TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
* Obvious printer errors have been silently corrected.
* Original spelling was kept.
* Variant spellings were made consistent when a predominant usage
was found.
* Italics are represented between underscores as in _italics_.
* Small caps are represented in upper case as in SMALL CAPS.
* Illustrations have been slightly moved so that they do not
break up paragraphs while remaining close to the text they
illustrate.
* Illustration captions have been harmonized and made consistent
so that the same expressions appear both in them and in the
List of Full Page Illustrations.
[Illustration: THE QUEEN OF SHEBA.
_Frontispiece & Page 309._]
THE ADVENTURES
OF
CAPTAIN MAGO
OR
_A Phœnician Expedition_
B.C. 1000
BY
LÉON CAHUN
_ILLUSTRATED BY P. PHILIPPOTEAUX, AND TRANSLATED FROM
THE FRENCH BY ELLEN E. FREWER_
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1889
TROW'S
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY,
NEW YORK.
PREFACE.
The following pages pretend to no original or scientific research. It
is their object to present, in a popular form, a picture of the world
as it was a thousand years before the Christian Era, and to exhibit,
mainly for the young, a summary of that varied information which is
contained in books, many of which by their high price and exclusively
technical character are generally unattainable.
* * * * *
It would only have encumbered the fictitious narrative, which is the
vehicle for conveying the instruction that is designed, to crowd
every page with references; but it may be alleged, once for all, that
for every statement which relates to the history of the period, and
especially to the history of the Phœnicians, ample authority might
be quoted from some one or other of the valuable books which have
been consulted.
Of the most important of these a list is here appended:--
1. F. C. MOVERS. Das Phönizische Alterthum.
2. RENAN. Mission en Phénicie.
3. DAUX. Recherches sur les Emporia phéniciens dans le Zeugis
et le Byzacium.
4. NATHAN DAVIS. Carthage and her Remains.
5. WILKINSON. Manners and Customs of Ancient Egyptians.
6. HŒCKH. Kreta.
7. GROTE. History of Greece.
8. MOMMSEN. Geschichte der Römischen Republik (Introduction and
Chap. I.).
9. BOURGUIGNAT. Monuments mégalithiques du nord de l'Afrique.
10. FERGUSSON. Rude Stone Monuments.
11. BROCA and A. BERTRAND. Celtes, Gaulois et Francs.
12. ABBÉ BARGÈS. Interprétation d'une inscription phénicienne
trouvée à Marseille.
13. LAYARD. Nineveh and its Remains.
14. BOTTA. Fouilles de Babylone.
15. REUSS. New translation of the Bible, in course of
publication.
A few foot-notes are subjoined by way of illustration of what might
have been carried on throughout the volume; and an Appendix will be
found at the end, containing some explanation of topics which the
continuity of the fiction necessarily left somewhat obscure.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
I.--WHY BODMILCAR, THE TYRIAN SAILOR, HATES HANNO,
THE SIDONIAN SCRIBE 1
II.--THE SACRIFICE TO ASHTORETH 19
III.--CHAMAI RECOGNISED BY THE ATTENDANT OF THE
SLAVE 44
IV.--KING DAVID 61
V.--PHARAOH ARRIVES TOO LATE 76
VI.--CRETE AND THE CRETANS 98
VII.--CHRYSEIS PREFERS HANNO TO A KING 112
VIII.--AN AFFAIR WITH THE PHOCIANS 132
IX.--THE LAND OF OXEN 148
X.--GISGO THE EARLESS RECOVERS HIS EARS 166
XI.--OUR HEADS ARE IN PERIL 175
XII.--I CONSULT THE ORACLE 196
XIII.--THE SILVER MINES OF TARSHISH 207
XIV.--AN AMBUSCADE 219
XV.--JUDGE GEBAL DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF 234
XVI.--PERILS OF THE OCEAN 243
XVII.--JONO, THE GOD OF THE SUOMI 260
XVIII.--JONAH WAXES AMBITIOUS 277
XIX.--BODMILCAR AGAIN 287
XX.--THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN 295
XXI.--THE QUEEN OF SHEBA 307
XXII.--BELESYS FINDS BICHRI SOMEWHAT HEAVY 314
XXIII.--WE SETTLE OUR ACCOUNTS WITH BODMILCAR 327
LIST OF FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
THE QUEEN OF SHEBA Frontispiece & 309
HANNO PROCEEDED TO DRAW UP THE ARTICLES 8
HANNO CAUGHT UP A LARGE PITCHER 11
