Les aventures du Capitaine Magon. English

by David-Léon Cahun

  CHAPTER XX.

  THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN.

  For eight days did the tempest rage, when, at the end of that time,the wind dropped and the sky cleared, I found that we were quiteclose to the shore, and off a headland beyond which the coaststretched away indefinitely to the south. Continuing our course inthat direction, we came in sight of a mountainous island, richlywooded and extremely picturesque. The glowing sun and the genialtemperature reminded us of our beloved Phœnicia; and so temptingwas the aspect of the place, that I resolved to disembark, not merelyas a matter of pleasure, but to look to the ships, which, after theirstrain, required some examination.

  We anchored in a charming bay, and were soon surrounded by canoesfull of savages, of whom the first characteristic that I noticedwas their low foreheads and yet elongated skulls. To my surprise,they addressed us in the Libyan tongue, and proved to be the trueGaramantine or red Libyans. We were the first Orientals they had everseen on their shores; but one of their old men stated that he hadbeen to Rusadir, and had seen Phœnicians there. They received usvery kindly, and told us that their island was one of a group thatwas situated to the west of Libya. Ignorant of navigation, they couldgive me no information about distance; and all that I could makeout was that the coast of Libya extended far to the south, and wasinhabited by people of the same race as themselves; and that stillfarther south there was a region where the men were like animals, andperfectly black.

  "That's a country worth seeing; I should like to catch a black man,"said Bichri.

  The residents, I observed, wore bracelets, necklaces, and earrings,which were, I found, made of gold; and in reply to my inquiry whetherthe gold was found in the island, they told me that they obtained itboth in nuggets and in dust from the Garamantines of the mainland,who collected it by means of fleeces at the mouths of their rivers.

  The people did not attach any great value to their gold, and werequite ready to barter it away very freely for many things we had tooffer them; for instance, for some glass trinkets they gave me asmuch gold dust as I could hold in the hollow of my hand, while forsuch things as knives, lance-heads, or swords, they would give anequal weight in gold. The delight of my people was unbounded, and Ihad the utmost difficulty in preventing them from bartering away alltheir weapons. Hannibal sold his helmet, crest and all; and Jonaheven parted with his trumpet, boasting that he could now have one ofpure gold, with which to play before the King; but so enchanted washe with the country, that if the inhabitants would have accepted himfor their god he would have been quite ready to reside permanentlyamongst them.

  I spent a fortnight in purchasing gold and repairing the ships,and an interesting period we all found it. The fertile soil wasproductive of some of the finest fruits I had ever seen; one fruit inparticular with a scaly covering was very delicious. The valleys werefull of orange-trees of the growth of centuries, and the mountainswere clothed with magnificent woods, in which beautiful little birdswith yellow plumage were fluttering about, and singing exquisitely.Bichri, who did not care about purchasing more than just enough goldto ornament his belt and quiver, spent several whole days in thesewoods with Dionysos, and succeeded in catching some of the brightlittle songsters, which he secured in a cage; but his trouble was oflittle avail, as they all died upon their passage.

  As for Judge Gebal, he manifested such a keen appreciation of thecharms of the scenery that we had to keep him tied up to prevent hisrunning away; but the time for our departure necessarily arrived,and, after the repairs were all completed, we reluctantly badefarewell to the lovely archipelago, upon which I bestowed the name ofthe Fortunate Islands.

 

  Once more at sea, I had no difficulty in determining my course.All my party were eager to visit the wonderful gold-countries, andBichri persisted in saying that he should like to catch sight ofthe black men; Himilco just at first protested against going in adirection where wine would not be forthcoming, but his objection wassoon overruled, and he was contented with our resolution to sailsouthward. What caused us much bewilderment as we advanced, was,that not only did the sun rise higher over our heads, but the Cabiridescended lower towards the horizon. Himilco complained that we weresailing out of reach of the protection of the gods; I pondered thematter, but kept my thoughts to myself.

  After running some distance to the east, the coast resumed itssoutherly direction; and then it was that the sun, which day by dayhad gradually risen higher in the heavens, stood vertically over ourheads, and then began to change its position, shining at last uponmy left hand instead of upon my right. Evening after evening, too,brought into view constellations that were quite unknown to us; andso great was the amazement of all on board, that I resolved uponholding a general consultation of officers and pilots, and the moreintelligent of the sailors, in order to discover a solution of themystery.

