Zabra had by this time become more familiar to the people of the
Albatross, with some of whom his kindness and generosity made him an
especial favourite. They had ceased to see any thing supernatural in his
large lustrous eyes,--and had forgot that there was any thing mysterious
in the dark colour of his complexion. His solitary wanderings about the
ship created neither fear nor surprise, and the rich harmonies of his
music were listened to with much more admiration than dread. Loop, a
boy belonging to the vessel, who was a sister's son of Hearty, had been
attacked with fever, and the attentions of Zabra, during his illness,
won not only the heart of the old man, but that of every one on board.
He procured for him every kind of nourishing food and refreshing
beverage, that the Doctor would allow; took care that he should possess
every comfort that the vessel contained; sung to him, played to him, and
stayed beside his hammock for hours and hours, seeking to while away the
tedious moments of indisposition. Oriel Porphyry having desired that he
should be treated by every one as if he was his brother, instead of his
attendant, Zabra found his slightest request always promptly attended
to; and, though his manner was somewhat proud, as he seemed to possess
abundant funds for every purpose, and gave liberally whenever he thought
it was requisite, scarcely any one in the ship ever hesitated in joining
in his praise.
The boy Loop got well, and he was not ungrateful. As for old Hearty,
nothing could exceed his devotion to his nephew's benefactor. To every
listener he could lay hold of, he narrated at length all that he knew
of the youth's history, since he came on board: the people, rescued
from the fire-ship, were in due time made familiar with every anecdote
concerning him with which the old man was acquainted; and to no one were
his details of more interest than to the young Australian, Ardent, who
sometimes appeared to forget his own sorrows while attentive to the
unpolished eloquence of the honest sailor. From this time Zabra became
an object of general interest. Even Captain Compass seemed to look upon
him with something like respect; Scrumpydike had ceased to entertain
against him any hostile intentions; and Log, the captain's clerk, was
heard to acquiesce in the opinion of his shipmates, with an affirmative
repeated with the usual supply of adjectives.
But to Oriel Porphyry the admirable qualities of his page became every
day more and more apparent. In the frequent conversations that took
place between them, he could not but observe the developement of a mind
of the highest order. It was not a mind impregnated with the heavy
spirit of bookish learning, but an intelligence of a lighter, a more
graceful, and a more original nature, replete with a sweet sympathy,
and a lofty enthusiasm for all that was noble, good and beautiful;
and throwing over the youthful figure and handsome countenance of its
possessor, a poetical and romantic character, that was both a wonder
and a charm to his companion. Zabra spoke of Eureka as if he had become
acquainted with her most hidden thoughts, and had been constituted their
interpreter; but of himself he never spoke. When Oriel seemed desirous
of learning something of his history, he appeared uneasy, and
immediately attempted to turn the conversation into another channel.
This was noticed; but the unwillingness of the young Creole to speak of
himself, Oriel attributed to the disinclination usually shown by natural
children to allude to their own illegitimacy, knowing the unreasonable
and cruel prejudices of society: therefore he ceased to desire from him
any information on the subject. Still, his youth,--the singular beauty
of his countenance, and the strange interest it often expressed, made
him imagine that there was some mystery connected with him.
As he treated Zabra with the utmost confidence, and appreciated the
intelligence he evinced, Oriel Porphyry communicated to him the contents
of his father's letter.
"Your father is a noble character," he exclaimed with fervour; "and the
proudest title of which you ought to boast, is that of being his son.
I never could have supposed that it was possible for such nobility
to reside in a spirit devoted to the mere money-getting purposes of
traffic, but I have been educated in an aristocratic school, and with
its lofty principles I have imbibed some of its illiberal prejudices.
I would _my_ father had been such a one--I should not have been the
fugitive I am."
"Express no regrets, Zabra. Let it be my pleasing task to see that your
fortunes are worthy of your merits;" said Oriel Porphyry, affectionately
taking in his the hand of his youthful companion. "And although I have
not much reason to think well of the proud Philadelphia, for his conduct
has not been such as would be likely to inspire me either with affection
or respect; when I think of his relationship to her whose genuine worth
it is impossible not to appreciate, I cannot regard the unfavourableness
of his disposition."
