CHAPTER XVI.
PERILS OF THE OCEAN.
For a whole week I followed the coast steadily to the north, andhaving rounded a lofty promontory, bore towards the east. In all myprevious navigation I had never experienced such difficult sailing,nor seen waves more angry than those which dashed against the cliffsthat formed the shore. One headland there was which took us littleshort of four days to double, and it was not until we had beenbattling for more than a fortnight with continual tempest that wefound ourselves in calmer waters and off a flat coast, of which,after the mountains had come to their limit, the direction was againnorthwards. We were all greatly fatigued.
Before we had proceeded much further we came to a river with a mouthso wide that at first I imagined it to be a gulf; the shores oneither hand were wooded and undulating, and the general aspect ofthe country was so inviting that I determined to lay to, and hadno difficulty in finding excellent anchorage about half-way up theestuary.
"By all that's good!" exclaimed Gisgo, "I recognise those cabins.That's a Celtic village;" and he pointed to a cluster of huts, withconical roofs made of thatched reeds, and without more ado madefour rowers pull him ashore in a boat to pay a visit to his formeracquaintances.
He was not mistaken. In half an hour our vessels were surrounded bythe ill-made coracles of the inquisitive Celts some of whom wereso eager to scrutinise us that they swam out all the way from theshore; and our decks were soon invaded by numbers of them, who, withloud laughter and much gesticulating, began talking all at once in alanguage which was anything but euphonious. They appeared perfectlyfriendly, and were far less barbarous in their manners than thepeople of Tarshish. They were dressed in very short tunics, made ofcoarse material woven by themselves, and their legs were coveredwith trousers that came to the ankles; their faces were round, andgenerally bore a good-humoured expression; their eyes were bright,and for the most part blue; their hair light brown, and occasionallyquite flaxen. Some of them had bronze weapons and jewellery, whichhad found their way from Phœnicia along the Rhone by means of theSalians; the majority of them, however, still retained their wooden,stone, or bone implements, many of which were very well made.
The Celts, as I learnt on visiting one of their villages built uponpiles in the water, are very expert fishermen. I bought some golddust of them in exchange for some of my goods, which they seemed gladto obtain. They all agreed in affirming that they had come from thenorth-east, and had been established for nearly a century in theirpresent localities, whence they had driven out some people resemblingthe Iberians and Ligurians; and they said that in the regions behindthem there were some other tribes of Celts, whom they called Gaulsand Cymri.
After leaving their "mas," as they termed their village, I returnedto the ships, and we resumed our northward course. Eight days'moderate sailing brought us into a labyrinth of rocky shoals andislands. On the mainland we found some more Celts, who told us thatthe name of the country was Ar-Mor, that is to say, "the land ofthe sea;" and relying on their statement that north of their owncountry there was a large island both rich and fertile, I resolved toprosecute my voyage in that direction.
Two days later we were overtaken by a tremendous tempest, and thesea being at the same time overhung by a dense fog, which my peoplecalled "the lungs of the ocean," we were tossed about by the foamingwaves, and seemed for several succeeding days to be wandering in thegloomy realms of the dead. By the evening of the fifth day we hadlost all reckoning of our position, and were drifting helplessly atthe mercy of the wind and waves. Towards midnight, overcome withfatigue, I was dozing at the foot of the mast, when I was aroused byHimilco's stentorian shout, "Breakers ahead!"
In an instant I was upon my feet, and at the helmsman's side.
"Backwater!" I shouted, "and signal the other ships."
All hastened to light the torches and lamps; but it was too late--along cry of distress made us aware that the _Dagon_ had alreadystranded, and as I tacked about to effect a retreat, I witnessed theheart-breaking spectacle of the _Cabiros_ completely heeled over, andlying in the very midst of the breakers.
The _Ashtoreth_, although she was hitherto uninjured, was environedby reefs which were level with the surface of the water. The currentwas so strong that all my efforts to get back to the channel bywhich we had entered were unavailing, and after an hour's struggleI still found myself near enough to hear the surf curling over thepeaks of the rocks. For nearly the twentieth time I gave the orderto tack, when a sudden and ominous crash revealed the appalling factthat we had struck the shoal, and were aground; and all through thatpitch-black night we had to endure the torture of believing that allour vessels were irretrievably lost.