MY SALUTE 45
THE IONIAN COMMENCED ONE OF THE SONGS OF HER
NATIVE LAND 52
SHORTLY BEFORE SUNSET WE REACHED JERUSALEM 63
WAITING FOR THE KING TO SPEAK 67
"DOWN, YOU PHŒNICIAN THIEVES!" 85
THE SOLDIERS RAPIDLY CROSSED THEIR LANCES 86
PLEASED WITH HIS MORNING'S WORK 99
"THE MELKARTH!" 106
BORNE TO ITS RESTING-PLACE 121
HOMER 129
UNAWARES IN AN AMBUSH 132
HANNO AND CHRYSEIS BESPEAK THEIR ATTENTION 140
"IF YOU ADVANCE ONE STEP BEYOND THIS LANCE" 152
CLOSE TO ETNA 163
UTICA 187
A HUGE ELEPHANT WAS BEING LED PAST 191
I PROSTRATED MYSELF THREE TIMES 202
AN AVALANCHE OF STONES 220
NO QUARTER 222
ON THE VERY POINT OF SLAYING THE CHILD 228
THE DESPICABLE SYRIAN 229
I DID WHAT I COULD TO CONSOLE HASDRUBAL 247
JUDGE GEBAL 248
BICHRI AND DIONYSOS BROUGHT THEM BOTH DOWN 258
HE DASHED IT TO THE GROUND 262
SEVERAL OF THE SAVAGES ENTERED THE HUT 267
THE GOD JONO 275
BLOWING HIS TRUMPET 284
THE CHILD HAD FOUND THE LEAK 293
IT SNAPPED A PIKE-STAFF IN TWO 301
IN HONOUR OF THEIR GENERAL 322
WE WERE COMMANDED TO HALT 324
HIMILCO AND GISGO IN ANIMATED CONVERSATION WITH
THE CHALDEAN SOLDIERS 327
MY ACCOUNT WAS SETTLED WITH BODMILCAR 335
_And Thirty-six smaller Text Illustrations._
THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MAGO
CHAPTER I.
WHY BODMILCAR, THE TYRIAN SAILOR, HATES HANNO, THE SIDONIAN SCRIBE.
I am Captain Mago, and Hiram,[1] King of Tyre, was well aware that
my experience as a sailor was very great. It was in the third year
of his reign that he summoned me to his presence from Sidon,[2] the
city of fishermen, and the metropolis of the Phœnicians. He had
already been told of my long voyages; how I had visited Malta; how I
had traded to Bozrah,[3] the city founded by the Sidonians, but now
called Carthada[4] by the Tyrians; and how I had reached the remote
Gades in the land of Tarshish.[5]
[1] Hiram I. reigned from 980 to 947 B.C.
[2] Sidon, or Zidon, in the Phœnician tongue means "fishery."
[3] Bostra, or Bozrah; hence Byrsa, the citadel.
[4] Carthage, or Kart-Khadecht, the new city.
[5] Tarshish, the Tartessus of the Greeks, Spain.
The star of Sidon was now on the wane. The ships of Tyre were fast
occupying the sea, and her caravans were covering the land. A
monarchy had been established by the Tyrians, and their king, with
the _suffects_[6] as his coadjutors, was holding sway over all the
other cities of Phœnicia. The fortunes of Tyre were thus in the
ascendant: sailors and merchants from Sidon, Gebal, Arvad and Byblos
were continually enlisting themselves in the service of her powerful
corporations.
[6] Suffect, or _choupheth_ (plural _chophettim_), the Hebrew and
Phœnician magistrates preceding the monarchy.
When I had made my obeisance to King Hiram, he informed me that his
friend and ally, David, King of the Jews, was collecting materials
for the erection of a temple to his god Adonai (or _our Lord_) in the
city of Jerusalem, and that he was desirous of making his own royal
contribution to assist him. Accordingly he submitted to me that at
his expense I should fit out a sufficient fleet, and should undertake
a voyage to Tarshish, in order to procure a supply of silver, and
any other rare or valuable commodity which that land could yield, to
provide embellishment for the sumptuous edifice.
Anxious as I was already to revisit Tarshish and the lands of the
West, I entered most eagerly into the proposal of the King, assuring
him that I should require no longer time for preparation than what
was absolutely necessary to equip the ships and collect the crews.
It was still two months before the Feast of Spring, an annual
festival that marked the re-opening of navigation. This was an
interval sufficient for my purpose, for as the King directed me to
call first at Joppa, and to proceed thence to Jerusalem to receive
King David's instructions, I had no need for the present to concern
myself about anything further than my ships and sailors, knowing that
I could safely trust to the fertile and martial land of Judæa to
provide me with provisions and soldiers.
