THE BEAUTIFUL AMINA, SHEIKH AMER'S WIFE--ARABS IN CONSULTATION--THE
COUNTRY OF RUA--BEAUTIFUL WOMEN OF RUA--THE CONSUL'S SON--SELIM AND ISA
ARE PERMITTED TO JOIN THE EXPEDITION--LUDHA DAMHA OFFERS TO LEND MONEY--
SELIM TELLS HIS MOTHER--SELIM'S MANLINESS AROUSED--SELIM ARGUES WITH HIS
MOTHER--THE EXPEDITION SETS SAIL FOR BAGAMOYO.
About four miles north of the city of Zanzibar, and about half a mile
removed from a beautiful bay, lived, not many years ago, surrounded by
his kinsmen and friends, a noble Arab of the tribe of Beni-Hassan,--
Sheikh Amer bin Osman. [Amer bin Osman means, Amer, son of Osman.]
Sheikh Amer was a noble by descent and untarnished blood from a long
line of illustrious Arab ancestry; he was noble in disposition, noble in
his large liberal charity, and noble in his treatment of his numerous
black dependents.
Amer's wife--his favourite wife--was the sweet gazelle-eyed daughter of
Othman bin Ghees, of the tribe of the Beni-Abbas. She was her husband's
counterpart in disposition and temper, and was qualified to reign queen
of his heart and harem for numerous other virtues.
Though few Arabs spoke of her in presence of her husband, or asked about
her health or well-being--as it is contrary to the custom of the Arabs--
still the friends of Amer knew well what transpired under his roof. The
faithful slaves of Amer never omitted an opportunity to declare the
goodness and many virtues of Amina, Amer's wife.
A young European, chancing to ride on one of Prince Majid's horses by
the estate of Amer, one afternoon, casually obtained a glance at the
sweet face of Amina, which made such an impression on his mind that he
continually dwelt upon it as on a happy dream. Some of this young
European's phrases deserve to be repeated in justice to the Arab lady
whom he so admired. "She was the most beautiful woman my eyes ever
rested upon. I felt a shock of admiration as I caught that one short
view of her face. I felt a keen regret that I could see no more of the
exquisite features of her extraordinary face. If I were a painter, I
know I should be for ever endeavouring to preserve a trace of the divine
beauty of that Arab woman; my brush would ever hover about the eyes in a
vain hope that I could transmit to canvas the marvellously limpid, yet
glowing look of her eyes, or near the finely chiselled lips, tinting
them with the rubiest of colours, or ever trying to imitate the pure
complexion, yet always despairing to approach the perfection, one glance
indelibly fixed on my memory."
Around Amer's large roomy mansion grew a grove of orange and mangoe
trees. The fields of his estate numbered many acres, well-tilled and
planted with cinnamon, cloves, oranges, mangoes, pomegranates, guavas,
and numerous other fruit-trees; they produced also every variety of
vegetable and grain known on the Island of Zanzibar. By dint of labour,
and personal exertion, and superintendence of the proprietor the estate
was considered to be one of the most flourishing on the island. A
sacrifice of a large amount of ready money had so improved and
embellished the mansion, that the oldest inhabitant who remembered
Osman, Amer's father, hardly recognised it as the house of Osman. A
large marble courtyard, in the centre of which stood a handsome fountain
of the same costly stone, was one of the many additions made to the
house by Amer after the demise of his father. Marble troughs outside
the mansion had also been erected for the use of the Moslemised slaves,
that they might wash their feet and hands before attending the prayers
in the mesdjid [Chapel or church] of the mansion, which were rigidly
observed with all the ceremonies usual in Moslem temples.
Amer, the son of Osman, had but one son, called Selim, by his favourite
wife Amina. Not less dear to him was this boy than was his wife. In
the boy's handsome features, large glowing black eyes, and clear
complexion he saw what he had received from his lovely mother, and in
the boy's graceful vigorous form he recognised himself, when at his age
he looked up to his father Osman as the paragon of all men upon earth.