The wind dropped with the first streak of dawn, and beyond thebreakers I could distinguish that the sea was calm, and that wewere not much more than half a stadium from the shore. Shipwreckedthough we might be, our lives were spared, and our situation was notaltogether so desperate as we had imagined. The _Cabiros_ was safe,in spite of her disaster, and had been hauled up on shore; but the_Dagon_, it was only too evident, was in a very critical position.I ordered all my men to abandon the ships and make for land. Someof them hung back, unwilling to leave me; Chamai being so reluctantto go that he had to be sent ashore by main force, and Hamilcar,Hasdrubal, Gisgo, and Himilco all pleading so earnestly to remainwith me that I was forced to consent. My own resolution, of course,was to abide, while the planks held together, with the ship that hadcarried us so far in safety.
As the day advanced the swell gradually abated, and the pale-bluesky was broken by fleecy clouds; not far away we could see the greenshore, where our people were standing on the water's edge wavingsigns of encouragement, and very soon Bichri and Dionysos managed toclamber over the rocks and to come aboard our vessel.
At low tide I made a careful examination of the keels, and found thatnot only was the keel of the _Ashtoreth_ very little injured, butthat her stern was wedged so tightly between the two rocks that herposition was secure; at the same time she had not been jammed in soviolently but that I hoped a high tide might float her again. Withthe _Dagon_, however, the case was unfortunately very different; shehad been dashed so hopelessly against the jutting crags that she mustinevitably go to pieces, and I lost no time in beginning to unloadher.
Our people had discovered a stream of fresh water, and a neighbouringwood afforded fuel, so that the spot was very favourable for a camp,the whole arrangement of which I deputed to Hannibal, who immediatelyenclosed the site with an intrenchment. Having completed the task ofunloading both ships, we took down the mast of the _Ashtoreth_, andrescued from the _Dagon_ as much planking and as many fittings as wecould, as well as the best part of her copper sheathing. Lightenedby the removal of her cargo and rigging, the _Ashtoreth_, under theinfluence of a stiffish breeze, was set afloat on the third dayamidst general acclamation, and so admirably was she managed byHimilco, that she was soon brought to land, and laid high and dryupon the shore.
I DID WHAT I COULD TO CONSOLE HASDRUBAL. _To face page 247._]
I did what I could to console Hasdrubal for the loss of his ship, buthe wept tears of bitter sorrow as he saw his ill-fated _Dagon_ breakup before his eyes.
For some days we had seen no trace of any natives, and were in wantof provisions. I was preparing to send out two boats on a fishingexcursion, when we caught sight of a long coracle rounding thepoint that sheltered our position. It was made of hides stretchedout upon a wooden frame, and was paddled by four men, half-naked.On nearing us they hesitated, but we made signs to them of ourfriendly intentions, and they came on and landed. Gisgo, recognisingthem as Celts, both by their physiognomy and general aspect, beganto address them in their own language, and they answered him veryvolubly, making many gesticulations all the time they were speaking.So delighted did they profess themselves at meeting with peoplewho understood their tongue, that they insisted on kissing us; andnotwithstanding the smell of their long hair, which was reeking withrancid grease, we were obliged to sub
mit to their embraces.
Gisgo told us that although they spoke a language similar to that ofthe southern and central Celts, they were really the Cymri, a kindredtribe from the north, where they inhabited an island which theycalled Prydhayn; they seemed restless and inquisitive, overwhelmingus with all manner of questions; they were tall and handsome, andhad pink and white complexions, eyes of azure blue, and hair of thecolour of ripe corn.
"Fine soldiers these fellows would make," said Hannibal; "I shouldlike to have a thousand of them to drill; I would soon be more than amatch for Bodmilcar."
To Bichri's remark that they seemed to have no bows, Gisgo repliedthat he had seen them with bows occasionally, but that theirordinary weapons were lances and hatchets, of which the stone tipsand blades were always sharp and often beautifully made.
I had the men questioned as to whether they had any previousknowledge of the Phœnicians. They said that their kinsmen, theCymri of the north, had often spoken of strangers with dark skinsand black hair, who came in large ships and brought beautifulmerchandise, but that they themselves had never been thrown intocontact with them.