The King was highly gratified at my ready acquiescence in his
proposition. He instructed his treasurer to hand over to me at once
a thousand silver shekels[7] to meet preliminary expenses, and gave
orders to the authorities at the arsenal to allow me to select
whatever wood, hemp, or copper I might require.
[7] The silver shekel was the standard money of the
Phœnicians, and was worth about 2_s._ It was a tenth part of a
shekel of gold.
I took my leave of the King and rejoined Hanno my scribe and Himilco
my pilot, the latter of whom had been my constant associate on my
previous voyages. They were sitting on the side-bench at the great
gate of the palace, and had been impatiently awaiting my return,
mutually speculating upon the reason that had induced the King to
send for us from Sidon, and naturally conjecturing that it must
relate to some future enterprise and adventure. At the first glimpse
of my excited countenance, revealing my delight, Hanno exclaimed:
"Welcome back, master; surely the King has granted you some eager
longing of your heart!"
"True; and what do you suppose it is?" I asked.
"Perhaps a new ship to replace the one you lost in the Great Syrtes;
and perhaps a good freight into the bargain. No son of Sidon could
covet more than this."
"Yes, Hanno; this, and more beside," I answered. "But our good
fortune at once demands our vows; let us hasten to the temple of
Ashtoreth,[8] and there let us render our thanks to the goddess, and
sue for her protection and her favour to guard our vessels as we sail
to Joppa. To Joppa we go; and onwards thence to Tarshish!"
[8] Astarte. The Aphrodite of the Greeks; the goddess of
navigation, and the national deity of the Sidonians.
"Tarshish!" echoed the voice of Himilco, with a cry of ecstasy; and
as he spoke he raised up his sole remaining eye towards the skies;
he had lost the other in a naval fight. "Tarshish," he said again:
"O ye gods, that rule the destinies of ships! ye stars,[9] that so
oft have fixed my gaze in my weary watch on deck! here I offer to
you six shekels on the spot; 'tis all my means allow. But take me
to Tarshish, and vouchsafe that I may come across the villain whose
lance took out my eye, so that I may make him feel the point of my
Chalcidian sword below his ribs, and I vow that I will offer you in
sacrifice an ox, a noble ox, finer than Apis, the god of the idiot
Egyptians."
[9] The stars in the constellation of Ursa Major were also
tutelary deities of navigation; the pole-star by the Greeks being
called "the Phœnician."
Hanno was less demonstrative. "For my part," he said, "I shall be
satisfied if I can barter enough of the vile wine of Judæa, and the
cheap ware of Sidon, to get a good return of pure white silver.
I shall only be too pleased to build myself a mansion upon the
sea-shore where I can enjoy my pleasure-boat as it glides along with
its purple sails, and so to pass my days in ease and luxury."
"Remember, however," I replied, "that before you can get your lordly
mansion, we shall again and again have to sleep under the open sky
of the cheerless West; and before you arrive at all your luxury, you
will have to put up with many a coarse and meagre meal."
"All the more pleasant will be the retrospect," rejoined Hanno; "and
when we come to recline upon our costly couches it will be a double
joy to dwell upon our adventures, and relate them to our listening
guests."
Conversation of this character engaged us till we reached the
cypress-grove, from which the temple of Ashtoreth upreared its
silver-plated roof. The setting sun was all aglow, and cast its
slanting rays upon the fabric, illuminating alike the heavy gilding
and the radiant colours of the supporting pillars. Flocks of
consecrated doves fluttered in the sacred grove, alighting ever and
again upon the gilded rods that connected one pillar with another.
Groups of girls were frequently met, dressed in white, embroidered
with purple and silver, either hastening, pomegranates in their
hands, to make a votive offering at the shrine, or sauntering
leisurely in the sacred gardens. Ever and again, as the temple-doors
were opened, there was caught the distant melody of the sistra,
flutes, and tambourines, upon which the priests and priestesses
were celebrating the honour of their goddess. Such were the sounds,
the modulated measures of the music mingled with the soft cooings
of the doves and the joyous laughter of the heedless maidens, that
combined to make a mysterious murmur that could not fail to impress
the minds of such as us, rough mariners unaccustomed to anything
more harmonious than the groanings of the waves, the creaking of our
ships, and the howling of the wind.
I went with Himilco to consult the tariff of the sacrifices, which
was exhibited, engraven on a tablet and affixed to the feet of a
huge marble dove at the right-hand entrance to the precincts of the
temple. As my own offering, I selected some fruit and cakes, the
value of which did not exceed a shekel, and was just turning back
to call Hanno, when I encountered a man in a dirty and threadbare
sailor's coat, who was hurrying along, muttering bitter curses as he
went.
