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diff --git a/27602.txt b/27602.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..58d06c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/27602.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12126 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The True Story Book, Edited by Andrew Lang + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The True Story Book + + +Editor: Andrew Lang + +Release Date: December 23, 2008 [eBook #27602] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRUE STORY BOOK*** + + +E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Lindy Walsh, Emmy, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 27602-h.htm or 27602-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/6/0/27602/27602-h/27602-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/6/0/27602/27602-h.zip) + + + + + +THE TRUE STORY BOOK + + * * * * * + +WORKS BY ANDREW LANG. + + + HOMER AND THE EPIC. Crown 8vo. 9_s._ _net._ + + CUSTOM AND MYTH: Studies of Early Usage and + Belief. With 15 Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3_s._ + 6_d._ + + BALLADS OF BOOKS. Edited by ANDREW LANG. Fcp. 8vo. + 6_s._ + + LETTERS TO DEAD AUTHORS. Fcp. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._ + _net._ + + BOOKS AND BOOKMEN. With 2 Coloured Plates and 17 + Illustrations. Fcp. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._ _net._ + + OLD FRIENDS. Fcp. 2_s._ 6_d._ _net._ + + LETTERS ON LITERATURE. Fcp. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._ + _net._. + + GRASS OF PARNASSUS. Fcp. 8vo. 2_s._ 6_d._ _net._ + + ANGLING SKETCHES. With 20 Illustrations by W. G. + Burn-Murdoch. Crown 8vo. 7_s._ 6_d._ + + THE BLUE FAIRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 8 + Plates and 130 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. + Ford and G. P. Jacomb Hood. Crown 8vo. 6_s._ + + THE RED FAIRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With 4 + Plates and 96 Illustrations in the Text by H. J. + Ford and Lancelot Speed. Crown 8vo. 6_s._ + + THE GREEN FAIRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With + 11 Plates and 88 Illustrations in the Text by H. + J. Ford. Crown 8vo. 6_s._ + + THE BLUE POETRY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With + 12 Plates and 88 Illustrations in the Text by H. + J. Ford and Lancelot Speed. Crown 8vo. 6_s._ + + SCHOOL EDITION, without Illustrations. Fcp. 8vo. + 2_s._ 6_d._ + + SPECIAL EDITION, printed on Indian paper. With + Notes, but without Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 7_s._ + 6_d._ + + THE TRUE STORY BOOK. Edited by ANDREW LANG. With + Plates and Illustrations in the Text by H. J. + Ford, Lucien Davis, Lancelot Speed, and L. Bogle. + Crown 8vo. 6_s._ + + London: LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. + New York: 15 East 16th Street. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: MONTEZUMA GREETS THE SPANIARDS] + + +THE TRUE STORY BOOK + +Edited by + +ANDREW LANG + +With Numerous Illustrations by L. Bogle, Lucien Davis, H. J. Ford, +C. H. M. Kerr, and Lancelot Speed + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +London +Longmans, Green, and Co +and New York: 15 East 16th Street +1893 + +All rights reserved + + + + +_DEDICATION_ + +_TO FRANCIS McCUNN_ + + + _You like the things I used to like, + The things I'm fond of still, + The sound of fairy wands that strike + Men into beasts at will;_ + + _The cruel stepmother, the fair + Stepdaughter, kind and leal, + The bull and bear so debonair, + The trenchant fairy steel._ + + _You love the world where brute and fish + Converse with man and bird, + Where dungeons open at a wish, + And seas dry at a word._ + + _That merry world to-day we leave, + We list an ower-true tale, + Of hearts that sore for Charlie grieve, + When handsome princes fail,_ + + _Of gallant races overthrown, + Of dungeons ill to climb, + There's no such tale of trouble known, + In all the fairy time._ + + _There Montezuma still were king, + There Charles would wear the crown, + And there the Highlanders would ding + The Hanoverian down:_ + + _In Fairyland the Rightful Cause + Is never long a-winning, + In Fairyland the fairy laws + Are prompt to punish sinning:_ + + _For Fairyland's the land of joy, + And this the world of pain, + So back to Fairyland, my boy, + We'll journey once again!_ + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +IT is not without diffidence that the editor offers _The True Story +Book_ to children. We have now given them three fairy books, and their +very kind and flattering letters to the editor prove, not only that they +like the three fairy books, but that they clamour for more. What +disappointment, then, to receive a volume full of adventures which +actually happened to real people! There is not a dragon in the +collection, nor even a giant; witches, here, play no part, and almost +all the characters are grown up. On the other hand, if we have no +fairies, we have princes in plenty, and a sweeter young prince than +Tearlach (as far as this part of his story goes) the editor flatters +himself that you shall nowhere find, not in Grimm, or Dasent, or +Perrault. Still, it cannot be denied that true stories are not so good +as fairy tales. They do not always end happily, and, what is worse, they +do remind a young student of lessons and schoolrooms. A child may fear +that he is being taught under a specious pretence of diversion, and that +learning is being thrust on him under the disguise of entertainment. +Prince Charlie and Cortes may be asked about in examinations, whereas no +examiner has hitherto set questions on 'Blue Beard,' or 'Heart of Ice,' +or 'The Red Etin of Ireland.' There is, to be honest, no way of getting +over this difficulty. But the editor vows that he does not mean to teach +anybody, and he has tried to mix the stories up so much that no clear +and consecutive view of history can possibly be obtained from them; +moreover, when history does come in, it is not the kind of history +favoured most by examiners. They seldom set questions on the conquest of +Mexico, for example. + +That is a very long story, but, to the editor's taste, it is simply the +best true story in the world, the most unlikely, and the most romantic. +For who could have supposed that the new-found world of the West held +all that wealth of treasure, emeralds and gold, all those people, so +beautiful and brave, so courteous and cruel, with their terrible gods, +hideous human sacrifices, and almost Christian prayers? That a handful +of Spaniards, themselves mistaken for children of a white god, should +have crossed the sea, should have found a lovely lady, as in a fairy +tale, ready to lead them to victory, should have planted the cross on +the shambles of Huitzilopochtli, after that wild battle on the temple +crest, should have been driven in rout from, and then recaptured, the +Venice of the West, the lake city of Mexico--all this is as strange, as +unlooked for, as any story of adventures in a new planet could be. No +invention of fights and wanderings in Noman's land, no search for the +mines of Solomon the king, can approach, for strangeness and romance, +this tale, which is true, and vouched for by Spanish conquerors like +Bernal Diaz, and by native historians like Ixtlilochitl, and by later +missionaries like Sahagun. Cortes is the great original of all +treasure-hunters and explorers in fiction, and here no feigned tale can +be the equal of the real. As Mr. Prescott's admirable history is not a +book much read by children (nor even by 'grown-ups' for that matter), +the editor hopes children will be pleased to find the 'Adventures in +Anahuac' in this collection. Miss Edgeworth tells us in _Orlandino_ how +much the tale delighted the young before Mr. Prescott wrote that +excellent narrative of the world's chief adventure. May it please still, +as it did when the century was young! + +The adventures of Prince Charlie are already known, in part, to boys and +girls who have read the _Tales of a Grandfather_, for pleasure and not +as a school book. But here Mrs. McCunn has treated of them at greater +length and more minutely. The source, here, is in these seven brown +octavo volumes, all written in the closest hand, which are a treasure of +the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh. The author is Mr. Forbes, a bishop +of the persecuted Episcopalian Church in Scotland. Mr. Forbes collected +his information very carefully, closely comparing the narratives of the +various actors in the story. Into the boards of his volumes are fastened +a scrap of the Prince's tartan waistcoat, a rag from his sprigged calico +dress, a bit of his brogues--a twopenny treasure that has been wept and +prayed over by the faithful. Nobody, in a book for children, would have +the heart to tell the tale of the Prince's later years, of a moody, +heart-broken, degraded exile. But, in the hills and the isles, bating a +little wilfulness and foolhardiness, and the affair of the broken +punch-bowl, Prince Charles is a model for princes and all men, brave, +gay, much-enduring, good-humoured, kind, royally courteous, and +considerate, even beyond what may be gathered from this part of the +book, while the loyalty of the Highlanders (as in the case of Mackinnon, +flogged nearly to death) was proof against torture as well as against +gold. It is the Sobieski strain, not the Stuart, that we here admire in +Prince Charles; it is a piety, a loyalty, a goodness like Gordon's that +we revere in old Lord Pitsligo in another story. + +Many of the tales are concerned with fighting, for that is the most +dramatic part of mortal business. These English captives who retake a +ship from the Turks, these heroes of the _Shannon_ and the _Chesapeake_, +were doubtless good men and true in all their lives, but the light of +history only falls on them in war. The immortal Three Hundred of +Thermopylae would also have been unknown, had they not died, to a man, +for the sake of the honour of Lacedaemon. The editor conceives that it +would have been easy to give more 'local colour' to the sketch of +Thermopylae: to have dealt in description of the Immortals, drawn from +the friezes in Susa, lately discovered by French enterprise. But the +story is Greek, and the Greeks did not tell their stories in that way, +but with a simplicity almost bald. Yet who dare alter and 'improve' the +narrative of Herodotus? In another most romantic event, the finding of +Vineland the Good, by Leif the Lucky, our materials are vague with the +vagueness of a dream. Later fancy has meddled with the truth of the +saga. English readers, no doubt, best catch the charm of the adventure +in Mr. Rudyard Kipling's astonishingly imaginative tale called 'The Best +Story in the World.' For the account of Isandhlwana, and Rorke's Drift, +'an ower-true tale,' the editor has to thank his friend Mr. Rider +Haggard, who was in South Africa at the time of the disaster, and who +has generously given time and labour to the task of ascertaining, as far +as it can be ascertained, the exact truth of the melancholy, but, +finally, not inglorious, business. The legend of 'Two Great Cricket +Matches' is taken, in part, from Lillywhite's scores, and Mr. Robert +Lyttelton's spirited pages in the 'Badminton' book of Cricket. The +second match the editor writes of 'as he who saw it,' to quote Caxton on +Dares Phrygius. These legends prove that a match is never lost till it +is won. + +Some of the True Stories contain, we may surmise, traces of the +imaginative faculty. The escapes of Benvenuto Cellini, of Trenck, and of +Casanova must be taken as the heroes chose to report them; Benvenuto and +Casanova have no firm reputation for veracity. Again, the escape of +Caesar Borgia is from a version handed down by the great Alexandre +Dumas, and we may surmise that Alexandre allowed it to lose nothing in +the telling; he may have 'given it a sword and a cocked hat,' as was Sir +Walter's wont. About Kaspar Hauser's mystery we can hardly speak of 'the +truth,' for the exact truth will never be known. The depositions of the +earliest witnesses were not taken at once; some witnesses altered their +evidence in later years; parts of the records of Nuremberg are lost in +suspicious circumstances. The Duchess of Cleveland's book, _Kaspar +Hauser_, is written in defence of her father, Lord Stanhope. The charges +against Lord Stanhope, that he aided in, or connived at, the slaying of +Kaspar, because Kaspar was the true heir of the House of Baden--are as +childish as they are wicked. But the Duchess hardly allows for the +difficulties in which we find ourselves if we regard Kaspar as +absolutely and throughout an impostor. This, however, is not the place +to discuss an historical mystery; this 'true story' is told as a romance +founded on fact; the hypothesis that Kaspar was a son and heir of the +house of Baden seems, to the editor, to be absolutely devoid of +evidence. + +To Madame Von Platt Stuart the author owes permission to quote the +striking adventures of her father, or of her uncle, on the flooded +Findhorn. The _Lays of the Deer Forest_, which contain this tale in the +volume of notes, were written by John Sobieski Stuart, and by Charles +Edward Stuart, and the editor is uncertain as to which of those +gentlemen was the hero of these perilous crossings of the Highland +river. Many other good tales, legends, and studies of natural history +and of Highland manners may be found in the _Lays of the Deer Forest_, +apart from the curious interest of the poems. On the whole, with certain +exceptions, the editor has tried to find true stories rather out of the +beaten paths of history; the narrative of John Tanner, for instance, is +probably true, but the book in which his adventures were published is +now rather difficult to procure. For 'A Boy among the Red Indians,' 'Two +Cricket Matches,' 'The Spartan Three Hundred,' 'The Finding of Vineland +the Good,' and 'The Escapes of Lord Pitsligo,' the editor is himself +responsible, as far as they do not consist of extracts from the original +sources. Miss May Kendall translated or adapted Casanova's escape and +the piratical and Algerine tales. Mrs. Lang reduced the narrative of the +Chevalier Johnstone, and did the escapes of Caesar Borgia, of Trenck, and +Cervantes, while Miss Blackley renders that of Benvenuto Cellini. Mrs. +McCunn, as already said, compiled from the sources indicated the +Adventures of Prince Charles, and she tells the story of Grace Darling; +the contemporary account is, unluckily, rather meagre. Miss Alleyne did +'The Kidnapping of the Princes,' Mrs. Plowden the 'Story of Kaspar +Hauser.' Miss Wright reduced the Adventures of Cortes from Prescott, and +Mr. Rider Haggard has already been mentioned in connection with +Isandhlwana. + +Here the editor leaves _The True Story Book_ to the indulgence of +children, explaining, once more, that his respect for their judgment is +very great, and that he would not dream of imposing _lessons_ on _them_, +in the shape of a Christmas book. No, lessons are one thing, and stories +are another. But though fiction is undeniably stranger and more +attractive than truth, yet true stories are also rather attractive and +strange, now and then. And, after all, we may return once more to +Fairyland, after this excursion into the actual workaday world. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + _A Boy among the Red Indians_ 1 + + _Casanova's Escape_ 16 + + _Adventures on the Findhorn_ 29 + + _The Story of Grace Darling_ 41 + + _The 'Shannon' and the 'Chesapeake'_ 48 + + _Captain Snelgrave and the Pirates_ 52 + + _The Spartan Three Hundred_ 64 + + _Prince Charlie's Wanderings_ 68 + + _Two Great Matches_ 105 + + _The Story of Kaspar Hauser_ 113 + + _An Artist's Adventure_ 122 + + _The Tale of Isandhlwana and Rorke's Drift_ 132 + + _How Leif the Lucky found Vineland the Good_ 153 + + _The Escapes of Cervantes_ 161 + + _The Worthy Enterprise of John Foxe_ 168 + + _Baron Trenck_ 176 + + _The Adventure of John Rawlins_ 186 + + _The Chevalier Johnstone's Escape from Culloden_ 193 + + _The Adventures of Lord Pitsligo_ 207 + + _The Escape of Caesar Borgia from the Castle of + Medina del Campo_ 213 + + _The Kidnapping of the Princes_ 219 + + _The Conquest of Montezuma's Empire_ 224 + + _Adventures of Bartholomew Portugues, a Pirate_ 326 + + _The Return of the French Freebooters_ 330 + + + + +PLATES + + + _Montezuma greets the Spaniards_ _Frontispiece_ + + _The Findhorn_ _To face_ 36 + + _Grace Darling_ " 44 + + _'Some of the Pirates . . . had thrown several + Buckets of Claret upon him'_ " 60 + + _The Ball hit the Middle Stump_ " 108 + + _He prepared to attack the Sentry_ " 126 + + _Montezuma greets the Spaniards_ " 270 + + _Cortes in the Temple of Huitzilopochtli_ " 276 + + _Montezuma assailed by Missiles_ " 296 + + + + +_A BOY AMONG THE RED INDIANS_ + + +THE earliest event of my life which I distinctly remember (says John +Tanner) is the death of my mother. This happened when I was two years +old, and many of the attending circumstances made so deep an impression +that they are still fresh in my memory. I cannot recollect the name of +the settlement at which we lived, but I have since learned it was on the +Kentucky River, at a considerable distance from the Ohio. + +My father, whose name was John Tanner, was an emigrant from Virginia, +and had been a clergyman. + +When about to start one morning to a village at some distance, he gave, +as it appeared, a strict charge to my sisters, Agatha and Lucy, to send +me to school; but this they neglected to do until afternoon, and then, +as the weather was rainy and unpleasant, I insisted on remaining at +home. When my father returned at night, and found that I had been at +home all day, he sent me for a parcel of small canes, and flogged me +much more severely than I could suppose the offence merited. I was +displeased with my sisters for attributing all the blame to me, when +they had neglected even to tell me to go to school in the forenoon. From +that time, my father's house was less like home to me, and I often +thought and said, 'I wish I could go and live among the Indians.' + +One day we went from Cincinnati to the mouth of the Big Miami, opposite +which we were to settle. Here was some cleared land, and one or two log +cabins, but they had been deserted on account of the Indians. My father +rebuilt the cabins, and inclosed them with a strong picket. It was early +in the spring when we arrived at the mouth of the Big Miami, and we were +soon engaged in preparing a field to plant corn. I think it was not more +than ten days after our arrival, when my father told us in the morning, +that, from the actions of the horses, he perceived there were Indians +lurking about in the woods, and he said to me, 'John, you must not go +out of the house to-day.' After giving strict charge to my stepmother to +let none of the little children go out, he went to the field, with the +negroes, and my elder brother, to drop corn. + +Three little children, besides myself, were left in the house with my +stepmother. To prevent me from going out, my stepmother required me to +take care of the little child, then not more than a few months old; but +as I soon became impatient of confinement, I began to pinch my little +brother, to make him cry. My mother, perceiving his uneasiness, told me +to take him in my arms and walk about the house; I did so, but continued +to pinch him. My mother at length took him from me to nurse him. I +watched my opportunity, and escaped into the yard; thence through a +small door in the large gate of the wall into the open field. There was +a walnut-tree at some distance from the house, and near the side of the +field where I had been in the habit of finding some of the last year's +nuts. To gain this tree without being seen by my father and those in the +field, I had to use some precaution. I remember perfectly well having +seen my father, as I skulked towards the tree; he stood in the middle of +the field, with his gun in his hand, to watch for Indians, while the +others were dropping corn. As I came near the tree, I thought to myself, +'I wish I could see these Indians.' I had partly filled with nuts a +straw hat which I wore, when I heard a crackling noise behind me; I +looked round, and saw the Indians; almost at the same instant, I was +seized by both hands, and dragged off betwixt two. One of them took my +straw hat, emptied the nuts on the ground, and put it on my head. The +Indians who seized me were an old man and a young one; these were, as I +learned subsequently, Manito-o-geezhik, and his son Kish-kau-ko. + +[Illustration] + +After I saw myself firmly seized by both wrists by the two Indians, I +was not conscious of anything that passed for a considerable time. I +must have fainted, as I did not cry out, and I can remember nothing that +happened to me until they threw me over a large log, which must have +been at a considerable distance from the house. The old man I did not +now see; I was dragged along between Kish-kau-ko and a very short thick +man. I had probably made some resistance, or done something to irritate +this last, for he took me a little to one side, and drawing his +tomahawk, motioned to me to look up. This I plainly understood, from the +expression of his face, and his manner, to be a direction for me to look +up for the last time, as he was about to kill me. I did as he directed, +but Kish-kau-ko caught his hand as the tomahawk was descending, and +prevented him from burying it in my brains. Loud talking ensued between +the two. Kish-kau-ko presently raised a yell: the old man and four +others answered it by a similar yell, and came running up. I have since +understood that Kish-kau-ko complained to his father that the short man +had made an attempt to kill his little brother, as he called me. The +old chief, after reproving him, took me by one hand, and Kish-kau-ko by +the other and dragged me betwixt them, the man who had threatened to +kill me, and who was now an object of terror to me, being kept at some +distance. I could perceive, as I retarded them somewhat in their +retreat, that they were apprehensive of being overtaken; some of them +were always at some distance from us. + +It was about one mile from my father's house to the place where they +threw me into a hickory-bark canoe, which was concealed under the +bushes, on the bank of the river. Into this they all seven jumped, and +immediately crossed the Ohio, landing at the mouth of the Big Miami, and +on the south side of that river. Here they abandoned their canoe, and +stuck their paddles in the ground, so that they could be seen from the +river. At a little distance in the woods they had some blankets and +provisions concealed; they offered me some dry venison and bear's +grease, but I could not eat. My father's house was plainly to be seen +from the place where we stood; they pointed at it, looked at me, and +laughed, but I have never known what they said. + +After they had eaten a little, they began to ascend the Miami, dragging +me along as before. + +It must have been early in the spring when we arrived at Sau-ge-nong, +for I can remember that at this time the leaves were small, and the +Indians were about planting their corn. They managed to make me assist +at their labours, partly by signs, and partly by the few words of +English old Manito-o-geezhik could speak. After planting, they all left +the village, and went out to hunt and dry meat. When they came to their +hunting-grounds, they chose a place where