Selim's age, when this story begins, was a few months over fifteen; and
it is at the usual evening symposium, which takes place near the even
sloping beach of the little bay in front of Amer's mansion, that we are
first introduced to one of the heroes of our story.
It is near sunset, and a group composed of Amer bin Osman, Khamis bin
Abdullah--a wealthy African trader just returned from the interior of
Africa, with an immense number of ivory tusks and slaves--Sheikh
Mohammed, a native of Zanzibar, a neighbour and kinsman of Amer; Sheikh
Thani, son of Mussoud, an experienced old trader in Africa; Sheikh
Mussoud, son of Abdullah, a portly, fine-looking Arab of Muscat; Sheikhs
Hamdan and Amran, also natives of Zanzibar, though pure-blooded Arabs--
were seated on fine Persian carpets placed on the beach, near enough to
the pretty little wavelets which were rolled by the evening zephyrs up
the snowy sand to hear distinctly their music, but still far enough from
them to avoid any dampness.
Close to this group of elderly and noble-looking Arabs was another
consisting of young people who were the sons or near relatives of each
of the Arabs above-mentioned. There were Suleiman and Soud, nephews of
Amer bin Osman, gaudily-dressed youths; there was Isa, a tall
dark-coloured boy, son of Sheikh Thani; there were Abdullah and Mussoud,
two boys of fourteen and twelve years respectively, sons of Sheikh
Mohammed, whose complexions were as purely white as black-eyed
descendants of Ishmael can well be; and lastly, there was the beloved
son of Amer, son of Osman--Selim, whose appearance at once challenged
attention from his frank, ingenuous, honest face, his clear complexion,
his beautiful eyes, and the promise which his well-formed graceful
figure gave of a perfect manhood in the future.
Selim was dressed in a short jacket of fine crimson cloth braided with
gold, a snowy white muslin disdasheh, or shirt, reaching below the
knees, bound around the waist by a rich Muscat sohari or check. On his
head he wore a gold-tasselled red fez, folded around by a costly turban,
which enhanced the appearance of the handsome face beneath it.
While all eyes are directed west at the dark-blue loom of the African
continent away many miles beyond the greyish-green waters of the sea of
Zanzibar, Amer, son of Osman, remarks to his friends in a musing tone:
"I have sat here, close to my own mangoes, almost every evening for the
last twenty years looking towards that dark line of land, and always
wishing to go nearer to it, to see for myself the land where all the
ivory and slaves that the Arab traders bring to Zanzibar come from."
Directing his eyes towards Khamis bin Abdullah, Amer continued:
"And never has the desire to leave my house and travel to Africa been so
strong as this evening, when thou, Sheikh informest me that thou hast
brought with thee 600 slaves and 800 frasilah [a frasilah is equivalent
to 35 pounds in weight] of ivory from Ufipas and Marungu. It is
wonderful! Wallahi! Five hundred slaves if they are tolerably healthy
are worth at least 10,000 dollars, and 800 frasilah of ivory are worth,
at 50 dollars the frasilah, 40,000 dollars, nearly half a lakh of rupees
altogether, and all this thou hast collected in five years' travels.
Wallahi! it is wonderful! By the Prophet!--blessed be his name--I must
see the land for myself. I shall see it, please God!" and as he
finished speaking he began to wipe his brow violently, a sign with him
that he was excited and determined.