JUDGE GEBAL. _To face page 248._]
I made them a number of presents, and much to Himilco's annoyance(for he knew our supply was rapidly diminishing), I gave them somewine. This exhilarated them very much for a time, although theirshouting and screaming ended in some bickerings amongst themselves;to us, however, they were civil, and in spite of a little roughness,we found their manners so kind, that it was impossible to be in anyway alarmed at them. When they went away they promised to returnin the evening, and bring their whole population and some goods inreturn for our presents, but we saw nothing more of them until thenext morning, when they came followed by a whole retinue of men,women, and children, but all of them quite empty-handed. Rushinginto the camp with great excitement, they overwhelmed us with theirembraces, and asked such countless questions that I was quitebewildered; they insisted upon helping us to arrange our camp, butintroduced disorder wherever they went: loud in their praises ofwhat they saw, they were scrupulously honest, and did not attempt topurloin the smallest article, but their inquisitiveness and theirmeddling rendered them a perpetual nuisance. They tried Hannibal'stemper sorely, by handling his cuirass and helmet; the more he pushedthem off the more they laughed and enjoyed his annoyance. Chryseisand Abigail had a hard matter to keep them from stripping them, intheir curiosity to examine their clothes. Judge Gebal did not fail toprovide them boundless amusement, and they roared with laughter asBichri and Dionysos made their mischievous little quadruped showoff his antics. Some of my people regretted that we had lost theattraction of Jonah's trumpet, but there was a sufficient variety ofobjects without that to give them abundance of diversion.
Amidst all this, however, I did not suffer myself to forget eitherof the two grand objects of my voyage, the discovery of new landsand the acquisition of rare commodities; and accordingly I took muchpains to examine the people about the situation and configuration,both of their own islands and of the land we had just left.They seemed a very intelligent race, and I found that they wereadventurous, frequently accomplishing long distances in their canoesof hide. According to their information we were now on the largestand most important of a group of twelve small islands,[42] but thatthe great island Prydhayn was so large that it took them no lessthan two months to circumnavigate it in their canoes, from which Idrew the inference that it must be as large as Tarshish. I requestedthe men to bring me whatever food they had for sale, and they neverfailed subsequently in keeping me well supplied with fish andvenison. Seeing at once that they were not an agricultural people, Imade no demands for corn and vegetables; but as some time afterwardsa small quantity of barley and some other edible grain arrived fromPrydhayn, I conjectured that some of the natives are beginning tohave some notion of husbandry.
[42] The Scilly Islands, the Cassiterides, or Tin islands of the ancients.
I was much struck by the number of trinkets that the Cymri wore abouttheir persons; and observing that the metal of which many of themwere made was singularly white, I was curious to know what it wasand where it could be procured. To my surprise, and I may add to mydelight, I was informed that the island on which we were encampedyielded it in great abundance, and I lost no time in investigatingthe veins of ore. Accompanied by a few men, I set out upon a searchwhich was rewarded by the discovery that the entire island was onevast mine of tin.
A scheme suggested itself to my mind which I resolved to carry out.With the wood obtained either here or from the neighbouring largeisland, I determined to build a new ship to replace the shattered_Dagon_; and during the time that it was being constructed I purposedgathering such a store of metal as would form a cargo far surpassinganything of the kind which Phœnicia had witnessed before. Everyone around me most heartily approved of my project.
In return for a few trifling knick-knacks, and for some fragmentsof the old copper sheathing of the _Dagon_, the natives willinglyacquiesced in our working their mines, and in letting us portions oftheir territory for as long as we pleased to retain it; in fact, theyseemed to wish that we would settle permanently amongst them; theyvolunteered their assistance in every way, and our camp was quiteover-stocked with the produce of their hunting and fishing, whilstfor the presents we made them they were profuse in their expressionsof pleasure and gratitude. In spite of their restlessness,inquisitiveness, and love of talking, I have no hesitation inpronouncing them the most favourable specimens of savages we hadhitherto seen.
Our arrangements were soon made. Hamilcar, with Bichri and twentyarchers, started on board the _Cabiros_ to explore the islands andthe coast of Prydhayn; Hasdrubal and Gisgo undertook the supervisionof the working of the mines; I remained with Himilco in the camp todevote myself to the construction of our new ship; and, first of all,in order to protect our men against the rainy and rigorous climate,I had some substantial huts erected, as being more suitable than thetents. For Hannibal and Chamai there was no definite employment,and they spent most of their time in hunting and fishing, and injoining in the sports of the islanders, whom they began to instructin military drill; and never had they found more apt or devotedlearners.