many deer resorted, and here +they began to build a long screen like a fence; this they made of green +boughs and small trees. When they had built a part of it, they showed me +how to remove the leaves and dry brush from that side of it to which the +Indians were to come to shoot the deer. In this labour I was sometimes +assisted by the squaws and children, but at other times I was left +alone. It now began to be warm weather, and it happened one day that, +having been left alone, as I was tired and thirsty, I fell asleep. I +cannot tell how long I slept, but when I began to awake, I thought I +heard someone crying a great way off. Then I tried to raise up my head, +but could not. Being now more awake, I saw my Indian mother and sister +standing by me, and perceived that my face and head were wet. The old +woman and her daughter were crying bitterly, but it was some time +before I perceived that my head was badly cut and bruised. It appears +that, after I had fallen asleep, Manito-o-geezhik, passing that way, had +perceived me, had tomahawked me, and thrown me in the bushes; and that +when he came to his camp he had said to his wife, 'Old woman, the boy I +brought you is good for nothing; I have killed him; you will find him in +such a place.' The old woman and her daughter having found me, +discovered still some signs of life, and had stood over me a long time, +crying, and pouring cold water on my head, when I waked. In a few days I +recovered in some measure from this hurt, and was again set to work at +the screen, but I was more careful not to fall asleep; I endeavoured to +assist them at their labours, and to comply in all instances with their +directions, but I was notwithstanding treated with great harshness, +particularly by the old man, and his two sons She-mung and Kwo-tash-e. +While we remained at the hunting camp, one of them put a bridle in my +hand, and pointing in a certain direction motioned me to go. I went +accordingly, supposing he wished me to bring a horse: I went and caught +the first I could find, and in this way I learned to discharge such +services as they required of me. + +I had been about two years at Sau-ge-nong, when a great council was +called by the British agents at Mackinac. This council was attended by +the Sioux, the Winnebagoes, the Menomonees, and many remote tribes, as +well as by the Ojibbeways, Ottawwaws, &c. When old Manito-o-geezhik +returned from this council, I soon learned that he had met there his +kinswoman, Net-no-kwa, who, notwithstanding her sex, was then regarded +as principal chief of the Ottawwaws. This woman had lost her son, of +about my age, by death; and, having heard of me, she wished to purchase +me to supply his place. My old Indian mother, the Otter woman, when she +heard of this, protested vehemently against it. I heard her say, 'My son +has been dead once, and has been restored to me; I cannot lose him +again.' But these remonstrances had little influence when Net-no-kwa +arrived with plenty of whisky and other presents. She brought to the +lodge first a ten-gallon keg of whisky, blankets, tobacco, and other +articles of great value. She was perfectly acquainted with the +dispositions of those with whom she had to negotiate. Objections were +made to the exchange until the contents of the keg had circulated for +some time; then an additional keg, and a few more presents, completed +the bargain, and I was transferred to Net-no-kwa. This woman, who was +then advanced in years, was of a more pleasing aspect than my former +mother. She took me by the hand, after she had completed the negotiation +with my former possessors, and led me to her own lodge, which stood +near. Here I soon found I was to be treated more indulgently than I had +been. She gave me plenty of food, put good clothes upon me, and told me +to go and play with her own sons. We remained but a short time at +Sau-ge-nong. She would not stop with me at Mackinac, which we passed in +the night, but ran along to Point St. Ignace, where she hired some +Indians to take care of me, while she returned to Mackinac by herself, +or with one or two of her young men. After finishing her business at +Mackinac, she returned, and, continuing on our journey, we arrived in a +few days at Shab-a-wy-wy-a-gun. + +The husband of Net-no-kwa was an Ojibbeway of Red River, called +Taw-ga-we-ninne, the hunter. He was seventeen years younger than +Net-no-kwa, and had turned off a former wife on being married to her. +Taw-ga-we-ninne was always indulgent and kind to me, treating me like an +equal, rather than as a dependent. When speaking to me, he always called +me his son. Indeed, he himself was but of secondary importance in the +family, as everything belonged to Net-no-kwa, and she had the direction +in all affairs of any moment. She imposed on me, for the first year, +some tasks. She made me cut wood, bring home game, bring water, and +perform other services not commonly required of the boys of my age; but +she treated me invariably with so much kindness that I was far more +happy and content than I had been in the family of Manito-o-geezhik. She +sometimes whipped me, as she did her own children: but I was not so +severely and frequently beaten as I had been before. + +Early in the spring, Net-no-kwa and her husband, with their family, +started to go to Mackinac. They left me, as they had done before, at +Point St. Ignace, as they would not run the risk of losing me by +suffering me to be seen at Mackinac. On our return, after we had gone +twenty-five or thirty miles from Point St. Ignace, we were detained by +contrary winds at a place called Me-nau-ko-king, a point running out +into the lake. Here we encamped with some other Indians, and a party of +traders. Pigeons were very numerous in the woods, and the boys of my +age, and the traders, were busy shooting them. I had never killed any +game, and, indeed, had never in my life discharged a gun. My mother had +purchased at Mackinac a keg of powder, which, as they thought it a +little damp, was here spread out to dry. Taw-ga-we-ninne had a large +horseman's pistol; and, finding myself somewhat emboldened by his +indulgent manner toward me, I requested permission to go and try to kill +some pigeons with the pistol. My request was seconded by Net-no-kwa, who +said, 'It is time for our son to begin to learn to be a hunter.' +Accordingly, my father, as I called Taw-ga-we-ninne, loaded the pistol +and gave it to me, saying, 'Go, my son, and if you kill anything with +this, you shall immediately have a gun and learn to hunt.' Since I have +been a man, I have been placed in difficult situations; but my anxiety +for success was never greater than in this, my first essay as a hunter. +I had not gone far from the camp before I met with pigeons, and some of +them alighted in the bushes very near me. I cocked my pistol, and raised +it to my face, bringing the breech almost in contact with my nose. +Having brought the sight to bear upon the pigeon, I pulled trigger, and +was in the next instant sensible of a humming noise, like that of a +stone sent swiftly through the air. I found the pistol at the distance +of some paces behind me, and the pigeon under the tree on which he had +been sitting. My face was much bruised, and covered with blood. I ran +home, carrying my pigeon in triumph. My face was speedily bound up; my +pistol exchanged for a fowling-piece; I was accoutred with a +powder-horn, and furnished with shot, and allowed to go out after birds. +One of the young Indians went with me, to observe my manner of shooting. +I killed three more pigeons in the course of the afternoon, and did not +discharge my gun once without killing. Henceforth I began to be treated +with more consideration, and was allowed to hunt often, that I might +become expert. + +Game began to be scarce, and we all suffered from hunger. The chief man +of our band was called As-sin-ne-boi-nainse (the Little Assinneboin), +and he now proposed to us all to move, as the country where we were was +exhausted. The day on which we were to commence our removal was fixed +upon, but before it arrived our necessities became extreme. The evening +before the day on which we intended to move my mother talked much of all +our misfortunes and losses, as well as of the urgent distress under +which we were then labouring. At the usual hour I went to sleep, as did +all the younger part of the family; but I was wakened again by the loud +praying and singing of the old woman, who continued her devotions +through great part of the night. Very early on the following morning she +called us all to get up, and put on our moccasins, and be ready to +move. She then called Wa-me-gon-a-biew to her, and said to him, in +rather a low voice, 'My son, last night I sung and prayed to the Great +Spirit, and when I slept, there came to me one like a man, and said to +me, "Net-no-kwa, to-morrow you shall eat a bear. There is, at a distance +from the path you are to travel to-morrow, and in such a direction" +(which she described to him), "a small round meadow, with something like +a path leading from it; in that path there is a bear." Now, my son, I +wish you to go to that place, without mentioning to anyone what I have +said, and you will certainly find the bear, as I have described to you.' +But the young man, who was not particularly dutiful, or apt to regard +what his mother said, going out of the lodge, spoke sneeringly to the +other Indians of the dream. 'The old woman,' said he, 'tells me we are +to eat a bear to-day; but I do not know who is to kill it.' The old +woman, hearing him, called him in, and reproved him; but she could not +prevail upon him to go to hunt. + +I had my gun with me, and I continued to think of the conversation I had +heard between my mother and Wa-me-gon-a-biew respecting her dream. At +length I resolved to go in search of the place she had spoken of, and +without mentioning to anyone my design, I loaded my gun as for a bear, +and set off on our back track. I soon met a woman belonging to one of +the brothers of Taw-ga-we-ninne, and of course my aunt. This woman had +shown little friendship for us, considering us as a burthen upon her +husband, who sometimes gave something for our support; she had also +often ridiculed me. She asked me immediately what I was doing on the +path, and whether I expected to kill Indians, that I came there with my +gun. I made her no answer; and thinking I must be not far from the place +where my mother had told Wa-me-gon-a-biew to leave the path, I turned +off, continuing carefully to regard all the directions she had given. At +length I found what appeared at some former time to have been a pond. It +was a small, round, open place in the woods, now grown up with grass and +small bushes. This I thought must be the meadow my mother had spoken of; +and examining around it, I came to an open space in the bushes, where, +it is probable, a small brook ran from the meadow; but the snow was now +so deep that I could see nothing of it. My mother had mentioned that, +when she saw the bear in her dream, she had, at the same time, seen a +smoke rising from the ground. I was confident this was the place she had +indicated, and I watched long, expecting to see the smoke; but, wearied +at length with waiting, I walked a few paces into the open place, +resembling a path, when I unexpectedly fell up to my middle in the snow. +I extricated myself without difficulty, and walked on; but, remembering +that I had heard the Indians speak of killing bears in their holes, it +occurred to me that it might be a bear's hole into which I had fallen, +and, looking down into it, I saw the head of a bear lying close to the +bottom of the hole. I placed the muzzle of my gun nearly between his +eyes and discharged it. As soon as the smoke cleared away, I took a +piece of stick and thrust it into the eyes and into the wound in the +head of the bear, and, being satisfied that he was dead, I endeavoured +to lift him out of the hole; but being unable to do this, I returned +home, following the track I had made in coming out. As I came near the +camp, where the squaws had by this time set up the lodges, I met the +same woman I had seen in going out, and she immediately began again to +ridicule me. 'Have you killed a bear, that you come back so soon, and +walk so fast?' I thought to myself, 'How does she know that I have +killed a bear?' But I passed by her without saying anything, and went +into my mother's lodge. After a few minutes, the old woman said, 'My +son, look in that kettle, and you will find a mouthful of beaver meat, +which a man gave me since you left us in the morning. You must leave +half of it for Wa-me-gon-a-biew, who has not yet returned from hunting, +and has eaten nothing to-day.' I accordingly ate the beaver meat, and +when I had finished it, observing an opportunity when she stood by +herself, I stepped up to her, and whispered in her ear, 'My mother, I +have killed a bear.' 'What do you say, my son?' said she. 'I have killed +a bear.' 'Are you sure you have killed him?' 'Yes.' 'Is he quite dead?' +'Yes.' She watched my face for a moment, and then caught me in her arms, +hugging and kissing me with great earnestness, and for a long time. I +then told her what my aunt had said to me, both going and returning, and +this being told to her husband when he returned, he not only reproved +her for it, but gave her a severe flogging. The bear was sent for, and, +as being the first I had killed, was cooked all together, and the +hunters of the whole band invited to feast with us, according to the +custom of the Indians. The same day one of the Crees killed a bear and a +moose, and gave a large share of the meat to my mother. + +[Illustration] + +One winter I hunted for a trader called by the Indians Aneeb, which +means an elm-tree. As the winter advanced, and the weather became more +and more cold, I found it difficult to procure as much game as I had +been in the habit of supplying, and as was wanted by the trader. Early +one morning, about mid-winter, I started an elk. I pursued until night, +and had almost overtaken him; but hope and strength failed me at the +same time. What clothing I had on me, notwithstanding the extreme +coldness of the weather, was drenched with sweat. It was not long after +I turned towards home that I felt it stiffening about me. My leggings +were of cloth, and were torn in pieces in running through the bush. I +was conscious I was somewhat frozen before I arrived at the place where +I had left our lodge standing in the morning, and it was now midnight. +I knew it had been the old woman's intention to move, and I knew where +she would go; but I had not been informed she would go on that day. As I +followed on their path, I soon ceased to suffer from cold, and felt that +sleepy sensation which I knew preceded the last stage of weakness in +such as die of cold. I redoubled my efforts, but with an entire +consciousness of the danger of my situation; it was with no small +difficulty that I could prevent myself from lying down. At length I lost +all consciousness for some time, how long I cannot tell, and, awaking as +from a dream, I found I had been walking round and round in a small +circle not more than twenty or twenty-five yards over. After the return +of my senses, I looked about to try to discover my path, as I had missed +it; but, while I was looking, I discovered a light at a distance, by +which I directed my course. Once more, before I reached the lodge, I +lost my senses; but I did not fall down; if I had, I should never have +got up again; but I ran round and round in a circle as before. When I at +last came into the lodge, I immediately fell down, but I did not lose +myself as before. I can remember seeing the thick and sparkling coat of +frost on the inside of the pukkwi lodge, and hearing my mother say that +she had kept a large fire in expectation of my arrival; and that she had +not thought I should have been so long gone in the morning, but that I +should have known long before night of her having moved. It was a month +before I was able to go out again, my face, hands, and legs having been +much frozen. + +There is, on the bank of the Little Saskawjewun, a place which looks +like one the Indians would always choose to encamp at. In a bend of the +river is a beautiful landing-place, behind it a little plain, a thick +wood, and a small hill rising abruptly in the rear. But with that spot +is connected a story of fratricide, a crime so uncommon that the spot +where it happened is held in detestation, and regarded with terror. No +Indian will land his canoe, much less encamp, at '_the place of the two +dead men_.' They relate that many years ago the Indians were encamped +here, when a quarrel arose between two brothers, having she-she-gwi for +totems.[1] One drew his knife and slew the other; but those of the band +who were present, looked upon the crime as so horrid that, without +hesitation or delay, they killed the murderer, and buried them together. + +As I approached this spot, I thought much of the story of the two +brothers, who bore the same totem with myself, and were, as I supposed, +related to my Indian mother. I had heard it said that, if any man +encamped near their graves, as some had done soon after they were +buried, they would be seen to come out of the ground, and either re-act +the quarrel and the murder, or in some other manner so annoy and disturb +their visitors that they could not sleep. Curiosity was in part my +motive, and I wished to be able to tell the Indians that _I_ not only +stopped, but slept quietly at a place which they shunned with so much +fear and caution. The sun was going down as I arrived; and I pushed my +little canoe in to the shore, kindled a fire, and, after eating my +supper, lay down and slept. Very soon I saw the two dead men come and +sit down by my fire, opposite me. Their eyes were intently fixed upon +me, but they neither smiled nor said anything. I got up and sat opposite +them by the fire, and in this situation I awoke. The night was dark and +gusty, but I saw no men, or heard any other sound than that of the wind +in the trees. It is likely I fell asleep again, for I soon saw the same +two men standing below the bank of the river, their heads just rising to +the level of the ground I had made my fire on, and looking at me as +before. After a few minutes, they rose one after the other, and sat down +opposite me; but now they were laughing, and pushing at me with sticks, +and using various methods of annoyance. I endeavoured to speak to them, +but my voice failed me; I tried to fly, but my feet refused to do their +office. Throughout the whole night I was in a state of agitation and +alarm. Among other things which they said to me, one of them told me to +look at the top of the little hill which stood near. I did so, and saw a +horse fettered, and standing looking at me. 'There, my brother,' said +the ghost, 'is a horse which I give you to ride on your journey +to-morrow; and as you pass here on your way home, you can call and leave +the horse, and spend another night with us.' + +At last came the morning, and I was in no small degree pleased to find +that with the darkness of the night these terrifying visions vanished. +But my long residence among the Indians, and the frequent instances in +which I had known the intimations of dreams verified, occasioned me to +think seriously of the horse the ghost had given me. Accordingly I went +to the top of the hill, where I discovered tracks and other signs, and, +following a little distance, found a horse, which I knew belonged to the +trader I was going to see. As several miles travel might be saved by +crossing from this point on the Little Saskawjewun to the Assinneboin, I +left the canoe, and, having caught the horse, and put my load upon him, +led him towards the trading-house, where I arrived next day. In all +subsequent journeys through this country, I carefully shunned 'the place +of the two dead'; and the account I gave of what I had seen and suffered +there confirmed the superstitious terrors of the Indians. + +I was standing by our lodge one evening, when I saw a good-looking young +woman walking about and smoking. She noticed me from time to time, and +at last came up and asked me to smoke with her. I answered that I never +smoked. 'You do not wish to touch my pipe; for that reason you will not +smoke with me.' I took her pipe and smoked a little, though I had not +been in the habit of smoking before. She remained some time, and talked +with me, and I began to be pleased with her. After this we saw each +other often, and I became gradually attached to her. + +I mention this because it was to this woman that I was afterwards +married, and because the commencement of our acquaintance was not after +the usual manner of the Indians. Among them it most commonly happens, +even when a young man marries a woman of his own band, he has previously +had no personal acquaintance with her. They have seen each other in the +village; he has perhaps looked at her in passing, but it is probable +they have never spoken together. The match is agreed on by the old +people, and when their intention is made known to the young couple, they +commonly find, in themselves, no objection to the arrangement, as they +know, should it prove disagreeable mutually, or to either party, it can +at any time be broken off. + +I now redoubled my diligence in hunting, and commonly came home with +meat in the early part of the day, at least before night. I then dressed +myself as handsomely as I could, and walked about the village, sometimes +blowing the Pe-be-gwun, or flute. For some time Mis-kwa-bun-o-kwa +pretended she was not willing to marry me, and it was not, perhaps, +until she perceived some abatement of ardour on my part that she laid +this affected coyness entirely aside. For my own part, I found that my +anxiety to take a wife home to my lodge was rapidly becoming less and +less. I made several efforts to break off the intercourse, and visit her +no more; but a lingering inclination was too strong for me. When she +perceived my growing indifference, she sometimes reproached me, and +sometimes sought to move me by tears and entreaties; but I said nothing +to the old woman about bringing her home, and became daily more and +more unwilling to acknowledge her publicly as my wife. + +About this time I had occasion to go to the trading-house on Red River, +and I started in company with a half-breed belonging to that +establishment, who was mounted on a fleet horse. The distance we had to +travel has since been called by the English settlers seventy miles. We +rode and went on foot by turns, and the one who was on foot kept hold of +the horse's tail, and ran. We passed over the whole distance in one day. +In returning, I was by myself, and without a horse, and I made an +effort, intending, if possible, to accomplish the same journey in one +day; but darkness, and excessive fatigue, compelled me to stop when I +was within about ten miles of home. + +When I arrived at our lodge, on the following day, I saw +Mis-kwa-bun-o-kwa sitting in my place. As I stopped at the door of the +lodge, and hesitated to enter, she hung down her head; but Net-no-kwa +greeted me in a tone somewhat harsher than was common for her to use to +me. 