"Help me, Baal Chamaim, Lord of the heavens!" I involuntarily
exclaimed; "is not this Bodmilcar, the Tyrian?"
The man paused, and recognised me in a moment; and we exchanged the
warmest greetings.
Bodmilcar, whom I had thus unexpectedly met, had been one of my
oldest associates. Many a time, alike in expeditions of war and
commerce, he had commanded a vessel by my side. He was likewise
already acquainted with Himilco, who consequently shared my surprise
and regret at meeting him in so miserable a plight.
"What ill fate has brought you to this?" was my impatient inquiry.
"At Tyre you used to be the owner of a couple of gaouls[10] and four
good galleys; what has happened? What has brought it about that you
should be here in nothing better than a ragged kitonet?"[11]
[10] Gaoul, a round ship, employed in merchant service.
[11] Kitonet, a short tunic, worn by Phœnician sailors.
"Moloch's[12] heaviest curses be upon the Chaldeans!" ejaculated
Bodmilcar. "May their cock-head Nergal[13] torture and burn and roast
them all! My story is soon told. I had a cargo of slaves. A finer
cargo was never under weigh. The hold of my Tyrian gaoul carried
Caucasian men as strong as oxen, and Grecian girls as lissome as
reeds; there were Syrians who could cook, or play, or dress the hair;
there were peasants from Judæa who could train the vine or cultivate
the field. Their value was untold."
[12] Baal Moloch, the sun god.
[13] Nergal, the Chaldean god of fire and war, always represented
with a cock's head.
"And tell me, friend Bodmilcar," I inquired, "where are they now? Did
they not yield you the countless shekels on which you reckoned?"
"Now! where are they now?" shrieked out the excited man; "they are
every one upon their way to some cursed city of the Chaldeans, on the
other side of Rehoboth. Instead of shekels I have got plenty of kicks
and plenty of bruises, of which I shall carry the marks on my body
for a long time to come. The naval suffect gave me a few zeraas,[14]
just to relieve my distress, and had it not been for that, I should
not have had a morsel of bread to keep life in me. It is now three
days since I arrived in Tyre, and to get here I have been continually
walking, till my feet are so swollen I can hardly move."
[14] Zeraas, small copper coin.
"You mean you have walked here?" said Himilco, compassionately. "But
surely you might have found a boat of some sort to bring you?"
"Boat!" growled Bodmilcar, almost angrily; "when did boats begin to
journey overland? Did I not tell you I came from Rehoboth in the land
of those cursed Chaldeans? But hear me out, and you will sympathise
with my misfortune. I started first of all along the coast, buying
slaves from the Philistines, and corn and oil from the Jews. I went
across to Greece, and made some profitable dealings there. I chanced
upon a few wretched little Ionian barques, and secured some plunder
so. Then I conceived the project of going through the straits, and
I succeeded beyond my hopes in getting iron, and, what is more, in
getting slaves from Caucasus. My fortune was made. I was proceeding
home, when just as we neared the Phasis, on the Chalybean coast, some
alien gods--for sure I am that neither Melkarth nor Moloch would
so have dealt with a Tyrian sailor--some alien gods, I say, sent
down a frightful storm. With the utmost peril I contrived to save
my crew and all my human cargo; but the bulk of my goods was gone,
and my poor vessels were shattered hopelessly. There was but one
resource; I had no alternative but to convey my salvage in the best
way I could across Armenia and Chaldea by land, consoling myself with
the expectation of finding a market for the slaves along the road.
But once again the gods were cruelly adverse. We were attacked by a
troop of Chaldeans; fifty armed men could not protect a gang of four
hundred slaves, who, miserable wretches as they were, could not be
induced by blows or prayers to lift up a hand in their own defence.
The result was that we were very soon overpowered, and that, together
with all my party, I was made a prisoner. The Chaldeans proposed to
sell us to the King of Nineveh, and I had the pleasure of finding
myself part and parcel of my own cargo."
"But, anyhow, here you are. How did you contrive to get out of your
dilemma?" I asked my old comrade.
Bodmilcar raised the skirt of his patched and greasy kitonet, and
displayed a long knife with an ivory handle hanging from his belt.
