O'er Many Lands, on Many Seas
Page 7
yourpower, be that little or be it much, by deeds or by words alone, to wipeout the curse.
Had you seen what I have seen of it, had you sojourned where I havesojourned, you would have witnessed deeds that would harrow your mind tothink of even till your dying day.
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My life on board the _Niobe_ was altogether a very pleasant one; thebest part of it was the long glorious cruises we used to have in openboats. Fancy, if you can, going away in a well-found boat, away fromyour ship entirely for, perhaps, a month or six weeks at a time, in theglorious summer weather, with the blue sky above, the blue sea below,and hardly ever more wind than sufficed to cool and fan you, and toraise the sea into a gentle ripple. We cruised along the coast, wecooked our food on shore--and oh! what jolly "spreads" they used to be,what soups, what stews!--we cruised along the coast, and we sailed orpulled up rivers, and into many a lovely wooded creek, going everywhere,in fact, where there was a chance of capturing a slaver, or of making aprize. When the slave ships ran we chased them, when they fired on uswe fought them, and they were always beaten. They might win a race, butnever a battle. We were some fifty men strong; we never stopped,therefore, for an invitation to go on board; we went, sword or cutlassin hand, and they were bound to give way.
But to me, I think, the glad sense of being away from the ship and ofleading a free and roving life, was the greatest part of the pleasure,and I used to be so sorry when we bore up at last for the rendezvouswhere we were to meet our ship.
That, then, was the bright side of the picture of my life in these gladold days. And I must confess that it really had not a dark one,although sadness used to steal over my heart, when letters came fromwhat others called home--England.
Home! To me the word had no other meaning except the wide ocean, andyet when I saw others reading their letters with such joy depicted onevery countenance, well--it was very foolish of me, no doubt--but I usedto steal away into some quiet corner, and weep.
"Now, my lad," cried Roberts to me one day. "Get that twopenny-ha'pennycutlass of yours out, and prepare to go on shore. We're going upcountry to fight those rascally Arabs. We are going to storm Zareppa'sown stronghold."
"Hurrah!" I shouted; "And you will really take me with you, MrRoberts?"
"That I will, lad; and you're not your father's son unless you know howto behave yourself in presence of a foe."
I said nothing; but at that moment I almost thought that Robertsinstigated an act on my part, which followed some days after this. Hadhe not mentioned Zareppa and my father in two consecutive sentences--myfather and my father's slayer?
"Oh!" I said inwardly, "could I but meet the man face to face!" What achildish thought, you will say, for a mere stripling, with atwopenny-ha'penny cutlass! The cutlass, by the way, was a middy's dirk,of which I felt very proud indeed.
The boats were called away. The expedition against the Arab strongholdwas going to be "a big thing," as Roberts said, so every man that couldbe spared from the ship joined it.
Our guide was poor Sweeba. This negro had but one thought in life;namely, to avenge the murder of his family. I'm afraid that revenge isa very human though an improper feeling; and it is easy enough tounderstand, without attempting to justify, Sweeba's thirst forvengeance. I hope that I myself shall never forget that Bible textwhich says--
"Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."
The utmost caution was necessary in passing up through the forest andjungle, for we were surrounded by enemies on all sides. However, wemade forced marches in silence and all by night, and in three days'time, being favoured by fortune, we arrived in front of Zareppa'sstronghold, and within two miles of the place. We lay closely hiddentill daybreak, a good two hours, sending Sweeba forward to scout. Hereturned shortly with the intelligence that the Arabs were in greatforce, and had both camels and cavalry, and that they had also thrown upa strong earthwork on the hill around their position.
Before sunrise we were ready; a mere band we were, but a brave one,about one hundred and twenty in all, bluejackets and marines. Ere thesun had mounted over the forest land we were close upon Zareppa'sposition, and in the darkness our fellows had even cut out a company ofwar and baggage camels. It was here that the fighting first began, buttaken by surprise, the camel-drivers, after a faint show of resistance,fled hurriedly up towards the fort.