"What I have spoken is God's truth," said Khamis bin Abdullah, "and
Allah knows it. But there are many more wonderful countries than
Marungu and Ufipa. Rua, several days further toward the setting of the
sun, is a great country, and few Arabs have been there yet. Sayd, the
son of Habib, has been to Rua, and much further; he has been across to
the sea of the setting sun, and has married a wife from among the white
people who live at San Paul de Loanda. Sayd is so great a traveller, I
should fear to say what land he has not seen. Mashallah! Sayd, I
believe, has seen all lands and all peoples. He says that ivory is used
in Rua by the Pagans as we use wooden stanchions or posts to support the
eaves of our houses, that ivory holds their huts up, and he believes
great stores of it are known to the savages, where some of their great
hunters have killed a large number of elephants, and have left the ivory
to rot, not knowing how valuable it is, or where a great herd of
elephants have perished from thirst or disease. However the knowledge
came to these people, or whatever the cause which left such a store of
ivory in that country, Sayd, the son of Habib, is certain that there is
an unlimited quantity of this precious stuff in Rua, and that we can
make ourselves richer than Prince Majid, our Sultan, if we go in time,
before the report is common among the Arabs. What money I have made
this time on my last trip is so small, compared to what I might have
realised, that I mean to try my fortune again in Africa shortly,
Inshallah!--please God! I intend going to Rua, and if thou, Amer bin
Osman, hast a mind to accompany me, I promise thee that thou wilt not
repent it."
"Amer bin Osman," replied Amer, "goes not back on his word. By my
beard, I have said I shall go, and, if it be God's will, I shall be
ready for thee when thou goest. But tell us, son of Abdullah, what of
the Pagans of Rua, and those lands near the Great Lakes? Do they make
good slaves, and do they sell well in our market? Yet I need hardly ask
thee, for I have two men whom I purchased when young, about twenty years
ago, who I believe are more faithful than any slave born in my house."
"Good slaves!" echoed Khamis. "Thou hast said it. Finer people are not
to be found, from Masr to Kilwa, than those of Rua and the lands
adjoining. And clever slaves, too! Those Pagans make the best spears,
and swords, and daggers found in Africa. Indeed, some of their work
would shame that of our best Zanzibar artificers. Near a place called
Kitanga--where that is I don't know, but Sayd, the son of Habib, can
tell--there is a hill almost entirely of pure copper, and from this hill
the people get vast quantities of copper, which they work into beautiful
bracelets, armlets, anklets, and such things. Nothing to be seen in
Muscat even can equal the work the son of Habib has witnessed."
"Mashallah!" cried Amer, delighted; "thou makest me more and more
anxious to go to the strange land. A hill of copper!--pure copper! The
Pagans must really be a fine people, and rich, too. If it were only
possible to catch two or three hundred slaves of the kind thou speakest
of, I might be able to laugh in the face of that dog of a Banyan Bamji,
and old Ludha Damha himself could not hold his head higher than I could
then. I owe the dogs a turn, for the heavy usury they exacted of me
when I needed much ready money to make my courtyard and fountains. But
the women, noble Khamis, thou hast said nothing of them. Tell us what
kind of women are seen in those rich lands."
"Ah, yes, do tell us of the women," chimed in two or three others, who
had not yet spoken.
"I have seen but one of the women of Rua," answered Khamis, "and she was
the wife of the son of Sayd, the son of Habib, a tall, lithesome girl of
sixteen years or so. Her lower limbs were as clean and well-made as
those of an antelope. She walked like the daughter of a chief. Her
eyes were like two deep wells of shining moving water. Her face was
like the moon, in colour and form. Oh! the colour was almost as clear
and light as thy son Selim's, Amer. She was beautiful as a Peri-banou--
God be praised!"
"Thy tongue runs away with thee, Khamis," cried Amer, in a slightly
offended tone, "or hast thou imbibed too much of the strong drink of the
Nazarenes, for the celebration of thy late success? Light-complexioned
women, of the colour of my son Selim's face! Where art thou, Selim, son
of Amer, pride of the Beni-Hassan? Thou chief's son by birth and blood,
and apple of thy father's eye! Come hither."
"Behold me, my father, I am here," said Selim, who had bounded lightly
to his feet, and now stood before his father, after kissing his right
hand for the affectionate terms lavished on him.
"Speak, son of Abdullah; behold, my boy, and regard his colour, which is
like unto that of rich cream. Is he not as white as any Nazarene? and
wilt thou repeat what thou hast said about the Pagan wife, of Sayd's
son?"
