CHAPTER THREE.
RELATES THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF HAROLD AND DISCO, AND LIFTS THECURTAIN A LITTLE HIGHER IN REGARD TO THE SLAVE-TRADE.
So Captain Romer and his lieutenants went to dine with the worthyGovernor Senhor Francisco Alfonso Toledo Bignoso Letotti, while Yoosoofreturned to the creek to carry out his deep-laid plans.
In regard to the dinner, let it suffice to observe that it was good, andthat the Governor was urbane, hospitable, communicative, and every wayagreeable. It is probable that if he had been trained in another sphereand in different circumstances he might have been a better man. Asthings stood, he was unquestionably a pleasant one, and Captain Romerfound it hard to believe that he was an underhand schemer.
Nothing could exceed the open way in which Senhor Letotti condemned theslave-trade, praised the English for their zeal in attempting tosuppress it, explained that the King of Portugal and the Sultan ofZanzibar were equally anxious for its total extinction, and assured hisguests that he would do everything that lay in his power to furthertheir efforts to capture the guilty kidnappers, and to free the poorslaves!
"But, my dear sir," said he, at the conclusion of an emphaticdeclaration of sympathy, "the thing is exceedingly difficult. You areaware that Arab traders swarm upon the coast, that they are recklessmen, who possess boats and money in abundance, that the trade is veryprofitable, and that, being to some extent real traders in ivory,palm-oil, indigo, and other kinds of native produce, these men have many_ruses_ and methods--what you English call dodges--whereby they candeceive even the most sharp-sighted and energetic. The Arabs are smartsmugglers of negroes--very much as your people who live in the Scottishland are smart smugglers of the dew of the mountain--what your greatpoet Burns speaks much of--I forget its name--it is not easy to put themdown."
After dinner, Senhor Letotti led the officers into his garden, andshowed them his fruit-trees and offices, also his domestic slaves, wholooked healthy, well cared for, and really in some degree happy.
He did not, however, tell his guests that being naturally a humane man,his slaves were better treated than any other slaves in the town. Hedid not remind them that, being slaves, they were his property, hisgoods and chattels, and that he possessed the right and the power toflay them alive if so disposed. He did not explain that many in thetown _were_ so disposed; that cruelty grows and feeds upon itself; thatthere were ladies and gentlemen there who flogged their slaves--men,women, and children--nearly to the death; that one gentleman of anirascible disposition, when irritated by some slight oversight on thepart of the unfortunate boy who acted as his valet, could find no reliefto his feelings until he had welted him first into a condition ofunutterable terror, and then into a state of insensibility. Neither didhe inform them that a certain lady in the town, who seemed at most timesto be possessed of a reasonably quiet spirit, was roused once to such adegree by a female slave that she caused her to be forcibly held, thrusta boiling hot egg into her mouth, skewered her lips together with asail-needle, and then striking her cheeks, burst the egg, and let thescalding contents run down her throat. [See Consul McLeod's _Travels_,volume two page 32.]
No, nothing of all this did the amiable Governor Letotti so much as hintat. He would not for the world have shocked the sensibilities of hisguests by the recital of such cruelties. To say truth, the worthy manhimself did not like to speak or think of them. In this respect heresembled a certain class among ourselves, who, rather than submit to alittle probing of their feelings for a few minutes, would prefer to missthe chance of making an intelligently indignant protest against slavery,and would allow the bodies and souls of their fellow-men to continuewrithing in agony through all time.
It was much more gratifying to the feelings of Senhor Letotti to conveyhis guests to the drawing-room, and there gratify their palates withexcellent coffee, while the graceful, and now clothed, Azinte brought aSpanish guitar to the Senhorina Maraquita, whose sweet voice sooncharmed away all thoughts of the cruel side of slavery. But duty erelong stepped in to call the guests to other scenes.
"What a sweet girl the Senhorina is!" remarked Captain Romer, while onhis way to the beach.
"Ay, and what a pretty girl Azinte is, black though she be," observedLieutenant Small.
"Call her not black; she is brown--a brunette," said the captain.
"I wonder how _we_ should feel," said Lindsay, "if the tables wereturned, and _our_ women and children, with our stoutest young men, wereforcibly taken from us by thousands every year, and imported into Africato grind the corn and hoe the fields of the black man. Poor Azinte!"
"Do you know anything of her history?" inquired Mr Small.
"A little. I had some conversation in French with the Senhorina justbefore we left--"
"Yes, I observed that," interrupted the captain, with a quiet smile.
