Les aventures du Capitaine Magon. English

by David-Léon Cahun

  CHAPTER XVII.

  JONO, THE GOD OF THE SUOMI.

  After sixteen days' sojourn, finding the amber beginning to runshort, and the game getting very wild, I resolved to proceed, andsailed eastwards for five days, until the lack of provisions, noless than the desire of exploring, induced me to enter the mouth ofthe great river we had previously seen. The aspect of the place wasscarcely more inviting than where we had landed before, but we hauledup our ships, and made an encampment as near to them as we could.

  On setting out next morning to explore, we had proceeded but a littleway before we came upon traces proving beyond a question that humanbeings had been in the neighbourhood quite recently. We enterednearly a dozen of the conical huts that we came to, in one of themfinding a fire still burning, and in several of the others a varietyof arms and implements, consisting of weapons made of polished stone,hatchets, and some copper caldrons. Examining them with greaterminuteness, we ascertained that the huts had been abandoned in greathaste; not only were there fragments of partially-consumed meat andfish, but one of the litters of reeds covered with moss was stillwarm from being lately occupied. I felt convinced that the nativesmust have evacuated their tenements in alarm at our approach, andsuspecting that they were still lurking about, I ordered some redcloth, some beads, some bracelets and necklaces, and other thingswhich I thought might attract their interest, to be displayed in oneof the most spacious of the huts. I next made my people retire aboutthree hundred paces, and waited to see the result of my device.

  Before long the savages returned, and seeing us stand quietly,without any apparent wish to molest them, they allowed themselvesto be seen, and came nearer to us. I took Gisgo and advanced tomeet them; but when he addressed them in the Celtic tongue, Ifound that they did not understand a word he said, but repliedin a language that neither of us had ever heard before. Pointingfirst to a neighbouring marsh, they cried, "Suom, Suom," and thenpointing to their own breasts, they said, "Suomi, Suomi," from whichI conjectured that they called a marsh "suom," and that they werethemselves "people of the marshes." When they showed us their stoneweapons, they pointed to the north-east and said "Gothi;" and whatstruck me as remarkable, they used the same word when they spoke oftheir articles of Tibarenian bronze. I had never before heard ofa people of that name, but could not help wondering whether these"Gothi" could by any possibility be Caucasians.

  I had seen many savages in my time, but I had never seen savages sofrightfully ugly as these; their huge heads, flat faces, small eyes,enormous mouths, sallow complexions, made up a physiognomy thatwas simply hideous; their short, thin legs appeared scarcely ableto support their clumsy bodies. They made us understand by theirgestures that their friends the "Gothi" were taller either thanthemselves or us.

  Besides being ugly, their appearance was most sordid. None of theornaments so frequently worn by savage tribes adorned them, but theirbodies were scantily protected by fragments of skins, and theirweapons, for the most part, were clumsy bludgeons, stone lances, anda kind of harpoon tipped with bone. One alone wore a necklace madeof shells and pieces of uncut amber. He appeared to be a sort ofchieftain, and as a token of his good-will he held out a wild bull'shorn full of some yellowish fluid; I was on the point of taking thehorn into my hand, when Himilco, ever ready to guzzle, raised it tohis lips; but no sooner had he tasted the contents than he dashedit to the ground, and began spitting and spluttering with everyexpression of disgust.

  HE DASHED IT TO THE GROUND. _To face page 262._]

  "Ugh! the vile stuff!" he said, as soon as he could speak; "it'snothing in the world but beastly fish-oil! Ugh!"

  We all roared with laughter; but the chief, highly offended atthe way in which we received his proferred attention, assumed athreatening attitude, and in spite of my attempts to pacify him,withdrew with his followers to the woods.

  Poor Himilco looked very penitent when he saw the mischief he haddone.

  "What a besotted idiot I am!" he exclaimed; "I declare I deservenothing less than to be swung up to the nearest oak. But who was toknow that what looked so tempting was nothing but stinking oil?"

  "Well, well," I said; "never mind, you will have better luck anothertime. I don't fear but that we shall soon have another opportunity ofimproving our acquaintance with these barbarians."