One day Hannibal and Chamai made their appearance among us with theirchins closely shorn, and no hair left on the face except a moustacheon the upper lip; they had fraternised so far with the savages as toconform to their fashion.
"You cut fine figures," I said, laughing; "go and paint your faces,and you will make capital Cymri."
Hannibal tried by very elaborate reasoning to justify his proceeding,alleging that one ought to conform to national customs, and that asthe warriors here had their faces shorn, it was right that he as awarrior amongst warriors should do the same.
"And Abigail," said Chamai, "thinks the change is very becoming tome."
This argument being unanswerable, I had not another word to say.
Days, weeks and months glided on whilst we continued our activethough somewhat monotonous labours.
When Hamilcar returned from his cruise, he informed us that he hadnot only made his way along the west coast of the great island, butthat, still farther to the west, he had discovered a somewhat smallerisland which he had completely circumnavigated; the natives, he said,called it Erin, or "the green isle," from its remarkable verdure, andI retained the name.
The winter came on, cold and drear. I have no power to describe theconsternation of those of our party who had never before seen frostor snow; nothing but the sternest necessity could induce them everto leave their huts. The poor monkey suffered excessively. Bichri andDionysos alone seemed unaffected by the fall of temperature; theywere always ready to join the young Cymri in games of snowballing,and would glide along the frozen surface of the water until theirfaces glowed again with the exertion.
Under Bichri's tuition the little Phocian boy was becoming an adeptin the use both of the sling and of the bow; he seemed alwaysdelighted to be bringing back
from his hunting excursions freshtrophies of his skill.
The most hipped of all the party was Himilco; not that the sturdypilot had more dread than the rest of mists and frosts, but becausehe was much disconcerted at the rapid diminution in our stock of wine.
"Ah me!" he would sigh, as each goat-skin was drained; "another gone!we shall have nothing but water with which to greet the advent ofspring. Ah, yes! it is time we were back again in Phœnicia; itwould do one good to see the vines on the hill-side of Berytos."
In his forebodings Himilco found a genuine sympathiser in Hannibal,who (although I should not like to say that there was one amongst uswho would not be sorry for all our wine to be exhausted) was the onlyone who openly shared the regret of our thirsty pilot.
At length the days grew longer and brighter, and the sea, which hadbeen almost always angry and restless, settled down into somethingof a calm. Our new ship was finished. We launched it on our feast ofnavigation, and not only did the Cymri come to assist, but in honourof the occasion their priests and priestesses stripped themselves oftheir clothes, and stained their bodies with blue and black paint. Inthe evening we had a banquet of fish, venison, barley, and some ofthe esculents of the country. We also finished the last drop of ourwine.
"Let us drink to our prosperous return," said Himilco.
"It is much too soon to speak about that," I rejoined; "our voyage asyet is far from its end."
Every one looked at me in bewilderment; it had never occurred to themthat we could be bound elsewhere than for Sidon. Chamai asked whetherwe were going to have a little further benefit of "the lungs of thesea."
"You are perfectly at liberty to go home," I answered him. "This newship has been built, and I am quite prepared to let her return withher cargo and as many of you as are no longer disposed to encounterthe cold and mists."
Chamai started to his feet, and said impulsively:
"Surely, captain, you did not suppose I was in earnest; you cannotbelieve I was thinking of leaving you. I profess I do not like thischill and dreary climate; but you may rely on this, wherever you go,I shall go also."
I gave him my hand, assuring him that I had every confidence in hisfidelity, and then proceeded to explain the motive that induced me toextend my voyage. I showed them a fragment of a transparent yellowsubstance, which appeared to be comparable to some of the jewels ofour own land. The Celt who had given it me called it amber, and toldme that thirty days' sailing to the east would bring me to the shoreof a large continent where it was washed up in great abundance. Heretruly was a gift from Ashtoreth!
"And who knows," I continued, "whether the vast ocean which is unitedto the Great Sea at the Straits of Gades may not again be united toit in the east? Hitherto we have learnt nothing about the northernshores of the Black Sea, and who can tell whether we shall not beable to return to Sidon by way of Caria and Chittim?"
