Tells of Sad Sights, and Sudden Events, and Unexpected Meetings.
In the course of time, our hero, Harold Seadrift, and his faithful ally, Disco Lillihammer, after innumerable adventures which we are unwillingly2 obliged to pass over in silence, returned to the coast and, in the course of their wanderings in search of a vessel3 which should convey them to Zanzibar, found themselves at last in the town of Governor Letotti. Being English travellers, they were received as guests by the Governor, and Harold was introduced to Senhorina Maraquita.
Passing through the market-place one day, they observed a crowd round the flag-staff in the centre of the square, and, following the irresistible4 tendency of human nature in such circumstances, ran to see what was going on.
They found that a slave was about to be publicly whipped by soldiers. The unhappy man was suspended by the wrists from the flag-staff, and a single cord of coir round his waist afforded him additional support.
“Come away, we can do no good here,” said Harold, in a low, sorrowful tone, which was drowned in the shriek5 of the victim, as the first lash6 fell on his naked shoulders.
“Pra’ps he’s a criminal,” suggested Disco, as he hurried away, endeavouring to comfort himself with the thought that the man probably deserved punishment. “It’s not the whippin’ I think so much of,” he added; “that is the only thing as will do for some characters, but it’s the awful cruelties that goes along with it.”
Returning through the same square about an hour later, having almost forgotten about the slave by that time, they were horrified7 to observe that the wretched man was still hanging there.
Hastening towards him, they found that he was gasping8 for breath. His veins9 were bursting, and his flesh was deeply lacerated by the cords with which he was suspended. He turned his head as the Englishmen approached, and spoke10 a few words which they did not understand; but the appealing look of his bloodshot eyes spoke a language that required no interpreter.
At an earlier period in their career in Africa, both Harold and Disco would have acted on their first impulse, and cut the man down; but experience had taught them that this style of interference, while it put their own lives in jeopardy12, had sometimes the effect of increasing the punishment and sufferings of those whom they sought to befriend.
Acting13 on a wiser plan, they resolved to appeal to Governor Letotti in his behalf. They therefore ran to his residence, where Maraquita, who conversed14 with Harold in French, informed them that her father was in the “Geresa,” or public palaver16 house. To that building they hastened, and found that it was in the very square they had left. But Senhor Letotti was not there. He had observed the Englishmen coming, and, having a shrewd guess what their errand was, had disappeared and hid himself. His chief-officer informed them that he had left the town early in the morning, and would not return till the afternoon.
Harold felt quite sure that this was a falsehood, but of course was obliged to accept it as truth.
“Is there no one to act for the Governor in his absence?” he asked, anxiously.
No, there was no one; but after a few minutes the chief-officer appeared to be overcome by Harold’s earnest entreaties17, and said that he could take upon himself to act, that he would suspend the punishment till the Governor’s return, when Harold might prefer his petition to him in person.
Accordingly, the slave was taken down. In the afternoon Harold saw the Governor, and explained that he did not wish to interfere11 with his province as a magistrate18, but that what he had witnessed was so shocking that he availed himself of his privilege as a guest to pray that the man’s punishment might be mitigated19.
Governor Letotti’s health had failed him of late, and he had suffered some severe disappointments in money matters, so that his wonted amiability20 had been considerably21 reduced. He objected, at first, to interfere with the course of justice; but finally gave a reluctant consent, and the man was pardoned. Afterwards, however, when our travellers were absent from the town for a day, the wretched slave was again tied up, and the full amount of his punishment inflicted22; in other words, he was flogged to death. (For the incident on which this is founded we are indebted to the Reverend Doctor Ryan, late Bishop23 of the Mauritius.)
This incident had such an effect on the mind of Harold, that he resolved no longer to accept the hospitality of Governor Letotti. He had some difficulty, however, in persuading himself to carry his resolve into effect, for the Governor, although harsh in his dealing24 with the slave, had been exceedingly kind and amiable25 to himself; but an unexpected event occurred which put an end to his difficulties. This was the illness and sudden death of his host.
Poor, disconsolate26 Maraquita, in the first passion of her grief, fled to the residence of the only female friend she had in the town, and refused firmly to return home. Thus it came to pass that Harold’s intercourse27 with the Senhorina was cut short at its commencement, and thus he missed the opportunity of learning something of the fortunes of Azinté; for it is certain that, if they had conversed much together, as would probably have been the case had her father lived, some mention of the slave-girl’s name could not fail to have been made, and their mutual28 knowledge of her to have been elicited29 and interchanged.