"Eureka is not unmindful of your kind feelings towards her;" observed
the other in a more tremulous voice than he had hitherto used. "It is
her desire to deserve your affections, that has supported her under many
trials. Her father is proud, but not so proud as Eureka. Yet there is an
impassable gulf between the pride of the two. He would sacrifice every
one around him for the immediate gratification of his own self-love:
she would sacrifice all selfish considerations that interfered with the
happiness of one she loved."
"And think you I cannot honour such goodness in the manner it deserves?"
asked the merchant's son. "Let him be what he will--let his pride be as
mean, and his ambition as selfish as it may, for the sake of Eureka I
will endeavour to forget his unworthiness. All I hope is, that he will
not attempt to force her inclinations to an alliance more pleasing to
him."
"He cannot force her inclinations--that he knows;" remarked Zabra. "He
has made the attempt for the first and last time; and Eureka is now
beyond his reach."
"Indeed!" exclaimed Oriel with astonishment.
"Ay!" he replied. "He thought the more completely to secure your
separation from her, to hurry her into a marriage with the wealthy and
powerful head of the princely house of Vermont; but the character of
such a man, had no other obstacle existed, would have been sufficient
to have produced in her feelings a repugnance which nothing could
overpower. As it was, she indignantly refused to become a sacrifice to
her father's ambition. Her sentiments, however, on the subject, were so
little regarded by him, that he made preparations to compel her to the
union."
"Ha!" exclaimed master Porphyry, "I could not have imagined such
despotism in a parent."
"Closely as she was watched," he continued, "Eureka managed to escape
from her confinement; and when she sent me to be the companion of your
fortunes, she had secured for herself the asylum she required."
"But where is she? Let me hasten to afford her the protection of which
she must be so much in want!" exclaimed the impetuous Oriel; then
reproachfully added, "Why, why did you not tell me this before?"
"I have obeyed my instructions;" replied the youth calmly. "It is
sufficient for you to know that now she is safe, and that she is in the
enjoyment of as much happiness as it is possible for her to obtain under
the circumstances. Her retreat can only be made known to you when all
the purposes of the present voyage are completed, and you return to
Columbus."
"But can I not communicate with her? will she not write to me?" eagerly
inquired the other.
"Be satisfied that it is impossible she should forget you, and endeavour
to prove to her without the aids of continual correspondence, that in
your affection the same durability exists."
"I will! I will!" cried Oriel; "I will do all she would have me. I will
follow the plan my father has laid out, even to the minutest details;
will try to find patience for its endurance by thinking of the blissful
result with which it will be crowned. We are now approaching the
southern coast of Africa," he continued after a pause of some duration,
which neither had attempted to interrupt; "and my immediate destination
Caffreton, the great mart of traffic in this part of the world is the
first point of my commercial voyage. My father has written me very full
instructions which I have carefully studied, and you will shortly see,
Zabra, how well I shall be able to play the merchant."
They had been standing together on the deck gazing upon the world of
waters before them during the preceding dialogue, and were now silently
observing the progress of some distant vessels, when they were joined by
the learned Professor Fortyfolios. Addressing Oriel, he said--
"That portion of land you observe yonder, rising out of the sea, is an
important Cape, well known in the annals of navigation, and was called
by the ancients the Cape of Good Hope. It used to be celebrated for
producing an inferior wine, called Cape Wine, which being cheap, as it
was worthless, was brought in considerable quantities for the purpose
either of adulterating wines of a higher value, or was palmed upon the
ignorant as the produce of a different vintage. The English, a people
with whose history you are doubtless familiar, though not wine growers,
were the greatest wine consumers of that period, and it was the immense
demand for this necessary of life among that people, which the wines of
Spain, Portugal, Sicily, Italy, France, Germany, and other countries,
could not sufficiently supply, that brought this Cape into notice. The
African wines are now remarkable for their admirable qualities. That it
was the search after new liquors that sent the English into this part of
the world chroniclers are not agreed, and that there were other wines
produced in the same locality much superior in flavour, I think is
more than probable, because I have found in the course of my reading,
eloquent commendation of an African wine, called Constantia, and I have
good reason for imagining that the deserts which the first voyagers
of that nation met with on some portions of the coast, when they
ascertained that a superior liquor was here procurable, originated the
English proverb 'Good wine needs no bush.' However, there can be no
doubt that the English planted a colony at this very Cape; gradually
drove the natives from their land as they increased in power and
numbers, till the whole continent from the Cape of Good Hope to
Alexandria, and from Abyssinia to Senegambia, acknowledged their sway,
and, in a great measure, spoke their language."
