The White Witch of the South Seas gs-11

by Dennis Wheatley

  `One could drive that distance in two or three hours, so it might be an idea if I hired a car and went up with you. I'm not suggesting foisting myself on the de Carvalho’s for the night. I would drive back the same day. But I'd like to meet de Carvalho and my personal word that I was prepared to help finance you would carry more weight than your just telling him that you had found someone willing to do that. What do you think?'

  `It is an excellent idea. At the height of the flood, most of the telephone lines were out of action, but by now many of them will have been repaired. I will try to get through to him this evening and ask if I may bring you with me.'

  When they parted, Gregory felt that he had received a real tonic from the youthful enthusiasm of his young guest, and James was filled with admiration for the knowledge and savoir faire of his much travelled host. This mutual attraction led to their taking leave of each other as though they were old friends.

  That evening James rang up to say that he had succeeded in getting through to de Carvalho and that the financier would be pleased for Gregory also to spend the Saturday night at his fazenda. Gregory then insisted that he should hire the car to take them, and it was agreed that they should set off from the Copacabana Palace at nine o'clock on the Saturday morning.

  The call had come through while Gregory was dining with Manon in the restaurant. When he returned to their table he told her only that on Saturday he was going up country on a business matter, so would be away that night end most of Sunday.

  At that she pouted. But, with a laugh, he reminded her that she had lunched with friends and for the next few days had accepted several other invitations. Swiftly she decided that she would be wise to reverse her policy and remain with him as much as possible, so minimising the risk of his becoming interested in anyone else.

  The Wellesleys had rung Gregory up several times to enquire about his injured ankle and, now that the floods had subsided, they were to lunch with him the following day. Manon made a fourth, and once more they enjoyed the brilliant sunshine on the terrace round the swimming pool, making a jolly party.

  During the meal Hugo said that he had failed to trace Gregory's rescuer, to which Gregory replied, `Please don't bother further.' But when the girls left them to powder their noses he told Hugo briefly about the Ratu James and the project of salvaging the gold from the Spanish galleon. Then he went on:

  `Do you happen to know this chap Main de Carvalho, or anything about him?'

  `I've met him at functions a few times,' the Colonel answered, `but that is all. It is quite true that he is very rich and dabbles in all sorts of ventures. But I suggest that if you do go into partnership with him you should employ the Embassy lawyer to draw up the contract. The Brazilians are most likeable people, and the great majority of the businessmen I know are entirely honest. But, as in every other country, some of the big financiers here pull a fast one at times, and in a speculation to retrieve sunken treasure you can't be too careful.'

  `Thanks; I'll certainly do that.' As Gregory spoke, the two girls emerged from the hotel and Hugo remarked with a smile, `You seem to be making the running very well with our little French friend.'

  Gregory laughed. `You've said it, chum. It's a pity her complexion is so sallow and that her chin is inclined to recede. But she is devilish chic, highly intelligent and great fun.'

  In the afternoon the Wellesleys took Gregory and Manon for a 'drive through the lovely jungle forests outside Rio. The leaves of the colossal tropical trees displayed a great variety of shape and colour, and giant butterflies bright blue, red, orange and yellow flitted about the roads along which they drove.

  The following day, although Gregory was still using a crutch, his ankle was mending so well that, as a change from the luxury of the Copacabana, he took Manon to lunch at a typical Brazilian middle class restaurant called the Churrasaria Gaucha…From a 'passage, having a narrow cactus garden on one side, they entered an area two thirds of which was shaded from the sky only by awnings. In the centre there was a round thatched grill, and all the way down one side a food counter at which people perched on high stools were helping themselves from a great variety of dishes. But there were also scores of tables, some seating as many as twenty people. These tables being occupied entirely by men, one or other of whom was constantly on his feet addressing the others, were evidently used for club lunches. At another big table beyond the grill a wedding breakfast was in progress;; frequent toasts were being drunk there, followed by much cheering. The babel of sound was such that one could hardly hear oneself speak and the place was so packed with people of all shades of colour that Gregory and Manon had to share a table with two enormously fat, colourfully garbed Negresses.