In those days there was no regular communication between one point and another of the east coast of Africa and the neighbouring islands. Travellers had frequently to wait long for a chance; and when they got one were often glad to take advantage of it without being fastidious as to its character. Soon after the events above narrated30, a small trading schooner31 touched at the port. It was bound for the Seychelles, intending to return by Zanzibar and Madagascar, and proceed to the Cape32. Harold would rather have gone direct to Zanzibar, but, having plenty of time on his hands, as well as means, he was content to avail himself of the opportunity, and took passage in the schooner for himself, Disco, and Jumbo. That sable33 and faithful friend was the only one of his companions who was willing to follow him anywhere on the face of the earth. The others received their pay and their discharge with smiling faces, and scattered34 to their several homes—Antonio departing to complete his interrupted honeymoon35.
Just before leaving, Harold sought and obtained permission to visit Maraquita, to bid her good-bye. The poor child was terribly overwhelmed by the death of her father, and could not speak of him without giving way to passionate36 grief. She told Harold that she meant to leave the coast by the first opportunity that should offer, and proceed to the Cape of Good Hope, where, in some part of the interior, lived an old aunt, the only relative she now had on earth, who, she knew, would be glad to receive her. Our hero did his best to comfort the poor girl, and expressed deep sympathy with her, but felt that his power to console was very small indeed. After a brief interview he bade her farewell.
The voyage which our travellers now commenced was likely to be of considerable duration, for the Seychelles Islands lie a long way to the eastward37 of Africa, but as we have said, time was of no importance to Harold, and he was not sorry to have an opportunity of visiting a group of islands which are of some celebrity38 in connexion with the East African slave-trade. Thus, all unknown to himself or Disco, as well as to Maraquita, who would have been intensely interested had she known the fact, he was led towards the new abode39 of our sable heroine Azinté.
But alas40! for Kambira and Obo,—they were being conveyed, also, of course, unknown to themselves or to any one else, further and further away from one whom they would have given their heart’s blood to meet with and embrace, and it seemed as if there were not a chance of any gleam of light bridging over the ever widening gulf41 that lay between them, for although Lieutenant42 Lindsay knew that Azinté had been left at the Seychelles, he had not the remotest idea that Kambira was Azinté’s husband, and among several hundreds of freed slaves the second lieutenant of the ‘Firefly’ was not likely to single out, and hold converse15 with a chief whose language he did not understand, and who, as far as appearances went, was almost as miserable43, sickly, and degraded as were the rest of the unhappy beings by whom he was surrounded.
Providence44, however, turned the tide of affairs in favour of Kambira and his son. On reaching Zanzibar Captain Romer had learned from the commander of another cruiser that Aden was at that time somewhat overwhelmed with freed slaves, a considerable number of captures having been recently made about the neighbourhood of that great rendezvous45 of slavers, the island of Socotra.
The captain therefore changed his mind, and once more very unwillingly directed his course towards the distant Seychelles.
On the way thither46 many of the poor negroes died, but many began to recover strength under the influence of kind treatment and generous diet. Among these latter was Kambira. His erect47 gait and manly48 look soon began to return, and his ribs49, so to speak, to disappear. It was otherwise with poor Obo. The severity of the treatment to which he had been exposed was almost too much for so young a frame. He lost appetite and slowly declined, notwithstanding the doctor’s utmost care.
This state of things continuing until the ‘Firefly’ arrived at the Seychelles, Obo was at once conveyed to the hospital which we have referred to as having been established there.
Azinté chanced to be absent in the neighbouring town on some errand connected with her duties as nurse, when her boy was laid on his bed beside a number of similar sufferers. It was a sad sight to behold51 these little ones. Out of the original eighty-three children who had been placed there forty-seven had died in three weeks, and the remnant were still in a pitiable condition. While on their beds of pain, tossing about in their delirium52, the minds of these little ones frequently ran back to their forest homes, and while some, in spirit, laughed and romped53 once more around their huts, thousands of miles away on the banks of some African river, others called aloud in their sufferings for the dearest of all earthly beings to them—their mothers. Some of them also whispered the name of Jesus, for the missionary54 had been careful to tell them the story of our loving Lord, while tending their poor bodies.
Obo had fevered slightly, and in the restless half-slumber into which he fell on being put to bed, he, too, called earnestly for his mother. In his case, poor child, the call was not in vain.
Lieutenant Lindsay and the doctor of the ship, with Kambira, had accompanied Obo to the hospital.
“Now, Lindsay,” said the doctor, when the child had been made as comfortable as circumstances would admit of, “this man must not be left here, for he will be useless, and it is of the utmost consequence that the child should have some days of absolute repose55. What shall we do with him?”
“Take him on board again,” said Lindsay. “I daresay we shall find him employment for a short time.”
“If you will allow me to take charge of him,” interposed the missionary, who was standing50 by them at the time, “I can easily find him employment in the neighbourhood, so that he can come occasionally to see his child when we think it safe to allow him.”