  Hamilcar gave it as his opinion that the gods must have been makingsome alterations in the face of the heavens; Hasdrubal suggested thatperhaps we had passed the bounds of our own world and entered uponanother; whilst Himilco avowed his suspicion that unless somethingof that kind had occurred, the world must be round, and we were onthe other side of it. Absurd and outrageous as Himilco's conjectureappeared to every one else, I confess it chimed in to a certaindegree with my own speculations, and set me reflecting that if itwere so it must be the sun and the stars that were standing still,and the world that was moving round them. But, after all, Himilco wasmuch more inclined to believe in a prodigy than to entertain any ofthese fanciful theories.

  Pressed with inquiries as to what I intended to do, I announcedmy resolution of continuing my course to the south; if ultimatelythe coast should incline to the west (or what I presumed to bethe west), I should return to the Fortunate Islands; but if, as Ianticipated, it turned to the east, I should go on following it,under the expectation of getting to the north at last, and reachingEgypt by way of the Sea of Reeds. This scheme of circumnavigating theentire land of Libya commended itself entirely to the judgment of mypilots, but it quite baffled the comprehension of Hannibal and allthe landsmen.

  When I spoke to Hannibal about arriving at Egypt, he looked quiteaghast, and exclaimed:

  "Egypt! here are we sailing farther and farther away from theStraits of Gades; and yet you talk about getting this way to Egypt.Impossible!"

  "Patience!" I said; "perhaps we may find you a short cut even yet!"

  He shook his head dubiously; and even Hanno observed that themysteries of navigation were very abstruse, and that the studieswhich he had pursued at Sidon did not enable him to solve theseenigmas.

  "Ah! you should have travelled more, young man," said Himilco; "andyou should have learned to know the stars."

  "I should think this voyage is travelling enough for any one,"replied Hanno.

  Chamai merely remarked that he was quite sure that they mightall rely with perfect confidence in my judgment. And thus theconsultation was brought to a close.

  Many times did we approach the coast with the intention of landing;but either it was utterly desolate, or it was so crowded with blackmen, who yelled and assumed such a threatening attitude, that wealways postponed any attempt to go ashore. One night in particular,as we were passing under a promontory that I had named "the chariotof the gods," the noises we heard seemed of so threatening acharacter that I deemed it prudent to put out a little further tosea; but at length our provisions began to run short, and therewas nothing to be done but to venture on land. Bichri, patient andenduring as he ever was, complained of living on salt fish; Jonahmurmured that there was short allowance for ourselves, and no fruitfor Gebal; and Hannibal regretted that we were losing our chance ofpicking up gold. I was accordingly induced to lay to as soon as Ifound a convenient opportunity.

  Our anchorage was the estuary of a river apparently as large as theEgyptian Nile; its banks were covered with thick woods; numbers ofcrocodiles and hippopotamuses were visible in the water by its shore;and great birds, uttering shrill and piercing cries, whirled aroundabove our h
eads.

  For four days we wandered about without finding any sign of humanbeing; we obtained, however, an abundance of wild fruit, and shotseveral buffaloes and antelopes, of which a great portion of theflesh was carried on board and salted. On returning from one of theforaging excursions, Bichri came running to me, looking utterlywoe-begone; he was followed by Dionysos, weeping bitterly, and Jonah,gesticulating vehemently, and apparently as much agitated as himself.

  "What's the matter, Bichri?" I asked.

  "Gebal has gone!" he exclaimed; "he has been carried off byBodmilcar's monkeys."

  I burst out laughing. In his indignation he looked as if he couldhave annihilated me.

  "I am sure they were Bodmilcar's!" he insisted; "creatures with longtails; they took him away; he never would have gone with them of hisown accord."

  Nothing I could do served to calm him; he would not be pacified untilI allowed him to take some men and go out again in search of hislost favourite; but in the evening they all returned worn out withfatigue, only to announce, as might have been expected, that theirsearch had been fruitless. There was no doubt the monkey had beendelighted to join the troop of his own tribe that was gambolling inthe woods. Bichri was very inadequately consoled for his loss bybringing back a great black monster, which, after he had wounded it,the men that were with him, in spite of the huge brute's desperatedefence, had succeeded in despatching with their pikes. It certainlywas a most formidable-looking creature, and I subsequently had itstuffed, and it may now be seen in the temple of Ashtoreth inSidon. Bichri told us that after it had six or seven arrows in itsbody it snapped a pike-staff in two as easily as if it had been areed; upon which Hannibal remarked that the strength that could breakasunder a pike-handle made of oak of Bashan must be prodigious.

