By two bells (nine o’clock) in the forenoon, we were close in to the bar at the river mouth, the breeze giving us way at the rate of about five knots, but, as we drew under the land, it became puffy and showed signs of dying out altogether. It was decided2 not to go in any closer, so the foreyards were left full, the main backed, and the forestaysail hauled amidship, heaving the barque to with a slight reach to the southward.
Pretty nearly all hands tumbled into the boats and rowed through the broiling3 sunshine for the beach, it being the captain’s object to get all the cargo4 aboard at once, and stand off to work along to the eastward5.
249By noon the first boat-load of the poor creatures arrived. There were fourteen of them closely packed and manacled in the bottom of the craft. As they drew nearer, they set up a chattering6 like a crowd of monkeys, and the Guinea in charge rapped them severely7 over the head with a stout8 stick, bidding them be quiet. Their white eyeballs and teeth shone in contrast to their skins, and the excitement they were undergoing made them show both eyes and teeth much more than usual, giving them a strange, wild look. Streaks9 of mud and filth10 showed upon their black bodies. The men had little kinky beards upon their chins and lips, and the women had huge bunches of wool on their heads, which were simply great nests of dirt and vermin. Poor creatures, they were hardly human, but for all that I felt sorry for them when I thought of the ’tween-decks of the barque under that torrid sun.
Henry hustled11 them on deck, and Jorg, with a couple of men, sent them below at once to get them out of the way. By eight bells, we had the crowd below, where they kept chattering until Gull12 went among them with a long whip, and touched them up lustily whenever they made a noise. Martin, Anderson, Bill, Shannon, and myself went in for the last boat-load.
The heat was terrible, and the breeze was almost imperceptible after the bar was crossed, making all 250hands quiet and sullen13 with the exertion14. Inside the river mouth the same glaring quiet prevailed, broken only now and then by the sound of a gull’s scream, the dull, heavy rumble15 of the swell16 only adding to the desolate17 stillness.
“’Tis a good coast for the business,” said Martin, in a low tone to the long sailor, who was rowing stroke oar1. I held the tiller, and had charge, but Martin appeared to think my rating did not command silence, and I let him speak.
The fellow Shannon only looked over his shoulder up the turbid18 stream that flowed around the distant point of marsh19 in the direction of the heavy forest beyond.
“What better place d’ye want? ’Twould be a good one to find ye in that glade,” continued the Scot.
“There’s mighty20 little water on the bar, Scotty,” said Shannon. “What the devil would become of yer ship, I wanter know?”
“Lighten her more, lighten her. Take out her guns and ballast. She’d be a floatin’ fort until ye were ready to go to sea full o’ niggers. Mon, mon, na mon-o’-war c’u’d come after ye, an’ as fer small boats--hoot!” And he gave a cry of contempt at the idea.
“Joust whin would ye do these things, friend Martin?” asked Bill.
251“Shut up, ye square-head. Keep silence when men are speakin’, or I’ll be fer whollopin’ ye the minit we hit the beach,” growled21 Martin.
Then they rowed on in the heat without a word, the regular clank of the oar-locks sounding over the glassy surface of the stream with the regularity22 of the ticking of a clock.
We ran the boat up near the “factory,” and the villainous Guinea in charge brought down the last instalment of the slaves. Some of them were young girls barely in their teens, but all without any clothing whatever. The sun would have flayed23 a white man and cooked him to death in half an hour, but they appeared not to suffer with the heat. Some of the girls were made to spring into the river, with a line attached, in order that they might get a last bath before entering the hell in store for them. One tried to remain under water and drown herself; at least the Guinea feared that was her design, for he hauled her in hand over hand, and administered several whacks24 to brace25 her up, while I sat and tried to invent some new opprobrious26 epithet27 to call him, finally exhausting the English language without apparent effect.
One girl, who had left behind her brother and relatives, on account of their not coming up to Yankee Dan’s standard of fitness for a middle passage, was tearful and sad. This poor creature was 252flung into the water, and held by a strapping28 black buck29, who used a bunch of grass to scrub her clean. Her piteous screams had no effect on him, so, when my patience was quite exhausted30 by the heat, I seized an oar. He was bending over, and wore nothing but a gee-string. The swing of the oar landed fair on his buttocks with all the weight and strength I could put into it, and he shot forward with a crack, making a very creditable dive into deep water. It was only because payment had not been complete that bloodshed was averted31 when he arose, for he made straight for his rifle, which had to be forced from him by half a dozen pirates as fierce and powerful as himself. Finally we had the crowd all aboard, and shoved off for the barque, meeting the boat with the Portuguese32 fellow, who had gone aboard for the pay, just as we cleared the breakers.
Arriving aboard, we soon had the blacks below, and, as payment had been made in gold for our cargo, we had nothing further to do with the scoundrels on the beach. The yards were swung, and we stood offshore33 to take advantage of the light breeze and work along the coast to the eastward, in the hope of picking up the rest of our cargo before some prying34 ship-of-war should overhaul35 us. For several days we worked along without any luck. One or two places Dan knew of had been deserted36 since the law against slaving had begun to be enforced, and 253we had to row in through a heavy surf to find this out. This caused the loss of one boat and the drowning of a sailor named Tom, an English cockney chap of little account. During this part of the cruise, I had much to do on the poop, keeping the battery in order and ready for instant action. I saw something of the life aft, and the feeling between Mr. Curtis and Hicks, which had shown itself that night in the town of Funchal. These two men, whose interests were identical, seldom spoke37 directly to each other now, and only when the trader’s daughter appeared on deck did they show anything but polite hatred38 in their speech. Curtis was sarcastic39, and Hicks was almost as savage40 by the time we reached Lagos and ran in to finish loading. Miss Allen seemed to avoid both as much as possible, although it was quite evident that she favoured the bolder of the two adventurers. Curtis was anything but a coward, but Hicks had a certain reckless gallantry about him that could hardly fail to attract.
Forward I had been entertained several times by Martin’s brutal41 jests regarding affairs aft, and, as the girl had always been civil to me, it was all I could do not to chastise42 the rogue43 for his foul44 tongue. My apparent apathy45, however, gave him cause to believe I favoured him, and soon he spoke of things that caused me to pay attention and watch him more closely.
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1
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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2
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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3
broiling
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| adj.酷热的，炽热的，似烧的v.（用火）烤（焙、炙等）( broil的现在分词 )；使卷入争吵；使混乱；被烤（或炙） | |
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4
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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5
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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6
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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7
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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9
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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10
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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11
hustled
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| 催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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12
gull
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| n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈 | |
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13
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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15
rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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16
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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17
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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18
turbid
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| adj.混浊的，泥水的，浓的 | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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21
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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22
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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23
flayed
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| v.痛打( flay的过去式和过去分词 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评 | |
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24
whacks
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| n.重击声( whack的名词复数 )；不正常；有毛病v.重击，使劲打( whack的第三人称单数 ) | |
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25
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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26
opprobrious
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| adj.可耻的，辱骂的 | |
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27
epithet
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| n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语 | |
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28
strapping
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| adj. 魁伟的, 身材高大健壮的 n. 皮绳或皮带的材料, 裹伤胶带, 皮鞭 动词strap的现在分词形式 | |
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29
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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30
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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31
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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32
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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33
offshore
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| adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面 | |
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34
prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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35
overhaul
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| v./n.大修，仔细检查 | |
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36
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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37
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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38
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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39
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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40
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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41
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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42
chastise
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| vt.责骂，严惩 | |
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43
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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44
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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45
apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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