"Khamis, the son of Abdullah, debauches not himself with the strong
drink of the foolish Nazarenes. I lie not. I said I have seen a
daughter of the Warua whom Sayd's son has taken for wife, and she is
almost as light in colour as thy son, Selim, and far lighter than the
face of the boy, Isa, son of Sheikh Thani."
"Wonderful! Wallahi!" echoed the group. "It is most wonderful. We
shall all go to obtain wives from the Warua."
"Then, kinsmen and friends," cried Amer, "Khamis speaks the truth, and
speaks of wonderful things. Is it agreed that we go to Rua with the son
of Abdullah, to get ivory, slaves, and copper, and light-coloured
wives?"
"It is," they all replied, so deeply impressed were they with what
Khamis had said.
"I am glad to hear it, my friends," said Khamis; "but ye must now agree,
before we break up, as the sun is fast setting, upon the day of
departure. I cannot wait long, because I am nearly ready, but I am
willing to wait a few days, if ye will all promise to be ready by the
new moon, twenty-four days from this evening. Ye must also promise to
take as many of your slaves as ye can, that we may make a strong party.
Tell me, Sheikh Amer, how many of thy people armed canst thou take with
thee?"
"Who?--I? I can take two hundred well-armed servants, besides my two
faithful fundis, Simba and Moto, as they are called by the slaves, who
are worth an army by themselves, and--"
"Let me go, my father," cried Selim, seating himself on the carpet close
to his father's knees, and looking up to his face with eager, entreating
eyes, "I can shoot. Thou knowest the new gun which thou didst send for
to London, in the land of the English, and which the good balyuz [Balyuz
is an Arabic word for consul, or rather ambassador] taught me how to
use. The balyuz told me the other day that I would be able to shoot
better than he could, by-and-by. I can shoot a bird on the wing already
with it. Give thy consent, and let me accompany thee, father. I will
be both good and brave, I promise thee."
"Hear the boy!" said Amer, admiringly. "A true Bedaween could not have
spoken otherwise. But why dost thou wish to leave thy mother, child, so
soon?"
"My mother will regret me, I know, but I am now strong and big, and it
is not good for me to remain in the harem all my life. I must quit my
mother some time, for work which all men must do."
"And who gave thee such ideas, son Selim? Who told thee thou wert too
big to remain with thy mother?"
"The other day I went out with Suleiman, son of Prince Majid, and the
young son of the American balyuz--I can't pronounce his name--to shoot
wild birds. The young American boy, who is smaller than I am, and
already thinks himself a man, though he is no bigger than my hand,
laughed at me; and when I asked him why he laughed, he said to me,
`Truly, Selim, thou appearest to me to be like a little girl whose
mother bathes her in new milk every day to preserve her complexion. I
cannot understand the spirit of an Arab boy which contents itself with
looking no further out-doors than within sight of a mother's eyes.'
These are the words he spoke to me within hearing of Suleiman, Majid's
son, who also laughed at me, while I felt my cheeks were red with shame,
they tingled so."
"Tush, boy! What is it to thee what the thoughts of a forward Nazarene
lad are? Thou art not of his race or kin. But I must own to ye, my
friends," said Amer, turning to the elders, "that the youths of the
Nazarenes [Nazarene is the Arabic term for Christian] are bolder than
ours, though they do not possess higher courage or loftier spirit than
our own children. Who would have thought that such large independence
could hide within the little body of the American balyuz's son? That
small child cannot be twelve years old, yet he talks with the wisdom of
a man. All the Nazarenes are wonderful people--wonderful! Who are
stronger, richer than the Nazarenes of England?"
"Ah, but, father," said Selim; "do you not think the Nazarenes are
accursed of God, and of the prophet Mohammed--blessed be his name? The
American boy told me the Arabs are wicked, and are accursed of God.