"Truly, those English were a great people!" remarked Oriel.
"They were so," said the Professor; "when we consider what they did, and
the means they had to do it, we must acknowledge that they deserve the
epithet, 'great.' At an early period of the world's history, England was
utterly unknown. In the times of Assyrian greatness, in the eras of
Babylon, of Jerusalem, and of Troy--and in the more brilliant ages of
the Greeks, the Romans, and the Carthaginians, such an island had never
been heard of--scarcely two thousand years had elapsed before this
speck upon the waters became the most powerful kingdom upon the earth.
She had possessions in every quarter of the globe; her conquering armies
had penetrated into the remotest regions, and her gallant navies had
triumphed in every sea. She had given a new people and a new language
to the vast continent of America; she had founded a new division of the
world in Australia; she had been acknowledged the mistress of the mighty
Indies; she had forced a path through deserts of perpetual ice, and
found a home in the scorching heat of the torrid zone. And by this time
what had become of the nations of a more remote antiquity? Of some, the
localities were not to be traced; others remained a heap of stones. The
Carthaginians were extinct--the free and noble Greeks had become slaves
or pirates--and the daring Romans, who boasted having conquered the
world, were an ignoble emasculated race, confined to a single city and
its suburbs, and governed by a despotic old woman in the shape of a
priest."
"The form of government under which the people of this continent
exists, is republican, I believe;" observed Master Porphyry.
"The whole is divided into a multitude of republics, some of which are
always at war with one another," replied his tutor; "and they show their
idea of liberty, of which they make the most preposterous boast, by
keeping up a system of slavery the most tyrannical and revolting that
can be imagined."
"Ay, ay," exclaimed Captain Compass, coming up and joining in the
conversation; "it's the way of the world. Hear your most famous spouter
about the blessings of freedom and all that sort of thing, and ten to
one if you don't find him ready to domineer over every body beneath him.
When I hear a fellow mighty fine in his notions of universal liberty, I
always feel pretty certain that he only wants the power to trample on
the independence of all who might stand in the way of his particular
enjoyments. But this is all natural enough; the feeble are monstrously
indignant at the exercise of power in the hands of their rulers; but
when by any accident they become powerful, they all at once see the
advantages of keeping down those who are down, and in a very short time
become just as despotic as those of whom they complained."
"What vessels are these, Captain?" inquired Oriel, pointing to several
ships, appearing at different distances in the open sea before them.
"Yonder vessel, whose tall masts are bending before the brisk breeze
that fills her sails, is an Algerine merchantman, and has most probably
a cargo of dancing masters, cooks, figurantes, and opera singers, which
are as much now the chief produce of the people to whom she belongs,
as they were a thousand years ago the principal exports of their
progenitors. That sombre thing, with the long funnel in the centre of
her deck, is very similar to the steamers of which the ancients were so
proud, before an improved propelling power was discovered. She belongs
to the Abyssinians--a people remarkably slow in adopting the inventions
of their more civilised neighbours; she trades from the sea of Babel
Mandeb to the Gulph of Guinea, sometimes touching at Madagascar, and
the neighbouring islands, and carries passengers, pigs, crockery, and
snuff. This rakish looking craft, flying afore the wind like a petrel in
a storm, is a free trader with a rich cargo of smuggled merchandise from
the continent to the Mauritius; and the big ship yonder, bearing down
upon us as if she'd sink every thing that stood in her way, is a man of
war belonging to the Liberians--a powerful nation of blacks. All these
small fry that are starting up from every point, are merely coasting
vessels--government packets,--fishing smacks--pilot boats,--pleasure
yachts, and other floaters of a similar nature."