'Will you turn back from the door of the lodge, and put this young +woman to shame, who is in all respects better than you are? This affair +has been of your seeking, and not of mine or hers. You have followed her +about the village heretofore; now you would turn from her, and make her +appear like one who has attempted to thrust herself in your way.' I was, +in part, conscious of the justness of Net-no-kwa's reproaches, and in +part prompted by inclination; I went in and sat down by the side of +Mis-kwa-bun-o-kwa, and thus we became man and wife. Old Net-no-kwa had, +while I was absent at Red River, without my knowledge or consent, made +her bargain with the parents of the young woman, and brought her home, +rightly supposing that it would be no difficult matter to reconcile me +to the measure. In most of the marriages which happen between young +persons, the parties most interested have less to do than in this case. +The amount of presents which the parents of a woman expect to receive in +exchange for her diminishes in proportion to the number of husbands she +may have had. + +I now began to attend to some of the ceremonies of what may be called +the initiation of warriors, this being the first time I had been on a +war-party. For the first three times that a man accompanies a war-party, +the customs of the Indians require some peculiar and painful +observances, from which old warriors may, if they choose, be exempted. +The young warrior must constantly paint his face black; must wear a +cap, or head-dress of some kind; must never precede the old warriors, +but follow them, stepping in their tracks. He must never scratch his +head, or any other part of his body, with his fingers, but if he is +compelled to scratch he must use a small stick; the vessel he eats or +drinks out of, or the knife he uses, must be touched by no other person. + +The young warrior, however long and fatiguing the march, must neither +eat, nor drink, nor sit down by day; if he halts for a moment, he must +turn his face towards his own country, that the Great Spirit may see +that it is his wish to return home again. + + * * * * * + +It was Tanner's wish to return home again, and after many dangerous and +disagreeable adventures he did at last, when almost an old man, come +back to the Whites and tell his history, which, as he could not write, +was taken down at his dictation.[2] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The totem is the crest of the Indians. + +[2] From _Tanner's Captivity_. New York, 1830. + + + + +_CASANOVA'S ESCAPE_ + + +IN July 1755 Casanova di Seingalt, a Venetian gentleman, who, by reason +of certain books of magic he possessed, fell under the displeasure of +the Church, was imprisoned by order of the Inquisition in a cell in the +ducal palace. + +The cell in which he was imprisoned was one of seven called 'The Leads,' +because they were under the palace roof, which was covered neither by +slates nor bricks, but great heavy sheets of lead. They were guarded by +archers, and could only be reached by passing through the hall of +council. The secretary of the Inquisition had charge of their key, which +the gaoler, after going the round of the prisoners, restored to him +every morning. Four of the cells faced eastward over the palace canal, +the other three westward over the court. Casanova's was one of the +three, and he calculated that it was exactly above the private room of +the inquisitors. + +For many hours after the gaoler first turned the key upon Casanova he +was left alone in the gloomy cell, not high enough for him to stand +upright in, and destitute even of a couch. He laid aside his silk +mantle, his hat adorned with Spanish lace and a white plume--for, when +roused from sleep and arrested by the Inquisition, he had put on the +suit lying ready, in which he intended to have gone to a gay +entertainment. The heat of the cell was extreme: the prisoner leaned his +elbows on the ledge of the grating which admitted to the cell what light +there was, and fell into a deep and bitter reverie. Eight hours passed, +and then the complete solitude in which he was left began to trouble +him. Another hour, another, and another; but when night really fell, to +take Casanova's own account, + +'I became like a raging madman, stamping, cursing, and uttering wild +cries. After more than an hour of this furious exercise, seeing no one, +not hearing the least sign which could have made me imagine that anyone +was aware of my fury, I stretched myself on the ground. . . . But my +bitter grief and anger, and the hard floor on which I lay, did not +prevent me from sleeping. + +'The midnight bell woke me: I could not believe that I had really passed +three hours without consciousness of pain. Without moving, lying as I +was on my left side, I stretched out my right hand for my handkerchief, +which I remembered was there. Groping with my hand--heavens! suddenly it +rested upon _another_ hand, icy cold! Terror thrilled me from head to +foot, and my hair rose: I had never in all my life known such an agony +of fear, and would never have thought myself capable of it. + +'Three or four minutes I passed, not only motionless, but bereft of +thought; then, recovering my senses, I began to think that the hand I +touched was imaginary. In that conviction I stretched out my arm once +more, only to encounter the same hand, which, with a cry of horror, I +seized, and let go again, drawing back my own. I shuddered, but being +able to reason by this time, I decided that while I slept a corpse had +been laid near me--for I was sure there was nothing when I lay down on +the floor. But whose was the dead body? Some innocent sufferer, perhaps +one of my own friends, whom they had strangled, and laid there that I +might find before my eyes when I woke the example of what my own fate +was to be? That thought made me furious: for the third time I approached +the hand with my own: I clasped it, and at the same instant I tried to +rise, to draw this dead body towards me, and be certain of the hideous +crime. But, as I strove to prop myself on my left elbow, the cold hand I +was clasping became alive, and was withdrawn--and I knew that instant, +to my utter astonishment, that I held none other than my own left hand, +which, lying stiffened on the hard floor, had lost heat and sensation +entirely.' + +That incident, though comic, did not cheer Casanova, but gave him matter +for the darkest reflections--since he saw himself in a place where, if +the unreal seemed so true, reality might one day become a dream. In +other words, he feared approaching madness. + +But at last came daybreak, and by-and-by the gaoler returned, asking the +prisoner if he had had time to find out what he would like to eat. +Casanova was allowed to send for all he needed from his own apartments +in Venice, but writing-implements, any metal instruments whatever, even +knife and fork, and the books he mentioned, were struck from his list. +The inquisitors sent him books which they themselves thought suitable, +and which drove him, he said, to the verge of madness. + +He was not ill-treated--having a daily allowance given him to buy what +food he liked, which was more than he could spend. But the loss of +liberty soon became insupportable. For months he believed that his +deliverance was close at hand; but when November came, and he saw no +prospect of release, he began to form projects of escape. And soon the +idea of freeing himself, however wild and impossible it seemed, took +complete possession of him. + +[Illustration] + +By-and-by he was allowed half an hour's daily promenade in the corridor +(galetas) outside his cell--a dingy, rat-infested place, into which old +rubbish was apt to drift. One day Casanova noticed a piece of black +marble on the floor--polished, an inch thick and six inches long. He +picked it up stealthily, and without any definite intention, managed to +hide it away in his cell. + +Another morning his eyes fell upon a long iron bolt, lying on the floor +with other old odds and ends, and that also, concealed in his dress, he +bore into his cell. When left alone, he examined it carefully, and +realised that if pointed, it would make an excellent spontoon. He took +the black marble, and after grinding one end of the bolt against it for +a long while, he saw that he had really succeeded in wearing the iron +down. For fifteen days he worked, till he could hardly stir his right +arm, and his shoulder felt almost dislocated. But he had made the bolt +into a real tool; or, if necessary, a weapon, with an excellent point. +He hid it in the straw of his armchair so carefully that, to find it, +one must have known that it was there; and then he began to consider +what use he should make of it. + +He was certain that the room underneath was the one in which on entering +he had seen the secretary of the Inquisition, and which was probably +opened every morning. A hole once made in the floor, he could easily +lower himself by a rope made of the sheets of his bed, and fastened to +one of the bed-posts. He might hide under the great table of the +tribunal till the door was opened, and then make good his escape. It was +probable, indeed, that one of the archers would mount guard in this room +at night; but him Casanova resolved to kill with his pointed iron. The +great difficulty really was that the hole in the floor was not to be +made in a day, but might be a work of months. And therefore some pretext +must be found to prevent the archers from sweeping out the cell, as they +were accustomed to do every morning. + +Some days after, alleging no reason, he ordered the archers not to +sweep. This omission was allowed to pass for several mornings, and then +the gaoler demanded Casanova's reason. He answered, that the dust +settled on his lungs, and made him cough, and might give him a mortal +disease. Laurent, the gaoler, offered to throw water on the floor before +sweeping it; but Casanova's arguments against the dampness of the +atmosphere that would result were equally ingenious. Laurent's +suspicions, however, were roused, and one day he ordered the room to be +swept most carefully, and even lit a candle, and on the pretence of +cleanliness, searched the cell thoroughly. Casanova seemed indifferent, +but the next day, having pricked his finger, he showed his handkerchief +stained with blood, and said that the gaoler's cruelty had brought on so +severe a cough that he had actually broken a small blood-vessel. A +doctor was sent for, who took the prisoner's part, and forbade sweeping +out the cell in future. One great point was gained; but the work could +not begin yet, owing to the fearful cold. The prisoner would have been +forced to wear gloves, and the sight of a worn glove might have excited +suspicion. So he occupied himself with another stratagem--the creation, +little by little, of a lamp, for the solace of the endless winter +nights. One by one, the gaoler himself, unsuspectingly, brought the +different ingredients: oil was imported in salads, wick the prisoner +himself made from threads pulled from the quilt, and in time the lamp +was complete. + +The very unwelcome sojourn of a Jewish usurer, like himself captive of +the Inquisition, in his cell, forced Casanova to delay his projects of +escape till after Easter, when the Jew was imprisoned elsewhere. + +No sooner had he left than Casanova, by the light of the lamp +constructed with so much difficulty, began his task. Drawing his bed +away, he set to work to bore through the plank underneath, gathering the +fragments of wood in a napkin--which the next morning he contrived to +empty out behind a heap of old cahier books in the corridor--and after +six hours' labour, pulling back his bed, which concealed all trace of it +from the gaoler's eyes. + +The first plank was two inches thick; the next day he found another +plank beneath it, and he pierced this only to find a third plank. It was +three weeks before he dug out a cavity large enough for his purpose in +this depth of wood, and his disappointment was great when, underneath +the planks, he came to a marble pavement which resisted his one tool. +But he remembered having read of a general who had broken with an axe +hard stones, which he first made brittle by vinegar, and this Casanova +possessed. He poured a bottle of strong vinegar into the hole, and the +next day, whether it was the effect of the vinegar or of his stronger +resolution, he managed to loosen the cement which bound the pieces of +marble together, and in four hours had destroyed the pavement, and found +another plank, which, however, he believed to be the last. + +At this point his work was once more interrupted by the arrival of a +fellow prisoner, who only stayed, however, for eight days. A more +serious delay was caused by the fact that unwittingly a part of his work +had been just above one of the great beams that supported the ceiling, +and he was forced to enlarge the hole by one-fourth. But at last all was +done. Through a hole so thin as to be quite imperceptible from below he +saw the room underneath. There was only a thin film of wood to be broken +through on the night of his escape. For various reasons, he had fixed on +the night of August 27. But hear his own words: + +'On the 25th,' writes Casanova, 'there happened what makes me shudder +even as I write. Precisely at noon I heard the rattling of bolts, a +fearful beating of my heart made me think that my last moment had come, +and I flung myself on my armchair, stupefied. Laurent entered, and said +gaily: + +'"Sir, I have come to bring you good news, on which I congratulate you!" + +'At first I thought my liberty was to be restored--I knew no other news +which _could_ be good; and I saw that I was lost, for the discovery of +the hole would have undone me. But Laurent told me to follow him. I +asked him to wait till I got ready. + +'"No matter," he said, "you are only going to leave this dismal cell for +a light one, quite new, where you can see half Venice through the two +windows; where you can stand upright; where----" + +'But I cannot bear to write of it--I seemed to be dying. I implored +Laurent to tell the secretary that I thanked the tribunal for its mercy, +but begged it in Heaven's name to leave me where I was. Laurent told me, +with a burst of laughter, that I was mad, that my present cell was +execrable, and that I was to be transferred to a delightful one. + +'"Come, come, you must obey orders," he exclaimed. + +'He led me away. I felt a momentary solace in hearing him order one of +his men to follow with the armchair, where my spontoon was still +concealed. That was always something! If my beautiful hole in the floor, +that I had made with such infinite pains, could have followed me +too--but that was impossible! My body went; my soul stayed behind. + +'As soon as Laurent saw me in the fresh cell, he had the armchair set +down. I flung myself upon it, and he went away, telling me that my bed +and all my other belongings should be brought to me at once.' + +For two hours Casanova was left alone in his new cell, utterly hopeless, +and expecting to be consigned for the rest of his life to one of the +palace dungeons, from which no escape could be possible. Then the gaoler +returned, almost mad with rage, and demanded the axe and all the +instruments which the prisoner must have employed in penetrating the +marble pavement. Calmly, without stirring, Casanova told him that he +did not know what he was talking about, but that, if he _had_ procured +tools, it could only have been from Laurent himself, who alone had +entrance to the cell. + +Such a reply did not soften the gaoler's anger, and for some time +Casanova was very badly treated. Everything was searched; but his tool +had been so cleverly concealed that Laurent never found it. Fortunately +it was the gaoler's interest not to let the tribunal know of the +discovery he had made. He had the floor of the cell mended without the +knowledge of the secretary of the Inquisition, and when this was done, +and he found himself secure from blame, Casanova had little difficulty +in making peace with him, and even told him the secret of the lamp's +construction. + +Fortunately, out of the tribunal's allowance to the prisoner enough was +always left, after he had provided for his own needs, for a gift--or +bribe, to the gaoler. But Laurent did not relax his vigilance, and every +morning one of the archers went round the cell with an iron bar, giving +blows to walls and floor, to assure himself that there was nothing +broken. But he never struck the ceiling, a fact which Casanova resolved +to turn to account at the first opportunity. + +One day the prisoner ordered his gaoler to buy him a particular book, +and Laurent, objecting to an expense which seemed to him quite needless, +offered to borrow him a book of one of the other prisoners, in exchange +for one of his own. Here at last was an opportunity. Casanova chose a +volume out of his small library, and gave it to the gaoler, who returned +in a few minutes with a Latin book belonging to one of the other +prisoners. + +Pen and ink were forbidden, but in this book Casanova found a fragment +of paper; and he contrived, with the nail of his little finger, dipped +in mulberry juice, to write on it a list of his library--and returned +the volume, asking for a second. The second came, and in it a short +letter in Latin. The correspondence between the prisoners had really +begun. + +The writer of the Latin letter was the monk Balbi, imprisoned in the +Leads with a companion, Count Andre Asquin. He followed it by a much +longer one, giving the history of his own life, and all that he knew of +his fellow-prisoners. Casanova formed a very poor opinion of Father +Balbi's character from his letters; but assistance of some kind he must +have, since the gaoler must needs discover any attempt to break through +the ceiling, unless that attempt was made from above. But Casanova soon +thought of a plan by which Balbi could break through _his_ ceiling, +undiscovered. + +'I wrote to him,' he relates, 'that I would find some means of sending +him an instrument with which he could break through the roof of his +cell, and having climbed upon it, go to the wall separating his roof +from mine. Breaking through that, he would find himself on _my_ roof, +which also must be broken through. That done, I would leave my cell, and +he, the Count, and I together, would manage to raise one of the great +leaden squares that formed the highest palace roof. Once outside _that_, +I would be answerable for the rest. + +'But first he must tell the gaoler to buy him forty or fifty pictures of +saints, and by way of proving his piety, he must cover his walls and +ceiling with these, putting the largest on the ceiling. When he had done +this, I would tell him more. + +'I next ordered Laurent to buy me the new folio Bible that was just +printed; for I fancied its great size might enable me to conceal my tool +there, and so send it to the monk. But when I saw it, I became +gloomy--the bolt was two inches longer than the Bible. The monk wrote to +me that the cell was already covered according to my direction, and +hoped I would lend him the great Bible which Laurent told him I had +bought. But I replied that for three or four days I needed it myself. + +'At last I hit upon a device. I told Laurent that on Michaelmas Day I +wanted two dishes of macaroni, and one of these must be the largest dish +he had, for I meant to season it, and send it, with my compliments, to +the worthy gentleman who had lent me books. Laurent would bring me the +butter and the Parmesan cheese, but I myself should add them to the +boiling macaroni. + +'I wrote to the monk preparing him for what was to happen, and on St. +Michael's Day all came about as I expected. I had hidden the bolt in the +great Bible, wrapped in paper, one inch of it showing on each side. I +prepared the cheese and butter; and in due time Laurent brought me in +the boiling macaroni and the great dish. Mixing my ingredients, I filled +the dish so full that the butter nearly ran over the edge, and then I +placed it carefully on the Bible, and put that, with the dish resting on +it, into Laurent's hand, warning him not to spill a drop. All his +caution was necessary: he went away with his eyes fixed on his burden, +lest the butter should run over; and the Bible, with the bolt projecting +from it, were covered, and more than covered, by the huge dish. His one +care was to hold that steady, and I saw that I had succeeded. Presently +he came back to tell me that not a drop of butter had been spilt.' + +Father Balbi next began his work, detaching from the roof one large +picture, which he regularly put back in the same place to conceal the +hole. In eight days he had made his way through the roof, and attacked +the wall. This was harder work, but at last he had removed six and +twenty bricks, and could pass through to Casanova's roof. This he was +obliged to work at very carefully, lest any fracture should appear +visible below. + +One Monday, as Father Balbi was busy at the roof, Casanova suddenly +heard the sound of opening doors. It was a terrible moment, but he had +time to give the alarm signal, two quick blows on the ceiling. Then +Laurent entered, bringing another prisoner, an ugly, ill-dressed little +man of fifty, in a black wig, who looked like what he was, a spy of the +Inquisition. + +Casanova soon learned the history of Soradici--for this was the spy's +name--and when his new companion was asleep he wrote to Balbi the +account of what had happened. For the present, evidently the work must +be given up, no confidence whatever could be placed in Soradici. Yet +soon Casanova thought of a plan of making use even of this traitor. + +First he ordered Laurent to buy him an image of the Virgin Mary, holy +water, and a crucifix. Next he wrote two letters, addressed to friends +in Venice--letters in which he made no complaint, but spoke of the +benevolence of the Inquisition, and the blessing that his trials had +been to him. These letters, which, even if they reached the hands of the +secretary, could do him no possible harm, he entrusted to Soradici, in +case he should soon be set free; exacting the spy's solemn oath, on the +crucifix and the image of the Virgin, not to betray him, but to give the +letters to his friends. + +Soradici took the oath required of him, and sewed the letters into his +vest. None the less, Casanova felt confident that he would be betrayed, +and this was exactly what happened. Two days after the spy was sent for +to the secretary, and when he returned to the cell, his companion soon +discovered that he had given up the letters. + +Casanova affected the utmost anguish and despair. He flung himself down +before the image of the Virgin, and demanded vengeance on the monster +who had ruined him by breaking so solemn a pledge. Then he lay down with +his face to the wall, and for the whole day uttered no single word to +the spy, who, terrified at his companion's prayer for vengeance, +entreated his forgiveness. But when the spy slept he wrote to Father +Balbi and told him to go on with his work the next day, beginning at +exactly three o'clock, and working four hours. + +The next day, after the gaoler had left them, bearing with him the book +of Father Balbi in which the prisoner's letter was concealed, Casanova +called his companion. The spy, by this time, was really ill with terror; +for he believed that he had provoked the wrath of the Virgin Mary by +breaking his oath. He was ready to do anything his companion told him to +do, and weak enough to credit any falsehood. + +Casanova put on a look of inspiration, and said: + +'Learn that at break of day the Holy Virgin appeared to me, and +commanded me to forgive you. You shall not die. The grief that your +treachery caused me made me pass all the night sleepless, since I knew +that the letters you had given to the secretary would prove my ruin--and +my one consolation was to believe that in three days I should see you +die in this very cell. But though my mind was full of my +revenge--unworthy of a Christian--at break of day the image of the +Blessed Virgin that you see moved, opened her lips, and said: "Soradici +is under my protection: I would have you pardon him. In reward of your +generosity I will send one of my angels in figure of a man, who shall +descend from heaven to break the roof of the cell, and in five or six +days to release you. To-day this angel will begin his work at three +o'clock, and will work till half an hour before the sun sets, for he +must return to me by daylight. When you escape you will take Soradici +with you, and you will take care of him all his life, on condition that +he quits the profession of a spy for ever." With these words the Blessed +Virgin disappeared.' + +At first even the spy's credulity would hardly be persuaded that +Casanova had not dreamed; but when at the appointed hour the sound of +the angel working in the roof was really to be heard, when it lasted +four hours, and ceased again as foretold, all his doubt vanished, and he +was ready to follow Casanova blindly. The thought of once more betraying +him never entered his mind; he believed that the Blessed Virgin herself +was on the side of his companion. + +The angel would appear, Casanova told him, on the evening of October 31. +And at the hour appointed Father Balbi, not looking in the least like an +angel, came feet foremost through the ceiling. Casanova embraced him, +left him to guard the spy, and himself ascending through the roof, +crossed over into the other cell and greeted the monk's fellow-prisoner, +Count Andre, who had all this time kept their secret, but, being old and +infirm, had no desire to fly with them. + +The next thing was to return into the garret above the two cells, and +set to work to break through the palace roof itself. Most of this task +fell to Casanova, till he reached the great sheet of lead surmounting +the planks, and there the monk's help was necessary. Uniting their +strength, they raised it till an opening was made wide enough to pass +through. But outside the moonlight was too strong, and they would have +been seen from below had they ventured on the roof. They returned into +the cell and waited. Casanova had made strong ropes by tying together +sheets, towels, and whatever else would serve. Now, since there was +nothing to be done till the moon sank, he sat down and wrote a courteous +letter to the Inquisition, explaining his reasons for attempting to +escape. + +The spy, too cowardly to risk his life in so daring a venture, and +beginning to see that he had been imposed upon, begged Casanova on his +knees to leave him behind, praying for the fugitives--and this Casanova +was thankful to do, for Soradici could only have encumbered him. Father +Balbi, though for the last hour he had been heaping reproaches on his +friend's rashness, was less of a coward than the spy, and as the time +had come to start he followed Casanova. They crept out on the roof, and +began cautiously to ascend it. Half-way up the monk begged his companion +to stop, saying that he had lost one of the packages tied round his +neck. + +'Was it the package of cord?' asked Casanova. + +'No,' replied the monk, 'but a black coat, and a very precious +manuscript.' + +'Then,' said Casanova, resisting a sudden temptation to throw Balbi +after his packet, 'you must be patient, and come along.' + +The monk sighed, and followed. Soon they had reached the highest point +of the roof, and here Balbi contrived to lose his hat, which rolled down +the roof, failed to lodge in the gutter, and fell into the canal below. +The poor fellow grew desperate, and said it was a bad omen. Casanova +soothed him, and left him seated where he was, while he himself went to +investigate, his faithful tool in his hand. + +Now fresh difficulties began. For a long time Casanova could find no way +of re-entering the palace, except into the cell they had quitted. He was +growing hopeless, when he saw a skylight, that he was sure was too far +away from their starting point to belong to any of the cells. He made +his way to it; it was barred with a fine iron grating that needed a +file. And Casanova only had one tool! + +Sitting on the roof of the skylight, he nearly abandoned himself to +despair, till the bell striking midnight suddenly roused him. It was the +first of November: All Saint's Day--the day on which he had long had a +curious foreboding that he should recover his liberty. Fired with hope, +he set his tool to work at the grating, and in a quarter of an hour he +had wrenched it away entire. He set it down by the skylight, and went +back for the monk. They regained the skylight together. + +Casanova let down his companion through the skylight by the cord, and +found that the floor was so far away that he himself dared not risk the +leap. And though the cord was still in his hands, he had nowhere to +fasten it. The monk, inside, could give him no help--and, not knowing +what to do, he set out on another voyage of discovery. + +It was successful, for in a part of the roof which he had not yet +visited he found a ladder left by some workmen, and long enough for his +purpose. Indeed, it seemed likely to be too long, for when he tried to +introduce it into the skylight, it only entered as far as the sixth +round, and then was stopped by the roof. However, with a superhuman +effort Casanova, hanging to the roof, below the skylight, managed to +lift the other end of the ladder, nearly, in the action, flinging +himself down into the canal. But he had succeeded in forcing the ladder +farther in, and the rest was comparatively easy. He climbed up again to +the skylight, lowered the ladder, and in another moment was standing by +his companion's side. + +They found themselves in a garret opening into another room, well barred +and bolted. But just then Casanova was past all exertion. He flung +himself on the ground, the packet of cord under his head, and fell into +a sleep of utter exhaustion. It was dawn when he was roused at last by +the monk's despairing efforts. For two hours the latter had been shaking +him, and even shouting in his ears, without the slightest effect! + +Casanova rose, saying: + +'This place must have a way out. Let us break everything--there is no +time to lose!' + +They found, at last, a door, of which Casanova's tool forced the lock, +and which led them into the room containing the archives or records of +the Venetian Republic. From this they descended a staircase, then +another, and so made their way into the chancellor's office. Here +Casanova found a tool which secretaries used to pierce parchment, and +which was some little help to them--for he found it impossible to force +the lock of the door through which they had next to part, and the only +way was to break a hole in it. Casanova set to work at the part of the +door that looked most likely to yield, while his companion did what he +could with the secretary's instrument--they pushed, rent, tore the wood; +the noise that they made was alarming, but they were compelled to risk +it. In half an hour they had made a hole large enough to get through. +The monk went first, being the thinner; he pulled Casanova after +him--dusty, torn, and bleeding, for he had worked harder than Father +Balbi, who still looked respectable. + +They were now in a part of the palace guarded by doors against which no +possible effort of theirs could have availed. The only way was to wait +till they were opened, and then take flight. Casanova tranquilly changed +his tattered garments for a suit which he had brought with him, arranged +his hair, and made himself look--except for the bandages he had tied +round his wounds--much more like a strayed reveller than an escaped +prisoner. All this time the monk was upbraiding him bitterly, and at +last, tired of listening, Casanova opened a window, and put out his +head, adorned with a gay plumed hat. The window looked out upon the +palace court, and Casanova was seen at once by people walking there. He +drew back his head, thinking that he had brought destruction upon +himself; but after all the accident proved fortunate. Those who had seen +him went immediately to tell the authority who kept the key of the hall +at the top of the grand staircase, at whose window Casanova's head had +appeared, that he must unwittingly have shut someone in the night +before. Such a thing might easily have happened, and the keeper of the +keys came immediately to see if the news were true. + +Presently the door opened, and quite at his ease, the keeper appeared, +key in hand. He looked startled at Casanova's strange figure, but the +latter, without stopping or uttering a word, passed him, and descended +the stairs, followed by the frightened monk. They did not run, nor did +they loiter; Casanova was already, in spirit, beyond the confines of the +Venetian Republic. Still followed by the monk, he reached the +water-side, stepped into a gondola, and flinging himself down +carelessly, promised the rowers more than their fare if they would reach +Fusina quickly. Soon they had left Venice behind them; and a few days +after his wonderful escape Casanova was in perfect safety beyond Italy. + + + + +_ADVENTURES ON THE FINDHORN_ + + +THE following adventures in crossing the Findhorn are extracted from +'Lays of the Deer Forest,' by John Sobieski and Charles Edward Stuart +(London, 1848). + + * * * * * + +I had lost my boat in the last speat; it was the third which had been +taken away in that year, and, until I obtained another, I was obliged to +ford the river. I went one day as usual; there was a dark bank of cloud +lying in the west upon Beann-Drineachain, but all the sky above was blue +and clear, and the water moderate, as I crossed into the forest. I +merely wanted a buck, and, therefore, only made a short circuit to the +edge of Dun-Fhearn, and rolled a stone down the steep into the deep, +wooded den. As it plunged into the burn below, I heard the bound of feet +coming up; but they were only two small does, and I did not 'speak' to +them, but amused myself with watching their uneasiness and surprise as +they perked into the bosky gorge, down which the stone had crashed like +a nine-pounder; and, as their white targets jinked over the brae, I went +on to try the western terraces. + +[Illustration] + +There is a smooth dry brae opposite to Logie Cumming, called 'Braigh +Choilich-Choille,'[3] great part of the slope of which is covered with a +growth of brackens from five to six feet high, mixed with large masses +of foxgloves, of such luxuriance that the stems sometimes rise five from +a single root, and more than seven feet in height, of which there is +often an extent of five feet of blossoms, loaded with a succession of +magnificent bells. As we crossed below this beautiful covert, I observed +Dreadnought suddenly turn up the wind towards it. I immediately made for +the crest beyond where the bank rises smooth and open, and whence I had +a free sweep of the summit and of both sides. I had just reached the top +when the dog entered the thicket of the ferns, and I saw their tall +heads stir about twenty yards before him, followed by a roar from his +deep tongue, and a fine buck bolted up the brae. I gave a short whistle +to stop him, and immediately he stood to listen, but behind a great +spruce fir, which then, with many others, formed a noble group upon the +summit of the terrace. The sound of the dog dislodged him in an instant, +and he shot out through the open glade, when I followed him with the +rifle, and sent him over on his horns like a wheel down the steep, and +splash, like a round shot, into the little rill at its foot. We +brittled him on the knog of an old pine, and rewarded the dog, and drank +the Dochfalla; when, having occasion to send the piper to the other side +of the wood, and being so near home, I shouldered the roe, and took the +way for the ford of Craig-Darach, a strong wide broken stream with a +very bad bottom, but the nearest then passable. + +As I descended the Bruach-gharbh, Dreadnought stopped and looked up into +a pine, then approaching the tree, searched it all round with his nose. +I scanned the branches, but could see nothing except an old hawk's nest, +which had been disused long ago; and if it had not, I do not understand +how it should be interesting to a hound. The dog, however, continued to +investigate the stump and stem of the fir, gaze into the branches, +turning his head from side to side, and setting up his ears like a +cocked-hat. I laid down the buck, and unslung my double gun, and threw a +stick at the nest, when out shot a large pine-martin, and, like a +squirrel, sprung along the branches from tree to tree, till I brought +him to the ground. Dreadnought examined him with a sort of wrinkle in +his whiskers, and turned away, and sat down in dignified abstraction; +while I remounted the buck, and braced the martin to his feet with the +little 'ial-chas,' or foot-straps used for trussing the legs of the roe. +We then resumed our path for the ford. + +As I descended through the Boat-Shaw, I heard a heavy sound from the +water, but when I came out from the birches upon the green bank on its +brink, I saw that the river had come down, and was just lipping with the +top of the stone, the sight of whose head was the mark for the last +possibility of crossing. As I looked upon its contracting ring, I +perceived that the stream was still growing; there was no time to be +lost, for the alternative now was to go round by the bridge of +Daltulich, a circuit of four miles; and I knew that, before I reached +the next good ford, the water would be a continuous rapid, probably six +feet deep: I decided, therefore, upon trying the chance where I was. +Dreadnought, who had gone about thirty yards up the stream to take the +deep water in the pool of Craig-Darach, had observed my hesitation with +one leg out and one in the water, and was standing on the point of the +rock waiting the result. As soon as I made another step he plunged into +the river, and in a few moments was rolling on the bank of silver sand +thrown up by the back-water upon the opposite side of the river. As I +advanced through the stream, he looked at me occasionally, and I at +him, and the beautiful smooth sand and green bank upon his side--for by +that time I began to wish I was there too. I was then in pretty deep +water for a ford, but still some distance from the deepest part; my kilt +was floating round me in the boiling water, and the strong eddy, formed +by the stream running against my legs, gulped and gushed with increasing +weight. I moved slowly and carefully, for the whole ford was filled with +large round slippery stones from the size of a sixty-pound shot to a +two-hundredweight shell. I stopped to rest, and looked back to the ford +mark: it was wholly gone, and I saw only the broad smooth wave of water +which slipped over its head. Ten paces more, and I should be through the +deepest part. I stepped steadily and rigidly, but I wanted the use of my +balancing limbs and the freedom of my breath; for the barrels of the +double gun and rifle, which were slung at my back, were passed under my +arms to keep them out of the water; and I was also obliged to hold the +legs of the buck, which, loaded with the 'wood-cat,' were crossed upon +my breast. At every step the round and slidering stones endangered my +footing, rendered still more unsteady by the upward pressure of the +water. In this struggle the current gave a great gulp, and a wave +splashed up over my guns. I staggered downwards with the stream, and +could not recover a sure footing for several yards. At last I secured my +hold against a large fixed stone, and paused to rest. After a little I +made another effort to proceed. + +The water was now running above my belt, and at the first step which I +made from the stone I found that it deepened abruptly before me. I felt +that in six inches more that strong stream would lift me off my legs; +and with great difficulty I gained about two yards up the current to +ascertain if the depth was continuous, but the bottom still shelved +before me, and, as I persisted in attempting it, I was turned round by +the stream, the waves were leaping through the deep channel before me, +and having no arms to balance my steps, I began to think of the bonnie +banks on _either_ side the river. In this jeopardy poor Dreadnought had +not been unconcerned; at the first moment of my struggle he had gone +down the great stony beach which lay before me, and, sitting down by the +water, watched me with great anxiety, and at last began to whine, and +whimper, and tremble with agitation. But when he saw me stagger down the +stream, he rose, went in up to his knees, howled, pawed the water, and +lapped the waves with impatience. Meanwhile I was obliged to come to a +rest, with my left foot planted strongly against a stone, for the mere +resistance to the pressure of water, which, rushing with a white foam +from my side, was sufficient exertion without the weight of the buck and +the two guns, which amounted to more than seventy pounds. + +After a few moments' pause I made a last effort to reach the east bank; +but it was now impossible, and I turned to make an attempt to regain the +Tarnaway side. I was at least thirty yards lower down than when I +entered the stream, and the water was rushing and foaming all round me; +another stagger nearly carried me off my feet, and, in the exertion to +keep them, a thick transpiration rose upon my forehead, my ears began to +sing, and my head to swim, while, disordered in their balance, the buck +and the guns almost strangled me, I looked down the channel; the water +was running in a white, broken rapid into the black pool below, and +swept with a wide, foaming back-water under the steep rock which turned +its force. The soft green bank before me was sleeping beneath the shade +of the weeping birches, where bluebells and primroses grew thick in the +short smooth turf, and, though they had long shed their blossoms, the +bright patches of their clusters were yet visible among the tall +foxgloves, which still retained the purple bells upon their tops. The +bank looked softer, and greener, and more inviting than ever it had done +before; but my eyes grew dim and my limbs faint with that last struggle. +I felt for my dirk knife, for a desperate rolling swim for life seemed +now inevitable, and, steadying myself in the stream, I cut loose the +straps of the buck and the slings of the guns, and retaining them only +with my hands, held them ready to let go as soon as I should be taken +off my legs. When they were free, I dipped my hand in the water, and +laved it over my brow and face. The singing of my ears ceased, and my +sight came clear, and I discovered that I had lost my bonnet in the +struggle, and distinguished the white cockade dancing like a little +'cailleach' of foam in the vortex of the pool below. + +Being now _morally_ relieved from the weight of the roe and guns--though +resolved to preserve them to the last--I resumed my attempt for the west +bank; but when I reached a similar distance to that which I had gained +for the other, I found an equally deep channel before me, and that the +diminished water by which I had been encouraged was only the shoaling of +a long bank which extended with the stream. I now saw that before I +joined my bonnet, which still danced and circled in the pool below, +there was only one effort left--to struggle up the stream, and reach the +point from which I had taken the water. But this was a desperate +attempt; for at every step I had to find a safe footing at the upper +side of some stone, and then with all my strength to force myself +against the current. But often the stones gave way, and, loosening from +their bed, went rolling and rumbling down the rapid, and I was driven +back several feet, to recommence the same struggle. The river also was +still increasing, and the flat sand, which was dry when I left it, was +now a sheet of water. While I was thus wrestling with the stream, I saw +Dreadnought enter, not at his usual place in the pool, but at the tail, +just above the run of the stream in which I was struggling. He came +whimpering over, and crossed about a yard or two above me; but instead +of making for the bank, he turned in the water, and swam towards me. The +stream, however, was too strong for him, and carried him down. I called +and waved to the forest, and he turned and steered for its bank, but did +not reach the shelving sand till he was well tumbled in the top of the +rapid, out of which he only emerged in time to catch a little +back-water, which helped him on to the shore. The attempt of the dog to +reach me had passed while I rested: and when he gained the bank, I +resumed my effort to make the shallower water. + +[Illustration] + +Dreadnought's eye was turned towards me as he came dripping up the bank, +and seeing me move forward, he ran before me to the water's edge, at the +right entrance of the ford, whining, and howling, and baying, as if he +knew as well as I that it was the place to make for. In a few steps the +stones became less slippery, and the bottom more even, and I began to +think that I might gain it, when, at the rocky point above, I saw a +white mass of foam, loaded with brushwood, sticks, and rubbish, borne +along by a ridge of yellow curdling water, at least two feet higher than +the stream. I gathered all my strength, and made a struggle for the bank +opposite to where I was. The water was already above my belt, and +rushing between my arms as I bore up the guns. I felt myself lifted off +my legs; again I held the ground. The green bank was only a few yards +distant, but the deep water was close below, and the yellow foaming +flood above. As I staggered on, I heard it coming down, crumpling up and +crackling the dead boughs which it bore along. I stumbled upon a round +stone, and nearly fell backward, but it was against the stream which +forced me forward. I felt the spray splash over my head: I was nearly +blind and deaf. I made a desperate effort with the last strength which I +had left, and threw myself gasping on the bank. + +Dreadnought sprang forward, jumped over and over me, whined, and kissed +my face and hands, and tried to turn me over with his snout, and +scratched and pawed me to make me speak; but I could not yet, and +gasped, and choked, and felt as if my heart would burst. I lay, dripping +and panting, with my arms stretched out on the grass, unable to move, +except with the convulsive efforts of my breath. At last I sat up, but I +could scarcely see: a thin gauzy cloud was over my eyes, a heavy +pressure rung in my ears, my feet still hung in the water, which was now +sweeping a wide white torrent from bank to bank, and running with a +fierce current through both the pools below. The back-water, where my +bonnet had danced, no longer remained; all was carried clear out in one +long rush down to the Cluag. 