Said he to me that same day in hearing of the Sultan's son, as if he was
not a bit afraid of the consequences, `The Lord God makes his anger
known against the Arabs by refusing knowledge and the gifts of
understanding unto them, because they are wicked, because they go forth
into Africa with armed servants a-plenty to destroy and kill the poor
black people, and to take slaves of parents and children, whom they
bring to Zanzibar to sell for their own profit.' Is he not an
unbeliever, father?"
"Peace, Selim; let not thy tongue utter such words against the true
believers, though they may have been said by a young dog like that.
Cast them away from thee entirely, and let not thy father hear thee
utter aught against thine own race and kindred. To the unbelievers God
has said, `Woe unto them; they shall be the prey of the flames.'"
"But, father, thou art not offended with me? Thou hast not yet given
thy consent to my going with thee and my kinsman."
"Dost thou know, my child, that the Pagans are fierce, that they have
great spears and knives, and will cut that slim neck of thine, and
perhaps eat thee without compunction?" asked Amer, smiling.
"I fear them not," answered Selim, tossing his head back proudly. "When
did a son of the great tribe of Beni-Hassan show fear? and shall I, the
son of a chief of that tribe--the son of Amer bin Osman--look upon the
faces of the Pagans with fear in my heart?"
"Then thou shalt go with me, were it only for those last words. But
fear not, Allah will care for thee," said Amer, solemnly laying his
broad hand on his son's head.
"Let us end this before the sun sets," said Khamis impatiently, watching
the descent of the sun. "How many men canst thou take with thee, Sheikh
Thani?"
"Thani has a son--Isa," answered that worthy trader. "Thani is poor
compared to Amer, but he can call round him fifty well-armed slaves, who
will stand by him to the death."
"That is answered well, and Isa is a likely lad, though his skin is
dark; but he has the soul of an Arab father in him. I see we shall have
a glorious company; and thou, Mussoud?" said Khamis, to that
florid-faced chief, who was proud of his intensely black and handsome
beard, "How many canst thou muster?"
"About the same as my friend Thani," replied Mussoud, caressing his
beard. "All my people are Wahiyow, docile, and good; and, if cornered,
brave. They will follow me anywhere."
"Good again!" ejaculated Khamis, evidently pleased. "And thou, Sheikh
Mohammed?" he asked of the chief so named, who had a terrible reputation
in the interior among the Wafipa and Wa-marungu, and of whom many tribes
stood in awe,--"how many of thy people wilt thou take to Africa this
time?"
"Well," said Mohammed, in a deep voice, which resembled the bellow of a
wild buffalo, "for such a grand project as this I think I can take one
hundred men from my estate; my head men can take charge of the rest with
Bashid, my brother, very well. I shall also take these young lions--
Abdullah and Mussoud--with me, to teach them how to catch slaves and
claw them, as I have done often."
"Thanks, father," replied the grateful youths, who as soon as they had
said these words looked up slyly to Selim, who smiled appreciatingly at
his boyfriends.
"Sultan, son of Ali," said Khamis, "thou art a strong and wise man.
Wilt thou be one of us?"
Sultan, son of Ali, was a man of about fifty, or perhaps fifty-five, of
strongly-marked features, who had keen black eyes. Strong and wise, as
Khamis bin Abdullah had said he was, indeed no one looking at him would
doubt that he was one of the best specimens of a hardy Bedaween chief
that ever came to Zanzibar. Besides, Sultan had been an officer of high
rank in the army of Prince Thouweynee of Muscat, who had often eulogised
Sultan for his daring, obstinacy, forethought, and skill in handling his
wild cavalry. He was still, as might be seen, in the prime of mature
manhood, which age had not deteriorated in the least.
Sultan answered Khamis readily. "Where my dear friend Amer bin Osman
goes, I go. Shall I remain at Zanzibar eating mangoes when Amer, my
kinsman, is in danger? No! Son of Abdullah, thou mayest count me of
thy party for good or for evil, and I can raise eighty slaves to
shoulder guns for this journey."
"Good, good," the Arabs said, unanimously. "Where the stout son of Ali
goes, the road is straight and danger is not known."