"But what is this?" inquired Oriel, pointing to something of a very
strange appearance that was seen at the distance of about three quarters
of a mile, making way at a rapid rate towards the shore. They all gazed
in that direction, and a most extraordinary spectacle they beheld. At
first it seemed like a ball--but as it approached the ship it enlarged,
and every one who saw it knew it to be a balloon. How it came there,
floating on the waves by itself, many conjectured; but their surprise
at its appearance was wonderfully increased, when they observed a man,
with his body immersed in the waves, clinging to it, or more probably
attached to its fastenings. His peril he endeavoured to make known
by screams of the most piercing description; but it was not till the
miserable wretch was being rapidly borne past their vessel that the
people of the Albatross discovered the full extent of his danger. For at
least half a mile behind him the sea was a mass of white smoking foam,
which was created by nearly a hundred immense sharks following him with
eager speed, lashing the waves with their tails, leaping over each
other, plunging, snorting, and displaying the most ravenous desire to
catch him in their enormous jaws. Sometimes the balloon ascended a
little distance above the sea and then would rapidly descend, plunging
the unhappy aeronaut over his head in the salt water; but while the
sharks were all striving against each other to make a mouthful of his
limbs, it would again ascend, floating swiftly over the surface, bearing
its screaming appendant about a foot above his unrelenting pursuers,
who continued to follow him struggling furiously with each other, and
eagerly snapping at his limbs whenever they approached the surface of
the water. It was impossible to render him any assistance, although he
passed within a few yards of the ship, he was carried so swiftly along;
and on he went, shrieking with agony, now high above the waves--then
dashed in beneath them--then flying over the surface, with the horrid
expectation of being immediately devoured by the hungry pack by whom he
was pursued.
"Scrunch me, if that isn't the most cruel chase I ever saw," exclaimed
the captain.
"These sort of accidents are not at all extraordinary," observed
Fortyfolios, "and with such things must frequently occur. Balloons are
an old invention, and one the least useful for philosophical purposes
of any we have received from the ancients. Attempts have been made,
attended with success, to get one or several individuals borne by
them from an island to an adjoining continent, and from one part of a
continent to a part far remote; but as they have found it impossible to
control the current of wind met with in certain elevations, and as they
can seldom rely upon a current in any one direction lasting for any
length of time, they have been able to rise as high as they please, but
can never previously fix exactly upon the place of their descent; and it
has in many instances occurred, as in the one we have just now observed,
that after the aeronaut has made his ascent, a sudden wind takes him in
a direction contrary to what he designed, or various currents rising
unexpectedly at nearly the same time, he is shifted about to every
point of the compass; and when he is obliged to descend, he finds
himself floating over some unknown sea, or some wild uncultivated land,
hundreds of miles from human assistance, where he is left to endure
the conviction that he must either be drowned or starved. A balloon
is, in fact, a toy, with which one fool amuses many."
Nothing more was said on the subject, although the dangerous situation
of the poor fellow who had attached himself to the balloon was
anxiously watched as long as he remained in sight, and the imminent
peril in which he was seen: his heart-rending cries, and desperate
struggles, long left their unpleasant impression on the memory of all
who beheld him.
The bold outline of the coast they were approaching every hour became
more apparent: its singular mountain and other landmarks were seen,
pointed out, and commented on. Birds flew into the rigging--weeds
accumulated before the ship--and stray logs of timber, broken barrels,
and pieces of wreck, were continually floating past. The character of
the scenery now began to be clearly defined--the lowlands spreading out
far and wide into the interior, intersected by numerous railroads, and
the mountains holding up their proud heads covered with vegetation
nearly to their summits. The more the country became visible, the
greater was the evidence it exhibited of a high degree of cultivation,
a fruitful soil, and a numerous and industrious population; and as
buildings began to be made out, it was observable from their form,
numbers, and disposition, that manufactures was a primary object in the
estimation of the inhabitants.