"And," continued Lindsay, "she told me that she had discovered, throughan interpreter, that the poor girl is married, and that her home is faraway in the interior. She was caught, with many others, while outworking in the fields one day several months ago, by a party ofslave-traders, under an Arab named Yoosoof and carried off. Her husbandwas absent at the time; her infant boy was with its grandmother in theirvillage, and she thinks may have escaped into the woods, but she has notseen any of them again since the day of her capture."
"It is a sad case," said the captain, "and yet bad though it be, itmight be far worse, for Azinte's master and mistress are very kind,which is more than can be said of most slave-owners in this region."
In a few minutes the captain's gig was alongside the "Firefly," and soonafterwards that vessel quietly put to sea. Of course it was impossiblethat she should depart unobserved, but her commander took the precautionto run due south at first, exactly opposite to the direction of his truecourse, intending to make a wide sweep out to sea, and thus getunobserved to the northward of the place where the slaver's dhow wassupposed to be lying, in time to intercept it.
Yoosoof, from a neighbouring height watched the manoeuvre, andthoroughly understood it. When the vessel had disappeared into theshades of night that brooded over the sea, he smiled calmly, and in aplacid frame of mind betook himself to his lair in the creek beside themangrove trees.
He found Harold Seadrift and Disco Lillihammer in the hut, somewhatimpatient of his prolonged absence, and a dozen of his men lookingrather suspiciously at the strangers.
"Is all ready, Moosa?" he inquired of a powerful man, half-Portuguese,half-negro in appearance, who met him outside the door of the hut.
"All ready," replied the half-caste, in a gruff tone of voice, "but whatare you going to do with these English brutes?"
"Take them with us, of course," replied Yoosoof.
"For what end?"
"For our own safety. Why, don't you see, Moosa, that if we had set themfree, they might have discovered the town and given information to thecruiser about us, which would have been awkward? We might now, indeed,set them free, for the cruiser is gone, but I still have good reason forwishing to take them with me. They think that we have but _one_ boat inthis creek, and I should like to make use of them for the purpose ofpropagating that false idea. I have had the good luck while in the townto find an opportunity of giving one of the sailors of the cruiser alittle information as to my movements--some of it true, some of itfalse--which will perhaps do us a service."
The Arab smiled slightly as he said this.
"Do these men know our trade?" asked Moosa.
"I think they suspect it," answered Yoosoof.
"And what if they be not willing to go with us?" demanded Moosa.
"Can twelve men not manage two?" asked the Arab. Dark though the nighthad become by that time, there was sufficient light to gleam on theteeth that Moosa exposed on receiving this reply.
"Now, Moosa, we must be prompt," continued Yoosoof; "let some of you getround behind the Englishmen, and have the slave-chains handy. Keep youreye on me while I talk with them; if they are refractory, a nod shall
bethe signal."
Entering the hut Yoosoof informed Harold that it was now time to setsail.
"Good, we are ready," said Harold, rising, "but tell me one thing beforemy comrade and I agree to go with you,--tell us honestly if you areengaged in the slave-trade."
A slight smile curled the Arab's thin lip as he replied--"If I be aslave-trader, I cannot speak honestly, so you Engleesh think. But I dotell you--yes, I am."
"Then, I tell _you_ honestly," said Harold, "that I won't go with you.I'll have nothing to do with slavers."
"Them's my sentiments to a tee," said Disco, with emphasis, thumping hisleft palm as usual with his right fist, by way of sheating his remarkhome--to use his own words.
"But you will both perish on this uninhabited coast," said Yoosoof.
"So be it," replied Harold; "I had rather run the risk of starving thantravel in company with slave-traders. Besides, I doubt the truth ofwhat you say. There must be several villages not very far off, if myinformation in regard to the coast be not altogether wrong."
Yoosoof waited for no more. He nodded to Moosa, who instantly threw anoose round Harold's arms, and drew it tight. The same operation wasperformed for Disco, by a stout fellow who stood behind him, and almostbefore they realised what had occurred, they were seized by a number ofmen.
It must not be supposed that two able-bodied Englishmen quietlysubmitted at once to this sort of treatment. On the contrary, astruggle ensued that shook the walls of the little hut so violently asalmost to bring it down upon the heads of the combatants. The instantthat Harold felt the rough clasp of Moosa's arms, he bent himselfforward with such force as to fling that worthy completely over hishead, and lay him flat on the floor, but two of the other slavers seizedHarold's arms, a third grasped him round the waist, and a fourth rapidlysecured the ropes that had been thrown around him. Disco's mode ofaction, although somewhat different was quite as vigorous. On beinggrasped he uttered a deep roar of surprise and rage, and, raising hisfoot, struck out therewith at a man who advanced to seize him in front.The kick not only tumbled the man over a low bench and drove his headagainst the wall, but it caused the kicker himself to recoil on his foesbehind with such force that they all fell on the floor together, when bytheir united weight the slavers managed to crush the unfortunate Disco,not, indeed, into submission, but into inaction.