"Well," said Khamis bin Abdullah, "we have now four hundred and eighty
men promised; I will take with me a hundred and fifty men with guns, and
I dare say Sheikhs Hamdan and Amram and a few other friends will bring
the force up to seven hundred. Isa, son of Salim, Mohammed son of
Bashid, Bashid bin Suleiman, tall young men, and kinsmen to me, have
already agreed to follow my fortunes. A large number of Arabs is always
better than a few. I have one thing more to say before we rise to
prayers--the sun is just sinking, I see--Ludha Damha, the collector of
customs, has told me that if a strong party went with me he would let us
have any amount of ready money at 50 per cent, annual interest, which is
half the usual price he asks--the old dog!--and if any of you desire
money, go to him for your outfit, for I will speak to him to-morrow
morning and give him your names."
"That is well-spoken, by my beard," said Mohammed. "I was thinking that
we could not raise money under 100 per cent, interest from the Banyan
usurer."
"Very well, indeed," added Amer bin Osman. "Ludha Damha must be sure of
a speedy return to let his money go so cheap. My mind is now perfectly
made up; and, friends, the sun has set and we must to prayers." Saying
which Amer rose--a signal which the Arabs readily understood.
After the usual salaams, courtesies, and benedictions had been uttered,
the Arabs departed each to his own home, at a slow and dignified pace,
while Amer and his son Selim retired into the mesdjid of their own
mansion.
When Amer and Selim had ended their evening prayers, and had left the
mesdjid or church belonging to the mansion, Selim asked, pulling at his
father's robe:
"Father, I see my mother at the lattice; may I go and tell her that I am
to go with you to Africa?"
"Ah, poor Amina! I forgot all about her," said Amer, stopping and
speaking in a regretful tone. "Selim, my son, this is sad. Amina will
never permit thy departure. It would break her heart."
"But I must go sometime from home, father. Why not now? With whom can
I be safer than with thee? I am not going with strangers, nor am I
leaving my kindred. I am going with thy kindred, thy household, and
thyself. What can my mother object to?"
"Thou art right, Selim--thou art right! She cannot object. Our slaves,
our kindred are going--but--but--poor Amina, she will be left alone.
Go, Selim, tell her kindly. It will pain her." And Amer turned shortly
away, as if he had sudden and important business in another direction.
Selim, on the other hand, bounded lightly away, arrived at the great
carved door of the mansion, ran up the broad stairs, and made his way to
the harem, or the women's apartments, where Amina reigned queen and
mistress.
Few boys of Selim's age could have approached their mother with the
earnestly-respectful manner with which Selim approached Amina. I doubt
even if the Queen of England's children ever observed such courteous
respect towards their august parent as Selim observed now, and as most
well-bred Arab boys do observe always toward their parents.
Selim left his slippers outside, and lifting the latch quietly, walked
in with bare feet, and, approaching his mother, kissed her right hand,
and then her forehead, and at her invitation seated himself by her side,
and suddenly remembering the all-important secret he had to communicate,
looked up to his mother, with his handsome features all aglow.
"Mother, canst thou tell me what I have come to say to thee?"
Amina looked for an instant fondly on her son, and then answered with a
smile--
"No, my son. Hast thou anything very important to tell me?"
"Very important, mother," and he pursed his lips as if he would retain
it for a long time before imparting it, and as if it were worth some
trouble of guessing.
"I wish thou wouldst not task my skill of divination too much. Thy face
tells me thou art happy with it, but it does not assure me that I shall
be equally happy. I divine only on the Kuran, and though thy face is
innocent and without guile, yet it is more difficult to read than the
Kuran. Tell it me, Selim, I pray thee."
"Then, my mother, I am going with my father to Africa!"
"To Africa, child! To Africa! Where is that? Thou dost not mean the
mainland, surely?"
"Yes, I mean far away into the interior of the mainland," replied Selim,
still looking at his mother smilingly.
"To the interior of Africa!" cried the poor woman in dismay, her face
assuming the hue of sickness. "Why, what can thy father want in
Africa?--he was never there before. What can he want there now?"