  As we proceeded up the river we met occasional groups of the people,who were always full of gesticulations; they snatched greedily at anygifts we offered them, but took themselves off directly we attemptedto open any negotiations.

  A clearance in the wood made us suspect we were approaching a largersettlement, and we soon came to a large sheet of water, in the middleof which was an island crowded with conical huts, that in the centrebeing much higher than the rest. The island had been connected withthe land by a narrow causeway, which the natives made us understandwe were not to cross; but they were not altogether indisposed totransact business with us, and parted with some amber at a verylow rate. But although they attached so little value to their amber,it was far otherwise with their weapons; we could not induce themto part with one of their clumsy lances nor one of their smallestbone hooks for any article that we could offer them. They showed usvarious implements of polished stone, and appeared to be desirous ofgetting more like them, exhibiting some surprise that we had none toexchange away. Bronze they had seen before, and they were acquaintedwith the use of bows and arrows; they pointed to the birds upon thetrees, as an indication that they wanted Bichri to shoot some; adesire on their part which he was more than ready to gratify.

 

  Not thinking it prudent to remain all night in our present position,I gave orders for making our way back to the ships, yielding,however, to the wish expressed by several of the Suomi to accompanyus; but so dark was the night, and so bad were the roads, that weutterly lost our way amidst the quagmires. We wandered about tillnear daybreak, when six of us--Hannibal, Chamai, Himilco, Bichri,one of the sailors, and myself--found ourselves up to our waistsin a swamp. After extricating ourselves with much difficulty, wediscovered that the rest of our party was out of sight, and althoughwe shouted with all the strength of our lungs, we failed in makingourselves heard. Terrible as our situation was, there was a stillgreater dilemma in store. While we were anxiously endeavouring tofind some waymarks to guide us, we were all at once surrounded bynearly two hundred of the savages, all stoutly armed. Resistancewould have been useless even if it had been possible. The men hadstarted, as if called by an incantation, from the tufted brushwoodaround, and before we could lay our hands upon our swords, they hadfelled us to the ground and pinioned our arms, yelling and dancingall the time. They did not allow us time to regain our feet, butpounced down upon us. Two men seized me by the arms, two by thefeet, and a fifth, after taking away my sword, my cap, and myshoulder-belt, came dancing along behind, every now and then leaningclose over me to peer into my face. They had all evidently trickedthemselves out for their adventure; their hair was dyed red, andtheir faces were tattooed blue and black with war-paints.

 

  After about an hour we were made to cross the causeway from whichwe had been repelled the day before, and alternately pushed andpulled, we were thrust into one of the huts. Hideous women and stillmore hideous children followed us in groups until we reached ourdestination, where a matting was fastened closely over the doorway,and we were left upon the cold damp ground in complete darkness,pillaged, bruised, and bound. There was the sound of retreatingfootsteps, and soon the noisy yells lapsed into perfect silence.

  If we had been pinioned with rope we might perhaps have contrived toextricate ourselves, but we had been tied with a tough twist made ofbark, which lacerated our wrists every time we made an attempt torelease them. Chamai groaned aloud with agony.

  "Who's groaning?" asked Hannibal, his voice being at once recognisedin the darkness.

  "I cannot slip these cursed cords," said Chamai.

  "No," said Himilco, "you might as well try to break a ship's cable;"and remembering tha
t he had not heard either me or Bichri speak, heasked whether we were there.

  Bichri replied:

  "Here we are, both of us; and I only wish old Judge Gebal was withus; he would have got us out of this dilemma."

  "What do you mean?" I said. "I don't understand what good the monkeycould do. Anyhow, we must now help ourselves; and that doesn't seem avery easy business."

  "If Hamilcar and Hasdrubal do not come to our rescue, I shall thinkthem the vilest cowards on the face of the earth," said Hannibal.

  "Ah, you must not judge too hastily," I answered; "I do not doubtbut that they will do all in their power, but it is only too likelythey have been attacked, and are in the same plight as ourselves.Besides, I hardly see how they are to get across that causeway."

  "No difficulty there," said the general, warming into enthusiasm;"archers, right and left; fighting men in a column, four abreast;sound your trumpets and----"

  He stopped abruptly; the clang of a trumpet had caught his ears.

