The Pacha of Many Tales
Page 13
VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER SIX.
THE LAST VOYAGE OF HUCKABACK.
Your highness will be surprised at the unheard-of adventures thatoccurred to me in my last voyage, and I think I can boldly assert thatno man, either before or since, has explored so much, or has been in thepeculiarly dangerous situations in which I have been placed by destiny.
Notwithstanding the danger which I incurred from my former expedition tothe Northern Ocean, I was persuaded to take the command of a whalerabout to proceed to those latitudes: we sailed from Marseilles early inthe year that we might arrive at the northward in good time, and be ableto quit the Frozen Ocean before the winter had set in. We were veryfortunate on our arrival at Baffin's Bay, and very soon had eighteenfish on board. The autumn was hardly commenced before I proposed toreturn, and we were steering in a southerly direction, when weencountered two or three large icebergs, upon the edges of which thewalruses or sea-horses were lying in herds. As we had some casks stillempty, I determined to fill them with the oil to be obtained from theseanimals, and hoisted out my boats to attack them. We killed a largenumber, which we sent on board, and continued our fishery with greatsuccess, having only lost one boat, the bottom plank of which had beenbitten out by the tusks of one of these unwieldy animals. Of a suddenthe wind changed to the southward, and the small icebergs which werethen to windward rapidly closed with the large one upon which we werefishing. The harpooners observed it, and recommended me to return tothe ship, but I was so amused with the sport that I did not heed theiradvice. A sea-horse was lying in a small cave accidentally formed onthe upright edge of the iceberg, and wishing to attack him, I directedmy boat to pull towards it. At this time there was not more than twentyyards of water between the two icebergs, and a sudden squall coming on,they closed with great rapidity. The men in the other boats immediatelypulled away, and, as I afterwards learnt, when I arrived at Marseilles,they escaped, and returned home in the ship; but those in mine, who wereintent upon watching me, as I stood in the bow of the boat with theharpoon to strike the animal, did not perceive the danger until thestern of the boat was touched by the other iceberg. The two now comingwithin the attraction of cohesion of floating bodies, were dashed likelightning one against the other, jamming the men, as well as the boat,into atoms.
Being in the bow of the boat, and hearing the crash, I had just time, ina moment of desperation, to throw myself into the cave upon the back ofthe sea-horse, when the two enormous bodies of ice came in contact--thenoise I have no doubt was tremendous, but I did not hear it, as I wasimmediately enclosed in the ice. Although at first there wereinterstices, yet, as the southerly gale blew the icebergs before it intothe northern region, all was quickly cemented together by the frost, andI found myself pent up in an apartment not eight feet square, in companywith a sea-horse.
I shall not detain your highness by describing my sensations: my ideaswere, that I was to exist a certain time, and then die for want of freshair; but they were incorrect. At first, indeed, the cave wasintolerably hot from the accumulation of breath, and I thought I shouldsoon be suffocated. I recollected all my past sins, I implored formercy, and lay down to die; but I found that the ice melted away withthe heat, and that, in so doing, a considerable portion of the air wasliberated, so that in a few minutes my respiration became more free.The animal in the meantime, apparently frightened at his unusualsituation, was perfectly quiet; and, as the slightest straw will becaught at by the drowning man, so did the idea of my preservation comeinto my head. I considered how much air so enormous an animal mustconsume, and determined upon despatching him, that I might have more formy own immediate wants. I took out my knife, and inserting it betweenthe vertebral bones that joined his head to his neck, divided the spinalmarrow, and he immediately expired.
When I found that he was quite dead, I crawled from his shoulders, andtook up a more convenient berth in that part of the cave which wasbefore his head, to which I had been afraid to venture while the animalwas alive, lest he should attack me with his enormous tusks. The airsoon became more pure, and I breathed freely. Your highness may besurprised at the assertion; but, whether I obtained air from the iceitself, or whether the ice was sufficiently porous to admit of it, Iknow not; but from that time I had no difficulty of respiration. In ourcountry we have had instances of women and children, who have beenburied in the snow for two months, and yet have been taken out alive,and have recovered, although they had little or no nourishment duringtheir inhumation. I recollected this, and aware that the carcase of theanimal would supply me for years, I began to indulge a hope that I mightyet be saved, if driven sufficiently to the southward to admit of mybeing thawed out. I was convinced that the ice about me could not bemore than six or eight feet thick, as I had sufficient light todistinguish the day from the night. Afterwards my eye-sight became somuch more acute, that I could see very well to every corner of the cavein which I was embedded.
