JONO, THE GOD OF THE SUOMI.
After sixteen days' sojourn, finding the amber beginning to run
short, and the game getting very wild, I resolved to proceed, and
sailed eastwards for five days, until the lack of provisions, no
less than the desire of exploring, induced me to enter the mouth of
the great river we had previously seen. The aspect of the place was
scarcely more inviting than where we had landed before, but we hauled
up our ships, and made an encampment as near to them as we could.
On setting out next morning to explore, we had proceeded but a little
way before we came upon traces proving beyond a question that human
beings had been in the neighbourhood quite recently. We entered
nearly a dozen of the conical huts that we came to, in one of them
finding a fire still burning, and in several of the others a variety
of arms and implements, consisting of weapons made of polished stone,
hatchets, and some copper caldrons. Examining them with greater
minuteness, we ascertained that the huts had been abandoned in great
haste; not only were there fragments of partially-consumed meat and
fish, but one of the litters of reeds covered with moss was still
warm from being lately occupied. I felt convinced that the natives
must have evacuated their tenements in alarm at our approach, and
suspecting that they were still lurking about, I ordered some red
cloth, some beads, some bracelets and necklaces, and other things
which I thought might attract their interest, to be displayed in one
of the most spacious of the huts. I next made my people retire about
three hundred paces, and waited to see the result of my device.
Before long the savages returned, and seeing us stand quietly,
without any apparent wish to molest them, they allowed themselves
to be seen, and came nearer to us. I took Gisgo and advanced to
meet them; but when he addressed them in the Celtic tongue, I
found that they did not understand a word he said, but replied
in a language that neither of us had ever heard before. Pointing
first to a neighbouring marsh, they cried, "Suom, Suom," and then
pointing to their own breasts, they said, "Suomi, Suomi," from which
I conjectured that they called a marsh "suom," and that they were
themselves "people of the marshes." When they showed us their stone
weapons, they pointed to the north-east and said "Gothi;" and what
struck me as remarkable, they used the same word when they spoke of
their articles of Tibarenian bronze. I had never before heard of
a people of that name, but could not help wondering whether these
"Gothi" could by any possibility be Caucasians.
I had seen many savages in my time, but I had never seen savages so
frightfully ugly as these; their huge heads, flat faces, small eyes,
enormous mouths, sallow complexions, made up a physiognomy that
was simply hideous; their short, thin legs appeared scarcely able
to support their clumsy bodies. They made us understand by their
gestures that their friends the "Gothi" were taller either than
themselves or us.
Besides being ugly, their appearance was most sordid. None of the
ornaments so frequently worn by savage tribes adorned them, but their
bodies were scantily protected by fragments of skins, and their
weapons, for the most part, were clumsy bludgeons, stone lances, and
a kind of harpoon tipped with bone. One alone wore a necklace made
of shells and pieces of uncut amber. He appeared to be a sort of
chieftain, and as a token of his good-will he held out a wild bull's
horn full of some yellowish fluid; I was on the point of taking the
horn into my hand, when Himilco, ever ready to guzzle, raised it to
his lips; but no sooner had he tasted the contents than he dashed
it to the ground, and began spitting and spluttering with every
expression of disgust.
[Illustration: HE DASHED IT TO THE GROUND.
_To face page 262._]
"Ugh! the vile stuff!" he said, as soon as he could speak; "it's
nothing in the world but beastly fish-oil! Ugh!"
We all roared with laughter; but the chief, highly offended at
the way in which we received his proferred attention, assumed a
threatening attitude, and in spite of my attempts to pacify him,
withdrew with his followers to the woods.
Poor Himilco looked very penitent when he saw the mischief he had
done.
"What a besotted idiot I am!" he exclaimed; "I declare I deserve
nothing less than to be swung up to the nearest oak. But who was to
know that what looked so tempting was nothing but stinking oil?"
"Well, well," I said; "never mind, you will have better luck another
time. I don't fear but that we shall soon have another opportunity of
improving our acquaintance with these barbarians."
As we proceeded up the river we met occasional groups of the people,
who were always full of gesticulations; they snatched greedily at any
gifts we offered them, but took themselves off directly we attempted
to open any negotiations.