'Benedictum sit nomen Domini!' I thought, +as I crossed myself. I stretched out my hand, and plucked the nearest +flowers, and smelled their sweet greenwood scent with inexpressible +delight. I never thought that flowers looked so beautiful, or had half +so much perfume, though they were only the pale wild blossoms of the +fading year. I placed them in my breast, and have them still, and never +look upon them without repeating-- + + 'DE PROFUNDIS CLAMAVI AD TE, DOMINE!' + +[Illustration: THE FINDHORN.] + +Such were the hazards on the fords of the Findhorn; but even by boat the +struggle was sometimes no less arduous, though it enabled us to cross +the water at a height otherwise impassable, of which the following +passage is an example:-- + +One evening I was returning with the piper, and the old hound which had +accompanied me at the ford. As we descended towards the pool of Cluag, +where I had left the coble quietly moored in the morning, Dreadnought +frequently turned and looked at me with hanging ears and a heavy +cheerless eye; and when we came to the path which led down to the river +he stopped, and dropped behind, and followed at my heel, though usually +he trotted on before, and instead of waiting for the boat, took the +water, which he preferred to the coble. When we came out from the trees +upon the steep bank above the river, I understood his altered manner. +From rock to rock the stream was running a white, furious, rushing +torrent, and the little boat tugging and jibbing on her chain, and +swinging and bobbing upon the top of the froth, like the leaves which +danced upon the eddy. Dreadnought had heard the sound of the river, and +knew what there was at work before us. The boat was moored near the +throat of the pool, in the back-water of a little bay, now entirely +filled with froth and foam up to the gunwale of the coble, which was +defended by a sharp point of rock, from whose breakwater the stream was +thrown off in a wild shooting torrent. Within the bay the reaction of +the tide formed a quick back-water, which raised the stream without +nearly two feet higher than the level within, and at times sucked the +boat on to the point, where she was struck in the stem by the gushing +stream and sent spinning round at the full swing of her 'tether.' + +Donald looked at me. There was no alternative but the bridge of +Daltullich, more than four miles about, with two bucks to carry, and +ourselves well run since four o'clock in the morning. I stood for some +moments considering the chances, and the manifest probability of going +down the stream. Immediately after emerging from the little mooring bay +there was a terrific rush of water discharged through the narrow throat +of the pool, and raised to the centre in a white fierce tumbling ridge, +for which the shortness of the pool afforded no allowance for working, +while the little back-water, which, in ordinary cases, caught us on the +opposite side, and took us into the bank, was lost in a flood, which ran +right through the basin like a mill-lead. 'Can you swim, Donald?' said I +mechanically. '_Swim_, Sir!' said he, who knew how often I had seen +him tumbled by the waves both in salt water and fresh. 'Oh yes, I know +you can. But I was thinking of that stream.' 'Ougudearbh!' replied +Donald: 'But it was myself that never tried it yon way!' 'And what do +you think of her?' 'Faith, Thighearna, you know best--but if you try it, +I shall not stay behind.' + +We had often ridden the water together by day and night, in flood and +fair; and, narrow as the pool was, I thought we could get through it. We +threw in a broken branch to prove the speed of the current, but it +leaped through the plunging water like a greyhound, and was away in a +moment down to the fierce white battling vortex of the Scuddach, where +there was no salvation for thing alive; a few moments it disappeared in +the wild turmoil, and then came up beyond--white and barked, and +shivered like a splintered bone. Donald, however, saw that I was going +to try the venture, and he was already up the bank unlocking the chain +without a word. The bucks were deposited in the stern of the boat, the +guns laid softly across them, covered with a plaid, and Dreadnought +followed slowly and sternly, and laid himself down with an air as if, +like Don Alphonso of Castile, 'the body trembled at the dangers into +which the soul was going to carry it.' I took the oars--there were no +directions to be given--Donald knew how to cross the pool, and every +other where we were used to ferry. + +The boat's head was brought round to the stream, for it was necessary to +run her into it with the impulse of the back-water to shoot her forward, +or she would have been drawn back, stern foremost, into the eddy, where +the jaw of the water, over the point of the rock, would have swamped us +in an instant. Donald knelt at the bows, and held fast by a light +painter till I cried 'Ready!' when the little shallop sprung from the +rope, tilted away like a sea-bird, and glided towards the roaring +torrent. I looked over my shoulder; Donald was gripping the bows, his +teeth set fast, but a gleam of light was in his eye as we plunged +headlong into the bursting stream. A blow like the stroke of a mighty +wooden hammer lifted the boat into the surf; there was a crack as if her +bows were stove in, and she shot shivering through the pool, filled with +water to our knees, and sending the spray over us like a sheet. The +rocks and trees seemed to fly away; the roaring water spouted and +boiled, as it lifted up the boat, which spun round like a leaf, with her +starboard gunwale lipping with the waves; but a few seconds swept us +through the pool, and we were flying into the mad tumbling thunder of +the rapid below. I kept the larboard bow to the stream, and pulled with +all my might; but I thought she did not move, the eddy of the great +mid-stream seemed to fix her in the ridge of the torrent, and take her +along with it; the oars bent like willows to the strain, a boiling gush +from below lifted her bows, and threw her gunwale under the froth. I +thought we were gone, but I redoubled the last desperate strokes, and we +shot out of the foaming ridge towards the opposite bank, rolling, and +leaping, and plunging into the throat of the rapid. Donald sat like a +tiger ready for the spring, and as we neared the shore, bounded on the +grass with the chain. This checked the speed of the boat; I unshipped +the oars, and sprung out just as the coble came crash alongside the +bank, then swirling round, her head flew out to the stream, dragging +Donald along the grass after her. I jumped into the water, and caught +hold of the bow; for two minutes the struggle was doubtful and she +continued to drag us along: at last Donald reached the stump of a tree, +and, running round it, made a turn of the chain and brought her up. + +We sat down, and wiped our faces, and looked at each other in silence. +The incredibly short space of time which had elapsed since we stood on +the '_other side_,' with the mysterious future before us, and now to be +sitting on '_this_,' and call it the _past_, was like a dream. The +tumult, the flying shoot, the concussion at parting and arriving, seemed +like an explosion, as if we had been blown up and thrown over. 'I don't +think that boat will ever go back again, Thighearna,' said Donald. 'Why +not?' 'Did you not feel her twist, and hear her split, when we came into +the burst of the stream?' replied Donald. 'I don't know,' said I; 'I +felt and heard a great many things, but there was no time to think what +they were.' 'Oh, it was not _thinking_ that I was,' answered Donald; +'but the water came squirting up in my face through her ribs, and I held +on by both bows, expecting at every stroke to see them open and let me +through.' We got up and examined the boat's bottom; there was a yawning +rent from the stem to the centre, and part of the torn planks lapped one +over the other by the twist, the bows being only held together by the +iron band which bound the gunwale. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] The woodcocks' brae, from the frequency with which they breed there. + + + + +_THE STORY OF GRACE DARLING_ + + +A CAREFUL reader of the 'Times' on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, +1838, might have found, if he cared to look, a certain paragraph in an +obscure corner headed 'The Wreck of the "Forfarshire."' It is printed in +the small type of that period; the story is four days old, for in those +days news was not flashed from one end of the country to the other; and, +moreover, the story is very incomplete. + +On the evening of Wednesday, September 5, the steamship 'Forfarshire' +left Hull for Dundee, carrying a cargo of iron, and having some forty +passengers on board. The ship was only eight years old; the master, John +Humble, was an experienced seaman; and the crew, including firemen and +engineers, was complete. But even before the vessel left the dock one +passenger at least had felt uneasily that something was wrong--that +there was an unusual commotion among officials and sailors. Still, no +alarm was given, and at dusk the vessel steamed prosperously down the +Humber. + +The next day (Thursday, the 6th) the weather changed, the wind blowing +N.N.W., and increasing towards midnight to a perfect gale. On the +morning of Friday, the 7th, a sloop from Montrose, making for South +Shields, saw a small boat labouring hard in the trough of the sea. The +Montrose vessel bore down on it, and in spite of the state of the +weather managed to get the boat's crew on board. + +They were nine men in all, the sole survivors, as they believed +themselves to be, of the crew and passengers of the 'Forfarshire,' which +was then lying a total wreck on Longstone, one of the outermost of the +Farne Islands. + +It was a wretched story they had to tell of lives thrown away through +carelessness and negligence, unredeemed, as far as their story went, by +any heroism or unselfish courage. + +While still in the Humber, and not twenty miles from Hull, it was found +that one of the boilers leaked, but the captain refused to put about. +The pumps were set to work to fill the boiler, and the vessel kept on +her way, though slowly, not passing between the Farne Islands and the +mainland till Thursday evening. It was eight o'clock when they entered +Berwick Bay; the wind freshened and was soon blowing hard from the +N.N.W. The motion of the vessel increased the leakage, and it was now +found that there were holes in all the three boilers. Two men were set +to work the pumps, one or two of the passengers also assisting, but as +fast as the water was pumped into the boilers it poured out again. The +bilge was so full of steam and boiling water that the firemen could not +get to the fires. Still the steamer struggled on, labouring heavily, for +the sea was running very high. At midnight they were off St. Abbs Head, +when the engineers reported that the case was hopeless; the engines had +entirely ceased to work. The ship rolled helplessly in the waves, and +the rocky coast was at no great distance. They ran up the sails fore and +aft to try and keep her off the rocks, and put her round so that she +might run before the wind, and as the tide was setting southward she +drifted fast with wind and tide. Torrents of rain were falling, and in +spite of the wind there was a thick fog. Some of the passengers were +below, others were on deck with crew and captain, knowing well their +danger. + +About three the noise of breakers was distinctly heard a little way +ahead, and at the same time a light was seen away to the left, +glimmering faintly through the darkness. It came home to the anxious +crew with sickening certainty that they were being driven on the Farne +Islands. [Now these islands form a group of desolate whinstone rocks +lying off the Northumbrian coast. They are twenty in number, some only +uncovered at low tide, and all offering a rugged iron wall to any +ill-fated boat that may be driven upon them. Even in calm weather and by +daylight seamen are glad to give them a wide berth.] + +The master of the 'Forfarshire' in this desperate strait attempted to +make for the channel which runs between the Islands and the mainland. It +was at best a forlorn chance; it was hopeless here; the vessel refused +to answer her helm! On she drove in the darkness, nearer and nearer came +the sound of the breakers; the fear and agitation on board the boat grew +frantic. Women wailed and shrieked; the captain's wife clung to him, +weeping; the crew lost all instinct of discipline, and thought of +nothing but saving their skins. + +Between three and four the shock came--a hideous grinding noise, a +strain and shiver of the whole ship, and she struck violently against a +great rock. In the awful moment which followed five of the crew +succeeded in lowering the larboard quarter-boat and pushed off in her. +The mate swung himself over the side, and also reached her; and a +passenger rushing at this moment up from the cabin and seeing the boat +already three yards from the ship, cleared the space with a bound and +landed safely in her, though nearly upsetting her by his weight. She +righted, and the crew pulled off with the desperate energy of men rowing +for their lives. The sight of agonised faces, the shrieks of the +drowning were lost in the darkness and in the howling winds, and the +boat with the seven men on board was swept along by the rapidly-flowing +tide. + +Such was the story the exhausted boat's crew told next morning to their +rescuers on board the Montrose sloop. And the rest of the ship's +company--what of them? Had they all gone down by the island crag with +never a hand stretched out to help them? + +Hardly had the boat escaped from the stranded vessel when a great wave +struck her on the quarter, lifted her up bodily, and dashed her back on +the rock. She struck midships on the sharp edge and broke at once into +two pieces. The after part was washed clean away with about twenty +passengers clinging to it, the captain and his wife being among them. A +group of people, about nine in number, were huddled together near the +bow; they, with the whole fore part of the ship, were lifted right on to +the rock. In the fore cabin was a poor woman, Mrs. Dawson, with a child +on each arm. When the vessel was stranded on the rock the waves rushed +into the exposed cabin, but she managed to keep her position, cowering +in a corner. First one and then the other child died from cold and +exhaustion, and falling from the fainting mother were swept from her +sight by the waves, but the poor soul herself survived all the horrors +of the night. + +[Illustration: GRACE DARLING.] + +It was now four o'clock; the storm was raging with unabated violence, +and it was still two hours to daybreak. About a mile from Longstone, the +island on which the vessel struck, lies Brownsman, the outermost of the +Farne Islands, on which stands the lighthouse. At this time the keeper +of the lighthouse was a man of the name of William Darling. He was an +elderly, almost an old man, and the only other inmates of the +lighthouse were his wife and daughter Grace, a girl of twenty-two. On +this Friday night she was awake, and through the raging of the storm +heard shrieks more persistent and despairing than those of the wildest +sea-birds. In great trouble she rose and awakened her father. The cries +continued, but in the darkness they could do nothing. Even after day +broke it was difficult to make out distant objects, for a mist was still +hanging over the sea. At length, with a glass they could discern the +wreck on Longstone, and figures moving about on it. Between the two +islands lay a mile of yeasty sea, and the tide was running hard between +them. The only boat on the lighthouse was a clumsily built jolly-boat, +heavy enough to tax the strength of two strong men in ordinary weather, +and here there was but an old man and a young girl to face a raging sea +and a tide running dead against them. Darling hesitated to undertake +anything so dangerous, but his daughter would hear of no delay. On the +other side of that rough mile of sea men were perishing, and she _could_ +not stay where she was and see them die. + +So off they set in the heavy coble, the old man with one oar, the girl +with the other, rowing with straining breath and beating hearts. Any +moment they might be whelmed in the sea or dashed against the rocks. +Even if they got the crew off it would be doubtful if they could row +them to the lighthouse; the tide was about to turn, and would be against +them on their homeward journey; death seemed to face them on every side. + +When close to the rock there was imminent danger of their being dashed +to pieces against it. Steadying the boat an instant, Darling managed to +jump on to the rock, while Grace rapidly rowed out a little and kept the +boat from going on the rocks by rowing continually. It is difficult to +imagine how the nine shipwrecked people, exhausted and wearied as they +were, were got into the boat in such a sea, especially as the poor +woman, Mrs. Dawson, was in an almost fainting condition; but finally got +on board they all were. Fortunately, one or two of the rescued crew were +able to assist in the heavy task of rowing the boat back to Brownsman. + +The storm continued to rage for several days after, and the whole party +had to remain in the lighthouse. Moreover, a boatload which had come to +their rescue from North Shields was also storm-stayed, twenty guests in +all, so that the housewifely powers of Grace and her mother were taxed +to the utmost. + +It is told of this admirable girl that she was the tenderest and +gentlest of nurses and hostesses, as she was certainly one of the most +singularly courageous of women. + +She could never be brought to look upon her exploit as in any way +remarkable, and when by-and-by honours and distinctions were showered +upon her, and people came from long distances to see her, she kept +through it all the dignity of perfect simplicity and modesty. + +Close to Bamborough, on a windy hill, lie a little grey church and a +quiet churchyard. At all seasons high winds from the North Sea blow over +the graves and fret and eat away the soft grey sandstone of which the +plain headstones are made. So great is the wear and tear of these winds +that comparatively recent monuments look like those which have stood for +centuries. On one of these stones lies a recumbent figure, with what +looks not unlike a lance clasped in the hand and laid across the breast. +Involuntarily one thinks of the stone Crusaders, who lie in their +armour, clasping their half-drawn swords, awaiting the Resurrection +morning. It is the monument of Grace Darling, who here lies at rest with +her oar still clasped in her strong right hand. + + + + +_THE 'SHANNON' AND THE 'CHESAPEAKE'_ + + +AMONG the captains of British 38-gun frigates who ardently longed for a +meeting with one of the American 44-guns, in our war with the United +States, was Captain Philip Bowesbere Broke, of the 'Shannon.' The desire +sprang from no wish to display his own valour, only to show the world +what wonderful deeds could be done when the ship and crew were in all +respects fitted for battle. He had put his frigate in fighting order, +taught his men the art of attack and defence, and out of a crew not very +well disposed and got together in a rather haphazard manner, had made a +company as pleasant to command as it was dangerous to meet. + +With this desire, in March 1813 Captain Broke sailed from Halifax on a +cruise in Boston Bay. But to his disappointment two American frigates, +the weather being foggy, left the harbour without his having a chance to +encounter them. Two remained, however, and one of these, the +'Chesapeake,' commanded by Captain James Lawrence, was nearly ready for +sea. When her preparations were complete, Captain Broke addressed to her +commanding officer a letter of challenge, having previously sent a +verbal message, which had met with no reply. + +'As the "Chesapeake" appears now ready for sea,' began this letter, 'I +request you will do me the favour to meet the "Shannon" with her, ship +to ship, to try the fortune of our respective flags.' + +He then gave an account of the 'Shannon's' forces, which were somewhat +inferior to the 'Chesapeake's.' The 'Chesapeake' had 376 men, the +'Shannon' 306 men and 24 boys, and the American vessel also had the +advantage in guns. + +'I entreat you, sir,' Captain Broke concluded, 'not to imagine that I am +urged by mere personal vanity to the wish of meeting the "Chesapeake," +or that I depend only upon your personal ambition for your acceding to +this invitation. We have both nobler motives. . . . Favour me with a +speedy reply. We are short of provisions and water, and cannot stay long +here.' + +This letter he entrusted to Captain Plocum, a discharged prisoner; but +it so happened that before his boat reached the shore, the American +frigate left it--Captain Lawrence having received permission from +Commodore Bairbridge to sail and attack the 'Shannon' in response to +Captain Broke's verbal challenge. + +Some manoeuvring between the two ships took place; but at last, in the +evening of June 1, 1813, the 'Chesapeake,' with three ensigns flying, +steered straight for the 'Shannon's' starboard quarter. Besides the +ensigns, she had flying at the fore a large white flag, inscribed with +the words: 'Sailors' Rights and Free Trade,' with the idea, perhaps, +that this favourite American motto would damp the energy of the +'Shannon's' men. The 'Shannon' had a Union Jack at the fore, an old +rusty blue ensign at the mizzen peak, and two other flags rolled up, +ready to be spread if either of these should be shot away. She stood +much in need of paint, and her outward appearance hardly inspired much +belief in the order and discipline that reigned within. + +At twenty minutes to six Captain Lawrence came within fifty yards of the +'Shannon's' starboard quarter, and gave three cheers. Ten minutes after +the 'Shannon' fired her first gun, then a second. Then the 'Chesapeake' +returned fire, and the remaining guns on the broadside of each ship went +off as fast as they could be discharged. + +Four minutes before six the 'Chesapeake's' helm, probably from the death +of the men stationed at it, being for the moment unattended to, the ship +lay with her stem and quarter exposed to her opponent's broadside, which +did terrible execution. At six o'clock, the 'Chesapeake' and 'Shannon' +being in close contact, the 'Chesapeake,' endeavouring to make a little +ahead, was stopped by becoming entangled with the anchor of the +'Shannon.' Captain Broke now ran forward, and, seeing the 'Chesapeake's' +men deserting the quarter-deck guns, he ordered the two ships to be +lashed together, the great guns to cease firing, and Lieutenant Watt to +bring up the quarter-deck men, who were to act as boarders. This was +done instantly, and at two minutes past six Captain Broke leaped aboard +the 'Chesapeake,' followed by twenty men, and reached her quarter-deck. + +Here not an officer or man was to be seen. Upon the 'Chesapeake's' +gangways, twenty-five or thirty Americans made a slight resistance, but +were quickly driven towards the forecastle. Several fled over the bows, +some, it is believed, plunged into the sea, the rest laid down their +arms and submitted. + +Lieutenant Watt, with others, followed quickly. Hardly had he stepped +upon the taffrail of the 'Chesapeake' when he was shot through the foot +by a musket ball; but, rising in spite of it, he ordered one of the +'Shannon's' 9-pounders to be directed at the 'Chesapeake's' mizzen top, +whence the shot had come. The second division of the Marines now rushed +forward, and while one party kept down the Americans who were ascending +the main hatchway, another party answered a destructive fire which still +continued from the main and mizzen tops. The 'Chesapeake's' main top was +presently stormed by midshipman William Smith. This gallant young man +deliberately passed along the 'Shannon's' foreyard, which was braced up +to the 'Chesapeake's' mainyard, and thence into her top. All further +annoyance from the 'Chesapeake's' mizzen top was put a stop to by +another of the 'Shannon's' midshipmen, who fired at the Americans from +the yardarm as fast as his men could load the muskets and hand them to +him. + +After the Americans upon the forecastle had submitted, Captain Broke +ordered one of his men to stand sentry over them, and sent most of the +others aft, where the conflict was still going on. He was in the act of +giving them orders when the sentry called out lustily to him. On +turning, the captain found himself opposed by three of the Americans, +who, seeing they were superior to the British then near them, had armed +themselves afresh. Captain Broke parried the middle fellow's pike, and +wounded him in the face, but instantly received from the man on the +pikeman's right a blow with the butt-end of a musket, which bared his +skull and nearly stunned him. Determined to finish the British +commander, the third man cut him down with his broadsword, but at that +very instant was himself cut down by Mindham, one of the 'Shannon's' +seamen. Can it be wondered if all concerned in this breach of faith fell +victims to the indignation of the 'Shannon's' men? It was as much as +Captain Broke could do to save from their fury a young midshipman, who, +having slid down a rope from the 'Chesapeake's' foretop, begged his +protection. + +While in the act of tying a handkerchief round his commander's head, +Mindham, pointing aft, called out: + +'There, sir--there goes up the old ensign over the Yankee colours!' + +Captain Broke saw it hoisting (with what feelings may be imagined), and +was instantly led to the 'Chesapeake's' quarter-deck, where he sat down. + +That act of changing the 'Chesapeake's' colours proved fatal to a +gallant British officer and four or five fine fellows of the 'Shannon's' +crew. We left Lieutenant Watt just as, having raised himself on his feet +after his wound, he was hailing the 'Shannon' to fire at the +'Chesapeake's' mizzen top. He then called for an English ensign, and +hauling down the American flag, bent, owing to the ropes being tangled, +the English flag below instead of above it. Observing the American +stripes going up first, the 'Shannon's' people reopened their fire, and, +directing their guns with their accustomed precision at the lower part +of the 'Chesapeake's' mizzen mast, killed Lieutenant Watt and four or +five of their comrades. Before the flags had got halfway to the mizzen +peak, they were pulled down and hoisted properly, and the men of the +'Shannon' ceased their fire. + +An unexpected fire of musketry, opened by the Americans who had fled to +the hold, killed a fine young marine, William Young. On this, Lieutenant +Falkiner ordered three or four muskets that were ready to be fired down +the hold, and Captain Broke, from the quarter-deck, told the lieutenant +to summon. The Americans replied, 'We surrender'; and all hostilities +ceased. Almost immediately after Captain Broke's senses failed him from +loss of blood, and he was conveyed on board his own ship. + +Between the discharge of the first gun and the time of Captain Broke's +boarding only eleven minutes had passed, and in four minutes more the +'Chesapeake' was completely his. As a rule, however, this good fortune +did not attend our arms in the conflict with the American marine. + + + + +_CAPTAIN SNELGRAVE AND THE PIRATES_ + + +IN the year 1719, I, being appointed commander of the 'Bird' galley, +arrived at the River Sierra Leone, on the north coast of Guinea. There +were, at the time of our unfortunate arrival in that river, three pirate +ships, who had then taken ten English ships in that place. The first of +these was the 'Rising Sun,' one Cochlyn commander, who had not with him +above twenty-five men; the second was a brigantine commanded by one Le +Bouse, a Frenchman, whose crew had formerly served with Cochlyn's under +the pirate Moody; the third was a large ship commanded by Captain Davis, +with a crew of near one hundred and fifty men. This Davis was a generous +man, nor had he agreed to join with the others when I was taken by +Cochlyn; which proved a great misfortune to me, for I found Cochlyn and +his crew to be a set of the basest and most cruel villains that ever +were. + +I come now to give an account of how I was taken by them. It becoming +calm about seven o'clock, and growing dark, we anchored in the river's +mouth, soon after which I went to supper with the officers that usually +ate with me. About eight o'clock the officer of the watch upon deck sent +me word, 'He heard the rowing of a boat.' Whereupon we all immediately +went on deck, and the night being very dark, I ordered lanterns and +candles to be got ready, supposing the boat might come from the shore +with some white gentlemen that lived there as free merchants. I ordered +also, by way of precaution, the first mate, Mr. Jones, to go into the +steerage to put things in order, and to send me twenty men on the +quarter-deck with firearms and cutlasses, which I thought he went about, +for I did not in the least suspect Mr. Jones would have proved such a +villain as he did afterwards. + +As it was dark, I could not yet see the boat, but heard the noise of +the rowing very plain. Whereupon I ordered the second mate to hail the +boat, to which the people in it answered, 'They belonged to the "Two +Friends," Captain Elliot, of Barbadoes.' At this, one of the officers +who stood by me said he knew that captain very well. I replied, 'It +might be so, but I would not trust any boat in such a place,' and +ordered him to hasten the first mate, with the people and arms, on deck. +By this time our lanterns and candles were brought up, and I ordered the +boat to be hailed again; to which the people in it answered, 'They were +from America,' and at the same time fired a volley of small shot at us, +which showed the boldness of these villains. For there were in the boat +only twelve of them, as I understood afterwards, who knew nothing of the +strength of our ship, which was indeed considerable, we having sixteen +guns and forty-five men on board. But, as they told me after we were +taken, 'they depended on the same good-fortune as in the other ships +they had taken, having met with no resistance, for the people were +generally glad of an opportunity of entering with them.' + +Which last was but too true. + +When they first began to fire, I called aloud to the first mate to fire +at the boat out of the steerage portholes, which not being done, and the +people I had ordered upon deck with small arms not appearing, I was +extremely surprised, and the more when an officer came and told me 'The +people would not take arms.' + +I went down into the steerage, where I saw a great many of them looking +at one another, little thinking that my first mate had prevented them +from taking arms. I asked them with some roughness why they had not +obeyed my orders, saying it would be the greatest reproach in the world +to us all to be taken by a boat. + +Some of them answered that they would have taken arms, but the chest +they were kept in could not be found. + +By this time the boat was along the ship's side, and there being nobody +to oppose them, the pirates immediately boarded us, and coming on the +quarter-deck, fired their pieces several times down into the steerage, +giving one sailor a wound of which he died afterwards. + +At last some of our people bethought themselves to call out for quarter, +which the pirates granting, their quartermaster came down into the +steerage, asking where the captain was. I told him I had been so till +now. On that he asked me how I durst order my people to fire at their +boat out of the steerage. + +I answered, 'I thought it my duty to defend my ship if my people would +have fought.' + +On that he presented a pistol to my breast, which I had but just time to +parry before it went off, so that the bullet passed between my side and +arm. The rogue, finding he had not shot me, turned the butt-end of the +pistol, and gave me such a blow on the head as stunned me, so that I +fell on my knees, but immediately recovering myself, I jumped out of the +steerage upon the quarter-deck, where the pirate boatswain was. + +He was a bloodthirsty villain, having a few days before killed a poor +sailor because he did not do something as soon as he ordered him. This +cruel monster was asking some of my people where their captain was, so +at my coming upon deck one of them pointed me out. Though the night was +very dark, yet, there being four lanterns with candles, he had a full +sight of me; whereupon, lifting up his broadsword, he swore that no +quarter should be given to any captain that defended his ship, at the +same time aiming a full stroke at my head. To avoid it I stooped so low +that the quarter-deck rail received the blow, and was cut in at least an +inch deep, which happily saved my head from being cleft asunder, and the +sword breaking at the same time with the force of his blow on the rail, +it prevented his cutting me to pieces. + +By good fortune his pistols, that hung at his girdle, were all +discharged, otherwise he would doubtless have shot me. But he took one +of them and endeavoured to beat out my brains, which some of my people +observing, cried: + +'For God's sake don't kill our captain, for we never were with a better +man.' + +This turned the rage of him and two other pirates on my people, and +saved my life; but they cruelly used my poor men, cutting and beating +them unmercifully. One of them had his chin almost cut off, and another +received such a wound on the head that he fell on the deck as dead, but +afterwards, by the care of our surgeon, he recovered. + +Then the quartermaster, coming on deck, took me by the hand, and told me +my life was safe, provided none of my people complained of me. I +answered that I was sure none of them could. + +By this time the pirate ship had drawn near, for they had sent their +boat before to discover us; and on approaching, without asking any +questions, gave us a great broadside, believing, as it proved +afterwards, that we had taken their boat and people. So the +quartermaster told them, through the speaking-trumpet, that they had +taken a brave prize, with all manner of good victuals and fresh +provisions on board. + +Just after this, Cochlyn, the pirate captain, ordered them to dress a +quantity of these victuals; so they took many geese, turkeys, fowls, and +ducks, making our people cut their heads off and pull the great feathers +out of their wings, but they would not stay till the other feathers were +pulled off. All these they put into our great furnace, which would boil +victuals for five hundred negroes, together with several Westphalia hams +and a large pig. This strange medley filled the furnace, and the cook +was ordered to boil them out of hand. + +As soon as the pirate ship had done firing, I asked the quartermaster's +leave for our surgeon to dress my poor people that had been wounded, and +I likewise went to have my arm dressed, it being very much bruised by +the blow given me by the pirate boatswain. Just after that a person came +to me from the quartermaster, desiring to know what o'clock it was by my +watch; which, judging to be a civil way of demanding it, I sent it him +immediately, desiring the messenger to tell him it was a very good gold +watch. When it was delivered to the quartermaster he held it up by the +chain, and presently laid it down on the deck, giving it a kick with his +foot, saying it was a pretty football. On which one of the pirates +caught it up, saying he would put it in the common chest to be sold at +the mast. + +By this time I was loudly called upon to go on board the pirate ship, +and there was taken to the commander, who asked me several questions +about my ship, saying she would make a fine pirate man-of-war. + +As soon as I had done answering the captain's questions, a tall man, +with four pistols in his girdle and a broadsword in his hand, came to me +on the quarter-deck, telling me his name was James Griffin, and we had +been schoolfellows. Though I remembered him very well, yet having +formerly heard it had proved fatal to some who had been taken by pirates +to own any knowledge of them, I told him I could not remember any such +person by name. On that he mentioned some boyish pranks that had +formerly passed between us. But I, still denying any knowledge of him, +he told me that he supposed I took him to be one of the pirate's crew +because I saw him dressed in that manner, but that he was a forced man, +and since he had been taken, though they spared his life, they had +obliged him to act as master of the pirate ship. And the reason of his +being so armed was to prevent their ill-using him, for there were hardly +any among the crew but what were cruel villains. But he would himself +take care of me that night, when I should be in the greatest danger, +because many of their people would soon get drunk with the good liquors +found in my ship. + +I then readily owned my former acquaintance with him, and he turned to +Captain Cochlyn and desired that a bowl of punch might be made. So we +went into the cabin, where there was not chair, nor anything else to sit +upon, for they always kept a clear ship, ready for an engagement. So a +carpet was spread on the deck, on which we sat down cross-legged, and +Captain Cochlyn drank my health, desiring that I would not be cast down +at my misfortune, for my ship's company in general spoke well of me, and +they had goods enough left in the ships they had taken to make a man of +me. Then he drank several other healths, among which was that of the +Pretender, by the name of King James the Third. + +It being by this time midnight, my schoolfellow desired the captain to +have a hammock hung up for me to sleep in, for it seemed everyone lay +rough, as they call it, that is, on the deck, the captain himself not +being allowed a bed. This being granted, and soon after done, I took +leave of the captain, and got into my hammock, but I could not sleep in +my melancholy circumstances. Moreover, the execrable curses I heard +among the ship's company kept me awake, though Mr. Griffin, according to +his promise, walked by me with his broadsword in his hand, to protect me +from insults. + +Some time after, it being about two o'clock in the morning, the pirate +boatswain (that attempted to kill me when taken) came on board very +drunk, and being told I was in a hammock, he came near me with his +cutlass. My generous schoolfellow asked him what he wanted; he answered, +'To kill me, for I was a vile dog.' Then Griffin bade the boatswain keep +his distance, or he would cleave his head asunder with his broadsword. +Nevertheless, the bloodthirsty villain came on to kill me; but Mr. +Griffin struck at him with his sword, from which he had a narrow escape; +and then he ran away. So I lay unmolested till daylight. + +[Illustration] + +I come now to relate how Mr. Simon Jones, my first mate, and ten of my +men entered with the pirates. The morning after we were taken he came to +me and told me that his circumstances were bad at home; moreover, he had +a wife whom he could not love; and for these reasons he had entered +with the pirates and signed their articles. I was greatly surprised at +this declaration, and told him I believed he would repent when too late. +And, indeed, I saw the poor man afterwards despised by his brethren in +iniquity, and have been told he died a few months after they left Sierra +Leone. However, I must do him the justice to own he never showed any +disrespect to me, and the ten people he persuaded to enter with him +remained very civil to me. But I learned afterwards from one of them +that, before we came to Sierra Leone, Jones had said that he hoped we +should meet with pirates, and that it was by his contrivance that the +chest of arms was hid out of the way when we were taken. And when I +called on the people in the steerage to fire on the pirate boat, Jones +prevented them, declaring that this was an opportunity he had long +wished for, and that if they fired a musket they would all be cut to +pieces. Moreover, to induce them to enter with the pirates, he had +assured them that I had promised to enter myself. So it was a wonder I +escaped so well, having such a base wretch for my first officer. + +As soon as the fumes of the liquor were out of the pirates' heads they +went on board the prize, as they called my ship, and all hands went to +work to clear it, by throwing over bales of woollen goods, with many +other things of great value, so that before night they had destroyed +between three and four thousand pounds worth of the cargo--money and +necessaries being what they wanted. The sight of this much grieved me, +but I was obliged in prudence to be silent. + +That afternoon there came on board to see me Captain Henry Glynn, with +whom I was acquainted, who resided at Sierra Leone, but though an +honest, generous person, was on good terms with the pirates. He brought +with him the captains of the two other pirate ships, and Captain Davis +generously said he was ashamed to hear how I had been used, for their +reasons for going a-pirating were to revenge themselves on base +merchants and cruel commanders, but none of my people gave me the least +ill character; and, indeed, it was plain that they loved me. + +This was by no means relished by Cochlyn; however, he put a good face on +it. + +That night the boatswain came down into the steerage, where he had seen +me sitting with the ship's carpenter, but since we happened to have +changed places, and it had grown so dark he could not distinguish our +faces, he, thinking I sat where he had seen me before, presented a +pistol and drew the trigger, swearing he would blow my brains out. By +good fortune the pistol did not go off, but only flashed in the pan; by +the light of which the carpenter, observing that he should have been +shot instead of me, it so provoked him that he ran in the dark to the +boatswain, and having wrenched the pistol out of his hand, he beat him +to such a degree that he almost killed him. The noise of the fray being +heard on board the pirate ship that lay close to us, a boat was sent +from her, and they being told the truth of the matter, the officer in +her carried away this wicked villain, who had three times tried to +murder me. + +I had one bundle of my own things left to me, in which was a black suit +of clothes. But a pirate, who was tolerably sober, came in and said he +would see what was in it. He then took out my black suit, a good hat and +wig, and some other things. Whereon I told him I hoped he would not +deprive me of them, for they would be of no service to him in so hot a +country, but would be of great use to me, as I hoped soon to return to +England. + +I had hardly done speaking, when he lifted up his broadsword and gave me +a blow on the shoulder with the flat side of it, whispering in my ear at +the same time: + +'I give you this caution, never to dispute the will of a pirate; for, +supposing I had cleft your skull asunder for your impudence, what would +you have got by it but destruction?' + +I gave him thanks for his warning, and soon after he put on the clothes, +which in less than half an hour after I saw him take off and throw +overboard, for some of the pirates, seeing him dressed in that manner, +had thrown several buckets of claret upon him. This person's true name +was Francis Kennedy. + +The next day, understanding that the three pirate captains were on shore +at my friend Captain Glynn's, I asked leave to go to them, which was +granted, and next day I went on board in company with them. Captain +Davis desired Cochlyn to order all his people on the quarter-deck, and +made a speech to them on my behalf, which they falling in with, it was +resolved to give me the ship they designed to leave to go into mine, +with the remains of my cargo, and further, the goods remaining in the +other prizes, worth, with my own, several thousand pounds. Then one of +the leading pirates proposed that I should go along with them down the +coast of Guinea, where I might exchange the goods for gold, and that, no +doubt, as they went they should take some French and Portuguese vessels, +and then they might give me as many of their best slaves as would fill +the ship; that then he would advise me to go to the island of St. Thomas +and sell them there, and after rewarding my people in a handsome manner, +I might return with a large sum of money to London and bid the merchants +defiance. + +This proposal was approved of, but it struck me with a sudden damp. So I +began to say it would not be proper for me to accept of such a quantity +of other people's goods as they had so generously voted for me. On which +I was interrupted by several, who began to be very angry. + +[Illustration: 'SOME OF THE PIRATES . . . HAD THROWN SEVERAL BUCKETS OF +CLARET UPON HIM.'] + +On this Captain Davis said: 'I know this man, and can easily guess his +thoughts; for he thinks, if he should act in the manner you have +proposed, he will ever after lose his reputation. Now I am for allowing +everybody to go to the devil their own way, so desire you will give him +the remains of his own cargo and let him do with it what he thinks +fitting.' + +This was readily granted; and now, the tide being turned, they were as +kind to me as they had at first been severe, and we employed ourselves +in saving what goods we could. + +And through the influence of Captain Davis, one of the ships the pirates +had taken, called the 'Bristol Snow,' was spared from burning--for they +burned such prizes as they had no use for. And I was set entirely at +liberty, and went to the house of Captain Glynn, who, when the pirates +left the river of Sierra Leone, together with other English captains who +had been hiding from the pirates in the woods, their ships having been +taken, helped me to fit up the 'Bristol Snow' that we might return to +England in it. And we left the river Sierra Leone the 10th day of May, +and came safe to Bristol, where I found a letter from the owner of the +ship I had gone out with, who had heard of my misfortune, and most +generously comforted me, giving money for my poor sailors and promising +me command of another ship--a promise which he soon after performed. + +I shall now inform the reader what became of my kind schoolfellow, +Griffin, and my generous friend Davis. The first got out of the hands of +the pirates by taking away a boat from the stern of the ship he was in +when on the coast of Guinea, and was driven on shore there. But +afterwards he went passenger to Barbadoes in an English ship, where he +was taken with a violent fever, and so died. + +As for Davis, he sailed to the island Princess, belonging to the +Portuguese, which is in the Bay of Guinea. Here the people soon +discovered they were pirates by their lavishness; but the Governor +winked at it, because of the great gain he made by them. But afterwards, +someone putting it into his mind that if the King of Portugal heard of +this it would be his ruin, he plotted to destroy Davis. And when, before +sailing, Captain Davis came on shore with the surgeon and some others to +bid farewell to the Governor, they found no Governor, but many people +with weapons were gathered together