His tongue, however, not being tied, continued to pour forth somewhatpowerful epithets, until Harold very strongly advised him to cease.
"If you want to retain a whole skin," he said, "you had better keep aquiet tongue."
"P'raps you're right sir," said Disco, after a moment's consideration,"but it ain't easy to shut up in the succumstances."
After they had thoroughly secured the Englishmen, the traders led themdown the bank of the creek to the spot where the dhow was moored. Inthe dark it appeared to Harold and his companion to be the same dhow,but this was not so. The boat by which they had crossed the creek hadbeen removed up the water, and its place was now occupied by the dhowinto which had been put the maimed and worn-out slaves of the band whosearrival we have described. The hold of the little vessel was very dark,nevertheless there was light enough to enable the Englishmen to guessthat the rows of black objects just perceptible within it were slaves.If they had entertained any uncertainty on this point, the odour thatsaluted them as they passed to the stern would have quickly dispelledtheir doubts.
It was evident from the manner of the slavers that they did not now feardiscovery, because they talked loudly as they pushed off and rowed away.Soon they were out of the creek, and the roar of breakers was heard.Much caution was displayed in guiding the dhow through these, for thechannel was narrow, and darkness rendered its position almostindiscernible. At last the sail was hoisted, the boat bent over to asmart breeze, and held away in a north-easterly direction. As the nightwore on this breeze became lighter, and, most of the crew being asleep,deep silence prevailed on board the slave-dhow, save that, ever andanon, a pitiful wail, as of a sick child, or a convulsive sob, issuedfrom the hold.
Harold and Disco sat beside each other in the stern, with an armedhalf-caste on each side, and Yoosoof in front. Their thoughts were busyenough at first, but neither spoke to the other. As the night advancedboth fell into an uneasy slumber.
When Harold awoke, the grey dawn was beginning to break in the east andthere was sufficient light to render objects dimly visible. At first hescarcely recollected where he was, but the pain caused by the ropes thatbound him soon refreshed his memory. Casting his eyes quickly towardsthe hold, his heart sank within him at the sight he there beheld.Yoosoof's Black Ivory was not of the best quality, but there was a gooddeal of it, which rendered judicious packing necessary. So many of hisgang had become worthless as an article of trade, through suffering onthe way down to the coast, that the boat could scarce contain them all.They were packed sitting on their haunches in rows each with his kneesclose to his chin, and all jammed so tightly together that none couldrise up or lie down. Men, women, and little children sat in thisposition with an expression of indescribable hopelessness and apathy ontheir faces. The infants, of which there were several, lay motionlesson their mothers' shrunken breasts. God help them! they were indeedutterly worthless as pieces of merchandise. The long journey and hardtreatment had worn all of them to mere skin and bone, and many weresuffering from bad sores caused by the slave-irons and the unmercifulapplication of the lash. No one knew better than Yoosoof that this washis "damaged stock"--hopelessly damaged, and he meant to make the bestuse he could of it.
The sun arose in all its splendour, and revealed more clearly to thehorrified Englishmen all the wretchedness of the hold, but for aconsiderable time they did not speak. The circumstances in which theyfound themselves seemed to have bereft them of the faculty of speech.The morning advanced, and Yoosoof with his men, took a frugal breakfast,but they did not offer any to Harold or Disco. As these unfortunateshad, however, supped heartily, they did not mind that. So much couldnot have been said for the slaves. They had received their last meal ofuncooked rice and water, a very insufficient one, about thirty-six hoursbefore, and as they watched the traders at breakfast, their glaring eyestold eloquently of their sufferings.
Had these been Yoosoof's valuable stock, his undamaged goods, he wouldhave given them a sufficiency of food to have kept them up to conditionas long as he possessed them; but being what they were, a very littledrop of water and a few grains of raw rice at noon was deemed sufficientto prevent absolute starvation.
"How can you have the heart," said Harold at last turning to Yoosoof,"to treat these poor creatures so cruelly?"
Yoosoof shrugged his shoulders.
"My fader treat them so; I follow my fader's footsteps."
"But have you no pity for them? Don't you think they have hearts andfeelings like ourselves?" returned Harold earnestly.
