CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
IN WHICH A HAPPY CHANGE FOR THE BETTER IS DISASTROUSLY INTERRUPTED.
One very sultry forenoon Mark and his party--while out botanising,entomologising, philosophising, etcetera, not far from but out of sightof the great procession--came to the brow of a hill and sat down torest.
Their appearance had become somewhat curious and brigand-like by thattime, for their original garments having been worn-out were partiallyreplaced by means of the scissors and needle of John Hockins--at leastin the trousers department. That worthy seaman having, during histravels, torn his original trousers to shreds from the knee downwards,had procured some stout canvas in the capital and made for himselfanother pair. He was, like most sailors, expert at tailoring, and theresult was so good that Mark and Ebony became envious. The seaman wasobliging. He set to work and made a pair of nether garments for both.Mark wore his pair stuffed into the legs of a pair of Wellington bootsprocured from a trader. Ebony preferred to cut his off short, justbelow the knee, thus exposing to view those black boots supplied tonegroes by Nature, which have the advantage of never wearing out.Hockins himself stuck to his navy shirt, but the others found stripedcotton shirts sufficient. A native straw hat on Mark's head and a silkscarf round his waist, with a cavalry pistol in it, enhanced thebrigand-like aspect of his costume.
This pistol was their only fire-arm, the gun having been broken beyondrepair, but each carried a spear in one hand, a gauze butterfly-net inthe other, and a basket, in lieu of a specimen-box, on his shoulder.Even the Secretary, entering into the spirit of the thing; carried a netand pursued the butterflies with the ardour of a boy.
"Oh! massa," exclaimed Ebony, wiping the perspiration from his foreheadwith a bunch of grass, "I _do_ lub science!"
"Indeed, why so?" asked Mark, sitting down on a bank opposite hisfriend.
"Why, don't you see, massa, it's not comfortabil for a man what's gotany feelin's to go troo de land huntin' an' killin' cattle an' oderbrutes for _noting_. You can't eat more nor one hox--p'r'aps not dat.So w'en you've kill 'im an' eaten so much as you can, dar's no more fun,for what fun is dere in slaughterin' hoxes for _noting_? Den, if yougoes arter bees an' butterflies on'y for fun, w'y you git shamed obyourself. On'y a chile do dat. But science, dat put 'im all right!Away you goes arter de bees and butterflies an' tings like mad--ober dehills an' far away--troo de woods, across de ribbers--sometimes into'em!--crashin' an' smashin' like de bull in de china-shop, wid de proudfeelin' bustin' your buzzum dat you're advancin' de noble cause obscience--dat's what you call 'im, `noble?'--yes. Well, den you comehome done up, so pleasant like, an' sot down an' fix de critters up widpins an' gum an' sitch-like, and arter dat you show 'em to your larnedfriends an' call 'em awrful hard names, (sometimes dey seem like _bad_names!) an'--oh! I _do_ lub science! It's wot I once heard a captin oba ribber steamer in de States call a safety-balve wot lets off a deal o''uman energy. He was a-sottin on his own safety-balve at de time, so heought to have know'd suffin about it."
"I say, Ebony," asked Hockins, "where did you pick up so much larnin'about science--eh?"
"I pick 'im in Texas--was 'sistant to a German nat'ralist dar for twoyear. Stuck to 'im like a limpit till he a-most busted hisself bytumblin' into a swamp, smashin' his spectacles, an' ketchin' fever, w'enhe found hisself obleeged to go home to recroot--he called it--thoughwhat dat was I nebber rightly understood, unless it was drinkin' brandyan' water; for I noticed that w'en he said he needed to recroot, heallers had a good stiff pull at de brandy bottle."
Ebony's discourse was here cut short by the sudden appearance of anenormous butterfly, which the excitable negro dashed after at abreakneck pace in the interests of science. The last glimpse they hadof him, as he disappeared among the trees, was in a somewhat peculiarattitude, with his head down and his feet in the air!
"That's a sign he has missed him," remarked Hockins, beginning to fillhis pipe--the tobacco, not the musical, one! "I've always observed thatwhen Ebony becomes desperate, and knows he can't git hold of the thinghe's arter, he makes a reckless plunge, with a horrible yell, goes rightdown by the head, and disappears like a harpooned whale."
"True, but have you not also observed," said Mark, "that like the whalehe's sure to come to the surface again--sooner or later--and generallywith the object of pursuit in possession?"
"I b'lieve you're right, doctor," said the seaman, emitting a prolongedpuff of smoke.
"Does he always go mad like that?" asked the Secretary, who was muchamused.
"Usually," replied Mark, "but he is generally madder than that. He's incomparatively low spirits to-day. Perhaps it is the heat that affectshim. Whew! how hot it is! I think I shall take a bath in the firstpool we come to."