"You will find these people a money-getting generation," said the
professor to his pupil: "their sole object appears to be to accumulate,
and their only idea of the respectability of a person is derived from
the proportion of substance he is worth. They never ask, is a man an
excellent husband, an exemplary father, or an admirable citizen?--is he
distinguished by the attention with which he fulfils his moral duties,
or celebrated by the right application of extraordinary talents? they
merely inquire how much money he has in his pockets. In fact, when they
speak at all of 'a good man,' they allude to some individual imagined to
be possessed of a certain amount of available property: money with them
is every thing. Respectability means money--reputation or credit means
money, and cleverness means money. Money, therefore, is the universal
virtue: they who have the most are honoured the most, and they who have
it not at all are considered by those who have it, although in ever so
small a proportion, as being separated from their fellow-creatures by
an impassable chasm, where all that is infamous is thought to dwell."
"And yet they are considered to be a very religious people," remarked
Oriel.
"None are more regular in going to church, none are greater respecters
of the ceremonies of worship, but of religion they are ignorant,"
replied Fortyfolios. "Nothing can be more certain than that it is
impossible that a pure morality or a sincere devotion can exist, when
the heart is filled with one engrossing desire--the accumulation of
capital--the very principle of which is selfishness--a feeling
incompatible with the social charities of true religion."
"But when did you ever find that any thing like true religion generally
existed?" inquired the captain, in a tone approaching sarcasm. "Since
the memory of man the faith of the majority has been unvaryingly
orthodox, and sticks, like a lobster to its shell, to the old proverb,
'Every one for himself, and the devil take the hindmost,'--and more
absurd conduct doesn't exist than some people exhibit, who, after
having made money a standard of excellence, condemn to infamy not only
those who are not possessed of it, but they who gain it by means not in
exact accordance with their notions of the way it should be obtained.
Scrunch me, if it don't make one ready to heave one's ballast overboard,
when I see the homage paid to a mean-spirited scoundrel, who by
chicanery, hypocrisy, avarice, and a horde of other contemptible vices,
robs his fellows of a pretty handsome share of plunder; and hear the
execrations heaped upon the bolder and better villain, who lays society
under contributions in a more open, manly, and daring manner. They
pretend to notions of honesty, too, that's the joke. Why a fish would
laugh at a thing so ridiculous. The government in their necessity
take from the people, and those who can't afford to pay they send to
prison--an individual in his necessity takes from another, and the very
government who set the example of appropriation punish the appropriator
as an offender. Then governments plunder each other, or rather the
people of each other; but when any of the people attempt to rob their
governments, they judge, hang, draw and quarter the poor wretches
without the slightest mercy. Honesty, forsooth! If the whole world were
asked what the meaning of the word was, every man would give a different
definition, and not only would each contradict the other, but every one
would contradict himself. Honesty appears to be of all shapes and all
sizes: it will suit all complexions--it will flavour every dish. Honesty
is every thing, and yet it is nothing. It is neither fish, flesh,
nor fowl--will neither sink nor swim--and is not to be touched, seen,
or tasted. Honesty is every where--the greatest rogue is honest to
his chosen associates--and yet it is no where, for the desire of
appropriation is universal. It is a sort of ghost that only exists in
the minds of the superstitious--a mirror that shows any reflection
thrown upon it--a sky that all over the world can take every variety of
colour. Some call it truth, and lay claim to its possession, although
their lives are a continual deceit; some call it justice, and fancy
themselves exceedingly just, although they would consign to eternal
perdition all not exactly of their way of thinking; and some call it
conscientiousness, and are satisfied with their own dealings, when,
at the same time, their first thought is for their own personal
gratification. But we are entering the bay, and these fellows require
looking after." So saying, he suddenly left the group, and began
shouting to the crew some orders about the ship.