A clearance in the wood made us suspect we were approaching a larger
settlement, and we soon came to a large sheet of water, in the middle
of which was an island crowded with conical huts, that in the centre
being much higher than the rest. The island had been connected with
the land by a narrow causeway, which the natives made us understand
we were not to cross; but they were not altogether indisposed to
transact business with us, and parted with some amber at a very
low rate. But although they attached so little value to their amber,
it was far otherwise with their weapons; we could not induce them
to part with one of their clumsy lances nor one of their smallest
bone hooks for any article that we could offer them. They showed us
various implements of polished stone, and appeared to be desirous of
getting more like them, exhibiting some surprise that we had none to
exchange away. Bronze they had seen before, and they were acquainted
with the use of bows and arrows; they pointed to the birds upon the
trees, as an indication that they wanted Bichri to shoot some; a
desire on their part which he was more than ready to gratify.
[Illustration]
Not thinking it prudent to remain all night in our present position,
I gave orders for making our way back to the ships, yielding,
however, to the wish expressed by several of the Suomi to accompany
us; but so dark was the night, and so bad were the roads, that we
utterly lost our way amidst the quagmires. We wandered about till
near daybreak, when six of us--Hannibal, Chamai, Himilco, Bichri,
one of the sailors, and myself--found ourselves up to our waists
in a swamp. After extricating ourselves with much difficulty, we
discovered that the rest of our party was out of sight, and although
we shouted with all the strength of our lungs, we failed in making
ourselves heard. Terrible as our situation was, there was a still
greater dilemma in store. While we were anxiously endeavouring to
find some waymarks to guide us, we were all at once surrounded by
nearly two hundred of the savages, all stoutly armed. Resistance
would have been useless even if it had been possible. The men had
started, as if called by an incantation, from the tufted brushwood
around, and before we could lay our hands upon our swords, they had
felled us to the ground and pinioned our arms, yelling and dancing
all the time. They did not allow us time to regain our feet, but
pounced down upon us. Two men seized me by the arms, two by the
feet, and a fifth, after taking away my sword, my cap, and my
shoulder-belt, came dancing along behind, every now and then leaning
close over me to peer into my face. They had all evidently tricked
themselves out for their adventure; their hair was dyed red, and
their faces were tattooed blue and black with war-paints.
[Illustration]
After about an hour we were made to cross the causeway from which
we had been repelled the day before, and alternately pushed and
pulled, we were thrust into one of the huts. Hideous women and still
more hideous children followed us in groups until we reached our
destination, where a matting was fastened closely over the doorway,
and we were left upon the cold damp ground in complete darkness,
pillaged, bruised, and bound. There was the sound of retreating
footsteps, and soon the noisy yells lapsed into perfect silence.
If we had been pinioned with rope we might perhaps have contrived to
extricate ourselves, but we had been tied with a tough twist made of
bark, which lacerated our wrists every time we made an attempt to
release them. Chamai groaned aloud with agony.
"Who's groaning?" asked Hannibal, his voice being at once recognised
in the darkness.
"I cannot slip these cursed cords," said Chamai.
"No," said Himilco, "you might as well try to break a ship's cable;"
and remembering that he had not heard either me or Bichri speak, he
asked whether we were there.
Bichri replied:
"Here we are, both of us; and I only wish old Judge Gebal was with
us; he would have got us out of this dilemma."
"What do you mean?" I said. "I don't understand what good the monkey
could do. Anyhow, we must now help ourselves; and that doesn't seem a
very easy business."
"If Hamilcar and Hasdrubal do not come to our rescue, I shall think
them the vilest cowards on the face of the earth," said Hannibal.
"Ah, you must not judge too hastily," I answered; "I do not doubt
but that they will do all in their power, but it is only too likely
they have been attacked, and are in the same plight as ourselves.
Besides, I hardly see how they are to get across that causeway."
"No difficulty there," said the general, warming into enthusiasm;
"archers, right and left; fighting men in a column, four abreast;
sound your trumpets and----"
He stopped abruptly; the clang of a trumpet had caught his ears.
"They come! they come!" cried Chamai, all excitement; "The Lord of
hosts be with them!"