During the first month the calls of hunger obliged me to make frequentattacks upon the carcase of the sea-horse; after that, my appetitedecreased, until at length I would not touch a mouthful of food in aweek,--I presume from the want of fresh air and exercise, neither ofwhich I could be said to enjoy. I had been about two months in thishole, when a violent shock like that of an earthquake took place, and Ifell from the top of the cave to the bottom, and for a minute wasknocked about like a pea in a rattle. I had almost lost my sensesbefore it was over, and I found myself lying upon what was before thetop of the cave. From these circumstances I inferred that the icebergin which I was inclosed had come in contact with another, and that I hadbeen broken off from it, and was floating on the sea with other pieces,which, when collected in large quantities, are termed a floe of ice.Whether my situation was changed for the better I knew not, but thechange inspired me with fresh hopes. I now calculated that five monthshad elapsed, and that it was the depth of winter, therefore I had nochance of being released until the ensuing spring.
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"Allah wakbar, God is every where!" interrupted the pacha. "But I wishto know, Huckaback, how you were so exactly aware of the time which hadpassed away."
"Min bashi, and head of thousands!" replied Huckaback, "I will explainto your highness. I once jammed my nail at the bottom, and I expectedto lose it. It did not however come off but grew up as before, and Ihad the curiosity to know how often people changed their nails in thecourse of a year. It was exactly two months, and from this I groundedmy calculations. I observed specks on my nails, and as they grew up, sodid I calculate time."
"Mashallah, how wonderful is God! Wallah thaib! Well said, by Allah!I never should have thought of that," observed the pacha. "Proceed withyour story."
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The five months had elapsed, according to my calculations, when onemorning I heard a grating noise close to me; soon afterwards I perceivedthe teeth of a saw entering my domicile, and I correctly judged thatsome ship was cutting her way through the ice. Although I could notmake myself heard, I waited in anxious expectation of deliverance. Thesaw approached very near to where I was sitting, and I was afraid that Ishould be wounded, if not cut in halves; but just as it was within twoinches of my nose, it was withdrawn. The fact was, that I was under themain floe, which had been frozen together, and the firm ice above havingbeen removed and pushed away, I rose to the surface. A current of freshair immediately poured into the small incision made by the saw, whichnot only took away my breath from its sharpness, but brought on aspitting of blood. Hearing the sound of voices, I considered mydeliverance as certain. Although I understood very little English, Iheard the name of Captain Parry frequently mentioned--a name, I presume,that your highness is well acquainted with.
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"Pooh! never heard of it," replied the pacha.
"I am surpris
ed, your highness; I thought every body must have heard ofthat adventurous navigator. I may here observe that I have since readhis voyages, and he mentions as a curious fact, the steam which wasemitted from the ice--which was nothing more than the hot air escapingfrom my cave when it was cut through--a singular point, as it not onlyproves the correctness of his remarks, but the circumstance of my havingbeen there, as I am now describing it to your highness."
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But, alas! my hopes soon vanished: the voices became more faint, I feltthat I was plunged under the floe to make room for the passage of theship, and when I rose, the water which had filled the incision made bythe saw, froze hard, and I was again closed in--perhaps for ever. I nowbecame quite frantic with despair, I tore my clothes, and dashed my headagainst the corners of the cave, and tried to put an end to my hatedexistence. At last, I sank down exhausted with my own violent efforts,and continued sullen for several days.
But there is a buoyant spirit in our composition which raises our headsabove the waters of despair. Hope never deserts us, not even in aniceberg. She attends us and supports us to the last; and although wereject her kind offices in our fury, she still watches by us, ready toassist and console us, when we are inclined to hearken to herencouraging whispers.
I once more listened to her suggestions, and for six months fed uponthem, aided by occasional variations of the flesh of the sea-horse. Itwas now late in the summer, and the ice in which I was bound up hadevidently melted away. One morning I was astonished by perceiving thatthe light of the sun seemed to change its position regularly everyquarter of an hour. Had it done so occasionally during the day, and atno stated intervals, I should have imagined that the ice that I wasenclosed in, altered its position with the winds and currents; but theregularity astonished me. I watched it, and I found that the samephenomenon occurred, but at shorter intervals, and it continued untilthe light shifted from side to side every minute.
After some reflection, the horrid idea occurred to me that I must havebeen drifted to the coast of Norway, and was in the influence of thedreadful whirlpool, called the Maelstroom, and that, in a few minutes, Ishould be engulfed for ever; and, whilst I was thinking that such mightbe the case, the light revolved each fifteen seconds. "Then it is!"cried I in despair; and, as I uttered the words, it became quite dark,and I knew that I had sunk in the vortex, and all was over.