  "They come! they come!" cried Chamai, all excitement; "The Lord ofhosts be with them!"

  Another blast.

  Hannibal continued to expatiate very scientifically about columns offour and columns of eight, and bewailed his fate that he was not incommand; Bichri, less calm, fancied himself at the head of his troop.

  The notes of the trumpet seemed more and more distinct.

  "I cannot make out that trumpet," said Himilco; "it does not soundlike one of ours."

  "Whose else should it be?" replied Hannibal, testily. "Savages do notblow trumpets."

  The pilot now insisted that the sound did not come across the waterat all, but from the very centre of the huts.

  "And yet," he said, "if it means an attack, I wonder we do not hearthe war-cry."

  We were all bewildered, and no less so when we heard three loudshouts rend the air, and the trumpet notes which had been going on atintervals for a quarter of an hour come to an end with a prolongedand thrilling flourish.

  "I never knew but one pair of lungs that could make a clarion ringout like that," said Himilco.

  The name of Jonah rose simultaneously to the lips of us all, andBichri said he should like to see Gebal come in and confirm ourimpression.

  "Nonsense," I said, "why indulge these foolish fancies? we must bepractical. If we are rescued by our troops, well and good; otherwisewe shall either have to buy ourselves off by a ransom or invent someruse to escape."

  The sailor who was with us, speaking now for the first time,reminded us that there were several canoes moored to the causeway,and Himilco recollected having noticed them. This set us speculatingwhether we could devise any means of getting at the canoes, and usingthem to facilitate our escape. Hannibal declared that we should stillbe in the clutches of the savages, even if we got to land; but Bichriand Chamai maintained that once free they could take good care ofthemselves.

  I interrupted them to inquire whether any one amongst them had aknife, but it proved, as might have been expected, that the savageshad not left us anything of the sort.

  "Then roll yourself over here, Bichri," I said, "and see whether youcannot gnaw this twisted stuff off my hands."

  "I have pretty good teeth," replied the youth, "and I will try."

  Silence fell upon us all as we listened to him shuffling along theground and panting with his exertions. I cannot tell how long it wasbefore I felt his warm breath upon my hands, but it seemed to me atleast half an hour. He nibbled indefatigably at the cord, givingmy flesh an occasional grip in the process, until the material wasreduced to the substance of twine, when by a slight effort of my ownI burst it asunder, and I was free. An exclamation of delight brokefrom my lips, and I was about to liberate the others, when Himilco,who was lying across the doorway, said:

  "Hush! some one comes!"

  SEVERAL OF THE SAVAGES ENTERED THE HUT. _To face page 267._]

  In an instant I twisted the broken cord around my wrists, but onlyjust before a party of several of the savages entered the hut. Oneof them having fastened back the covering at the door, took a longpole and pushed up a kind of trap that had closed the aperture at thetop that served the purpose of a chimney, and the gleams of lightafforded by these two openings allowed us to inspect our place ofconfinement.

  The hut was perfectly empty, without an article of furniture; thewalls were grimed with soot and smoke; upon the clay floor three rudestones formed a kind of fire-place which was filled with ashes andthe refuse of some victuals. A cold drizzling rain penetrated thehole in the roof, and pattered down upon the ground below.

  The men that had entered were elaborately covered with theirwar-paint. One of them had the head and skin of a bear drawn overhis face like a mask, in the way that I have seen done by theAssyrians; another wore upon his shoulders the head and horns of anelk. A third, who carried a stick in his hand, ushered the other twointo the middle of the hut, where they began dancing and making thestrangest of contortions, but all without uttering a word. Afterthis had gone on for some time, one of the two, who wore a necklacemade of the teeth of wild animals, and who apparently was the chief,walked up to me, and stood gazing in my face. I noticed that he hadmy own sword in his hand. He began a long harangue of which I couldnot understand a word, but observed that he repeatedly said "Jono,"and as often as he did so, all the others gave a loud shout. When hisoration came to an end, the savage sprinkled us with some stinkingliquor, which he poured from a horn; and having in chorus mutteredsome kind of refrain that ended in "Jono," they all quitted the hut,fastening the doorway securely behind them.

  "No chance of making terms with such brutes as these," I indignantlyexclaimed, when we were again alone.