"That would only make you hotter, sir," said Hockins. "I've often triedit. At first, no doubt, when you gits into the water it cools you, butarter you come out you git hotter than before. A _hot_ bath is thething to cool you comfortably."
"But we can't get a hot bath here," returned Mark.
"You are wrong," said the Secretary, "we have many natural hot springsin our land. There is one not far from here."
"How far?" asked Mark with some interest.
"About two rice-cookings off."
To dispel the reader's perplexity, we may explain at once that inMadagascar they measure distances by the time occupied in cooking a potof rice. As that operation occupies about half-an-hour, the Secretarymeant that the hot spring was distant about two half-hours--that is,between three and four miles off.
"Let's go an' git into it at once," suggested Hockins.
"Better wait for Ebony," said Mark. Then--to the Secretary--"Yours is avery interesting and wonderful country!"
"It is, and I wonder not that European nations wish to get possession ofit--but that shall _never_ be."
Mark replied, "I hope not," and regarded his friend with some surprise,for he had spoken with emphasis, and evidently strong feeling. "Haveyou fear that any of the nations wish to have your country?"
"Yes, we have fear," returned the Secretary, with an unwontedly sternlook. "They have tried it before; perhaps they will try it again. Butthey will fail. Has not God given us the land? Has not He moved thehearts of Engleesh men to send to us the Bible? Has not his Holy Spiritinclined our hearts to receive that Word? Yes--it has come. It isplanted. It _must_ grow. The European nations cannot hinder it.Ranavalona cannot stamp it out. False friends and open foes cannotcrush it. The Word of God will civilise us. We will rise among thenations of the earth when the love of Jesus spreads among us--for thatlove cures every evil. It inclines as well as teaches us to deny selfand do good. It is not possible for man to reach a higher point thanthat! Deny self! Do good! We are slow to learn, but it is _sure_ tocome at last, for is it not written that `the knowledge of the Lordshall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea'?"
"I believe you are right," said Mark, much impressed with this outburstand the earnest enthusiasm of his friend's manner. "And," he continued,"you have a noble country to work on--full of earth's riches."
"You say noting but the truth," answered the Secretary in a gratifiedtone. "Is not our island as big--or more big--as yours--nearly the sameas France? And look around! We have thousands of cattle, tame andwild, with which even now we send large supplies to foreign markets, andfowls innumerable, both wild and tame. Our soil is rich and prolific.Are not our vegetables and fruits innumerable and abundant? Do notimmense forests traverse our island in all directions, full of treesthat are of value to man--trees fit for building his houses and shipsand for making his beautiful furniture, as well as those that supplycocoa-nuts, and figs, and fruits, and gums, and dyes? And have we notthe silkworm in plenty, and cotton-plants, and sugar-cane, and manyspices, and the great food-supply of our people--rice, besides mineralswhich make nations rich, such as iron and gold? Yes, we have everythingthat is desirable and good for man. But we have a climate which doesnot suit the white man.
Yet _some_ white men, like yourself, manage tolive here. Is not this a voice, from God? He does not speak to us withthe tongue of man, but He speaks with a still, small voice, as easy tounderstand. He has surrounded our island with unhealthy shores. Doesnot that tell the white man not to come here? Your London MissionarySociety sent us the Bible. God bless them for that! They have donewell. But they have done enough. We desire not the interference ofEngland or France in our affairs. We do not want your divisions, yoursects. We have the Word. God will do the rest. We want no whitenations to _protect_ us. We want to be let alone to protect and developourselves, with the Bible for our guide and the Holy Spirit as ourteacher. You Englishmen were savages once, and the Word of God came andraised you. You only continue to be great because the Bible keeps youstill in the right path. What it has done for you it will do for us.All we ask for is to be let alone!"
The Secretary had become quite excited on this theme, and there is nosaying how much longer he might have gone on if Ebony had not returned,scratched, bruised, bleeding, panting and perspiring, but jubilant, withan enormous butterfly captive in his net, and the cause of scienceadvanced.
Having secured the specimen, they set off at once to visit the hotsprings, after pricking a traveller's tree with a spear and obtaining arefreshing draught of cool clear water therefrom.
Fountains of mineral waters have been found in many, parts ofMadagascar, and among them several which are called Rano-mafana, or"warm waters." These vary both in temperature and medicinal properties.The spot when reached was found to be a small cavity in the rocks whichwas delightfully shaded by the leaves of the wild fig, and by a numberof interwoven and overhanging bamboos. The branches of the fig-treesspread directly across the stream.
Hastening to the fountain, Hockins thrust his hand in, but quicklypulled it out again, for the water was only a few degrees below theboiling-point.
"Too hot to bathe in!" he said.
