’s ranks, who, turning tail, fled for the forest. This was what Captain Pamphile was waiting for, and he had only to show himself and his men to complete the defeat.
The unfortunate Kaffirs, surrounded both behind and before, shut in on one side by the river, on the other by the forest, did not even attempt to fly further; they fell on their knees and thought that their last hour was come. In fact, probably not one would have escaped destruction at the hands of the Namaquas had not Captain Pamphile reminded Outavaro that their slaughter was a breach of his convention. The chief exerted his authority, and instead of using their clubs and knives, the conquerors proceeded to bind the vanquished hand and foot. Then, when the operation was completed, they collected, not the dead, but the living. They slackened the cords which bound their legs, and made them march willy-nilly to the capital of the Little Namaquas. As for the few who had escaped, their number was too small to cause any disquietude.
As this last decisive victory was due to Captain Pamphile’s intervention, he was received with all triumphal honours. The women danced in front of him with garlands, the girls strewed roses in his path. The old men saluted him with the title of The White Lion, and the whole nation united in a great feast in his honour. When the rejoicings were over, the Captain, after thanking the Namaquas for their hospitality, announced that the time he could devote to pleasure had expired, and that he was reluctantly compelled to return to business; therefore he desired Outavaro to make the prisoners over to him. The chief admitted the justice of the demand, and led him to the large shed into which they had been thrown on their arrival, and in which they had been left forgotten till then. As three days had elapsed since their capture, some had died of their wounds, others of hunger, and some of the heat. Thus it was high time, it will be admitted, that Captain Pamphile looked to his merchandise, which was beginning to deteriorate.
Captain Pamphile went down the ranks of the prisoners, in company with the doctor, himself handling the sick, looking at the wounds, helping with the bandages, and separating the bad from the good, like the Angel of the Day of Judgment. After doing this, he took a muster of the sound ones and found he had two hundred and thirty negroes in excellent condition.
All these could be recommended as well-seasoned men; they had passed through the fight, the march, and the starvation. They could be sold and bought with perfect confidence; there was no fear of deterioration. So pleased was the Captain with his bargain that he presented Outavaro with a quarter pipe of brandy and twelve ells of tobacco twist. As a return for his civility, the chief of the Namaquas lent him eight large canoes for the embarkation of the prisoners, and he himself, with his family and the nobles of his kingdom, accompanied him to his ship in his state barge.
The Captain was received by the sailors who had remained on board with so great a show of pleasure that the chief of the Namaquas was much impressed by the affection in which the worthy sailor was held. As the Captain was, before everything a man of method, who allowed nothing to interfere with his duty, he left the doctor and Double-Bouche to do the honours of the “Roxelane “to his guests, and went down into the hold with the carpenter.
It was in that part of the ship that a difficulty had to be overcome, which called for the personal supervision of Captain Pamphile. When sailing from Havre, the Captain had reckoned on effecting an exchange of cargo. Naturally the goods taken in would take the place of those given out. But here, by an unexpected course of events, Captain Pamphile was taking away again what he had brought. The problem, then, was how to pack two hundred and thirty niggers into a vessel already fairly well laden.
Fortunately the fresh goods were men; if they had been ordinary packages of merchandise, the thing would have been physically impossible. But the human machine is so wonderfully well made, it has such flexible joints, it can be so readily stowed on its feet or on its head, on right side or left, on belly or back, that one must be very maladroit not to contrive to turn its capabilities to advantage. So Captain Pamphile soon saw how he could fit everything into place. He had his eleven pipes of brandy put into the “lion’s den “and the sail-room; for he considered it unadvisable to mix up his cargo, as either the brandy would spoil the negroes, or the negroes would spoil the brandy. Then he measured the length of the hold. It was eighty feet long — more than was necessary. Every one ought to be satisfied with one foot of the surface of the globe, and by Captain Pamphile’s reckoning, each man would have a line and a half above and to spare. Obviously, this was positive luxury, and the Captain could really have found room for half a score more. Thus, the master carpenter, following out the Captain’s orders, proceeded in the following manner:
He fastened to port and to starboard a plank standing out about ten inches from the bilge of the vessel to serve as a rest for the feet; supported in this way by this plank, seventy-seven negroes could lie very comfortably against the sides of the ship, especially as to prevent their falling on top of each other during bad weather, which was certain to be encountered, each was attached to an iron ring placed between each. True, the rings took up some of the room on which Captain Pamphile had reckoned, so that instead of having a line and a half to spare, each man found himself as a matter of fact three lines to the bad. Still, what are three lines to a man — a mere fraction of an inch — why, nothing! You must be of a very carping spirit to make a fuss about three lines when you have close upon a good foot of space all to yourself. The arrangements were thus carried on down both sides of the hold. The negroes when thus ranged in two ranks, left a space twelve feet broad down the middle. In this space, Captain Pamphile had a sort of long camp-bed made, six feet broad, over the centre of the keel. But as there were only sixty-six negroes to place on it, each man gained fifty-four hundredths of an inch; therefore, the chief carpenter called this centre bench very appropriately the Pashas’ Row. As it was six feet wide, there was a passage on each side three feet wide for walking about and feeding the cargo. As we have seen, there was plenty of room, and moreover the Captain did not fail to see that, in passing through the tropics twice, his ebony would probably shrink a little, which unfortunately would waste some more room. But all speculations must trust something to chance, and a merchant of any foresight always counts on some loss from wastage.
Once the procedure was settled, the execution of the work rested with the chief carpenter; so having acquitted himself of his duties as a philanthropist, Captain Pamphile went up on deck again to see how they were entertaining his guests.
He found Outavaro, his family and his grandees, in the midst of a magnificent banquet, presided over by the doctor. The Captain took his place at the top of the table, quite certain that he could entirely trust his work below to his deputy. In fact, by the time the dinner was over, and the chief of the Little Namaquas with his wife and his courtiers had re-embarked in their canoe, the chief carpenter came and reported that all was ready in the hold and that he could come and see how the cargo was stowed. This the worthy Captain immediately did.
The statement was perfectly correct; everything was properly arranged and each negro tied to the timbers so that he appeared to form part of the vessel and looked like a mummy waiting to be put into his coffin. They had even saved a few inches on those placed amidships, so that it was possible to walk all round this kind of gigantic gridiron on which they were spread. So well packed were they that Captain Pamphile was struck with the idea of adding Outavaro, his august family, and the notables of the kingdom to his collection. Happily for the chief, he had no sooner been safely conducted to his canoe, than his subjects, who had not quite so much confidence in the White Lion as had their king, took advantage of their liberty to row away as fast as possible. So that, when Captain Pamphile regained the deck with the unpleasant idea which had occurred to him in the hold, the canoe was just disappearing round the first bend of the Orange River.
As he saw them go, Captain Pamphile heaved a deep sigh; he had lost fifteen to twenty thousand francs by his tardiness in making up his mind.