It was now daylight, but the beams of the sun were sadly shorn by thesmoke that arose from the fort as a tremendous volley was fired to checkour advance. Under cover of this volley down thundered the foe to thecharge. But little more than two hundred yards intervened between thefort and our fellows. Yet many a horse lost its rider, many a brave andstately Arab bit the dust, ere the enemy reached us.
I cannot describe what followed. No one can give an account of anythingsave his own experience in a fight like this. The enemy fought withterrible courage. Again and again were they foiled, again and again didthey return to the charge with redoubled determination. They leaped onour very bayonets, over their own wounded, and their dead and dying felltogether in heaps. But all in vain. Zareppa at last, despairing ofsuccess, withdrew his daring followers.
"Now, lads," cried our commander, "follow me into the fort. They haveshown us how Arabs fight; we will now show them what true Britons cando. Hurrah!"
The wild "Deen! deen!" of the Arab is nothing in strength of volume tothe stern British "Hurrah!" It is a war-cry that has struck terror intothe hearts of foemen on every land on which the sun shines. It is awar-cry that means business. It meant business to-day, as our fellowsdashed up that hill and entered the fort. Then the fighting commencedin deadly earnest; the Arabs had leaped from their chargers, which wereheld in readiness in the rear, and fought with swords only, even theirspears being for a time discarded. Our fellows fought with sword, withbayonet, or with butt-end, and men fell fast on both sides.
Only once during this fight Roberts was near me, but then his good swordsaved me from a fearful cut. "Back to the rear, boy," I heard him yell;"you're too young for this work."
But, look! yonder is the chief, yonder is Zareppa. Though I had neverseen him before, an instinct seemed to tell me that that was the man whohad slain my father. I flew at him--foolishly enough, no doubt--flew athim as if I had been a wild cat. I clutched his belt and raised my armto strike. He bore me to the ground by a blow from his sword-hilt. Heseemed to scorn to fight with such as I.
Next moment he himself was down. Sweeba had felled him, but was, in histurn, cut down almost immediately. On the ground I grappled again withthe pirate chief. It seems all like a dream now, but I have littledoubt my agility saved me, and enabled me to make such good use of mydirk that Zareppa never rose again.
Years after this I knew we had gained this fight, but now, as for me, Iwas taken prisoner, bound hand and foot, and carried into the interior.After the death of their chief, the Arabs had fought only long enough tosecure possession of the boy who had killed their leader. This done,they mounted and fled.
I was, it would seem, reserved for the torture. But the king of awarlike tribe fancied the boy for a white slave, and the cupidity of theArabs overcame their love even for vengeance--I was sold into slavery.
Then began a long, dreary march into the interior. It is only fair tosay, however, that from the commencement King Otakooma was not unkind tome. He ordered my wrists to be untied, and I was set free--such freedomas it was, for with a mob of savages around me I dared not attempt toescape. Indeed, I cared little now what became of me, and for the firstfew days I refused all food. Then nature asserted herself, and I ategreedily of the fruit that grew plentifully everywhere in the countrythrough which we were passing.
I had pulled what appeared to me a most delicious-looking large berry,when suddenly I heard our chief shriek.
"_Oa eeah wa ka_!" and at the same moment the fruit was dashed from myhand ere I could convey it to my lips. I knew from this it was
poison.Then the chief called me towards him, and placed me on the grass, andput before me a plate of boiled paddy [a kind of rice] and a brightglittering dagger. I knew what he meant, and chose the paddy. Then theking laughed till his fat sides shook again. He was a sort ofhalf-caste Arab, I suppose, and yellow, not black. Perhaps his colourmade him king, for his followers were very black, tall, wiry, andsavage-looking.
The king on the other hand simply looked good-humouredly idiotic, but Ifound out afterwards that he could be both cruel and fierce, and thoughnot a cannibal, he was addicted to human sacrifices. Piles of skullsadorned his palace grounds. He built them up like rockeries, andflowers actually grew on them, although they had never been planted.
As soon as I had eaten the rice, he patted my cheek and asked me,through a boy interpreter, if I would have some rum. I refused;