"He is going to Africa with Khamis bin Abdullah, Sheikhs Mohammed,
Thani, Mussoud, Sultan, Amran, Hamdan, and many others, to a far country
called Rua, to buy ivory and slaves, and come back rich."
"Going to Africa! To get rich! Oh, Allah!" cried out Amina, in accents
of unfeigned surprise, mixed with emotion. "And thou art going with
him--thou, a child? Art thou going to get rich too?"
"I am to accompany my father and kinsmen, not to get rich, but to see
the world, and learn how to be a man, to shoot lions, and leopards,
zebras, and elephants, with my new English gun."
"Cease thy prating, child; thy tongue runs at a fearful rate. Thou
shoot lions and leopards! Thou! Why thou art but a baby, but lately
weaned! Thou and thy father must be dreaming!" said Amina sharply, and
with an attempt at a sneer.
It was a brave attempt on the part of a nearly heart-broken woman, who
would fain suppress the cry of anguish that struggled to her lips, but
as she said the last words, one glance at Selim's face showed to her
that such tactics, would never answer. The eaglet had been taught that
wings were made to fly with. The boy had been rudely laughed at, and
his latent manliness aroused, by the son of the American consul, who had
sneered at him. Selim had found that a head was on his shoulders which
teemed with daring thoughts; that he had arms to his shoulders, and legs
to his body, made on purpose, as it were, to execute such thoughts as
the head conceived. With the culmination of such knowledge fled
unregretfully the pleasant days of the harem, the memories of his romps
with the girls, days upon days of effeminate life.
Achilles was found out by the sight which he obtained of some war
weapons. Selim had found out that he was a boy by a sneer. Charming as
was his mother's company, happy as he had been with his feminine
playmates, proud as he had been of his golden tassels and embroidery,
fond as he had been of being loved and embraced as an entertaining young
friend by little girls of his own age--all these experiences became
inane and stupid compared to the overpowering consciousness he felt that
he was a boy, and might in time become a strong man. A man! perish all
other thoughts and memories, feelings, and reminiscences save those
which tend to lead him to the goal of manhood, which he has set himself
to reach by a journey to Africa, to the land of cannibals and lions,
leopards and elephants, to the land of adventure, undying fable, and
song.
"Mother," said Selim, removing his turban and _fez_, as if his
head-dress compressed the grand thought which filled his brain, "my
childhood is passed. I have been thoroughly weaned from all things
belonging to a child. I am now a strong boy, and in five years I shall
be a man. Allah made the world, and made it to grow. It has been
growing ever since it was made. Allah made infants; infants grow if
they live; they become boys--boys become men. When I was an infant I
had no understanding nor strength. Thou, my mother, didst point out to
me my nourishment. I flourished on it, and in time was weaned. In a
little time my strength availed me to put my own food into my own lips.
I flourished on that food, and I became stronger still. Later I
understood language, and answered thee with childish love and affection.
I romped in the harem, and was happy. Then I was permitted to go out
of doors unattended by my female attendant. I bathed in the sea. I
learned to swim, and acquired games which boys learn one from another.
I learned to ride on horses; I learned to shoot, and day by day I was
getting stronger in body and limb, and with my strength has begun to
grow my thoughts. These thoughts are thoughts of manhood, of duty; and
the business of life, which I am beginning to learn, is serious.
Mother, dear mother, my health required, when I was strong enough to
enjoy out-of-door life, that I should run about and leap. Mother, my
happiness demands that my thoughts should be humoured as my strength
was. I find I am made of two parts--body and mind. Neither may be
longer neglected--both must be humoured, or I die. If my body is not
exercised out in the open air--if I be imprisoned in a harem, I shall
become dwarfed. I shall not grow. If my mind is not exercised by
seeing, and talking with many people--if I see no more than my mother
and my mother's slaves--my mind cannot grow. I shall know nothing, and
I shall become a fool. I, the son of Amer, the son of Osman, will be
sneered at. It may not be, dear mother. I must go away, and learn the
lesson of a man's life."