"They forgot to search me," he said, "and omitted to bind me. The
very first night on which there was no moonlight I was entertaining
a couple of rascals who had charge of me, by telling them wonderful
tales about Libyan serpents, and about the men of Tarshish who had
mouths in the middle of their chests, and eyes at the tips of their
fingers; openmouthed, they were lost in amazement at the lies I was
pouring into their ears, and were entirely off their guard. I seized
my opportunity; and having first thrust my knife into the belly of
one of them, I cut the throat of the other and made my escape. I took
to my heels, and, Moloch be praised! the rascals failed to find a
trace of me. But now that I am here, the gods only know what is to
become of me. If I fail to get service as a pilot, I must enter as a
common sailor in some Tyrian ship."
"No need of that, Bodmilcar," I exclaimed; "you have made your
appearance just at a lucky moment. All praise to Ashtoreth! you are
just the man I want. I have a commission from the King to fit out
ships for Tarshish; I am captain of the expedition, and here at once
I can appoint you my second in command. My pilot is Himilco; and here
is Hanno, my scribe; we are on our way to the temple of the goddess,
and are going in her presence to draw up the covenants."
"Joy, joy, dear Mago!" ejaculated Bodmilcar; "may the gods be
gracious to you, and repay your goodness! I shall not regret my
disaster at the hands of the Chaldeans, if it ends in a voyage to
Tarshish with you. Only let Melkarth vouchsafe us a good ship, and
with Himilco to guide our course, we cannot fail to prosper, even
though our voyage be to the remotest confines of the world."
Hanno, who meanwhile had joined us, took out from his girdle some
ink and some reeds, with a little stone to sharpen them, and having
seated himself upon the temple steps, proceeded to draw up the
articles which appointed me admiral of the expedition, Bodmilcar
vice-admiral, and Himilco pilot-in-chief. Himilco and myself both
affixed our seals to the document, and Bodmilcar was proceeding to do
so likewise, feeling mechanically for his seal, which he remembered
afterwards that the Chaldeans had stolen. I gave him twenty shekels
to buy another, and to provide him with a new outfit of clothes.
Then, with Himilco, I proceeded to make my oblation of fruits and
cakes to Ashtoreth; and in the highest spirits we made our way to the
harbour, where our light vessel, the _Gadita_, was awaiting us.
[Illustration: HANNO PROCEEDED TO DRAW UP THE ARTICLES.
_To face page 8._]
Early next morning we set vigorously to work. I drew out the plans of
my vessels upon papyrus sheets. My own _Gadita_ was to be kept as a
light vessel; but I resolved to have a large _gaoul_ constructed as a
transport to carry the merchandise, and two barques to act as tenders
to the gaoul, which would draw too much water to approach very near
the shore. As an escorting convoy I chose two large double-decked
galleys,[15] manned by fifty oarsmen, similar to those recently
invented at Sidon. At this period, the Tyrians had three of these
galleys in port; they were very rapid in their course, and drew very
little water; they were armed with strong beaks at the prow; were
worked both by oars and sails, and were adapted either for war or
commerce.
[15] For details of the construction of these galleys, see notes
at the end of the Volume.
I determined to use cedar for the keel and sides of my vessel, and
oak from Bashan, in Judæa, for the masts and yards. I discarded the
ancient method of making my sails of Galilean reeds or papyrus-fibre,
preferring to have them woven out of our excellent Phœnician hemp,
which the people of Arvad and Tyre are skilful in twisting into a
very substantial texture. It was of the same material that I resolved
to make my ropes.
As I was going through the arsenal, and wondering at the accumulated
mass of copper, I espied a little store of the beautiful white tin
obtained from the Celts in the distant islands of the far north-west.
Previously to my own voyage those islands had been all but unknown,
and I believe that I may say that my own investigation of them has
conferred as great a benefit upon the Phœnicians as they had
reaped two hundred years before by the discovery of the silver mines
of Tarshish.
The sight of the copper determined me upon carrying out a plan which
I had for some time been contemplating. It occurred to me that if
the keel and flanks under water were protected with copper in the
same way as the prows had hitherto been, the solidity of the vessel
would be greatly increased, and the wood would be far less liable to
decay. Accordingly, I made up my mind to protect the prows of the
galleys with a hard alloy of copper and tin, and to sheathe the keels
and flanks of all the four vessels with plates of wrought copper.
The copper of Cyprus I rejected as being too soft and spongy for my
purpose, and that of Libanus as far too brittle; but the firm yet
ductile Cilician metal suited me admirably, and Khelesh-baal, the
renowned Tyrian founder, set to work at once to forge me some large
sheets, three cubits[16] long by two wide.
[16] The common cubit is about 16 inches.