  "Patience!" said Hannibal; "only let me get my hands at liberty, andI'll guarantee to floor half-a-dozen of them, unarmed as I am."

  Himilco avowed that he was burning for a chance to avenge himselffor the filthy fish-oil; and Chamai protested that though the brutesshould be as countless as the palms of Jericho or the fleas atShechem, he would outwit them yet, and find his way back to Abigail.

  While they had been talking in this strain, I had disengaged myhands, and very soon succeeded in freeing Bichri, who assisted me inliberating all the rest. Once again upon their feet, they stretchedtheir stiff and weary limbs, and Hannibal, Chamai, and Himilco eacharmed themselves with one of the stones that formed the fire-place.

  "Here's something that may smash a skull or two," said Chamai, as hepoised his stone aloft.

  "Not altogether a military-looking weapon," was Hannibal's remark,whilst he examined the cumbersome missile; "but our forefathers havedone good execution with worse."

  Picking up a few fragments of stone, Bichri was beginning to lamentthat he had not a sling, when Himilco in a moment produced the ropewhich he invariably wore, and tore off a piece of the goat-skin thathad carried his wine, and with these materials the young archer wasnot long in putting together a sling which he hoped might do him goodservice.

  Night closed in. It was still raining; the wind blew furiously.Everything seemed to favour our escape.

  "Now's your time, my men!" I said. "Make your prayer to your gods,and we will be off at once."

  It was agreed that if we should find more than one sentinel, weshould fight our way through and make for the canoes, and that if wefailed in that attempt, we should take to the water, and swim to thefar end of the causeway. Our watch-word should be three raven-croaks.

  "Now, invoke your gods," I repeated.

  There was silence in the hut, and I noticed that Himilco raised hissingle eye to the aperture in the roof, as though looking for theCabiri, but there was nothing to be seen except the pitchy blacknessof the night.

  I was about to lead the way, when, on peering out, I not only heardthe sound of footsteps, but saw the glimmer of a torch. My heart beatfast, and I made my companions arrange themselves on either side ofthe doorway, so as to guard the entrance. It seemed to me that therewere not more than one or two approaching. Chamai pressed his ba
ckagainst the wall, ready to brain the first savage that came withinreach; but whoever they were that were coming, it was evident thatthey were not hurrying themselves: they paused in quiet conversationoutside, and at intervals we could again catch the mysterious word"Jono."

  "I wonder whether they are going to give us any more of their beastlysprinkling," said Himilco.

  "I have something here," muttered Hannibal, "that may give them asprinkling they don't expect."

  Breaking the silence of the night, we now heard the ringing notesof the trumpet, followed by yells and vociferations. The clamourwas obviously a signal, for at the same moment the covering at thedoor was raised, and a man carrying a torch entered the hut, andclosed the entrance behind him. But scarcely had he advanced a step,when four strong arms arrested him. Chamai's hand was across theintruder's mouth, effectually stopping any outcry he might raise; Itook possession of his torch; and Himilco, having lifted the stoneabove his head, was about to hurl it on his victim, when he let itfall to the ground, and ejaculated:

  "Merciful Cabiri!"

  I raised the torch to the visitor's face, and in a moment had thrownmyself upon his neck. It was Hanno.

  The sailor picked up the torch that I had dropped in my excitement,and enabled Hanno in his turn to recognise us.

  We were speechless.

  For some moments we could do nothing but grasp each other's hands andembrace our long-lost friend.

  Hanno himself was the first to speak.

  "Don't strangle me quite. What a joyful surprise is this!"

  "Out with a joke, Hanno!" cried Hannibal, "or I shall never believeit's you!"

  Hanno did not smile, but inquired anxiously about Chryseis. Hearingfrom me that she was safe and well, his eyes filled with tears, andhe murmured:

  "Ashtoreth be praised!"

  A violent thumping outside brought us back to a sense of our realposition, and when the thumping was renewed Hanno went to the door,and having addressed some one with a few guttural words, which werereceived with a half-approving grunt, he returned to us.