"But, my dear son," said Amina, entreatingly, for she had been
astonished and amazed at the amount of logic which the boy, to her
surprise, had put forth in his statement. "Consider, thou art yet
young, and that thou mayst wait awhile yet before journeying to that
horrid land of negro savages. What canst thou find there to learn?
Seeing lions and leopards, and elephants and ugly crocodiles, will not
ripen thy mind. Surely thou art cruel to think of leaving me alone
here--both my lord Amer and my son at one time!"
"Nay, my mother, what I shall see in Africa will be new and strange.
The sight of new and strange things is like the lessons which the good
Imam used to give me at school from the Kuran. Every day I shall see
something new, and every day I shall grow in wisdom and experience; and
my mind will be enriched by each new thing, and in time will become a
store of wisdom, to be applied to my advantage in affairs of life. Thou
art surprised that I talk so, mother. I have been talking with wise
white men. The consuls, who know everything, have been dropping strange
ideas to me every day, not because I asked them, or that they dropped
them for my benefit. Being permitted to play with their children, I
have been in their presence while they were conducting their business,
and the amount of wisdom the white men know is wonderful. Great
thoughts--too great for me to understand--dropped from their mouths--
from one to another--just as those pearls which thou dost play with are
passed from thy right hand to thy left."
"It is well, my son. I have heard thee through. Thou art already older
by many years than I took thee to be yesterday. Thou mayst tell my lord
Amer how Amina received thy news. I will have something more to tell
thee, before thou goest to Africa," and Amina arose to leave the
apartment for another, humbly, and with her head bowed down.
"My mother," cried Selim, springing up, and seizing her hand, which he
conveyed respectfully to his lips, "be not offended. It is not my
doing, but Allah's, and Allah's will be done!"
"Ay, truly! Allah's will be done!" said the poor mother, embracing him,
but with more restraint than usual.
We are now compelled to leave each of the Arabs engaged to accompany
Khamis bin Abdullah to Rua in search of ivory and slaves to make his
preparations as he best knows how. It is not our duty to peer too
closely into the small details of this business of preparation. It
absorbs all one's time, and we feel sure if we troubled them to give us
too minute an account of the manner in which they get along, some
impatient expressions might escape to our regret. Therefore we think it
better to leave each Arab alone, to the cunning of his own devices, to
his calculations, and purchases, to his ever-recurring vexations, to the
fatigue and anxiety which belong to the task of fitting out; merely
observing, as we pass by, that each Arab purchases such beads, of such
colours, as he thinks proper, such cloth as he deems suitable for his
market, so much powder and lead as will sufficiently provide his men for
the defence of his goods, should such be ever necessary, so many guns as
he has men, such luxuries in the shape of crackers and potted sweets,
sugar, tea, and coffee, as the chief of the caravan deems it necessary
to take. "Nothing in excess, but enough of every necessary thing," is
the golden rule adopted by all people about penetrating Central Africa.
The Arab chiefs and their followers, though they generally take a long
time to prepare a caravan, were in this instance, however, much to our
pleasure, punctual to the day named, and at the beginning of the new
moon of the sixth month of the year of the glorious Hegira 128-, or the
year of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 186-, the ships containing the
expedition and the vast amount of stores requisite for the consumption
of a large and imposing caravan for about three years, set sail in the
morning from the open harbour of Zanzibar, for the port of Bagamoyo, on
the mainland, distant twenty-five miles.
Let us wave our snowy handkerchiefs to the travellers, for we have one
or two young friends who accompany them. Let us wish them a cheery _bon
voyage_, and a happy issue out of their enterprise, if it so happen that
the Lord of Moslems and Christians looks down upon its purpose with
favourable eye. Let us at least bear them good will until they have
forfeited our good opinion by acts contrary to Christian charity and the
good will to all men which that most loving God-Man, Jesus, preached
unto us.