  IT SNAPPED A PIKE STAFF IN TWO. _To face page 301._]

  We were obliged to depart without finding any vestige of Gebal. Aftersailing on for about a fortnight, our supplies again ran short, andas we were discussing what steps we should take in consequence,Hannibal interrupted us by shouting:

  "A gaoul ahead!"

  Every eye was bent in the direction to which we were pointed, andsure enough there was a gaoul of Phœnician build; but on fartherscrutiny it was evident that it was all dismantled, and drifting atthe mercy of the waves.

  "May be a ruse of Bodmilcar's," suggested Himilco.

  Taking his hint, we approached very cautiously, and it was not untilwe had thoroughly satisfied ourselves that there was no one on boardto answer our signals that we ventured close alongside. It wasperfectly deserted.

  Gisgo said that he remembered having once abandoned his ship off thePityusai Islands, and that probably this was a similar case; but hecould not understand what current could have borne the gaoul to thisdistant shore.

  "Never mind where she comes from," I answered; "let us hope she mayprove a godsend."

  Hannibal and Himilco, who went on board, brought back the welcomeintelligence that the hold was well freighted with corn and wine, thewhole of which we joyfully transferred to our own vessels, leavingthe empty hull again to the wind and waves. In the evening I causedan offering to be made to Ashtoreth in acknowledgment of her manifestinterference on our behalf.

  Next day we hove in sight of a lofty promontory, the top of which wasas flat as a table. A strong gale was springing up.

  "Never mind the wind," cried Jonah. "What do I care for the windnow? I've a purse full of gold; plenty to eat; plenty to drink; and ared tunic before long. Tempests be hanged! Long live the King!"

  The gale for some days increased in violence, and all attempts atsteering were quite useless. When, after eight days, the sea becamecalmer, I could make out that the land was lying to our left. Thiswas according to my prognostications, and I followed the coast tothe north with renewed confidence, day by day becoming more and moreconvinced that the sun was again rising in the heavens; and onelovely night, about a fortnight afterwards, Himilco suddenly seizedmy arm, and making me point to the northern horizon, exclaimed in avoice trembling with excitement:

  "See, the Cabiri!"

  "Yes; true enough; there are the Cabiri," I answered, as full ofdelight as he was himself. "We have accomplished an unheard-ofthing," I added; "we have circumnavigated Libya."

  "And to-morrow," he said, "we shall have the sun once more on ourright; we are on our way to the Sea of Reeds."

  "Aye, to the Sea of Reeds! and to Sidon, our own Sidon! Sidon theglorious, Sidon the incomparable!"

  There was none to witness; the crew were sleeping in their berths;and in the fervour of our enthusiasm we threw ourselves into eachother's arms.

  A month later, as we were taking in fresh water at the mouth of ariver, we fell in with some black men, who bore a marked resemblanceto the Ethiopians, who are often seen in Egypt. One of them couldspeak a little Egyptian; he told me he had learnt it in Ethiopia,which is subject to Pharaoh. His own country, he stated, was sixmonths' journey below the southernmost limit of Ethiopia; but hecould give no information whatever about its distance by sea.These negroes called themselves Kouch, and having never seen anyPhœnicians, took us for Egyptians; but as soon as we explainedthat so far from being subjects of Pharaoh we were enemies of theMisraim, they welcomed us as friends, and treated us with the utmostcordiality. They had evidently a great abhorrence of the Egyptianson account of the cruel ravages that had been committed on theirnorthern boundaries.

  For the next three months we never found a favourable wind to speedus on our way. We employed our time in transacting business with theKouch, and in making hunting-expeditions into the interior of thecountry. In the way of exchanges we procured gold, ivory, pearls,and skins; and an immense success attended our hunting-excursionsin a region that was found to abound in elephants, rhinoceros, andgiraffes, as well as in smaller game. There was not one of us who hadnot some trophy of our good fortune or our skill to exhibit. Bichrikilled a lion, with the skin of which he made himself a mantle, andeven little Dionysos brought down a panther.