"Captain Compass has singular notions," remarked the professor: "I
should not feel particularly comfortable if I thought he entertained
the opinions he expresses. There would be an end to all sense of moral
obligations if such ideas became general."
"Oh there is no harm in him," replied Oriel. "He is too frank, too
careless, too bold to have any evil intention. It has often appeared to
me, though, that the principle we call honesty does not exist either in
ourselves or in society to the extent we imagine; and believing such a
state of things an evil, I have often wished, but never been able, to
find a way in which it could be remedied."
"It is an evil, undoubtedly," here observed Doctor Tourniquet, who had
for some time been an attentive but silent listener--"and there is but
one way in which it can be completely removed."
"And how is that way to be found?" inquired Oriel Porphyry.
"The cause of this want of a definite unvarying character in our notion
of honesty," said the Doctor, "may be traced to the present and past
construction of society, where each individual has a separate interest,
exists in a state of competition with the others, and must always be
endeavouring to shape his own notions of right to his own exclusive
advantage: were property a fund in common from which each might be
allowed to take what he pleased--there being no individual interests,
the world would be one family, and there could be no dishonesty in
openly appropriating that to which he had an acknowledged right, don't
you see."
"Preposterous!" exclaimed Fortyfolios.
"An impossible state of things, I should think," added his pupil.
"Nothing more reasonable, and nothing more easy," replied the Doctor.
"Let every one in a community labour equally according to his physical
or mental powers--every kind of labour being productive will produce
every thing in abundance--this abundance having been produced must
supply every want--every want being gratified at the suggestion of the
inclination, there remains nothing to desire--and as all have an equal
right to appropriate as much as they require for the gratification of
their inclinations, by having equally, according to their abilities,
assisted in producing the abundance they enjoy, no desire in which they
might think fit to indulge could ever take the appearance of an act of
dishonesty, don't you see."
"Ridiculous!" exclaimed the professor.
"But how in the present state of society can you get such notions
adopted?" inquired Oriel.
"Either by educating children from the earliest age into the application
of these social principles, or by constituting communities apart from
the general mass, who will exist within themselves by the same manner
of life, till, as the advantages of such a state of society become
universally evident, it is adopted by the whole population," said the
Doctor.
"The thing has been tried times out of number," remarked Fortyfolios,
contemptuously, "and has always lingered a short time and then died,
with very little regret on the part of those for whose superior
happiness it was created. It is based upon an idea of equality, which
idea has no personal existence in nature. No matter how carefully the
young mind is schooled, there will always be some superiority somewhere.
In muscular energy, in mental power, in ingenuity, in quickness of
comprehension, and in the skilful adaptation of means to an end--even
in the natural desires and susceptibilities--even in acquired habits of
industry, and self-denial, in all societies, some will be found greater
than others, and these will endeavour to rise above the equality by
which they are surrounded; perhaps they will succeed, and then the
homogeneousness of the community is soon destroyed; perhaps they will
fail, and then their more exalted natures must be crushed down to the
Procrustean bed of their associates. Equality can only be a state of
general mediocrity. Could we imagine such a social organisation, what
would become of the worship of superior greatness that leads men to
become great? With what feelings would exist, could they exist under
such circumstances, those commanding intellects whose supremacy should
be acknowledged by all who love knowledge, and virtue, and humanity, at
finding themselves classed with the mere breaker of the clod, a creature
without an idea, whose only quality, that of strength and fitness for a
certain labour, he shares with brutes and with machines; who eats and
drinks, and sleeps and dies, and then makes room for another of the same
class? Must they also become hewers of wood and drawers of water for
the benefit of their fellows? With as much probability of a beneficial
result might an attempt be made to force the ploughman, the shepherd,
the mechanic, and the domestic servant, to become a sculptor, a
philologist, a musician, and a philosopher."
What Doctor Tourniquet might have replied, it is impossible now to
relate, as the Albatross at that moment was boarded by the port-officers
who came to examine the state of health of the ship and the cargo with
which she was laden; and as she was expected shortly to drop her anchor
among the shipping with which she was now surrounded, those who designed
to land proceeded to make the necessary preparations.