"No," replied the Arab coldly. "They have no feelings. Hard as thestone. They care not for mother, or child, or husband. Only brutes--cattle."
Harold was so disgusted with this reply that he relapsed into silence.
Towards the afternoon, while the dhow was running close in-shore, avessel hove in sight on the horizon. A few minutes sufficed to showthat it was a steamer. It was of course observed and closely watched bythe slave-dealers as well as by Harold Seadrift and Disco Lillihammer,who became sanguinely hopeful that it might turn out to be a Britishman-of-war. Had they known that Yoosoof was equally anxious and hopefulon that point they would have been much surprised; but the wily Arabpretended to be greatly alarmed, and when the Union Jack became clearlyvisible his excitement increased. He gave some hurried orders to hismen, who laughed sarcastically as they obeyed them.
"Yoosoof," said Harold, with a slight feeling of exultation, "your plansseem about to miscarry!"
"No, they not miscarry yet," replied the Arab, with a grim smile.
"Tell me, Yoosoof," resumed Harold, prompted by strong curiosity, "whyhave you car
ried us off bound in this fashion?"
Another smile, more grim than the former, crossed the Arab's visage ashe replied--"Me carry you off 'cause that sheep," pointing to thesteamer, "lie not two mile off, near to town of Governor Letotti, when Ifirst met you. We not want you to let thems know 'bout us, so I carryyou off, and I bind you 'cause you strong."
"Ha! that's plain and reasonable," returned Harold, scarce able torestrain a laugh at the man's cool impudence. "But it would appear thatsome one else has carried the news; so, you see, you have been outwittedafter all."
"Perhaps. We shall see," replied the Arab, with something approachingto a chuckle.
Altering the course of the boat, Yoosoof now ran her somewhat off theshore, as if with a view to get round a headland that lay to thenorthward. This evidently drew the attention of the steamer--which wasnone other than the "Firefly"--for she at once altered her course andran in-shore, so as to intercept the dhow. Seeing this, Yoosoof turnedback and made for the land at a place where there was a long line ofbreakers close to the shore. To run amongst these seemed to beequivalent to running on certain destruction, nevertheless the Arab heldon, with compressed lips and a frowning brow. Yoosoof looked quite likea man who would rather throw away his life than gratify his enemy, andthe Englishmen, who were fully alive to their danger, began to feelrather uneasy--which was a very pardonable sensation, when it isremembered that their arms being fast bound, rendered them utterlyunable to help themselves in case of the boat capsizing.
The "Firefly" was by this time near enough to hold converse with thedhow through the medium of artillery. Soon a puff of white smoke burstfrom her bow, and a round-shot dropped a few yards astern of the boat.
"That's a broad hint, my lad, so you'd better give in," saidLillihammer, scarce able to suppress a look of triumph.
Yoosoof paid not the slightest attention to the remark, but held on hiscourse.
"Surely you don't intend to risk the lives of these poor creatures insuch a surf?" said Harold anxiously; "weak and worn as they are, theirdoom is sealed if we capsize."
Still the Arab paid no attention, but continued to gaze steadily at thebreakers.
Harold, turning his eyes in the same direction, observed something likea narrow channel running through them. He was enough of a seaman tounderstand that only one who was skilled in such navigation could passin safety.
"They're lowering a boat," said Disco, whose attention was engrossed bythe manoeuvres of the "Firefly."
Soon the boat left the side of the vessel, which was compelled to checkher speed for fear of running on the reef. Another gun was fired as shecame round, and the shot dropped right in front of the dhow, sending acolumn of water high into the air. Still Yoosoof held on until close tothe breakers, when, to the surprise of the Englishmen, he suddenly threwthe boat's head into the wind.
"You can steer," he said sternly to Disco. "Come, take the helm an' goto your ship; or, if you choose, go on the breakers."
He laughed fiercely as he said this, and next moment plunged into thesea, followed by his crew.
Disco, speechless with amazement, rose up and sprang to the helm. Ofcourse he could not use his bound hands, but one of his legs answeredalmost as well. He allowed the boat to come round until the sail filledon the other tack, and then looking back, saw the heads of the Arabs asthey swam through the channel and made for the shore. In a few minutesthey gained it, and, after uttering a shout of defiance, ran up into thebushes and disappeared.
Meanwhile the "Firefly's" boat made straight for the dhow, and was soonnear enough to hail.
"Heave-to," cried an interpreter in Arabic.
"Speak your own mother tongue and I'll answer ye," replied Disco.
"Heave-to, or I'll sink you," shouted Mr Small, who was in charge.
"I'm just agoin' to do it, sir," replied Disco, running the dhow intothe wind until the sail shook.