Another blast.
Hannibal continued to expatiate very scientifically about columns of
four and columns of eight, and bewailed his fate that he was not in
command; Bichri, less calm, fancied himself at the head of his troop.
The notes of the trumpet seemed more and more distinct.
"I cannot make out that trumpet," said Himilco; "it does not sound
like one of ours."
"Whose else should it be?" replied Hannibal, testily. "Savages do not
blow trumpets."
The pilot now insisted that the sound did not come across the water
at all, but from the very centre of the huts.
"And yet," he said, "if it means an attack, I wonder we do not hear
the war-cry."
We were all bewildered, and no less so when we heard three loud
shouts rend the air, and the trumpet notes which had been going on at
intervals for a quarter of an hour come to an end with a prolonged
and thrilling flourish.
"I never knew but one pair of lungs that could make a clarion ring
out like that," said Himilco.
The name of Jonah rose simultaneously to the lips of us all, and
Bichri said he should like to see Gebal come in and confirm our
impression.
"Nonsense," I said, "why indulge these foolish fancies? we must be
practical. If we are rescued by our troops, well and good; otherwise
we shall either have to buy ourselves off by a ransom or invent some
ruse to escape."
The sailor who was with us, speaking now for the first time,
reminded us that there were several canoes moored to the causeway,
and Himilco recollected having noticed them. This set us speculating
whether we could devise any means of getting at the canoes, and using
them to facilitate our escape. Hannibal declared that we should still
be in the clutches of the savages, even if we got to land; but Bichri
and Chamai maintained that once free they could take good care of
themselves.
I interrupted them to inquire whether any one amongst them had a
knife, but it proved, as might have been expected, that the savages
had not left us anything of the sort.
"Then roll yourself over here, Bichri," I said, "and see whether you
cannot gnaw this twisted stuff off my hands."
"I have pretty good teeth," replied the youth, "and I will try."
Silence fell upon us all as we listened to him shuffling along the
ground and panting with his exertions. I cannot tell how long it was
before I felt his warm breath upon my hands, but it seemed to me at
least half an hour. He nibbled indefatigably at the cord, giving
my flesh an occasional grip in the process, until the material was
reduced to the substance of twine, when by a slight effort of my own
I burst it asunder, and I was free. An exclamation of delight broke
from my lips, and I was about to liberate the others, when Himilco,
who was lying across the doorway, said:
"Hush! some one comes!"
[Illustration: SEVERAL OF THE SAVAGES ENTERED THE HUT.
_To face page 267._]
In an instant I twisted the broken cord around my wrists, but only
just before a party of several of the savages entered the hut. One
of them having fastened back the covering at the door, took a long
pole and pushed up a kind of trap that had closed the aperture at the
top that served the purpose of a chimney, and the gleams of light
afforded by these two openings allowed us to inspect our place of
confinement.
The hut was perfectly empty, without an article of furniture; the
walls were grimed with soot and smoke; upon the clay floor three rude
stones formed a kind of fire-place which was filled with ashes and
the refuse of some victuals. A cold drizzling rain penetrated the
hole in the roof, and pattered down upon the ground below.
The men that had entered were elaborately covered with their
war-paint. One of them had the head and skin of a bear drawn over
his face like a mask, in the way that I have seen done by the
Assyrians; another wore upon his shoulders the head and horns of an
elk. A third, who carried a stick in his hand, ushered the other two
into the middle of the hut, where they began dancing and making the
strangest of contortions, but all without uttering a word. After
this had gone on for some time, one of the two, who wore a necklace
made of the teeth of wild animals, and who apparently was the chief,
walked up to me, and stood gazing in my face. I noticed that he had
my own sword in his hand. He began a long harangue of which I could
not understand a word, but observed that he repeatedly said "Jono,"
and as often as he did so, all the others gave a loud shout. When his
oration came to an end, the savage sprinkled us with some stinking
liquor, which he poured from a horn; and having in chorus muttered
some kind of refrain that ended in "Jono," they all quitted the hut,
fastening the doorway securely behind them.
"No chance of making terms with such brutes as these," I indignantly
exclaimed, when we were again alone.