The King had placed 200 workmen at my disposal; and, in order that
I might better superintend their operations, I took a lodging with
my three friends in a house at the corner of the Street of Caulkers,
just opposite the arsenal, and there from my window upon the fourth
floor I could well overlook the men working in the docks below. I
directed Hanno to make out a list of the goods we should require for
barter, and he and Himilco chiefly busied themselves in collecting
the things together; whilst Bodmilcar, with two of my sailors, kept
perambulating the neighbourhood of the harbour, succeeding tolerably
well in securing recruits for my crew from amongst the seamen who
were loitering about the quays, with tilted hats, looking out for
employment.
On the first day of the month Nisan,[17] just four weeks after I had
undertaken my commission, I returned home for my evening meal, and
found my companions in hot dispute.
[17] Nisan; part of March and April.
"How now!" I cried, on entering the room; "what's this? What is the
meaning of this angry contention?"
"I am telling Bodmilcar," said Hanno, "that he has about as much
brains as a bullock, and about as much elegance as a Bactrian camel."
"And am I to endure this insolence from a young stripling?" cried
Bodmilcar, angrily; "am I to put up with it from a fresh-water
lubber, who will cry like a baby at the first gust of wind, and
implore us to put him on shore again? He has lived among women and
scribblers till he has no more pluck in him than a garden-tortoise."
[Illustration: HANNO CAUGHT UP A LARGE PITCHER.
_To face page 11._]
"I confess," rejoined Hanno, sarcastically, "that I have not had
your experience; I have not had the advantage of being pounced upon
by the Chaldeans, or of being thrashed by my own slaves. But let me
say, I am twenty, and that I hope the first time you find me funking
the sea, you will pitch me overboard like an old sandal. Anyhow,
I have had a voyage as far as Chittim;[18] I have been amongst the
Ionians, and can speak their language ten times better than any one
among you."
[18] Chittim, the classical _Citium_, a Phœnician colony in
Cyprus.
"Talk to me about the Ionians," shouted Bodmilcar in a fury, "and I
will break every bone in your precious skin."
And, as he spoke, he laid his hand upon his knife; but Hanno, without
flinching for a moment, caught up a large pitcher that was standing
on the table.
"Steady, steady!" interposed Himilco, "or you will be spilling all
the nectar;"[19] and whilst I laid a firm grasp upon Bodmilcar's arm,
he rescued the pitcher, and deposited it safely in the corner of the
room.
[19] Nectar; the sweet and perfumed wine of the Phœnicians,
said by the Greeks to be the drink of the gods.
Then addressing myself to the two excited combatants, I said: "Now
then, I cannot permit this altercation; you are both under my orders,
and you must both submit; conduct yourselves amicably, or it shall be
the worse for him that disturbs the peace. But what is the meaning of
this chatter about the Ionians?"
Hanno held out his hand to me, in token of submission, expressed his
regret for having given offence to Bodmilcar, and assured me that he
had only spoken in jest.
"You see now," I said to Bodmilcar, "Hanno is not your subordinate,
and you are bound to treat him as your equal. However, what is it
that he has said to offend you so grievously?"
Bodmilcar seemed abashed; he stood twirling his beard, and without
raising his eyes, said:
"Amongst the slaves that the Chaldeans captured, there was one Ionian
girl that I thought to make my wife. I spoke of her to Hanno, but
he only jeered me; he told me that the girl had gone off with the
Chaldeans of her own accord, merely to get out of reach of me; and
his provocation made me angry."
"Nay, nay," said Hanno: "I did not want to make him angry; it was
a thoughtless joke; he was somewhat old, I said, for so young a
bride, and Ionian girls generally like the perfume of flowers and the
fragrance of sweet spices better than the smell of tar."
"It was wrong of you," I said, as sternly as I could, though I really
felt inclined to laugh.
To my suggestion that they should make up their quarrel with mutual
pledges over a cup of wine, Hanno eagerly responded, "With all my
heart, and Ashtoreth give me my deserts if ever wilfully I offend his
grey hairs again;" but Bodmilcar took the proffered hand coldly, and
with evident constraint.
Seeing that all immediate peril of a smash was over, Himilco brought
forward his pitcher again from its place of safety. I heard nothing
more of the disagreement; but I could not help noticing that
Bodmilcar was never again the same in his demeanour towards Hanno,
and that he did not speak to him any more than he could avoid.
About a week later, as I was in the arsenal for the purpose of
selecting the ropes for the rigging, Himilco came running to me to
inform me that one of the King's servants had arrived with a message
that was to be delivered to myself. I went to meet the messenger. He
was a tall Syrian eunuch with frizzled hair and painted face, arrayed
in a long embroidered robe, and wearing large gold earrings after the
fashion of his country. He held a long cane surmounted by a golden
pomegranate, and spoke with a languid lisp.