It may appear strange to your highness, that after the first pang,occasioned by the prospect of perdition, had passed away, that so farfrom feeling a horror at my situation, I mocked and derided it. I couldfeel no more, and I waited the result with perfect indifference. Fromthe marks in my nails, I afterwards found out that I was nearly sixmonths in the interior of the earth. At last, one day I was nearlyblinded by the powerful light that poured through my tenement, and Iknew that I was once more floating on the water.
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"Allah kebir! God is most powerful!" exclaimed the pacha. "HolyProphet, where was it that you came up again?"
"In the harbour of Port-Royal in Jamaica. Your highness will hardlycredit it, but on my honour it is true."
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The heat of the sun was so great, that in a very short time the ice thatsurrounded me was thawed, and I found myself at liberty; but I stillfloated upon the body of the sea-horse, and the ice which was under thewater. The latter soon vanished, and striding the back of the deadanimal, although nearly blind by the rays of the sun, and suffocatedwith the sudden change of climate, I waited patiently to gain the shore,which was not one mile distant; but, before I could arrive there, forthe sea breeze had not yet set in, an enormous shark, well known amongthe English by the name of Port-Royal Tom, who had daily rations fromgovernment, that by remaining in the harbour he might prevent thesailors from swimming on shore to desert, ranged up along side of me. Ithought it hard that I should have to undergo such new dangers, afterhaving been down the Maelstroom, but there was no help for it. Heopened his enormous jaws, and had I not immediately shifted my leg,would have taken it off. As it was, he took such a piece out of myhorse, as to render it what the sailors call _lopsided_. Again heattacked it, and continued to take piece after piece off my steed, untilI was afraid that he would come to the rider at last, when fortunately aboat full of black people, who were catching flying fish, perceived meand pulled to my assistance. They took me on shore, and carried me tothe governor, to whom I gave a history of my adventures; but Englishmensuppose that nobody can meet with wondrous adventures except themselves.He called me a liar, and put me in the Clink, and a pirate schoonerhavimg been lately taken and the crew executed, I was declared to havebeen one of them; but, as it was clearly proved that the vessel onlycontained thirty men, and they had already hung forty-seven, I waspermitted to quit the island, which I did in a small vessel bound toAmerica, on condition that I would work my passage.
We had gained to the northward of the Bahama Isles, and were standing tothe westward before a light breeze, when early one morning severalwaterspouts were observed to be forming in various directions. It wasmy watch below, but as I had never seen one of these curious phenomenaof nature, I went on deck to indulge my curiosity.
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"Pray what is a waterspout?" inquired the pacha; "I never heard of onebefore."
"A waterspout, your highness, is the ascent of a large body of waterinto the clouds--one of those gigantic operations by which nature,apparently without effort, accomplishes her will, pointing out to manthe insignificance of his most vaunted undertakings."
"Humph! that's a waterspout, is it?" replied the pacha; "I'm about aswise as before."
"I will describe it more clearly to your highness, for there is no onewho has a better right to know what a waterspout is, than myself."
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A black cloud was over our heads, and we perceived that for some time itwas rapidly descending. The main body then remained stationary, and acertain portion of it continued bellying down until it had assumed theform of an enormous jelly-bag. From the end of this bag a thin, wiry,black tongue of vapour continued to descend until it had arrivedhalf-way between the cloud and the sea. The water beneath, then ruffledon its surface, increasing its agitation more and more until it boiledand bubbled like a large cauldron, throwing its foam aside in everydirection. In a few minutes a small spiral thread of water wasperceived to rise into the air, and meet the tongue which had wooed itfrom the cloud. When the union had taken place, the thread increasedeach moment in size, until it was swelled into a column of water severalfeet in diameter, which continued to supply the thirsty cloud until itwas satiated and could drink no more. It then broke, the sea becamesmooth as before, and the messenger of heaven flew away upon the wingsof the wind, to dispense its burden over the parched earth in refreshingand fertilising showers.
While I was standing at the taffrail in admiration of this wonderfulresource of nature, the main boom gybed and struck me with such force,that I was thrown into the sea. Another waterspout forming close to thevessel, the captain and crew were alarmed and made all sail to escape,without regarding me; for they were aware that if it should happen tobreak over them, they would be sent to the bottom with its enormousweight. I had scarcely risen to the surface, when I perceived that thewater was in agitation round me, and all my efforts to swim from thespot were unavailing, for I was within the circle of attraction. Thuswas I left to my fate, and convinced that I could not swim for manyminutes, I swallowed the salt water as fast as I could, that mystruggles might the sooner be over.