in the street, who at a word from +the Governor's steward fired at Davis and his men. The surgeon and two +others were killed on the spot, but Davis, though struck by four shots, +went on running towards the boat. But being closely pursued, a fifth +shot made him fall; and the Portuguese, being amazed at his great +strength and courage, cut his throat that they might be sure of him. +Thus fell Captain Davis, who, allowing for the course of life he had +been unhappily engaged in, was a most generous, humane person. + +[Illustration] + + + + +_THE SPARTAN THREE HUNDRED_ + + +THIS is the story of the greatest deed of arms that was ever done. The +men who fought in it were not urged by ambition or greed, nor were they +soldiers who knew not why they went to battle. They warred for the +freedom of their country, they were few against many, they might have +retreated with honour, after inflicting great loss on the enemy, but +they preferred, with more honour, to die. + +It was four hundred and eighty years before the birth of Christ. The +Great King, as the Greeks called Xerxes, the Persian monarch, was +leading the innumerable armies of Asia against the small and divided +country of Greece. It was then split into a number of little States, not +on good terms with each other, and while some were for war, and freedom, +and ruin, if ruin must come, with honour, others were for peace and +slavery. The Greeks, who determined to resist Persia at any cost, met +together at the Isthmus of Corinth, and laid their plans of defence. The +Asiatic army, coming by land, would be obliged to march through a narrow +pass called Thermopylae, with the sea on one side of the road, and a +steep and inaccessible precipice on the other. Here, then, the Greeks +made up their minds to stand. They did not know, till they had marched +to Thermopylae, that behind the pass there was a mountain path, by which +soldiers might climb round and over the mountain, and fall upon their +rear. As the sea on the right hand of the Pass of Thermopylae lies in a +narrow strait, bounded by the island of Euboea, the Greeks thought +that their ships would guard their rear and prevent the Persians from +landing men to attack it. Their army encamped in the Pass, having wide +enough ground to manoeuvre in, between the narrow northern gateway, so +to speak, by which the invaders would try to enter, and a gateway to the +south. Their position was also protected by an old military wall, which +they repaired. + +The Greek general was Leonidas, the Spartan king. He chose three hundred +men, all of whom had sons at home to maintain their families and to +avenge them if they fell. Now the manner of the Spartans was this: to +die rather than yield. However sorely defeated, or overwhelmed by +numbers, they never left the ground alive and unvictorious, and as this +was well known, their enemies were seldom eager to attack such resolute +fighters. + +Besides the Spartans, Leonidas led some three or four thousand men from +other cities, and he was joined at Thermopylae by the Locrians and a +thousand Phocians. Perhaps he may have had six or eight thousand +soldiers under him, while the Persians may have outnumbered them by the +odds of a hundred to one. Why, you may ask, did the Greeks not send a +stronger force? The reason was very characteristic. They were holding +their sports at the time, racing, running, boxing, jumping, and they +were also about to be engaged in another festival. They would not omit +or put off their games however many thousand barbarians might be +knocking at their gates. There is something boyish, and something fine +in this conduct, but we must remember, too, that the games were a sacred +festival, and that the Gods might be displeased if they were omitted. + +Leonidas, then, thought that at least he could hold the Pass till the +games were over, and his countrymen could join him. But when he found, +on arriving at Thermopylae, that he would have to hold two positions, the +Pass itself, and the mountain path, of whose existence he had not been +aware, then some of his army wished to return home. But Leonidas refused +to let them retreat, and bade the Phocians guard the path across the +hills, while he sent home for reinforcements. He could not desert the +people whom he had come to protect. Meanwhile the Greek fleet was also +alarmed, but was rescued by a storm which wrecked many of the Persian +vessels. + +Xerxes was now within sight of Thermopylae. He sent a horseman forward to +spy out the Greek camp, and this man saw the Spartans amusing themselves +with running and wrestling, and combing their long hair, outside the +wall. They took no notice of him, and he returning, told Xerxes how few +they were, and how unconcerned. Xerxes then sent for Demaratus, an +exiled king of Sparta in his camp, and asked what these things meant. 'O +king!' said Demaratus, 'this is what I told you of yore, when you +laughed at my words. These men have come to fight you for the Pass, and +for that battle they are making ready, for it is our country fashion to +comb and tend our hair when we are about to put our heads in peril.' + +Xerxes would not believe Demaratus. He waited four days, and then, in a +rage, bade his best warriors, the Medes and Cissians, bring the Greeks +into his presence. The Medes, who were brave men, and had their defeat +at Marathon, ten years before, to avenge, fell on, but their spears were +short, their shields were thin, and they could not break a way into the +stubborn forest of bronze and steel. In wave upon wave, all day long, +they dashed against the Greeks, and left their best lying at the mouth +of the Pass. 'Thereby was it made clear to all men, and not least to the +king, that men are many, but heroes are few.' + +Next day Xerxes called on his bodyguard, the Ten Thousand Immortals, and +they came to close quarters, but got no more glory than the Medes. +Thrice the King leaped from his chair in dismay as thrice the Greeks +drove the barbarians in rout. And on the third day they had no better +fortune. + +But there was a man, a Malian, whose name is a scorn to this hour; he +was called Epialtes. He betrayed to Xerxes the secret of the mountain +path, probably for money. He later fled to Thessaly with a price on his +head, but returned to Anticyra, and there he was slain by Athenades. +Then Xerxes was glad beyond measure when he heard of the path, and sent +his men along the path by night. They found the Phocians guarding it, +but the Phocians disgracefully fled to the higher part of the mountain. +The Persians, disdaining to pursue them, marched to the pass behind the +Spartan camp, and the Greeks were now surrounded in van and rear. But +news of this had come to Leonidas, and his army was not of one mind as +to what they should do. Some were for retreating and abandoning a +position which it was now impossible to hold. Leonidas bade them depart; +but for him and his countrymen it was not honourable to turn their backs +on any foe. He sent away the soothsayer, or prophet, Megistias, but he +returned, and bade his son go home. The Thespians, to their immortal +honour, chose to bide the brunt with Leonidas. There thus remained what +was left of the Three Hundred, their personal attendants, seven hundred +Thespians, and some Thebans, about whose conduct it is difficult to +speak with certainty, as accounts differ. Leonidas, on this last day of +his life, did not wait to be attacked in front and rear, but, sallying +into the open, himself assailed the Persians. They drove the barbarians +like cattle with their spears; the captains of the barbarians drove them +back on the spears with whips. Many fell from the path into the sea, and +there perished, and many more were trodden down and died beneath the +feet of their own companions. But the spears of the Greeks broke at last +in their hands, so they drew their swords, and rushed to yet closer +quarters. In this charge fell Leonidas, 'the bravest man,' says the +Greek historian, 'of men whose names I know,' and he knew the names of +all the Three Hundred. Over the body of Leonidas fell the two brothers +of Xerxes, for they fought for the corpse, and four times the Greeks +drove back the Persians. Now came up the Persians with the traitor +Epialtes, attacking the Greeks in the rear. Now was their last hour +come, so they bore the body of the king within the wall. There they +occupied a little mound in a sea of enemies, and there each man fought +till he died, stabbing with his dagger when his sword was broken, and +biting, and striking with the fist, when the dagger-point was blunted. +Among them all, none made a better end than Eurytus. He was suffering +from a disease of the eyes, but he bade them arm him, and lead him into +the thick of the battle. Of another, Dieneces, it is told that hearing +the arrows of the Persians would darken the sun, he answered, 'Good +news! we shall fight in the shade.' One man only, Aristodemus, who also +was suffering from a disease of the eyes, did not join his countrymen, +but returned to Sparta. There he was scouted for a coward, but, in the +following year, he fell at Plataea, excelling all the Spartans in deeds +of valour. + +This is the story of the Three Hundred. The marble lion erected where +Leonidas fell has perished, and perished has the column engraved with +their names, but their glory is immortal.[4] + +FOOTNOTE: + +[4] Herodotus. + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + + +_PRINCE CHARLIE'S WANDERINGS_ + + +CHAPTER I + +THE FLIGHT + +APRIL 16, 1746. It was an April afternoon, grey and cold, with gleams of +watery sunshine, for in the wilds of Badenoch the spring comes but +slowly, and through April on to May the mountains are as black and the +moors as sombre and lifeless as in the dead of winter. In a remote +corner of this wild track stood, in 1746, a grey, stone house with +marsh-lands in front, severe and meagre as the houses were at that time +in the Highlands. Upstairs in a room by herself a little girl of ten was +looking out of the window. She had been sent up there to be out of the +way, for this was a very busy day in the household of Gortuleg. The +Master, Mr. Fraser, was entertaining the chief of his clan, old Lord +Lovat, who, in these anxious days, when the Prince was at Inverness and +the Duke of Cumberland at Aberdeen, had thought fit to retire into the +wilds of Badenoch, to the house of his faithful clansman. + +[Illustration] + +Downstairs, the astute old man of eighty was sitting in his armchair by +the fire, plotting how he could keep in with both parties and secure his +own advantage whichever side might win. By some strange infatuation the +household at Gortuleg were cheerful and elate. A battle was imminent, +nay, might have been fought even now, and they were counting securely on +another success to the Prince's army. So the ladies of the +family--staunch Jacobites every one of them (as, indeed, most ladies +were even in distinctly Whig households)--were busy preparing a feast +in honour of the expected victory. The little girl sat alone upstairs, +hearing the din and commotion and looking out on the vacant marsh-land +outside. Suddenly and completely the noise ceased below, and the child +seized her opportunity and crept downstairs. All was still in the big +living-room, only in the dim recess of the fireplace the old lord was +sitting, a silent, brooding figure, in his deep armchair. The rest of +the household, men and women, gentle and simple, were all crowded in the +doorway, breathlessly intent on something outside. Threading her way +through them the child crept outside the circle and looked eagerly to +see what this might be. Across the grey marshes horsemen were riding, +riding fast, though the horses strained and stumbled, and the riders had +a weary, dispirited air. 'It is the fairies' was the idea that flashed +through her brain, and in a moment she was holding her eyelids open with +her fingers, for she knew that the 'good people,' if they do show +themselves, are only visible between one winking of the eyes and +another. But this vision did not pass away, and surely never were fairy +knights in such a sorry plight as was this travel-stained, dishevelled +company that drew rein at the door of Gortuleg. + +The leader of the band was a young man in Highland dress, tall and fair, +and with that 'air' of which his followers fondly complained afterwards +that no disguise could conceal it. At the sight of him, arriving in this +plight at their doors, a great cry of consternation broke from the +assembled household. There was no need to tell the terrible news: the +Prince was a fugitive, a battle had been lost, and the good cause was +for ever undone! It was no time for idle grieving, immediate relief and +refreshment must be provided, and the Prince sent forward without delay +on his perilous flight. The ladies tore off their laces and +handkerchiefs to bind up wounds, and wine was brought out for the +fugitives. There is no certain account of Charles's interview with Lord +Lovat; we do not know whether the cunning old man turned and upbraided +the Prince in his misfortune, or whether the instincts of a Highland +gentleman overcame for a moment the selfishness of the old chief. +Anyway, this was no time to bandy either upbraidings or compliments. +Forty minutes of desperate fighting on the field of Culloden that +morning had broken for ever the strength of the Jacobite cause. Hundreds +lay dead where they fell, hundreds were prisoners in the hands of the +most relentless of enemies, hundreds were fleeing in disarray to their +homes among the mountain fastnesses. For the Prince the only course +seemed to be flight to the West coast. There, surely, some vessel might +be found to convey him to France, there to await better times and to +secure foreign allies. A price was on his head, his enemies would +certainly be soon on his traces, he dared not delay longer than to +snatch a hasty meal and drink some cups of wine. + +At Gortuleg the party broke up and went their several ways. The Prince +was accompanied by the Irish officers of his household, Sir Thomas +Sheridan, O'Neal, and O'Sullivan, gentlemen-adventurers who had +accompanied him from France and whose advice in his day of triumph had +often been injudicious. Let it be said for them that they were at least +faithful and devoted when his fortunes were desperate. As guide went a +certain Edward Burke, who, fortunately for the party, knew every yard of +rugged ground between Inverness and the Western sea. During all the time +that he shared the Prince's wanderings this Edward Burke acted as his +valet, giving him that passionate devotion which Charles seems to have +inspired in all who knew him personally at this time. Reduced now to a +handful of weary, wounded men, the Prince's party continued their flight +through the chilly April night. At two o'clock next morning they had +passed the blackened ruins of Fort George. As dawn broke they drew rein +at the house of Invergarry. But the gallant chief of the Macdonells was +away, and the hospitable house was deserted and silent; the very rooms +were without furniture or any accommodation, and the larder was bare of +provisions. But wearied men are not fastidious, and without waiting to +change their clothes, they rolled themselves up in their plaids on the +bare boards, and slept the sleep of utter weariness. It was high noon +before they woke up again--woke up to find breakfast unexpectedly +provided, for the faithful Burke had risen betimes and drawn two fine +salmon from the nets set in the river. Here for greater security the +Prince and his valet changed clothes, and the journey was continued +through Lochiel's country. The next stage was at the head of Loch +Arkaig, where they were the guests of a certain Cameron of Glenpean, a +stalwart, courageous farmer, whom the Prince was destined to see more of +in his wanderings. Here the country became so wild and rugged that they +had to abandon their horses and clamber over the high and rocky +mountains on foot. In his boyhood in Italy the Prince had been a keen +sportsman, and had purposely inured himself to fatigue and privations. +These habits stood him now in good stead; he could rival even the +light-footed Highlanders on long marches over rough ground; the +coarsest and scantiest meals never came amiss to him; he could sleep on +the hard ground or lie hid in bogs for hours with a stout heart and a +cheerful spirit. + +Here on the night of Saturday, the 19th, among the mountains that +surround Loch Morar, no better shelter could be found than a shieling +used for shearing sheep. + +The next day, Sunday, the 20th, they came down to the coast and found +refuge in the hospitable house of Borodale, belonging to Mr. Angus +Macdonald, a clansman of Clanranald's. Nine months before, when the +Prince had landed from France and had thrown himself without arms or +following on the loyalty of his Highland friends, this Angus Macdonald +had been proud to have him as his guest. One of his sons, John, had +joined the Prince's army and had fought under his own chief, young +Clanranald. This young man was at this time supposed to have been killed +at Culloden, though in fact he had escaped unhurt. When the Prince, +therefore, entered this house of mourning he went up to Mrs. Macdonald +and asked her with tears in his eyes if she could endure the sight of +one who had caused her such distress. 'Yes,' said the high-hearted old +Highland-woman, 'I would be glad to have served my Prince though all my +sons had perished in his service, for in so doing they would only have +done their duty.'[5] + +While resting here at Borodale, Charles sent his final orders to the +remnant of his gallant army, which under their chiefs had drawn to a +head at Ruthven. They were to disperse, he wrote, and secure their own +safety as best they could; they must wait for better times, when he +hoped to return bringing foreign succours. Heartbreaking orders these +were for the brave men who had lost all in the Prince's cause, and who +were now proscribed and homeless fugitives. + +Charles and the handful of men who accompanied him had expected that, +once safely arrived at the coast, their troubles would be over and the +way to France clear. But at Borodale they learned that the Western seas +swarmed with English ships of war and with sloops manned by the local +militia. A thorough search was being made of every bay and inlet of the +mainland, and of every island, even to the Outer Hebrides, and further, +to remote St. Kilda! This disconcerting news was brought by young +Clanranald and Mr. Aeneas Macdonald of Kinloch Moidart, the Parisian +banker who had accompanied Charles from France. The latter had just +returned from an expedition to South Uist, where he had more than once +narrowly escaped being taken by some vigilant English cruiser. It was +impossible, he urged, for a ship of any size to escape through such a +closely-drawn net; the idea of starting directly for France must be +abandoned, but could the Prince escape to the outer islands and there +secure a suitable vessel, he _might_ be out upon the wide seas before +his departure was discovered. It was therefore decided that the little +party should cross the Minch in an open boat and make for the Long +Island. For this expedition the very man was forthcoming in the person +of the Highland pilot who had accompanied Mr. Macdonald to South Uist. +This was old Donald MacLeod of Guatergill, in Skye, a trader of +substance and a man of shrewdness and experience. In spite of being a +MacLeod he was a staunch Jacobite, and had joined the Prince's army at +Inverness. He had a son, a mere lad, at school in that place; this boy, +hearing that a battle was likely to take place, flung aside his book, +borrowed a dirk and a pistol, and actually fought in the battle of +Culloden. More lucky than most, he escaped from the fight, tracked the +Prince to Borodale, and arrived in time to take his place as one of the +eight rowers whom his father had collected for the expedition. The boat +belonged to the missing John Macdonald, for the Borodale family gave +life and property equally unhesitatingly in the Prince's service. + +On April 26, in the deepening twilight, the party started from +Lochnanuagh. Hardly had they set out when they were overtaken by a +terrible storm, the worst storm, Donald declared, that he had ever been +out in, and he was an experienced sailor. The Prince demanded vehemently +that the boat should be run on shore, but Donald, knowing the rock-bound +coast, answered that to do so would be to run on certain death. Their +one chance was to hold out straight to sea. It was pitch dark, the rain +fell in torrents; they had neither lantern, compass, nor pump on board. +Charles lay at the bottom of the boat, with his head between Donald's +knees. No one spoke a word; every moment they expected to be overwhelmed +in the waves or dashed against a rock, and for several hours the vessel +rushed on in the darkness. 