  As they could neither read the menu nor find a waiter who could interpret it for them, they had to take pot luck. When the dishes they had chosen arrived they proved so highly spiced that they only toyed with them, and made up on fruit and ices. The quality of the wine, as is nearly always the case with those produced in Brazil, was negligible; but so also was the bill.

  Manon did not attempt to hide the fact that she found the atmosphere of the place far from congenial, but Gregory only laughed at her. The motley throng of poor, but laughing, noisy, cheerful people, the men nearly all in shirt sleeves, represented, he felt, the real Brazil, and it pleased him to see them enjoying themselves.

  Later in the afternoon they drove right through the city to visit the National Museum, formerly the Royal Palace, which stood in the centre of a very fine park. Gregory had hoped to see a fine collection of the gorgeous feather work cloaks once made by the Brazilian Indians, but there were few exhibits and those were disappointing. He had also expected to see cases filled with shrunken human heads, but could find none. When he asked one of the curators about this, the official told him that the heads had been withdrawn from public exhibition, but he kindly offered to take them to the gallery in which they were stored.

  There he produced from a drawer a dozen or more of these gruesome relics. Certain tribes of Indians, believing that to retain the heads of enemies they had killed gave them special powers, had developed the practice of boning these and shrinking them by filling the resulting cavity of flesh with hot sand. This reduced the size of the heads, some of which still had remnants of hair and beards, to the size of very small coconuts. The extraordinary thing was that the shape of the noses, lips and other features had been retained, so that people who had known them in life could have recognised them.

  On Saturday, Gregory and James duly set off for Vassouras. At first the way wound up through jungle clad slopes. Before they had gone far they feared they might never reach their destination, for every few miles there had been a landslide and the road was partially blocked; but the Brazilian Government was dealing with the situation most efficiently. Wherever a landslide had occurred there were bulldozers and gangs of men shovelling hundreds of tons of yellow earth off the road and down the slope opposite that from which it had fallen. At these places there was one way traffic and the car had to crawl or skid through half a mile or more of greasy mud, but their driver was a good man. He also spoke enough English to point out to them places of interest along the way.

  About twenty miles out of Rio they had climbed high enough to leave the jungle behind and entered an area of lofty, wooded slopes running down to broad lakes, so that in places the road formed a causeway between hundreds of acres of still water. On leaving this delightfully picturesque district they came to a town, to get through which they had to make a considerable detour, in order to reach a bridge that spanned a wide river. The river was still a torrent, the yellow waters lapping the fairway of the bridge, and all the houses along the low river front were still half submerged by the flood.

  They had done about two thirds of their journey when their driver pointed out a house just visible through the trees on a hill top to the right of the road, and said, `The fazenda of Dom Pedro Enrique.'

  `He is the Pretender to the throne, is he not?' Gr
egory asked.

  `Yes; he and his cousin, who live in Petropolis, are Pretenders equally,' the man replied. `Both very popular.'

  `It speaks well for the broadmindedness of a Republican Government to allow Pretenders to reside in their own country,' Gregory remarked.

  Ratu James took up the subject. `The Brazilians are most tolerant people. Their Government even goes so far as to pay respect to the two Pretenders. At every State function they are invited to be present.' After a moment he asked, `Do you know much of the history of Brazil?'

  `Not much,' Gregory admitted. `Only that in the early days both the French and Dutch endeavoured to oust the Portuguese, but failed. Then for some two hundred years it became a neglected colony ruled from Lisbon. If I remember, it was the Napoleonic wars which led to the Braganza monarchs taking refuge here.'

  `That's right.' James nodded his head, crowned with the enormous halo of soft, black hair. `It was the British who pushed Dom Joao, the Prince Regent who was then ruling Portugal in the name of the mad Queen Maria I, into coming here instead of remaining on and becoming a puppet of the French when they invaded his country in 1807.