But as the sea boiled up, I found myself gradually drawn more to thecentre, and when exactly in it, I was raised in a sitting posture uponthe spiral thread of water, which, as I explained
to your highness,forced itself upwards to join the tongue protruded by the cloud. ThereI sat, each second rising higher and higher, balanced like the gilt ballof pith, which is borne up by the vertical stream of the fountain whichplays in the inner court of your highness's palace. I cast my eyesdown, and perceived the vessel not far off, the captain and crew holdingup their eyes in amazement at the extraordinary spectacle.
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"I don't wonder at that," observed the pacha.
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I soon reached the tongue of the cloud, which appeared as if impatientto receive me--the hair of my head first coming within its attractivepowers was raised straight on end--then seized as it were and twistedround. I was dragged up by it each moment with increased velocity, as Iwhirled round in my ascent. At last I found myself safely landed, andsat down to recover my breath which I had nearly lost for ever.
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"And, pray, where did you sit, Huckaback?"
"On the cloud, your highness."
"Holy Prophet! What, a cloud bear your weight?"
"If your highness will call to mind that at the same time the cloud tookup several tons of water, you cannot be surprised at its supporting me."
"Very true," replied the pacha. "This is a very wonderful story; butbefore you go on, I wish to know what the cloud was made of."
"That is rather difficult to explain to your highness. I can onlycompare it to a wet blanket. I found it excessively cold and damp, andcaught a rheumatism while I was there, which I feel to this day."
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When the cloud was saturated, the column divided, and we rapidlyascended until the cold became intense. We passed a rainbow as weskimmed along, and I was very much surprised to find that the key of mychest and my clasp knife, forced themselves through the cloth of myjacket, and flew with great velocity towards it, fixing themselvesfirmly to the violet rays, from which I discovered that those peculiarrays were magnetic. I mentioned this curious circumstance to an Englishlady whom I met on her travels, and I have since learnt that she hascommunicated the fact to the learned societies as a discovery of herown. However, as she is a very pretty woman, I forgive her. Anxious tolook down upon the earth, I poked a hole with my finger through thebottom of the cloud, and was astonished to perceive how rapidly it wasspinning round. We had risen so high as to be out of the sphere of itsattraction, and in consequence remained stationary. I had been up aboutsix hours; and although I was close to the coast of America when Iascended, I could perceive that the Cape of Good Hope was just heavingin sight. I was enabled to form a very good idea of the structure ofthe globe, for at that immense height I could see to the very bottom ofthe Atlantic ocean. Depend upon it, your highness, if you wish todiscover more than other people can, it is necessary to be "up in theclouds."
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"Very true," replied the pacha; "but go on."
"I was very much interested in the chemical process of turning the saltwater into fresh, which was going on with great rapidity while I wasthere. Perhaps your highness would like me to explain it, as it willnot occupy your attention more than an hour."
"No, no, skip that, Huckaback, and go on."
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But as soon as I had gratified my curiosity, I began to be alarmed at mysituation, not so much on account of the means of supporting existence,for there was more than sufficient.
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"More than sufficient! Why what could you have to eat?"
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Plenty of fresh fish, your highness, which had been taken up in thecolumn of water at the same time I was, and the fresh water already layin little pools around me. But the cold was dreadful, and I felt that Icould not support it many hours longer, and how to get down again was aproblem which I could not solve.
It was however soon solved for me, for the cloud having completed itschemical labours, descended as rapidly as it had risen, and joined manyothers, that were engaged in sharp conflict. As I beheld them dartingagainst each other, and discharging the electric fluid in the violenceof their collision, I was filled with trepidation and dismay, lest,meeting an adversary, I should be hurled into the abyss below, or bewithered by the artillery of heaven. But I was fortunate enough toescape. The cloud which bore me descended to within a hundred yards ofthe earth, and then was hurried along by the wind with such velocity andnoise, that I perceived we were assisting at a hurricane.
As we neared the earth, the cloud, unable to resist the force of itsattraction, was compelled to deliver up its burthen, and down I fell,with such torrents of water, that it reminded me of the deluge. Thetornado was now in all its strength. The wind roared and shrieked inits wild fury, and such was its force that I fell in an acute angle.
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"What did you fall in?" interrupted the pacha. "I don't know what thatis."
"I fell in a slanting direction, your highness, describing thehypotenuse between the base and perpendicular, created by the force ofthe wind, and the attraction of gravitation."
"Holy Prophet! who can understand such stuff? Speak plain; do you laughat our beards?"
"Min Allah! God forbid! Your servant would indeed eat dirt," repliedHuckaback.