  "And now," he said, his voice assuming its old tone of vivacity,"perhaps you would like to know what brings me here. I am come toconduct you to the grand temple of the Suomi; and a fine structureyou will see it is, built of reeds and fish-bones in tip-top style.You are there to be sacrificed to the great god Jono."

  "So then Jono is a god, is he?" I said; "but if you are his highpriest I presume we need not give ourselves much alarm."

  Himilco said that if this Jono were the god of fish-oil he mostheartily wished that he might be sent some hundred fathoms down belowthe sea.

  "Gently, gently, good pilot!" said Hanno, with mock solemnity; "youmust not speak disparagingly of the great divinity. I can, however,tell you one thing. Jono has no more liking for fish-oil than youhave yourself. No one loves a draught of good wine better. And I mayas well tell you at once who he is. He is none other than our friendJonah of Eltekeh! our incomparable trumpeter, Jonah!"

  "Ah! didn't I say," cried Himilco, "that no one but Jonah could bringout such a flourish as that?"

  Hanno went on to tell us that the people were already assembled inthe temple awaiting the arrival of ourselves, their destined victims,and in reply to Chamai, who suggested that we should rise up andattack them bodily, informed us that there were more than threethousand of them, so that any resistance on our part would not onlybe useless, but must result in our immediate destruction.

  "No;" he continued; "you have no alternative but to trust yourselvesimplicitly to the influence of the mighty Jono and of his high priestHono, your humble servant. My first proceeding will be to acquaintthe assembly that I have released you from your bonds, and that bythe agency of magic I have rendered you quite mild and submissive."

  "Allow me to interrupt you for a moment," I said; "but I am intenselyanxious to learn whether you know anything of our comrades?"

  "They are now on their way hither," replied Hanno; "and the veryobject with which the Suomi propose to sacrifice you is to propitiatetheir god, so that he may vouchsafe them the victory."

  Hannibal burst out enthusiastically:

  "I knew our fellows would come to our defence; brave souls they are!we'll conquer yet!"

  "Not so fast," was the reply; "you must be content to leaveeverything to me. I will send a message to Hamilcar and Hasdrubal.See now; I have my writing materials ready; I made myself a calamusfrom the marsh-reeds; my ink is some of the Suomi war-paint; and forpapyrus I have a piece of deer-skin."

  Hanno wrote and talked at once; and as soon as he had finished heturned to us:

  "Now then, follow me to the temple. You need be under no apprehensionyet. I will take care that the god shall declare that he does notrequire your lives at present. This will give some hours' respite.In the interval I shall be able, I trust, to send my letter to ourfriends. Let us go: but one more word of caution; you must be carefulabove all things not to laugh at any of our proceedings."

  "You will have to conjure pretty cleverly," I said, "if you are goingto conjure us out of this dilemma."

  "Well, you know," he said with a smile, "I have had some educationin this line. I have learnt a bit of the craft of a priest and amagician; though I acknowledge I did not anticipate that I shouldhave to practise under the present circumstances."

  Taking his torch, he led the way; and with downcast eyes, and muchto the amazement of some savages who were waiting outside, we fileddemurely after him.

  The island which we proceeded to cross was considerably larger thanit had at first sight appeared. The huts were arranged in irregularclusters, each group surrounded by its own palisade. The road wasvery dark, and we had to ford a number of pools of water, whilethe rain splashed heavily down upon our bare heads. After windingthrough the labyrinth of huts, we reached an open place in the heartof the village, lighted with torches, and thronged with a crowd ofSuomi, armed and coloured with their paint. The central hut intowhich we were conducted was much larger than the others, and servedthe purpose of a temple; it was circular, and had the appearanceof a gigantic beehive. The interior was lighted with torches, andwith pans of oil, furnished with flaming wicks, which had been madeof bark; it was crowded with the savages, and what with the fumesof the torches, the vile odour of the burning oil, and the stenchof the grease with which the savages had smeared their bodies, theatmosphere of the place was positively sickening.