"Are you Captain Mago, the King's naval officer?" he asked, as he
eyed me from head to foot.
Receiving my reply, he continued: "I am Hazael, of the royal
household; here on my finger you may see the signet which empowers
me to exercise my authority. The purpose of my visit is to inspect
the vessels you are building; but specially my object is to give
instructions that proper accommodation shall be provided for myself,
and for a slave that I have to conduct from my master to Pharaoh,
King of Egypt. Two proper berths must be prepared; and the King's
orders are that you are to remit us to Egypt after you have visited
Jerusalem."
"As to your directions about berths," I replied, utterly astonished
at his cool effrontery, "you must permit me to remind you that on
board ship the captain, with his pilot under him, invariably allots
the place for every passenger."
[Illustration]
"Be it so," rejoined the eunuch; "yet it is imperative that separate
apartments, tapestried and carpeted suitably, should be provided for
myself and for the royal slave. Impossible for us to live in contact
with the rough and tarry seamen."
I felt a strong inclination to let Hazael experience how he relished
lying full length upon a heap of rubbish that was close at hand; but
I controlled my indignation and said:
"I will contrive something. I will either make a partition in a
corner of the hold, or put up a cabin of planks upon the deck; but
whatever is done must not interfere with the working of the ship.
When I have made the provision in space, I leave you to fit and
furnish as you please; but mark you this, your curtains and carpets
will be ruined in the first tempest that we get. However, that is
your concern, not mine."
"Each of the cabins," complacently continued the eunuch, "must be
twelve cubits by six; there must be six benches of sandal-wood and
ivory; the bedsteads must be inlaid; the windows must be framed and
fitted perfectly."
"Fitted!" I rejoined: "have I not told you already that you may
furnish and adorn the cabins as you will: their size, their position
must rest with me: in such matters my authority is supreme. You may
tell your royal master from me that adequate accommodation shall
be provided, but that with my arrangements no one is at liberty to
interfere."
The eunuch looked aghast at my temerity; but he seemed somehow to
comprehend that I was not to be trifled with. He muttered a few words
to the effect that I had better see that everything was duly done,
and without a word or gesture of leave-taking, turned on his heel and
sauntered leisurely away. I watched him for a moment, and turning to
Himilco, who had been near enough to overhear the conversation, I
said:
"Unless I reckon badly, that fellow will give us some trouble before
we have done with him."
"Ah, no; I'll take care of that," said Himilco. "Sooner than the
painted hound should interfere with us too much, I'd have a rope to
his heels, and he should dangle, head in the water, all the way from
Joppa to Tarshish. 'Tis not for us to permit ourselves to be treated
like dogs."
"No," said I; "but maybe, all will go well; Moloch will be our
guardian; and once at sea we shall not fail to secure the protection
of our Ashtoreth. To tell you the truth, I am really far more
apprehensive about Hanno's pranks with Bodmilcar."
"We must hope for the best," replied Himilco. "Bodmilcar will be on
board the gaoul, and we will contrive for Hanno to come with us in
one of the galleys."
"True," I assented; "it is indispensable that they should be
separated. But with regard to this eunuch's requirements; I hardly
see whether it will be better to provide the cabins in the gaoul,
as being the more roomy, or to have them under my own supervision.
Plague upon the slave and eunuch both!"
At that moment Hanno come up, with his roll of papyrus in his hand,
and caught the tenor of our conversation.
"A slave and an eunuch to go!" he exclaimed. "Surely the charge of
them ought to fall to _my_ lot. Such duties ever belong to a scribe.
Besides, I have made some progress in the studies of a magician;
and better even than a magician I could humour their fancies, and
understand their likes and dislikes."
I expressed my opinion that they would have enough of magicians in
Egypt whither they were going, and resolved that I would keep them
under my own eye.
"There's an end then to all my pretty scheme of teaching them
calligraphy, rhetoric, and what not," said Hanno, smiling. "I must
fall back, I see, upon my own accounts."
He unfolded his roll, and submitted to me his reckoning of the amount
that would be requisite to pay our sailors and our oarsmen, at the
same time handing me his statement of the sums that had already been
expended in the purchase of the goods for barter.
The outlay far exceeded the golden talent, the thousand shekels,
which the King had advanced. He had, however, commissioned me to
spare no expense, and had promised to meet all reasonable demands, so
that I felt no uneasiness, but sent Hanno straight to the palace to
exhibit the accounts and to ask for a further grant. The request was
most generously met.
Meanwhile, Himilco and I continued to employ ourselves in having
planks of fir from Senir[20] fitted to the flanks of our vessels, and
in rigging our heavy masts of oak with yard-arms of cedar.