“That will be the better plan,” said the doctor, “for as long as—”
A short sharp cry near the door of the room cut the sentence short.
All eyes were turned in that direction and they beheld57 Azinté gazing wildly at them, and standing as if transformed to stone.
The instant Kambira saw his wife he leaped up as if he had received an electric shock, bounded forward like a panther, uttered a shout that did full credit to the chief of a warlike African tribe, and seized Azinté in his arms.
No wonder that thirty-six little black heads leaped from thirty-six little white pillows, and displayed all the whites of seventy-two eyes that were anything but little, when this astonishing scene took place!
But Kambira quickly recovered himself, and, grasping Azinté by the arm, led her gently towards the bed which had just been occupied, and pointed58 to the little one that slumbered59 uneasily there. Strangely enough, just at the moment little Obo again whispered the word “mother.”
Poor Azinté’s eyes seemed ready to start from their sockets60. She stretched out her arms and tried to rush towards her child, but Kambira held her back.
“Obo is very sick,” he said, “you must touch him tenderly.”
The chief looked into his wife’s eyes, saw that she understood him, and let her go.
Azinté crept softly to the bed, knelt down beside it and put her arms so softly round Obo that she scarcely moved him, yet she gradually drew him towards her until his head rested on her swelling61 bosom62, and she pressed her lips tenderly upon his brow. It was an old familiar attitude which seemed to pierce the slumbers63 of the child with a pleasant reminiscence, and dissipate his malady64, for he heaved a deep sigh of contentment and sank into profound repose.
“Good!” said the doctor, in a low tone, with a significant nod to Lindsay, when an interpreter had explained what had been already guessed by all present, that Kambira and Azinté were man and wife; “Obo has a better chance now of recovery than I had anticipated; for joy goes a long way towards effecting a cure. Come, we will leave them together.”
Kambira was naturally anxious to remain, but like all commanding spirits, he had long ago learned that cardinal65 virtue66, “obedience67 to whom obedience is due.” When it was explained to him that it would be for Obo’s advantage to be left alone with his mother for a time, he arose, bowed his head, and meekly68 followed his friends out of the room.
Exactly one week from that date little Obo had recovered so much of his former health that he was permitted to go out into the air, and, a few days later, Lieutenant Lindsay resolved to take him, and his father and mother, on board the ‘Firefly,’ by way of a little ploy56. In pursuance of this plan he set off from the hospital in company with Kambira, followed at a short distance by Azinté and Obo.
Poor Lindsay! his heart was heavy, while he did his best to convey in dumb show his congratulations to Kambira, for he saw in this unexpected re-union an insurmountable difficulty in the way of taking Azinté back to her former mistress—not that he had ever seen the remotest chance of his being able to achieve that desirable end before this difficulty arose, but love is at times insanely hopeful, just as at other times—and with equally little reason—it is madly despairing.
He had just made some complicated signs with hands, mouth, and eyebrows69, and had succeeded in rendering70 himself altogether incomprehensible to his sable companion, when, on rounding a turn of the path that led to the harbour, he found himself suddenly face to face with Harold Seadrift, Disco Lillihammer, and their follower71, Jumbo, all of whom had landed from a schooner, which, about an hour before, had cast anchor in the bay.
“Mr Lindsay!” “Mr Seadrift!” exclaimed each to the other simultaneously72, for the reader will remember that they had met once before when our heroes were rescued from Yoosoof by the “Firefly.”
“Kambira!” shouted Disco.
“Azinté!” cried Harold, as our sable heroine came into view.
“Obo!” roared the stricken mariner73.
Jumbo could only vent1 his feelings in an appalling74 yell and an impromptu75 war-dance round the party, in which he was joined by Disco, who performed a hornpipe with Obo in his arms, to the intense delight of that convalescent youngster.
Thus laughing, questioning, shouting, and dancing, they all effervesced76 towards the shore like a band of lunatics just escaped from Bedlam77!
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1
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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9
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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10
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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11
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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12
jeopardy
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| n.危险；危难 | |
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13
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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16
palaver
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| adj.壮丽堂皇的；n.废话，空话 | |
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entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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mitigated
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| v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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amiability
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| n.和蔼可亲的，亲切的，友善的 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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honeymoon
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| n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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41
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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43
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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44
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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45
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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46
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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47
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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48
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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49
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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50
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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51
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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52
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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53
romped
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| v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜 | |
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54
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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55
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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56
ploy
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| n.花招，手段 | |
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57
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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58
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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59
slumbered
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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61
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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62
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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63
slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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64
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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65
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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66
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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67
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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68
meekly
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| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
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69
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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70
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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71
follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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72
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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73
mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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74
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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75
impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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76
effervesced
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| v.冒气泡，起泡沫( effervesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77
bedlam
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| n.混乱，骚乱；疯人院 | |
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