The familiar sound of these names rekindled the courage of my people,who one and all avowed their intention of accompanying me eastwardsto the amber-coast.
"Yes," said Himilco, "although the wine is all gone."
Our new vessel (which was called the _Adonibal_, after the navalsuffect at Utica) was well freighted with our cargo of tin; like theother ships, she took in a good supply of water and a quantity of drysalted meat, as well as some grain and some of the sour native fruits.
After bidding farewell to the kindly-disposed Cymri, who hadcontributed so much to our comfort during our long sojourn amongthem, we put out to sea. The islanders accompanied us for somedistance in their canoes, but we soon outstripped them and left themout of sight as we doubled the western extremity of Prydhayn.
Six days' rough sailing brought us to the eastern extremity of theisland; thence steering due east I came to a low flat coast, alongwhich I continued to advance very cautiously. This took us a week,at the end of which we found ourselves in a wide estuary, on the farside of which the coast resumed its northerly direction. In spite ofthe violent wind and angry sea I persisted in following the coast foryet five days more, seeking a passage towards the east, holding nocommunication with the natives, although the glow of the fires inlanddemonstrated that the country was inhabited. But at last the stateof our provisions and the continuance of rough weather compelled usto abandon all hope of discovering a passage, even if one existed,which probably after all was not the case, and we turned back,meeting on our way four large Cymrian canoes coming back from thecontinent, where their crews had been collecting amber. They assuredus we should find unlimited quantities on the eastern shore, and Iwas preparing to proceed thitherwards when we were enveloped in a fogso dense, that we were forced to lay to. We sent some boats out toreconnoitre; these had some difficulty in getting to the shore, butconsiderably more in getting back again to the ships, although I hadlighted a number of torches and lamps as beacons.
When the fog lifted a little we made our way very gradually until wecame to what looked like land. This was the amber country.
"Since there is nothing to be found at sea," I said, "let usdisembark."
But disembarkment was no easy matter. We had entered, without knowingit, into what seemed to be the estuary of a river; but we wereliterally imbedded in mire, and it was next to impossible to definethe boundary between the muddy water and the slimy shore; in thegloomy atmosphere, earth, air, sky, seemed all to be blended intoone. After four or five hours' toil the _Ashtoreth_ was moored ina small creek, and the other vessels were drawn up on what was thenearest approach to dry land that the sodden sands afforded. It tookthe rest of the day to dig a trench round the ships, and to make akind of encampment for ourselves; the fog again became extremelydense, and the gloomy day yielded only to a gloomier night.
Bichri, who with twenty men had started on a foraging expedition,returned shivering with cold; he brought some good faggots, which,though they were damp, were very resinous, and burnt well. We lightedas many fires as we could, and heedless of the volumes of smokewhich they emitted, we crouched closely around them as we cooked oursupper.
Chamai, who had wrapped himself tightly in his mantle, was the firstto break the depressing silence.
"Frightful, odious country!" he exclaimed, "can human creatures existin such a desolation as this? It is a place for monsters, not formen!"
"It would just suit old Jonah, then," said Hannibal, with a sigh; "itwould cheer us up, too, if Hanno were here to entertain us with asprinkling of his wit."
"I do not think we need have much fear on their account," I said; "bythis time, I should hope, they are pacing the sunny streets of Sidon,or enjoying the fragrant heights of Libanus."
"Yes; I daresay," Himilco assented; "and no doubt they have plenty ofgood wine to drink; wine, rich as nectar, from Helbon, Byblos, andSarepta!"
"There now, enough of that," cried Hannibal; "cease your talking, oryou will be making me as much a wine-bibber as yourself."
"Call me a wine-bibber?" groaned Hannibal, holding up a goblet ofturbid water; "do you think this is the kind of stuff to get tipsyon?"
The dull mist grew more and more chilling, and every one appearedquite benumbed. Gebal was wrapped up in folds of woollen cloth, whichBichri had provided for him, but was almost too paralysed to make agrimace. We crouched down still closer to our fires, and obtainedwhat unrefreshing sleep we could.
The morning dawned, grey, and almost as gloomy as ever, withoutone streak of sunlight. Red with anger was Chamai as he exclaimedimpatiently:
"I suppose the sun does not shine in these cursed regions!"