"Patience!" said Hannibal; "only let me get my hands at liberty, and
I'll guarantee to floor half-a-dozen of them, unarmed as I am."
Himilco avowed that he was burning for a chance to avenge himself
for the filthy fish-oil; and Chamai protested that though the brutes
should be as countless as the palms of Jericho or the fleas at
Shechem, he would outwit them yet, and find his way back to Abigail.
While they had been talking in this strain, I had disengaged my
hands, and very soon succeeded in freeing Bichri, who assisted me in
liberating all the rest. Once again upon their feet, they stretched
their stiff and weary limbs, and Hannibal, Chamai, and Himilco each
armed themselves with one of the stones that formed the fire-place.
"Here's something that may smash a skull or two," said Chamai, as he
poised his stone aloft.
"Not altogether a military-looking weapon," was Hannibal's remark,
whilst he examined the cumbersome missile; "but our forefathers have
done good execution with worse."
Picking up a few fragments of stone, Bichri was beginning to lament
that he had not a sling, when Himilco in a moment produced the rope
which he invariably wore, and tore off a piece of the goat-skin that
had carried his wine, and with these materials the young archer was
not long in putting together a sling which he hoped might do him good
service.
Night closed in. It was still raining; the wind blew furiously.
Everything seemed to favour our escape.
"Now's your time, my men!" I said. "Make your prayer to your gods,
and we will be off at once."
It was agreed that if we should find more than one sentinel, we
should fight our way through and make for the canoes, and that if we
failed in that attempt, we should take to the water, and swim to the
far end of the causeway. Our watch-word should be three raven-croaks.
"Now, invoke your gods," I repeated.
There was silence in the hut, and I noticed that Himilco raised his
single eye to the aperture in the roof, as though looking for the
Cabiri, but there was nothing to be seen except the pitchy blackness
of the night.
I was about to lead the way, when, on peering out, I not only heard
the sound of footsteps, but saw the glimmer of a torch. My heart beat
fast, and I made my companions arrange themselves on either side of
the doorway, so as to guard the entrance. It seemed to me that there
were not more than one or two approaching. Chamai pressed his back
against the wall, ready to brain the first savage that came within
reach; but whoever they were that were coming, it was evident that
they were not hurrying themselves: they paused in quiet conversation
outside, and at intervals we could again catch the mysterious word
"Jono."
"I wonder whether they are going to give us any more of their beastly
sprinkling," said Himilco.
"I have something here," muttered Hannibal, "that may give them a
sprinkling they don't expect."
Breaking the silence of the night, we now heard the ringing notes
of the trumpet, followed by yells and vociferations. The clamour
was obviously a signal, for at the same moment the covering at the
door was raised, and a man carrying a torch entered the hut, and
closed the entrance behind him. But scarcely had he advanced a step,
when four strong arms arrested him. Chamai's hand was across the
intruder's mouth, effectually stopping any outcry he might raise; I
took possession of his torch; and Himilco, having lifted the stone
above his head, was about to hurl it on his victim, when he let it
fall to the ground, and ejaculated:
"Merciful Cabiri!"
I raised the torch to the visitor's face, and in a moment had thrown
myself upon his neck. It was Hanno.
The sailor picked up the torch that I had dropped in my excitement,
and enabled Hanno in his turn to recognise us.
We were speechless.
For some moments we could do nothing but grasp each other's hands and
embrace our long-lost friend.
Hanno himself was the first to speak.
"Don't strangle me quite. What a joyful surprise is this!"
"Out with a joke, Hanno!" cried Hannibal, "or I shall never believe
it's you!"
Hanno did not smile, but inquired anxiously about Chryseis. Hearing
from me that she was safe and well, his eyes filled with tears, and
he murmured:
"Ashtoreth be praised!"
A violent thumping outside brought us back to a sense of our real
position, and when the thumping was renewed Hanno went to the door,
and having addressed some one with a few guttural words, which were
received with a half-approving grunt, he returned to us.
"And now," he said, his voice assuming its old tone of vivacity,
"perhaps you would like to know what brings me here. I am come to
conduct you to the grand temple of the Suomi; and a fine structure
you will see it is, built of reeds and fish-bones in tip-top style.
