Captain Canot; Or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver
continued while the sister of Ahmah was under my roof, her blood must
be respected, and she should be treated in every respect as a royal
person.
I was quite as curious as the reader may be to know the crime of
Beeljie, for, up to that moment, I had not been informed of it.
Dismissing the Fullah as speedily as possible, I hastened to
Ali-Ninpha's dwelling and heard the sufferer's story.
The Mahometan princess, whose age surely did not exceed eighteen, had
been promised by the king and her half-brother, Sulimani, to an old
relative, who was not only accused of cruelty to his harem's inmates,
but was charged by Mussulmen with the heinous crime of eating "unclean
flesh." The girl, who seemed to be a person of masculine courage and
determination, resisted this disposal of her person; but, while her
brother Ahmah was away, she was forced from her mother's arms and
given to the filthy dotard.
It is commonly supposed that women are doomed to the basest obedience
in oriental lands; yet, it seems there is a Mahometan law,--or, at
least, a Fullah custom,--which saves the purity of an unwilling bride.
The delivery of Beeljie to her brutal lord kindled the fire of an
ardent temper. She furnished the old gentleman with specimens of
violence to which his harem had been a stranger, save when the master
himself chose to indulge in wrath. In fact, the Fullah damsel--half
acting, half in reality--played the virago so finely, that her
husband, after exhausting arguments, promises and supplications, sent
her back to her kindred _with an insulting message_.
It was a sad day when she returned to the paternal roof in Timbo. Her
resistance was regarded by the dropsical despot as rebellious
disobedience to father and brother; and, as neither authority nor love
would induce the outlaw to repent, her barbarous parent condemned her
to be "_a slave to Christians_."
Her story ended, I consoled the poor maiden with every assurance of
protection and comfort; for, now that the excitement of sale and
journey was over, her nerves gave way, and she sank on her mat,
completely exhausted. I commended her to the safeguard of my landlord
and the especial kindness of his women. Esther, too, stole up at night
to comfort the sufferer with her fondling tenderness, for she could
not speak the Fullah language;--and in a week, I had the damsel in
capital condition ready for a daring enterprise that was to seal her
fate.
When the Spanish slaver, whose cargo I had just completed, was ready
for sea, I begged her captain to aid me in the shipment of "_a
princess_" who had been consigned to my wardship by her royal
relations in the interior, but whom I dared not put on board his
vessel _until she was beyond the Rio Pongo's bar_. The officer
assented; and when the last boat-load of slaves was despatched from my
_barracoon_, he lifted his anchor and floated down the stream till he
got beyond the furthest breakers. Here, with sails loosely furled, and
every thing ready for instant departure, he again laid to, awaiting
the royal _bonne-bouche_.
In the mean time, I hurried Beeljie with her friends and Fullah jailer
to the beach, so that when the slaver threw his sails aback and
brought his vessel to the wind, I lost not a moment in putting the
girl in a canoe, with five Kroomen to carry her through the boiling
surf.
"Allah be praised!" sighed the Fullah, as the boat shot ahead into the
sea; while the girls of the harem fell on the sand with wails of
sorrow. The Kroomen, with their usual skill, drove the buoyant skiff
swiftly towards the slaver; but, as they approached the breakers south
of the bar, a heavy roller struck it on the side, and instantly, its
freight was struggling in the surge.
In a twinkling, the Fullah was on the earth, his face buried in the
sand; the girls screamed and tore their garments; Ali-Ninpha's wife
clung to me with the grasp of despair; while I, stamping with rage,
cursed the barbarity of the maiden's parent, whose sentence had
brought her to this wretched fate.
I kicked the howling hypocrite beneath me, and bade him hasten with
the news to Timbo, and tell the wicked patriarch that the Prophet
himself had destroyed the life of his wretched child, sooner than
suffer her to become a Christian's slave.
The Spanish vessel was under full sail, sweeping rapidly out to sea,
and the Kroomen swam ashore without their boat, as the grieving group
slowly and sadly retraced their way along the river's bank to Kambia.
There was wailing that night in the village, and there was wailing in
Timbo when the Fullah returned with the tragic story. In fact, such
was the distracted excitement both on the sea-shore and in the
settlement, that none of my companions had eyes to observe an episode
of the drama which had been played that evening without rehearsal.
Every body who has been on the coast of Africa, or read of its people,
knows that Kroomen are altogether unaware of any difference between a
smooth river and the angriest wave. They would as willingly be upset
in the surf as stumble against a rock. I took advantage of this
amphibious nature, to station a light canoe immediately on the edge of
the breakers, and to order the daring swimmers it contained to grasp
the girl the moment her canoe was _purposely upset_! I promised the
divers a liberal reward if they lodged her in their boat, or swam with
her to the nearest point of the opposite beach; and so well did they
perform their secret task, that when they drew ashore her fainting
body, it was promptly received by a trusty Bager, who was in waiting
on the beach. Before the girl recovered her senses she was safely
afloat in the fisherman's canoe. His home was in a village on the
coast below; and, perhaps, it still remains a secret to this day, how
it was that, _for years after, a girl, the image of the lost Beeljie,
followed the footsteps of Ahmah, the Fullah of Timbo_!