[20] Senir, in Libanus, now Djebel Sannin.
Our work progressed to our entire satisfaction. The _Gadita_ was
repaired and entirely refitted; the figure-head, an immense horse,
was illuminated with dazzling enamel eyes; the sides of the vessel
were painted red upon a black ground; and twelve shields of bronze,
each glowing in the centre with a polished copper boss, were hung
outside.
After everything had been completed, I obtained permission for
the _Gadita_ to be conducted with great ceremony, to the music of
trumpets and cymbals, into the basin of the harbour. For the occasion
the naval suffect lent me a large purple sail, reserved expressly for
state festivities; twelve armed sailors, lance in hand, stood behind
the shields of bronze; and twenty-two oarsmen, plying their oars
in regular cadence, made the ship glide swiftly through the water.
Gisgo, the helmsman, from his station in the stern, deftly wielded
the tiller, according to the directions of Himilco, whose place was
at the prow. Bodmilcar, Hanno, and myself were upon the poop. We were
all of us in state attire, and were conscious of a keen enjoyment of
the admiring gaze of the crowds of sailors who thronged, not only the
adjacent quays, but the terraces of the arsenal and of the admiralty
palace, and watched our manœuvres. The naval suffect was himself
one of the spectators; he was seated at the grand entrance of the
palace, just above the flight of steps that led down to his official
wharf. So pleased he was with the appearance of the _Gadita_, that
he invited all the officers to sup with him in the evening, and sent
a sheep, a large jar of wine, two baskets of bread, a supply of figs
and raisins, and twelve cheeses, for the entertainment of our sailors.
Arrived at the palace, we passed up the narrow staircases and dim
corridors of the eastern tower, and found ourselves in a large
round room with a lofty dome, from the centre of which there hung
a polished copper lamp. The suffect paid us many compliments; and,
on learning that we should be ready for our outfit within ten days,
he gave me permission to go next morning and to choose whatever arms
would be requisite for the expedition.
After our entertainment we embarked from the suffect's private wharf,
intending to return, all of us, to our own quarters on shore; but
all at once Bodmilcar declared himself so enamoured of the _Gadita_,
that he resolved to sleep alone on board. As our boat was silently
threading its way along the canal that intersected the mainland,
cutting off an island by its course, Hanno commenced singing in a
foreign language. My attention was arrested, and I asked him what
language it was. He replied that it was Ionian, and expressed his
surprise that I did not understand it.
"No," I answered; "it is strange to me. I have sailed but rarely
along those coasts. But haven't you done with the Ionians yet?"
"Oh, Bodmilcar is not here to get in a rage, and we have not got the
slave amongst us to be affected by any songs of mine."
"The slave!" I exclaimed with wonder. "I did not imagine that the
slave would care for your songs. Is she an Ionian?"
Hanno laughed, and made me no answer; but after a while he yielded to
my persuasion, and made me acquainted with all he knew.
"Hazael the eunuch," he said, "is a chattering fool. When I went
to the palace I saw him, and wormed out of him that the slave in
question had been brought from some Chaldean merchants, and that she
had been originally carried away from her own country by a Tyrian
pirate, so that the whole truth was not hard to guess."
"Not a word of this," I said; "not a word to Bodmilcar. More than
ever it makes me resolve to have both eunuch and slave on board my
own galley; otherwise I foresee there will be no end of mischief.
Neither you nor Himilco must breathe a syllable until we have seen
our unwelcome passengers securely landed at their destination."
Each promised faithfully to preserve the strictest reticence: Hanno,
for his part, vehemently asseverating that if a word upon the matter
should escape him, he would forthwith cut off his tongue, and devote
himself to Horus, the Egyptian god of silence.
As we now reached our lodging, the conversation dropped, and for the
next few days we were far too much engaged in active duties to think
any further of what had transpired.
I gave my own personal superintendence to the weaving of all the
sails, which were made strictly after the directions prescribed by
the goddess Tannat.[21] I saw that my ropes were well twisted and
thoroughly tarred; and I arranged the benches for my oarsmen with
such compactness that there was only an interval of a hand's breadth
between the seat of the rower on the upper tier and the head of the
man in the tier below.
[21] The Grecian _Tamith_; according to the Phœnician legend,
she was the inventor of sails.
To give extra strength to the masts and yards, I had them bound at
regular distances with bands of ox-hide, and finally I had the entire
hulls plated with sheets of copper, fastened together with bolts of
bronze.
Never had prouder ships been launched upon the Great Sea.[22]
[22] The Mediterranean.