You are there to be sacrificed to the great god Jono."
"So then Jono is a god, is he?" I said; "but if you are his high
priest I presume we need not give ourselves much alarm."
Himilco said that if this Jono were the god of fish-oil he most
heartily wished that he might be sent some hundred fathoms down below
the sea.
"Gently, gently, good pilot!" said Hanno, with mock solemnity; "you
must not speak disparagingly of the great divinity. I can, however,
tell you one thing. Jono has no more liking for fish-oil than you
have yourself. No one loves a draught of good wine better. And I may
as well tell you at once who he is. He is none other than our friend
Jonah of Eltekeh! our incomparable trumpeter, Jonah!"
"Ah! didn't I say," cried Himilco, "that no one but Jonah could bring
out such a flourish as that?"
Hanno went on to tell us that the people were already assembled in
the temple awaiting the arrival of ourselves, their destined victims,
and in reply to Chamai, who suggested that we should rise up and
attack them bodily, informed us that there were more than three
thousand of them, so that any resistance on our part would not only
be useless, but must result in our immediate destruction.
"No;" he continued; "you have no alternative but to trust yourselves
implicitly to the influence of the mighty Jono and of his high priest
Hono, your humble servant. My first proceeding will be to acquaint
the assembly that I have released you from your bonds, and that by
the agency of magic I have rendered you quite mild and submissive."
"Allow me to interrupt you for a moment," I said; "but I am intensely
anxious to learn whether you know anything of our comrades?"
"They are now on their way hither," replied Hanno; "and the very
object with which the Suomi propose to sacrifice you is to propitiate
their god, so that he may vouchsafe them the victory."
Hannibal burst out enthusiastically:
"I knew our fellows would come to our defence; brave souls they are!
we'll conquer yet!"
"Not so fast," was the reply; "you must be content to leave
everything to me. I will send a message to Hamilcar and Hasdrubal.
See now; I have my writing materials ready; I made myself a calamus
from the marsh-reeds; my ink is some of the Suomi war-paint; and for
papyrus I have a piece of deer-skin."
Hanno wrote and talked at once; and as soon as he had finished he
turned to us:
"Now then, follow me to the temple. You need be under no apprehension
yet. I will take care that the god shall declare that he does not
require your lives at present. This will give some hours' respite.
In the interval I shall be able, I trust, to send my letter to our
friends. Let us go: but one more word of caution; you must be careful
above all things not to laugh at any of our proceedings."
"You will have to conjure pretty cleverly," I said, "if you are going
to conjure us out of this dilemma."
"Well, you know," he said with a smile, "I have had some education
in this line. I have learnt a bit of the craft of a priest and a
magician; though I acknowledge I did not anticipate that I should
have to practise under the present circumstances."
Taking his torch, he led the way; and with downcast eyes, and much
to the amazement of some savages who were waiting outside, we filed
demurely after him.
The island which we proceeded to cross was considerably larger than
it had at first sight appeared. The huts were arranged in irregular
clusters, each group surrounded by its own palisade. The road was
very dark, and we had to ford a number of pools of water, while
the rain splashed heavily down upon our bare heads. After winding
through the labyrinth of huts, we reached an open place in the heart
of the village, lighted with torches, and thronged with a crowd of
Suomi, armed and coloured with their paint. The central hut into
which we were conducted was much larger than the others, and served
the purpose of a temple; it was circular, and had the appearance
of a gigantic beehive. The interior was lighted with torches, and
with pans of oil, furnished with flaming wicks, which had been made
of bark; it was crowded with the savages, and what with the fumes
of the torches, the vile odour of the burning oil, and the stench
of the grease with which the savages had smeared their bodies, the
atmosphere of the place was positively sickening.
On first entering the assembly the mist was so thick, and the
confusion from the noise of the savages, who were raving like
maniacs, was so great, that I could not distinguish the venerated
deity; but as I gradually got accustomed to the smoky glare and the
boisterous hubbub, I made out that there was a kind of dais or altar
piled up with every conceivable variety of natural products,--skins
of beasts, intestines of fishes, bladders of sea-calves, feathers of
birds--mounted upon which, daubed with blue and crimson, and adorned
with bulls' horns and sea-calves tusks, was the god himself. Not a
feature could I distinguish; one only object seemed familiar; in
one of his crimson hands the god held the very trumpet which I had
purchased for twelve silver shekels of Khelesh-baal the merchant of
Tyre.