Another moment and the boat was alongside. "Jump aboard and handle thesail, lads; I can't help 'ee no further," said Disco.
The invitation was unnecessary. The moment the two boats touched, theblue-jackets swarmed on board, cutlass in hand, and took possession.
"Why, what!--where did _you_ come from?" asked the lieutenant, lookingin profound astonishment at Harold and his companion.
"We are Englishmen, as you see," replied Harold, unable to restrain asmile; "we have been wrecked and caught by the villains who have justescaped you."
"I see--well, no time for talking just now; cut them loose, Jackson.Make fast the sheet--now then."
In a few minutes the dhow ranged up alongside the "Firefly," and ourheroes, with the poor slaves, were quickly transferred to theman-of-war's deck, where Harold told his tale to Captain Romer.
As we have already stated, there were a number of slaves on board the"Firefly," which had been rescued from various Arab dhows. The gang nowreceived on board made their numbers so great that it became absolutelynecessary to run to the nearest port to discharge them.
We have already remarked on the necessity that lies on our cruisers,when overladen with rescued slaves, to run to a distant port ofdischarge to land them; and on the readiness of the slave-traders totake advantage of their opportunity, and run north with full cargoeswith impunity when some of the cruisers are absent; for it is notpossible for a small fleet to guard upwards of a thousand miles of coasteffectually, or even, in any degree, usefully. If we possessed a portof discharge--a British station and settlement--on the mainland of theeast coast of Africa, this difficulty would not exist. As it is,although we place several men-of-war on a station, the evil will not becured, for just in proportion as these are successful in makingcaptures, will arise the necessity of their leaving the station forweeks at a time unguarded.
Thus it fell out on the occasion of which we write. The presence of thelarge slave-freight on board the man-of-war was intolerable. CaptainRomer was compelled to hurry off to the Seychelles Islands. He sailedwith the monsoon, but had to steam back against it. During this periodanother vessel, similarly freighted, had to run to discharge at Aden.The seas were thus comparatively clear of cruisers. The Arabs seizedtheir opportunity, and a stream of dhows and larger vessels swept outfrom the various creeks and ports all along the East African coast,filled to overflowing with slaves.
Among these were the four large dhows of our friend Yoosoof. Having, aswe have seen, made a slight sacrifice of damaged and unsaleable goodsand chattels, in order to clear the way, he proceeded north, touching atvarious ports where he filled up his living cargo, and finally got clearoff, not with goods damaged beyond repair, but with thousands of thesons and daughters of Africa in their youthful prime.
In the interior each man cost him about four yards of cotton cloth,worth a few pence; each woman three yards, and each child two yards, andof course in cases where he stole them, they cost him nothing. On thecoast these would sell at from 8 pounds to 12 pounds each, and in Arabiaat from 20 pounds to 40 pounds.
We mention this to show what strong inducement there was for Yoosoof torun a good deal of risk in carrying on this profitable and accursedtraffic.
But you must not fancy, good reader, that what we have described isgiven as a specimen of the _extent_ to which the slave-trade on thatcoast is carried. It is but as a specimen of the _manner_ thereof. Itis certainly within the mark to say that at least thirty thousandnatives are annually carried away as slaves from the east coast ofAfrica.
Sir Bartle Frere, in addressing a meeting of the chief nativeinhabitants of Bombay in April 1873, said,--"Let me assure you, inconclusion, that what you have heard of the horrors of the slave-tradeis in no way exaggerated. We have seen so much of the horrors whichwere going on that we can have no doubt that what you read in books,which are so often spoken of as containing exaggerations, is exaggeratedin no respect. The evil is much greater than anything you can conceive.Among the poorer class of Africans there is nothing like security fromfathers and mothers being put to death in order that t
heir children maybe captured;"--and, referring to the _east coast alone_, he saysthat--"thirty thousand, or more, human beings, are exported every yearfrom Africa."
Dr Livingstone tells us that, on the average, about one out of everyfive captured human beings reaches the coast alive. The other fourperish or are murdered on the way, so that the thirty thousand annuallyexported, as stated by Sir Bartle Frere, represents a loss of 150,000human beings _annually_ from the east coast alone, altogetherirrespective of the enormous and constant flow of slaves to the north byway of the White Nile and Egypt.
Yoosoof's venture was therefore but a drop in the vast river of bloodwhich is drained annually from poor Africa's veins--blood which flows atthe present time as copiously and constantly as it ever did in the daysof old--blood which cries aloud to God for vengeance, and for the flowof which _we_, as a nation, are far from blameless.