  On first entering the assembly the mist was so thick, and theconfusion from the noise of the savages, who were raving likemaniacs, was so great, that I could not distinguish the venerateddeity; but as I gradually got accustomed to the smoky glare and theboisterous hubbub, I made out that there was a kind of dais or altarpiled up with every conceivable variety of natural products,--skinsof beasts, intestines of fishes, bladders of sea-calves, feathers ofbirds--mounted upon which, daubed with blue and crimson, and adornedwith bulls' horns and sea-calves tusks, was the god himself. Not afeature could I distinguish; one only object seemed familiar; inone of his crimson hands the god held the very trumpet which I hadpurchased for twelve silver shekels of Khelesh-baal the merchant ofTyre.

  The savages did more than make room for us to pass; they thrustus forward till we were close in front of the altar-shrine. Hannoplaced himself at the side of the god, who, at a given signal, raisedhis trumpet to his mouth and blew a deafening blast. A few wordsfrom Hanno made the entire assembly, except ourselves, prostratethemselves with their faces to the very ground, and thus leftstanding conspicuously above the rest, the god could not fail torecognise us.

  No words of mine can describe Jonah's amazement. Eyes, nose, andmouth, were all distended until the very paint broke in scales uponhis face. He was dumbfounded for the time, and only after a longstare of astonishment, exclaimed:

  "Baal Chamaim! lord of the heavens!"

  A sensation of terror thrilled through the prostrate worshippers. Themighty Jono had spoken!

  "Hold your tongue, you fool!" exclaimed Hannibal, with sonoroussole
mnity, but in plain Phœnician. The god started, and said nomore.

  The crowd of worshippers shivered with awe.

  All at once a piercing shriek echoed through the temple. Ablack-haired object, ill-defined, had made a tremendous bound, andperching upon the head of the divinity himself, began tearing hishair, scratching his face, and hugging and caressing him with wilddelight. The savages started to their feet in consternation, and someof them fled at once; but when they saw their god drop his trumpetand take the apparition in his arms, and heard him say to it, "Gebal,Gebal! dear little man! and have you found out your poor old Jonah?"their terror knew no bounds, and they rushed frantically out, leavingus absolutely by ourselves.

  Chamai on one side gave the god a good dig in his ribs, while Hannoon the other kicked him pretty sharply on the leg, but neitherof these attentions seemed to disconcert him in the least; he cameforward and said:

  "Delighted to see you all, my friends; an unexpected pleasure: youknow I am a god now; what shall I order for you to eat?"

  THE GOD JONO. _To face page 275._]

  "Back to your seat, jackanapes!" cried Hanno, severely, "and don'tspeak another word until I give you leave."

  For a moment Jonah's dignity seemed somewhat wounded, and hehesitated about complying; but upon my promising him a good skin ofwine, he returned to his shrine without further murmuring. Hannore-arranged the trumpery jewellery with which the god was bedecked,and Bichri whistled the monkey back to his own shoulder.

  "Here's a messenger," said Hanno, "that I think will answer mypurpose very well."

  And turning to the creature, who was making the oddest grimaces, hesaid:

  "Now, Gebal, take this to Hamilcar, quick; and you shall have somecake."

  The monkey appeared perfectly to comprehend what was wanted, snatchedthe piece of skin that was held out to it, gnashed its teeth, andon three legs hopped rapidly out of the temple. A buzz of mingledsurprise and fright made us aware that the animal had passed throughthe crowd outside.

  "So far, so good," said Hanno; "now for the next scene. You must allprostrate yourselves to the ground before Jonah. I am going to recallthe Suomi."

  Jonah was taken aback, and modestly remonstrated against thishumiliation on our part; but Chamai, by way of enforcing obedienceto Hanno's injunction of silence, gave him a sharp blow across hismouth, and then came and took up with the rest of us his posture ofoutward reverence and awe.

  Standing at the doorway in the character of Hono the priest, Hannoencouraged the people to re-enter their temple. Gradually the morecourageous were induced to return, and ultimately about fifty, stilltremulous with their recent alarm, were assembled in front of theshrine. Jono once again made the building ring with a tremendousblast, and Hanno delivered a brief oration, which seemed to have asoothing effect. The Suomi quietly retired, and we could hear themplacing sentinels outside to prevent any one from entering.

  Finding that we were not likely to be disturbed again, Hannoextinguished all the lights except two torches, and led us into thedarkest corner of the temple, whither Jonah, after flinging off allhis gew-gaws, was only too delighted to follow us.