The savages did more than make room for us to pass; they thrust
us forward till we were close in front of the altar-shrine. Hanno
placed himself at the side of the god, who, at a given signal, raised
his trumpet to his mouth and blew a deafening blast. A few words
from Hanno made the entire assembly, except ourselves, prostrate
themselves with their faces to the very ground, and thus left
standing conspicuously above the rest, the god could not fail to
recognise us.
No words of mine can describe Jonah's amazement. Eyes, nose, and
mouth, were all distended until the very paint broke in scales upon
his face. He was dumbfounded for the time, and only after a long
stare of astonishment, exclaimed:
"Baal Chamaim! lord of the heavens!"
A sensation of terror thrilled through the prostrate worshippers. The
mighty Jono had spoken!
"Hold your tongue, you fool!" exclaimed Hannibal, with sonorous
solemnity, but in plain Phœnician. The god started, and said no
more.
The crowd of worshippers shivered with awe.
All at once a piercing shriek echoed through the temple. A
black-haired object, ill-defined, had made a tremendous bound, and
perching upon the head of the divinity himself, began tearing his
hair, scratching his face, and hugging and caressing him with wild
delight. The savages started to their feet in consternation, and some
of them fled at once; but when they saw their god drop his trumpet
and take the apparition in his arms, and heard him say to it, "Gebal,
Gebal! dear little man! and have you found out your poor old Jonah?"
their terror knew no bounds, and they rushed frantically out, leaving
us absolutely by ourselves.
Chamai on one side gave the god a good dig in his ribs, while Hanno
on the other kicked him pretty sharply on the leg, but neither
of these attentions seemed to disconcert him in the least; he came
forward and said:
"Delighted to see you all, my friends; an unexpected pleasure: you
know I am a god now; what shall I order for you to eat?"
[Illustration: THE GOD JONO.
_To face page 275._]
"Back to your seat, jackanapes!" cried Hanno, severely, "and don't
speak another word until I give you leave."
For a moment Jonah's dignity seemed somewhat wounded, and he
hesitated about complying; but upon my promising him a good skin of
wine, he returned to his shrine without further murmuring. Hanno
re-arranged the trumpery jewellery with which the god was bedecked,
and Bichri whistled the monkey back to his own shoulder.
"Here's a messenger," said Hanno, "that I think will answer my
purpose very well."
And turning to the creature, who was making the oddest grimaces, he
said:
"Now, Gebal, take this to Hamilcar, quick; and you shall have some
cake."
The monkey appeared perfectly to comprehend what was wanted, snatched
the piece of skin that was held out to it, gnashed its teeth, and
on three legs hopped rapidly out of the temple. A buzz of mingled
surprise and fright made us aware that the animal had passed through
the crowd outside.
"So far, so good," said Hanno; "now for the next scene. You must all
prostrate yourselves to the ground before Jonah. I am going to recall
the Suomi."
Jonah was taken aback, and modestly remonstrated against this
humiliation on our part; but Chamai, by way of enforcing obedience
to Hanno's injunction of silence, gave him a sharp blow across his
mouth, and then came and took up with the rest of us his posture of
outward reverence and awe.
Standing at the doorway in the character of Hono the priest, Hanno
encouraged the people to re-enter their temple. Gradually the more
courageous were induced to return, and ultimately about fifty, still
tremulous with their recent alarm, were assembled in front of the
shrine. Jono once again made the building ring with a tremendous
blast, and Hanno delivered a brief oration, which seemed to have a
soothing effect. The Suomi quietly retired, and we could hear them
placing sentinels outside to prevent any one from entering.
Finding that we were not likely to be disturbed again, Hanno
extinguished all the lights except two torches, and led us into the
darkest corner of the temple, whither Jonah, after flinging off all
his gew-gaws, was only too delighted to follow us.