  At length the opportunity for which we had watched so eagerlyarrived, and we set sail once more. Ten days after our departure,while a stiffish breeze was blowing from the north-east, I noticednot very far ahead of us a large Phœnician gaoul, which appearedto have sustained some damage, and to be drifting along underthe action of the wind. In answer to my signals, she gave me tounderstand that she had lost some oars and her yard-arm, and that shewas in need of help. Always anxious to render assistance to a vesselin distress, but yet fearful of treachery I immediately ordered outmy men, but meanwhile instructed Hannibal to have the catapults inreadiness; and thus prepared, the _Ashtoreth_ approached the gaoul onone side, and the _Adonibal_ on the other, the _Cabiros_ following inthe rear.

  There was no need for any apprehension on my part. As soon as we werefairly within view of each other, the captain, standing on the stern,raised his arms and shouted:

  "By Baal Chamaim! it's Mago!"

  "By Ashtoreth and all that's holy!" I exclaimed; "it is my cousinEthbaal!"

  The recognition was a mutual pleasure; our ships were soon alongside,and we were grasping each other's hands.

  "How rejoiced I am to see you, Mago!" he repeated over and overagain; "Phœnicia has given you up in despair; every one mournedyou as lost. By Ashtoreth! you must have been saved by a miracle!"

  And he put his hands upon my shoulders and long and keenlyscrutinised my face.

  "Tell me two things," I said; "where am I? and what has brought youhere?"

  Ethbaal seemed full of surprise; but said:

  "Come, come; you are laughing at me. You must know well enough whereyou are."

  I assured him that I was in earnest in what I said, and repeatedmy assertion that I was by no means aware of where I was; and whenHimilco informed him that we had come from a place where the Cabiricould not be seen at all, and where the sun shone on the wrong sideof us, he looked as if he thought we had taken leave of our senses.Nor did he appear to understand much better when Himilc
o went on toexpatiate upon having once drunk fish-oil, and having had no wine formany months together.

  "Mysterious!" muttered Ethbaal to himself; "here is Mago, closeto the entrance of the Sea of Reeds, only six days' voyage fromOphir, and yet he comes from the south, after sailing four years agowestward to Tarshish! Strange!"

  He pondered awhile, and then addressed himself to me:

  "Yes; you are close to the Sea of Reeds."

  I uttered an exclamation of delight, and turning to my people criedtriumphantly:

  "Was I not right? Did I not tell you that we were on our way toEgypt? Lucky we did not turn back from the Fortunate Islands!"

  Ethbaal appeared to be confirmed in his suspicion that I must bemad, and declared his total ignorance of the Fortunate Islands:

  "I have never heard of them!"

  "No, nor yet of the Tin Islands; nor yet of Prydhayn; nor yet of theriver of the Suomi; nor yet of the chariot of the gods," exclaimedHimilco. "Compared with us you are mere coasters, loafing about incockle-shells."

  Genuine Sidonian as he was, my cousin could not brook any insinuationagainst his seamanship, and colouring deeply at the slight which heconceived was offered to him, he said in a tone of anger:

  "Out upon your insolence! do you call a man a coaster who has madethe voyage to Ophir? do you call my gaoul a cockle-shell? Are youmad, or are you drunk, you one-eyed fool?"

  Himilco, recalled to a sense of propriety, changed his banter intocajolery:

  "Now then, my dear fellow, you can do a great deal better than bullyme. Haven't you a little wine on board? It would be a great boon togive us a skin; we haven't tasted a drop this two months."

  I interceded with Ethbaal, asking him to overlook what might seemto be rudeness on the part of Himilco, and assured him that ouradventures had been so extraordinary that he must really pardon alittle bragging. He not only took my mediation in a good spirit, butsent for a goat-skin of wine, which he himself handed to Himilco, intoken of forgiveness. Saying that he should make an offering with itto the Cabiri, the pilot emptied so large a share of the contentsdown his throat that his companions began to wonder when his draughtwas coming to an end, and almost despaired of the wine lasting outtill it should come to their turn to partake of it.

  "Glorious wine! wine of Arvad, Hannibal," he said, smacking his lipsas he removed the goat-skin from his mouth, and passed it to therest.

  Gisgo and Hannibal clutched at the bottle together.

  "Nay, nay, my friends," cried Ethbaal; "do not be fighting for thewine. I have plenty more. My cargo is all wine which I am carrying toOphir."

  "Could you not take me with you?" asked Himilco eagerly; "my servicesare quite at your disposal."