"Oh yes!" replied Gisgo, "he does come now and then, but he findseverything so confoundedly ugly, that he is glad to get back again tothe Great Sea, and to his own dear Phœnicia."
Aminocles once again became subject to his nervous fancies; he wassure that we must have entered Hades, and implored us to lose no timein offering a sacrifice to propitiate the gods of the lower world.Naturally enough we ridiculed his fears, but it cannot be denied thatthe influence of the climate is m
ost depressing, and conducing tohypochondria.
I urged upon my companions the importance of our seekingcommunication if possible with the natives, and as soon as we hadtaken our morning meal we arranged to set out and explore the river.Bichri and twenty men went forward as an advanced guard; I followedwith Hannibal and the main body of the fighting force; Hamilcar,with about thirty more, brought up the rear. Hasdrubal and fifty menwere told off to keep guard over the ships and encampment duringour absence. Just as he was setting out Bichri remarked that hewished he had Jonah with his trumpet to attract the attention of theinhabitants, but I bade him not to indulge just then in unavailingregrets.
After wading through such desperate quagmires that we could hardlydetermine whether we were going by land or by water, we arrived atsome forests consisting of black firs, and some other trees thatwere remarkable for their slimness and scanty grey foliage. The soileverywhere was marshy, and often broken by large pools. Although wedid not come across a human being, we observed many vestiges whichshowed that the place was by no means untrodden by the foot of man.In four places we passed some ruined reed-huts, surrounded by pilesof ashes, numbers of shells, and some gnawed bones that bore themarks of fire. But if men were wanting, animals abounded. At everyturn we noticed prints, large and small, of cloven hoofs, betokeningthat we were traversing the haunt both of bullocks and deer, some ofthe impressions being obviously those of very enormous creatures.Bichri, who followed one of the tracks for some distance into thewood, remarked that branches had been broken off the trees by theanimals' horns at so great a height from the ground, that he wasconvinced it had been done by a beast several hands taller thanthe largest horse. On our way back to the camp we saw two deer ofa smaller species; Gisgo recognised them as the same he had seenin the country of the Celts, who call them renns or reindeer; theytook to flight immediately they caught sight of us, a circumstancethat convinced me that the inhabitants were accustomed to hunt them;Bichri and Dionysos, however, not only contrived to get withinbowshot of them, but brought them both down, a great boon to us all,as we were in much need of fresh meat. The renns were about the sizeof a donkey; they had very slender legs, large hoofs, thick greyhair, a white spot upon their breasts, and large branching horns.
BICHRI AND DIONYSOS BROUGHT THEM BOTH DOWN. _To face page 258._]
Next day I sent Hamilcar with two boats to cruise along the coast,and taking nearly all the rest of my people and thirty archers withme, went myself to make a more thorough exploration of the country.We were met by a herd of wild bulls. We attacked them as vigorouslyas we could, but at the first touch of our arrows the brutes chargeddown upon us so furiously that we were obliged to take refuge behindthe trees. One poor soldier who could not succeed in getting out ofthe way was trampled under the animals' feet, and another was tossedinto the air so violently that his back was broken by the fall. Threeof the bullocks were killed, and after being cut in pieces, theirflesh was conveyed to the camp.
On our way back Bichri wounded a gigantic stag, which Chamaisucceeded in killing by stabbing it just below the shoulder-blade. Itwas of a kind which Gisgo said was not often seen by the Celts, andhe called it an elenn or eland. Elenns are considerably larger thanhorses, and as a general rule feed upon the lower branches of trees,their necks being so short and rigid that unless they can graze uponsoft soil into which they can sink nearly to their knees, they cannotget their heads down sufficiently low to reach the grass; they havevery formidable antlers, which do not stand high, but branch out verywide on both sides; their strength is enormous, and, unlike therest of the deer tribe, they do not exhibit terror when attacked, butboldly front the hunter. They are consequently animals which it isby no means prudent to assail in close quarters, as we subsequentlylearnt by our own experience.
Hamilcar returned, bringing a fair supply of amber that he hadcollected along the coast.
We remained in our quarters here for more than a fortnight, spendingour time in gathering amber, and subsisting upon whatever renns,elenns, or wild bulls we were able to kill.
The poor fellow who had been killed was buried where he had fallen.Over his grave was placed a stone engraved with his name and aninvocation to the gods.
Les aventures du Capitaine Magon. English Page 18