"But not too hot _here_," remarked Ebony, going to a pool a littlefurther from the fountain-head, where the water had cooled somewhat.There the negro dropped his simple garments, and was soon rolling like ablack porpoise in his warm bath. It was only large enough for one, butclose to it was another small pool big enough for several men. ThereMark and Hockins were soon disporting joyously, while the Secretarylooked on and laughed. Evidently he did not in the circumstances deemwarm water either a necessity or a luxury.
That evening, after returning to camp, Mark was summoned to lay theresult of his labours before the Queen, who was much interested in hiscollection of plants, and not a little amused with his collection ofinsects; for she could understand the use of the medicines which herCourt Physician assured her could be extracted from the former, butcould see no sense whatever in collecting winged and creeping things,merely to be stuck on pins and looked at and saddled withincomprehensible names! She did indeed except the gorgeous butterflies,and similar creatures, because these were pretty; but on the whole shefelt disposed to regard her physician as rather childish in thatparticular taste.
Very different was her opinion of John Hockins. So fond was she of theflageolet of that musical and stalwart tar that she sent for him almostevery evening and made him pipe away to her until he almost fell asleepat his duty, so that at last he began to wish that flageolets had neverbeen invented.
"It's nothin' but blow, blow, blow, day arter day," he growled as hereturned to his tent one night and flung down the little instrument indisgust. "I wish it had bin blow'd up the time your big Roman candlebusted, doctor."
"If it had been, your influence with the Queen would have been gone,John."
"Well, I dun-know, sir. Many a queer gale I've come through in timepast, but this blow beats 'em all to sticks an' whistles."
"Nebber mind, 'Ockins," remarked Ebony, who was busy preparing supper atthe time, "we's habbin good times ob it just now. Plenty fun an' lotsob science! Come--go at your wittles. We've hard work besides funbefore us demorrow."
Ebony was a true prophet in regard to the hard work, but not as to thefun, of the morrow; for it so happened that two events occurred whichthrew a dark cloud over the expedition, for some, at least, in the royalprocession, and induced the Queen to return to the capital sooner thanshe had intended.
The first of these events was the discovery of a party of sixteenfugitives who were of suspicious character and unable to give account ofthemselves.
They had been discovered by the Queen's spies hidden in a rice-house.When brought before the officer who examined them, they were at firstsilent; when pressed, they spoke a little, but nothing of importancecould be gathered from them. At last they seemed to make up their mindsto acknowledge who they were, for one of them stood forth boldly andsaid--
"Since you ask us again and again, we will tell you. We are not robbersor murderers. We are praying people. If this makes us guilty in thekingdom of the Queen, then, whatsoever she does, we must submit tosuffer. We are ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus."
"Is this, then," asked the officer, "your final answer, whether for lifeor death?"
"It is our final answer, whether for life or for death."
When this was reported to the Queen, all her anger was stirred up again.She ordered the captives to be chained and sent off at once toAntananarivo. Two of the band managed to escape that night, but theother fourteen were safely lodged in prison.
The countenance of Ranavalona was now changed. She took no pleasure inMark's collections, and sent no more for the musical seaman. To makematters worse, there came in, on the following day, a report that someof her soldiers had captured a large band of fugitives in a distant partof the country, and were then marching them in chains to the capital.As this band was at the time approaching, the Queen gave orders to halton an eminence that overlooked the path along which they had to travel,that she might see them.
It was about noon when they drew near-worn, weary, and footsore. TheQueen was so placed among the bushes that she could see the captiveswithout being herself seen. Her chief officers stood near her. Markand his companions had taken up a position much nearer to the forestpath.
First came a band of weary little ones, driven onwards like a flock ofsheep, and apparently too much terrified by what they had undergone tomake much noise, although most of them were weeping. Next came a groupof women. These, like the children, were not bound, but the men, whowalked in rear, were chained together--two and two. Soldiers guardedthem on every side.
"It is profoundly sad!" said Mark, in a deep sorrowful tone. "God helpthem!"
"Massa," whispered Ebony, "look dar! Sure I knows some ob--"
He stopped and opened wide his eyes, for at that moment he recognisedRafaravavy and Ramatoa among the women. With something like a groan,Hockins turned a glance on his comrades and pointed to the men. Theyrequired no second glance to enlighten them, for there they plainly sawRavonino heavily ironed by the neck to Laihova, and Razafil, the poet,chained to the chief, Voalavo. Many others whom they did not know werealso there. These all trudged along with bowed heads and eyes on theground, like men who, having gone through terrible mental and physicalagony, have either become callous or resigned to their fate.
As the Queen had given orders to her people to keep quiet and out ofsight, the poor captives knew nothing of the host that gazed at them.Mark and his friends were so horrified that all power to move or speakfailed them for a time. As for Ranavalona, she sat in rigid silence,like a bronze statue, with compressed lips and frowning brows, untilthey had passed. Then she gave orders to encamp where they stood, andretired in silence to her tent.