  `As a result of the French Revolution, there had, some years before, been a movement here to break away from Portugal and achieve independence. The revolutionaries were known as the Minas group. They were intellectuals and several of them were poets of some distinction. Their leader was a Lieutenant named Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier; but occasionally he practised dentistry, so he was given the nickname of “The Toothpuller”. The conspiracy was discovered and he was hanged and quartered, but the Brazilians still honour him as a great patriot and “Toothpuller Day” is celebrated as a national holiday.

  `The arrival of Dom Joao and his court set Brazilian independence back for thirty three years, and even after that the country remained a monarchy for a further thirty four. But perhaps I am boring you with all this?'

  `No, no,' replied Gregory. "Please go on.'

  `Well then, squeezed into some forty vessels, fifteen thousand Portuguese nobles and their servants set out as refugees. After fifty two ghastly days they landed in Brazil and made their way to Rio. Naturally, they hated the primitive conditions they found here, but gradually they settled down and with excellent results for Brazil. Formerly no trade had been allowed with any nation except Portugal. Dom Joao opened the ports to all nations. He established a printing press, started the iron and textile industries and encouraged the arts and sciences.

  `In due course, the mad Queen died. Dom Joao became King. Napoleon had been defeated and by 1820 it became clear that if Portugal was to be prevented from becoming a Republic, Dom Joao must return and occupy his throne. But he left his heir apparent, Dom Pedro, in Brazil. Unfortunately, the Prince had been badly brought up. He was a kind hearted young man and wanted to be a good ruler, but he was unstable, dissipated and a neurotic.

  `Not long after Dom Joao had returned to Lisbon his Government began to restore the old restrictions on Brazilian commerce and advancement. Then a despatch arrived, ordering Dom Pedro to come to Europe to complete his education. He received the despatch on the bank of the Ipiranza river. Having read it, he rebelled, drew his sabre and cried, “ Independence or Death! ” This became known as the Grito, or “Cry of Ipiranza”, and led, in this strange way, to Brazil becoming independent of her mother country.

  'Dom Pedro was proclaimed Emperor, but he reigned for only nine years. On his father's death, he became the titular King of Portugal. Being averse to leaving Brazil, he ceded the crown to his daughter, Maria da Gloria; but his younger brother, Miguel, contested his right to do so and civil war broke out. Pedro sailed for Europe to champion his daughter's cause, leaving behind, as Regent of Brazil, a son of only five years, who became Pedro ll.'

  `He became a most unusual monarch, didn't he?' Gregory put in.

  `He did indeed. Physically, he was imposing.' Ratu James paused to smile. `He was six foot four, nearly as tall as myself. But mentally, for Royalty, he was outstanding far in advance of his times and capable of speaking many languages. He held liberal views and gave his people a generous Constitution. After thirty years of rule he felt free to travel. Leaving his heir apparent, the Princess Isobel, as Regent, he went incognito as Dom Pedro da Alcantara to Europe, the United States, Egypt and the Holy Land, mixing with their people as a modern Haroun el Raschid. But, of course, wherever he went his real identity was known. He sought out and talked with every great literary celebrity of his time, visited synagogues and held learned discussions in Hebrew with their Rabbis. Everywhere he was admired and respected for his good humour, boundless energy and as the most learned monarch of his day.

  `Back in Brazil, with the aid of Maui, he established banks, started railways and encouraged the investment of foreign capital; but his one failing was that, although he had given Brazil a Constitution, he continued to rule as virtually an autocratic monarch.

  `The prosperity that he had hoped to bring to Brazil was thwarted by two wars: the first in 1851-2 against the Argentine in an attempt to destroy the brutal regime there; the second against Paraguay. It dragged on from 1865 to 1870.

  But the real cause of Dom Pedro's downfall was his attitude to slavery. He had freed his own inherited slaves as early as 1840. Then, in 1871, he decreed that all children born of slaves after that date should be free. Finally, in 1888, he forced through a law for complete abolition of slavery.