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I meant to imply, that so powerful was the wind, it almost bore me up,and when I first struck the water, which I did upon the summit of awave, I bounded off again and _ricochetted_ several times from one waveto another, like the shot fired from a gun along the surface of the sea,or the oyster-shell skimmed over the lake by the truant child. The lastbound that I gave, pitched me into the rigging of a small vessel on herbeam-ends, and I hardly had time to fetch my breath before she turnedover. I scrambled up her bends, and fixed myself astride upon her keel.
There I remained for two or three hours, when the hurricane wasexhausted from its own violence. The clouds disappeared, the sun burstout in all its splendour, the sea recovered its former tranquillity, andNature seemed as if she was maliciously smiling at her own mischief.The land was close to me, and the vessel drifted on shore. I found thatI was at the Isle of France, having, in the course of twelve hours thusmiraculously shifted my position from one side of the globe unto theother. I found the island in a sad state of devastation; the labour ofyears had been destroyed in the fury of an hour--the crops were sweptaway--the houses were levelled to the ground--the vessels in fragmentson the beach--all was misery and desolation. I was however kindlyreceived by my countrymen, who were the inhabitants of the isle; and, infour-and-twenty hours, we all danced and sang as before. I invented avery pretty quadrille, called the Hurricane, which threw the wholeisland into an ecstasy, and recompensed them for all their sufferings.But I was anxious to return home, and a Dutch vessel proceeding straightto Marseilles, I thought myself fortunate to obtain a passage upon thesame terms as those which had enabled me to quit the West Indies. Wesailed, but before we had been twenty-four hours at sea, I found thatthe captain was a violent man, and a most dreadful tyrant. I was notvery strong; and not being able to perform the duty before the mast, towhich I had not been accustomed, I was beat so unmercifully, that I wasdebating in my mind, whether I should kill the captain and then jumpoverboard, or submit to my hard fate; but one night as I lay groaning onthe forecastle after a punishment I had received from the captain, whichincapacitated me from further duty, an astonishing circumstance occurredwhich was the occasion, not only of my embracin
g the Mahomedan religion,but of making use of those expressions which attracted your highness'sattention when you passed in disguise. "Why am I thus ever to bepersecuted?" exclaimed I in despair. And, as I uttered these words, avenerable personage, in a flowing beard, and a book in his hand,appeared before me, and answered me.
"Because, Huckaback, you have not embraced the true faith."
"What is the true faith?" inquired I, in fear and amazement.
"There is but one God," replied he, "and I am his Prophet."
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"Merciful Allah!" exclaimed the pacha, "why, it must have been Mahomethimself."
"It was so, your highness, although I knew it not at the time."
"Prove unto me that it is the true faith," said I.
"I will," replied he; "I will turn the heart of the infidel captain,"and he disappeared. The next day the captain of the vessel, to myastonishment, came to me as I lay on the forecastle, and begging mypardon for the cruelty that he had been guilty of, shed tears over me,and ordered me to be carried to his cabin. He laid me in his own bed,and watched me as he would a favourite child. In a short time Irecovered; after which he would permit me to do no duty, but insistedupon my being his guest, and loaded me with every kindness.
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"God is great!" ejaculated the pacha.
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I was lying in my bed, meditating upon these thing when the venerableform again appeared to me.
"Art thou now convinced?"
"I am," replied I.
"Then prove it by submitting to the law the moment that you are able.You shall be rewarded--not at once, but when your faith has been proved.Mark me, follow your profession on the seas, and, when once you findyourself sitting in the divan at Cairo, with two people originally ofthe same profession as yourself, without others being present, and havemade this secret known, then you shall appointed to the command of thepacha's fleet, which under your directions shall always meet withsuccess. Such shall be the reward of your fidelity."
It is now four years that I have embraced the true faith, and, sinkingunder poverty, I was induced to make use of the exclamation that yourhighness heard; for how can I ever hope to meet two barbers at the divanwithout other people being present?
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"Holy Prophet! how strange! Why Mustapha was a barber, and so was I,"cried the pacha.
"God is great!" answered the renegade, prostrating himself. "Then Icommand your fleet?"
"From this hour," replied the pacha. "Mustapha, make known my wishes."
"The present in command," replied Mustapha, who was not a dupe to thewily renegade, "is a favourite with the men."
"Then send for him and take off his head. Is he to interfere with thecommands of Mahomet?"
The vizier bowed, and the pacha quitted the divan.
The renegade, with a smile upon his lips, and Mustapha with astonishmentlooked at each other for a few seconds "You have a great talent, Selim,"observed the vizier.
"Thanks to your introduction, and to my own invention, it will at lastbe called into action. Recollect, vizier, that I am grateful--youunderstand me;" and the renegade quitted the divan, leaving Mustaphastill in his astonishment.