CHAPTER XXVI.
After my toilsome journey to the interior, my despatch of a slaver,
and my adventurous enterprise in behalf of a Fullah princess, I
thought myself entitled to a long _siesta_; but my comfortable desires
and anticipations were doomed to disappointment. I was suddenly
stirred from this willing lethargy by a salute of twenty-one guns in
the offing. Our wonder was almost insupportable as to the character of
the ceremonious stranger who wasted powder so profusely, while a boy
was despatched to the top of the look-out tree to ascertain his
character. He reported a schooner anchored opposite Bangalang,
sporting a long pendant at the main, and a white ensign at her peak. I
took it for granted that no man-of-war would _salute_ a native chief,
and so concluded that it was some pretentious Frenchman, unacquainted
with the prudent customs of our demure coast.
The conjecture was right. At nightfall Mr. Ormond--whose humor had
somewhat improved since my return--apprised me that a Gallic slaver
had arrived to his consignment with a rich cargo, and hoped I would
join him at breakfast on board, by invitation of the commander.
Next morning, at sunrise, the Mongo and myself met for the first time
after our rupture with apparent cordiality on the deck of "La
Perouse," where we were welcomed with all that cordiality of grimace
for which a half-bred Frenchman is so justly celebrated. Captain
Brulot could not speak English, nor could Mr. Ormond express himself
in French; so we wasted the time till breakfast was served in
discussing his cargo and prospects, through my interpretation. Fine
samples of gaudy calicoes, French guns, and superior brandy, were
exhibited and dwelt on with characteristic eloquence; but the Gaul
closed his bewitching catalogue with a shout of joy that made the
cabin ring, as he announced the complement of his cargo to be _five
hundred doubloons_. The scent of gold has a peculiar charm to African
slavers, and it will readily be supposed that our appetite for the
promised _dejeuner_ was not a little stimulated by the Spanish coin.
As rapidly as we could, we summed up the doubloons and his
merchandise; and, estimating the entire cargo at about $17,000,
offered him three hundred and fifty negroes for the lot. The bid was
no sooner made than accepted. Our private boats were sent ashore in
search of canoes to discharge the goods, and, with a relish and spirit
I never saw surpassed, we sat down to a piquant breakfast, spread on
deck beneath the awning.
I will not attempt to remember the dishes which provoked our appetites
and teased our thirst. We were happy already on the delightful claret
that washed down the viands; but, after the substantials were gone,
coffee was served, and succeeded by half a dozen various cordials, the
whole being appropriately capped by the foam of champagne.
When the last bumper was quaffed in honor of "La Perouse" and "belle
France," Captain Brulot called for his writing-desk; when, at the
instant, four men sprung up as if by enchantment behind the Mongo and
myself, and grasping our arms with the gripe of a vice, held us in
their clutches till the carpenter riveted a shackle on our feet.
The scene passed so rapidly,--the transition from gayety to outrage
was so sharp and violent, that my bewildered mind cannot now declare
with certainty, whether mirth or anger prevailed at the clap-trap
trick of this dramatic _denouement_. I am quite sure, however, that if
I laughed at first, I very soon swore; for I have a distinct
recollection of dashing my fist in the poltroon's face before he could
extemporize an explanation.
When our limbs were perfectly secure, the French scoundrel
recommenced his shrugs, bows, grins and congees; and approaching Mr.
Ormond with a sarcastic simper, apprised him that the _petite comedie_
in which he took part, had been enacted for the collection of a
trifling debt which his excellency the Mongo owed a beloved brother,
who, alas! was no longer on earth to collect it for himself!
_Monsieur le Mongo_, he said, would have the kindness to remember
that, several years ago, his brother had left some _two hundred
slaves_ in his hands until called for; and he would also please to
take the trouble to recollect, that the said slaves had been twice
sent for, and twice refused. _Monsieur le Mongo_ must know, he
continued, that there was not much law on the coast of Africa; and
that, as he had Monsieur le Mongo's promissory note, or due-bill, for
the negroes, he thought this charming little _ruse_ would be the most
amiable and practical mode of enforcing it! Did his friend, _le
Mongo_, intend to honor this draft? It was properly endorsed, he would
see, in favor of the bearer; and if the _esclaves_ were quickly
forthcoming, the whole affair would pass off as agreeably and quickly
as the bubbles from a champagne glass.
By this time Ormond was so perfectly stupefied by drink, as well as
the atrocity, that he simply burst into a maudlin laugh, when I looked
at him for an explanation of the charge. _I_, surely, was not
implicated in it; yet, when I demanded the cause of the assault upon
_my_ person, in connection with the affair, Brulot replied, with a
shrug, that as I was Ormond's clerk when the note was signed, I _must_
have had a finger in the pie; and, inasmuch as I now possessed a
factory of my own, it would doubtless be delightful to aid my ancient
patron in the liquidation of a debt that I knew to be lawful.
It was altogether useless to deny my presence in the factory, or
knowledge of the transaction, which, in truth, had occurred long
before my arrival on the Rio Pongo, during the clerkship of my
predecessor. Still, I insisted on immediate release. An hour flew by
in useless parley. But the Frenchman was firm, and swore that nothing