  `That spelled ruin for the owners of the great estates and a hundred million pounds' worth of property was rendered valueless. At the time, the Emperor was again in Europe. On his return, he received a great ovation. But in his absence the ruined landowners, the industrialists and the Army had combined against him. Without warning, there occurred a bloodless coup d'etat. With great dignity he accepted it, refused a large sum of money that was offered to him, and returned to Europe to spend the remainder of his life continuing his studies of Asiatic languages and Comparative Religions. That is how the monarchy ended and on May 13th, 1888, Brazil became a Republic.'

  As the Ratu fell silent, Gregory said, `As a visitor, you are remarkably well up in the history of this country.'

  James shrugged a shade self consciously. `I hope I haven't bored you, but it was the Senhora de Carvalho who aroused my interest in Brazil and told me all this. She is a most knowledgeable girl and has a special interest in the history of her country because she has the Royal Braganza blood in her own veins.'

  Some miles further on they left the highway for a side road that was ill kept and extremely bumpy. Eventually it brought them to the de Carvalho fazenda. On either side of the approach to the house there were many barns and outhouses. Crossing a bridge over a shallow ravine, they drove round to the entrance of the house, which was on its far side. From there, across a lovely sloping garden, there was a magnificent view of rolling pastures with grazing cattle and patches of woodland.

  As they drove up, their host came out and gave them a smiling welcome. He was a short but sturdy man in his middle forties; black haired, dark complexioned, with a square face, forceful chin and heavily lidded eyes.

  The house was a one storey building containing many large, lofty rooms, At that altitude air conditioning would have been redundant, but there were gently moving fans in all the ceilings, to circulate the pleasantly warm air. The bed rooms to which de Carvalho showed them were sparsely furnished, but the living rooms displayed wealth and good taste. They contained many examples of antique Brazilian pottery, well filled book shelves and paintings that must have been worth several thousand pounds.

  When Gregory and James had refreshed themselves by a wash, their host provided them with Planter's Punches and, soon afterwards, his wife joined them. Her name was Olinda da Conceigao the beautiful one of the conception and at the first glance Gregory saw that she did justice to her name.

  She was an exceptionally tall girl slightly taller, he judged, than himself with broad shoulders and big hips. Her skin was golden brown, her hair copper colour
ed, her mouth full but not thick Tipped like Manon's, and beautifully curved. In her eyes there lay a slumberous fire and her firm, almost aggressive chin showed that she had plenty of determination. Recalling that James had said that Dom Pedro had been six foot four and that Olinda had Braganza blood, it occurred to Gregory that she had probably inherited her height from the Emperor.

  Lunch proved to be one of the best meals Gregory had enjoyed since arriving in Brazil, and a pleasant change from restaurant food. It was not too heavy but suggested that the de Carvaihos had a French chef or, anyway, a French trained cook; and with the meal they drank a good Moselle.

  Over lunch, no mention was made of the treasure. They talked only of the country and what the visitors had so far seen of it. Afterwards they walked round the garden, heavy with the scent of magnolia blossoms, then retired for their siestas.

  When they met again they drank mate which, among the lower classes of Brazil, takes the place of tea. In this case Olinda had ordered the brew only because her visitors had not yet tried it. Gregory thought it like very strong Indian tea and rather unpleasant, but he admired the vessels in which it was served. They were cow horns, beautifully embellished with gold filigree work, and the liquid was sucked up from them through a silver `straw', called a combellq with a filter tip to prevent the leaves from getting into the drinker's mouth.

  Afterwards Olinda, Gregory and James bathed in the swimming pool. Gregory had never cared for big women but, on seeing Olinda in only a bikini, he freely conceded that she was a truly magnificent creature, and he did not wonder that James was obviously attracted to her. In bathing trunks, the rippling muscles of his pale brown body now exposed to view, the young Ratu made an equally striking figure, and it crossed Gregory's mind how much better suited they would have been as a couple than Olinda and her squat, middle aged husband, who was lying in a hammock a means of taking one's ease invented by the Brazilian Indians near the pool, smoking a cigar.