'But as God would have it,' to use Donald's +words, 'by peep of day we discovered ourselves to be on the coast of the +Long Isle. We made directly for the nearest land, which was Rossinish in +Benbecula.' + +Here they found only a deserted hut, low, dark, and destitute of window +or chimney; the floor was clay, and when they had lit a fire, the peat +smoke was blinding and stifling. Still, they could dry their clothes and +sleep, even though it were on a bed no better than a sail spread on the +hard ground. Here they rested two days, and then found a more +comfortable refuge in the Island of Scalpa, where the tacksman--although +a Campbell--was a friend of Donald MacLeod's and received them +hospitably. + + +CHAPTER II + +ON THE LONG ISLAND + +THE object of the expedition was, of course, to find some vessel big +enough to carry the Prince and his friends over to France. Such ships +were to be had in Stornoway, and Donald MacLeod, being a man well known +in these parts, undertook to secure a vessel and pilot, under the +pretence of going on a trading expedition to the Orkneys. The Prince and +his party were to remain at Scalpa till Donald should send for them. On +May 3 came the message that vessel and pilot were in readiness, and that +they should come to Stornoway without a moment's delay. + +Owing to the wind being ahead it was impossible to go by sea, and the +Prince and his two Irish followers were forced to go the thirty miles to +Stornoway on foot. No footpath led through the wastes of heavy, boggy +moorlands, the rain fell with an even downpour, and the guide stupidly +mistook the way and added eight long Highland miles to the distance. +They were thoroughly drenched, exhausted, and famished when Donald met +them at a place a mile or two out of Stornoway. Having cheered their +bodies with bread and cheese and brandy, and their souls with the +hopeful prospect of starting the next day for France, he took them to a +house in the neighbourhood, Kildun, where the mistress, though a +MacLeod, was, like most of her sex, an ardent Jacobite. Leaving the +Prince and his friends to the enjoyment of food, dry clothes, a good +fire, and the prospect of comfortable beds for tired limbs, Donald went +back to Stornoway in hopeful spirits to complete his arrangements for +taking the Prince on board. Another twenty-four hours and the ship would +have weighed anchor, and the worst difficulties would be left behind. +But as soon as he entered Stornoway he saw that something was wrong. +Three hundred men of the militia were in arms, and the whole place was +in an uproar. The secret had leaked out; one of the boat's crew, getting +tipsy, had boasted that the Prince was at hand with five hundred men, +ready to take by force what he could not obtain by good-will. + +The inhabitants of Stornoway were all Mackenzies, pledged by their +chief, Seaforth, to loyal support of the Government. It is eternally to +their honour that all that they demanded was that the Prince should +instantly remove himself from their neighbourhood. Not one amongst them +seems to have suggested that a sum of 30,000_l._ was to be gained by +taking the Prince prisoner. So complete was Donald's confidence in their +honesty that he did not hesitate to say to a roomful of armed +militiamen, 'He has only two companions with him, _and when I am there I +make a third_, and yet let me tell you, gentlemen, that if Seaforth +himself were here he durst not put a hand to the Prince's breast.' +Donald doubtless looked pretty formidable as he said these words; at any +rate, the 'honest Mackenzies' had no sinister intentions, only they +vehemently insisted that the party should depart at once, and, what was +worse, absolutely refused to give them a pilot. In vain Donald offered +500_l._; fear made them obdurate; and so, depressed and crestfallen, +Donald returned to Kildun and urged the Prince to instant flight. But +not even the fear of immediate capture could induce the three wearied +men to set out again in the wet and darkness to plod over rocks and +morasses with no certain goal. So Donald had to control his fears and +impatience till next day. + +At eight next morning they started in the boat, hospitable Mrs. MacLeod +insisting on their taking with them beef, meal, and even the luxuries of +brandy, butter, and sugar. The weather being stormy they landed on a +little desert island called Eiurn, which the Stornoway fishermen used as +a place for drying fish. Between some fish which they found drying on +the rocks and Mrs. MacLeod's stores they lived in comparative luxury for +the next few days. Ned Burke, the valet, was told off as cook; but he +soon found that the Prince was far more skilful in the art of cookery +than himself. It was his Royal Highness who suggested the luxury of +butter with the fish, and who made a quite original cake by mixing the +brains of a cow with some meal, giving orders to 'birsle the bannock +weel, or it would not do at all.' Donald used to declare that in all his +life 'he never knew anyone better at a shift than the Prince when he +happened to be at a pinch.' Like many another unfortunate man, whether +prince or peasant, Charles found unfailing comfort in tobacco. He seems +to have smoked nothing more splendid than clay pipes, and 'as in his +wanderings these behoved to break, he used to take quills, and putting +one into the other and all into the end of the "cutty," this served to +make it long enough, and the tobacco to smoke cool.' + +Donald records another characteristic little trait of the Prince at this +time. On quitting the island he insisted on leaving money on the rocks +to pay for the fish they had consumed.[6] + +In the meantime the situation was growing more and more dangerous. +Rumours had got abroad that the Prince was in the Long Island, and the +search was being actively pursued. Two English men-of-war were stationed +near the island, and sloops and gunboats ran up every bay and sound, +while bodies of militia carried on the search by land. These, from their +intimate knowledge of the country, would have been the more formidable +enemy of the two if many of their officers had not had a secret sympathy +with the Jacobite cause and very lukewarm loyalty to the Government. + +For several days the Prince's boat had been so constantly pursued that +it was impossible for the crew to land. They ran short of food, and were +reduced to eating oatmeal mixed with salt water, a nauseous mixture +called in Gaelic, Drammach. At last they ran into a lonely bay in +Benbecula, where they were free from pursuit. It is characteristic of +the Prince's irrepressible boyishness that he and the boatmen here went +lobster-hunting with great enjoyment and success. + +Without help at this juncture the little party must either have starved +or fallen into the hands of their enemies. Charles therefore sent a +message to the old chief of Clanranald--the largest proprietor in South +Uist--begging him to come and see him. + +Nine months before, when the Prince had landed on that island on his way +from France, the old gentleman had refused to see him, pleading old age +and infirmity. His brother, Macdonald of Boisdale, had seen the Prince +and had vehemently urged him to give up so hopeless a design and to +return to France; and, when he found that all persuasion was in vain, +had roundly refused to promise him any assistance from his brother's +clan. And though young Clanranald had, indeed, joined the Prince's +standard, it was with many misgivings and against his better judgment. + +But now, in the hour of Charles's total abandonment and distress, this +gallant family laid aside all selfish prudence. The old chief, in spite +of age and ill-health, came immediately to the wretched hut where +Charles had taken refuge, bringing with him Spanish wines, provisions, +shoes, and stockings. He found the young man, whom he reverenced as his +rightful king, in a hut as big as, and no cleaner than, a pig-stye, +haggard and worn with hardship and hunger. 'His shirt,' as Dougal +Graham, the servant, was quick to observe, 'was as dingy as a +dish-clout.' That last little detail of misery appealed strongly to the +womanly heart of Lady Clanranald, who immediately sent six good shirts +to the Prince. + +For the next three weeks Charles enjoyed a respite under the vigilant +protection of Clanranald and his brother Boisdale. They found a +hiding-place for him in the Forest-house of Glencoridale, a hut rather +bigger and better than most. By a system of careful spies and watchers +they kept the Prince informed of every movement of the enemy. It was the +month of June--June as it is in the North, when days are warm and sunny +and the evening twilight is prolonged till the early dawn, and there is +no night at all. South Uist, beyond all other islands of the Hebrides, +abounds in game of all kinds, and the Prince was always a keen +sportsman. He delighted his followers by shooting birds on the wing, he +fished (though it was only sea-fishing from a boat), and he shot +red-deer on the mountains. + +Once, when Ned Burke was preparing some collops from a deer the Prince +had shot, a wild, starved-looking lad approached, and seeing the food, +thrust his hand into the dish without either 'with your leave or by your +leave,' and began devouring it like a savage. Ned in a rage very +naturally began to beat the boy, but the gentle Prince interfered, and +reminded his servant of the Christian duty of feeding the hungry, +adding, 'I cannot see anyone perish for lack of food or raiment if I +have it in my power to help them.' Having been fed and clothed the +wretched boy went off straight to a body of militia in the neighbourhood +and tried to betray the Prince to them. Fortunately, his appearance and +manners were such that no one believed him, and he was laughed at for +his pains. Out of at least a hundred souls, gentle and simple, who knew +of the Prince's hiding-place, this 'young Judas' was the only one who +dropped the slightest hint of his whereabouts. + +Nor was it only among the Jacobite clans that Charles found devoted and +vigilant friends. + +The two most powerful chiefs in the North-west of Scotland were at this +time MacLeod of MacLeod and Sir Alexander Macdonald of Mugstatt, or +Mouggestot, in Skye. These two had, to the great disappointment of the +Jacobites, declared for the Government, and had shown considerable zeal +in trying to suppress the rising; but in the very household of Mugstatt +Charles had a romantic and zealous adherent in the person of Lady +Margaret, Sir Alexander Macdonald's wife. A daughter of the house of +Eglintoun, she had been brought up in Jacobite principles, and now, in +the absence of her husband, did all she could to help the Prince in his +distress. Through the help of a certain Mr. Hugh Macdonald of Belshair +she kept Charles informed of the enemy's movements and sent him +newspapers. Towards the end of June the Government authorities were +pretty certain that the Prince was hiding somewhere in the Long Island, +and attention began to be concentrated on that spot. Two more English +cruisers were sent there, under Captains Scott and Fergusson--men who +had learnt lessons of cruelty from the greatest master of that art, the +Duke of Cumberland--and militia bands patrolled the whole island. It was +quite necessary to remove the Prince from Glencoridale, and the faithful +Belshair was at once despatched by Lady Margaret to consult with Charles +about his further movements. This Mr. Macdonald of Belshair arranged +with Macdonald of Boisdale--one of the shrewdest as well as kindest of +the Prince's friends--that they should meet at the Forest-house of +Glencoridale. The meeting, in spite of hardships and danger and a worse +than uncertain future, was a merry one. The two Highland gentlemen dined +with the Prince (on 'sooty beef' and apparently a plate of butter!), and +the talk was cheerful and free. Forgetful of the gloomy prospects of the +Jacobite cause, and ignoring the victorious enemies encamped within a +few miles of them, they talked hopefully of future meetings at St. +James's, the Prince declaring that 'if he had never so much ado he would +be at least one night merry with his Highland friends.' But St. James's +was far enough off from Coridale, and in the meantime it became daily +more certain that there was no longer safety for the Prince in Uist. + +The pleasant life in the Forest-house had to be broken up, and for the +next ten weary days the little party lived in their boat, eluding as +well as they could their enemies by sea and by land. + +Their difficulties were much increased and their spirits sadly disturbed +by the fact that their generous friend Boisdale had been taken prisoner. + +It is one of the most singular facts of the Prince's wanderings that as +soon as he lost one helpful friend another immediately rose up to take +his place. This time an ally was found literally in the enemy's camp. +One of the officers in command of the militia in Benbecula was a certain +Hugh Macdonald of Armadale, in Skye, a clansman of Sir Alexander's, but, +like many another Macdonald, a Jacobite at heart. It is very uncertain +how far he was personally responsible for the plan that was at this time +being formed for the Prince's escape. Donald MacLeod and others of the +Prince's party were certain that Charles had met and talked with him at +Rossinish and had presented him with his pistols. This gentleman had a +step-daughter, a certain Flora Macdonald, a girl of remarkable +character, courage, and discretion. She generally lived with her mother +at Armadale, in Skye, but just now she was paying a visit to her brother +in South Uist. It is difficult to make out how or when or by whom the +idea was first started that this lady should convey the Prince to Skye +disguised as her servant, but it appears that she had had more than one +interview with O'Neal on the subject. On Saturday, June 21, being +closely pursued by the implacable Captain Scott, Charles parted with his +faithful little band of followers in Uist, paying the boatmen as +generously as his slender purse would allow. With two clean shirts under +his arm and with only O'Neal as his companion he started for Benbecula. +Arriving at midnight in a small shieling belonging to Macdonald of +Milton, 'by good fortune,' as O'Neal puts it, 'we met with Miss Flora +Macdonald, whom I formerly knew.' It is a little difficult to believe +that young ladies of Miss Flora's discretion were in the habit of +frequenting lonely shielings far from their homes at midnight, at a time +when the whole country was infested with soldiers. Nor does the +beginning of her interview with O'Neal sound like the language of +surprise. 'Then I told her I brought a friend to see her; and she, with +some emotion, asked me if it was the Prince. I answered that it was, and +instantly brought him in.' Among all the stout Highland hearts which +were ready to risk everything for him, Charles never found one more +brave and pitiful than that of the girl who was introduced to him in +this strange and perilous situation. + +The plan was at once proposed to her that she should convey the Prince +with her to Skye disguised in female attire as her maid. Flora was no +mere romantic miss, eager for adventure and carried away by her +feelings. She was quite aware of the danger she would bring on herself, +and more especially on her friends, by this course. It was with some +reluctance that she at last gave her consent, but once her word was +pledged she was ready to go to the death if need were, and threw all her +feminine ingenuity into carrying out the scheme. They arranged that she +was to go next day to consult with Lady Clanranald and to procure +feminine attire as a disguise for the Prince. As soon as all was +prepared they were to meet at Rossinish in Benbecula; in the meantime +O'Neal undertook to come and go between the Prince and Miss Macdonald to +report progress and convey messages. + +The two men seem to have returned to a hiding-place in the neighbourhood +of Glencoridale, and Miss Flora returned to Milton. She had to pass one +of the narrow sea fords next day on her way to Ormaclade, the +Clanranalds' house; this ford was guarded by a body of militia, and +having no passport, she and her servant, Neil MacKechan, were taken +prisoners. The situation was awkward in the extreme, and every hour's +delay was an added danger. To her great relief she learned that the +officer in command, who was expected that morning, was her stepfather, +Mr. Hugh Macdonald. On his arrival he was (or affected to be) extremely +surprised to find his stepdaughter a prisoner in the guard-room; but +with a complaisance very remarkable in an officer of the Government, he +drew her out passports for herself, for her servant Neil, and for a new +Irish servant, Betty Burke, whom she desired to take with her to Skye. +So great was Macdonald's interest in this unknown Betty that he actually +wrote a letter to his wife in Skye recommending the girl. + +'I have sent your daughter from this country,' he wrote, 'lest she +should be frightened by the troops lying here. She has got one Betty +Burke, an Irish girl, who, she tells me, is a good spinster. If her +spinning pleases you, you may keep her till she spins all your lint.' In +spite of the gravity of the situation, one cannot help thinking that +Flora and her stepfather must have had a good deal of amusement +concocting this circumstantial and picturesque falsehood. + +As soon as she was set at liberty Flora went to Ormaclade, where Lady +Clanranald entered heartily into the plan. Among her stores they chose a +light coloured quilted petticoat, a flowered gown--lilac flowers on a +white ground, to be particular--an apron and a long duffle cloak. +Fortunately Highland women are tall and large, for the Prince's height, +5 feet 10 inches, though moderate for a man, looked ungainly enough in +petticoats. + +[Illustration] + +It was Friday the 25th before the way was clear for Flora and Lady +Clanranald to meet the Prince at the rendezvous at Rossinish in +Benbecula. The four intervening days had been full of difficulties for +Charles and O'Neal. The fords between the two islands were so well +guarded that there was no chance of their being able to cross them on +foot; they had no boat, and the hours were passing for them in an agony +of suspense. At last they risked asking a chance boat which was passing +to set them across, and accomplished the passage in safety. But when +they did arrive at the hut at Rossinish, cold, wet, and wearied, they +found that a party of militia were encamped within half a mile, and that +the soldiers came every morning to that very hut for milk. Charles was +by this time accustomed to the feeling that he was carrying his life in +his hands. At daybreak he had to leave the hut to make room for his +pursuers, all day he had to lie in an unsheltered fissure of a rock, +where the rain--the heavy, relentless rain of the West Highlands--poured +down on him; if it did clear at all, then that other plague of the +Highlands, swarms of midges, nearly drove him distracted. On Friday the +militiamen moved off, and the way being clear, Lady Clanranald, Miss +Flora Macdonald, and a certain Mrs. Macdonald of Kirkibost came to visit +him and O'Neal in their hut, bringing the female attire with them. +These loyal ladies found their lawful sovereign roasting a sheep's liver +on a spit; but neither discomfort, danger, nor dirt could do away with +the courtly charm of his manner or the fine gaiety of his address. He +placed Miss Macdonald on his right hand--he always gave his preserver +the seat of honour--and Lady Clanranald at his left, and the strange +little dinner-party proceeded merrily. But before it was finished a +messenger broke in to tell Lady Clanranald that the infamous Captain +Fergusson had arrived at Ormaclade, and was demanding the mistress of +the house with angry suspicion. + +The Prince had now to part with O'Neal, in spite of the poor fellow's +entreaties to be allowed to remain with him. Miss Macdonald had only +passports for three and the danger was urgent. He was a faithful and +affectionate friend, this O'Neal, if a little boastful and +muddle-headed. He could shortly afterwards have escaped to France--as +O'Sullivan did--in a French ship, if he had not insisted on going to +Skye to try to fetch off the Prince. He missed the Prince, and fell into +the hands of Captain Fergusson. + + +CHAPTER III + +IN SKYE + +ON Saturday (June 26) the Prince put on his female attire for the first +time, and very strange he must have felt as he sat in flowered calico on +wet, slippery rocks, trying to keep himself warm beside a fire kindled +on the beach. It was eight in the evening when they started, and the +storm broke on them as soon as they were out at sea. The whole party was +distressed and anxious, apparently, except Charles himself, who sang +songs and told stories to keep up the spirits of his companions. Long +afterwards Flora Macdonald loved to tell how chivalrously and +considerately he looked after her comfort on that dangerous journey. + +Going round the north end of the Isle of Skye, they came ashore close to +Mugstatt, Sir Alexander Macdonald's place. That chief was himself away +at Fort Augustus with the Duke of Cumberland, but his wife, Lady +Margaret, who, as we have seen, was a staunch friend to the Prince, was +at home. Still, in her position it was most undesirable that Charles +should present himself at her house. Miss Macdonald and her servant Neil +went up to the house--the garden sloped down to the part of the shore +where they had landed--leaving Betty Burke sitting on the boxes in her +flowered gown and duffle cloak. + +Miss Macdonald had good reason to congratulate herself on her prudence +when she found Lady Margaret's drawing-room full of guests. Among these +was Mrs. Macdonald of Kirkibost, but she was already in the secret; Mr. +Macdonald of Kingsburgh was also there, but he was a man of such a +chivalrous spirit and so kindly in his disposition, that the secret +would have been safe with him even if he had not been--as he was--a +staunch Jacobite at heart. Far more formidable was a third guest, young +Lieutenant MacLeod, a militia officer who, with a small body of men, was +stationed at Mugstatt for the express purpose of examining every boat +that might arrive from the Long Island. He certainly neglected this duty +as far as Miss Macdonald's boat was concerned, possibly out of +complaisance to her hostess, Lady Margaret, possibly because the young +lady's careless demeanour disarmed all suspicion. + +The situation was a most anxious one for Miss Macdonald; she had to +carry on an easy flow of chat with a young officer while all the time +she could think of nothing but Betty Burke sitting on her box on the +shore. Every moment was precious and nothing was being done. + +At last, during dinner, she managed to confide the whole situation to +Kingsburgh, and while she kept the lieutenant engaged, the latter left +the room and sent for Lady Margaret to speak to him on business. (He was +her husband's factor, and there was nothing to excite remark in his +wanting a private talk with her.) On learning the news she for a moment +lost her head, and screamed out that they were undone. But with much +sense and kindness Kingsburgh reassured her, saying that if necessary he +would take the Prince to his own house, adding, with a touch of his +characteristic chivalry, that he was now an old man, and it made very +little difference to him whether he should die with a halter round his +neck or await a death which could not be far distant. + +As for the immediate future, the first idea that occurred both to Lady +Margaret and Kingsburgh was, 'Let us send for Donald Roy.' This Donald +was a brother of the Macdonald of Belshair who had visited the Prince at +Coridale. He had been 'out' with the Prince's army, and was now living +with a surgeon near Mugstatt, trying to recover from a serious wound in +his foot received at Culloden. This Donald must have been a good fellow, +popular, and liked by all; for even in those dangerous times he seems +to have lived on an intimate footing with the very militia officers who +were sent to search for hidden Jacobites. + +No man could have been more suited for Kingsburgh's purpose than Donald. +Not only was he sensible, honourable, and brave, but as an acknowledged +Jacobite he had less to lose if discovered, and as a young and amiable +man his person could not fail to be acceptable to the Prince. + +On his arrival he found Kingsburgh and Lady Margaret walking up and down +the garden. 'O Donald!' cried the lady, 'we are undone for ever!' After +much rapid, anxious talk, the three agreed that the safest place for the +Prince would be the Island of Rasay. Old Rasay had been 'out' and was in +hiding, his second son was recovering from a wound received at Culloden, +and the eldest, though he had kept quiet from motives of prudence, was +quite as keen a Jacobite as the other two. Their eagerness to serve the +Prince could be relied on, and as the island had been recently +devastated by the Government soldiers, it was not likely to be visited +again. + +Donald Roy undertook to see young MacLeod of Rasay and to make +arrangements for meeting the Prince at Portree next day, while +Kingsburgh promised to carry the Prince off with him to his own house +and to send him next day under safe guidance to Portree. In this way, +whatever happened, Lady Margaret would not be compromised. + +So the garden conclave broke up, and the three separated. Lady Margaret +returned to her drawing-room, where, poor woman, she sadly disconcerted +Miss Macdonald by nervously going in and out of the room. However, the +lieutenant seems to have been too much taken up with his companion to +notice his hostess's demeanour. Donald Roy, in spite of his lame foot, +set off for Portree in search of young Rasay, and old Kingsburgh hurried +off to look for Charles, carrying refreshments with him. Not finding him +on the shore below the garden, the old man walked on rather anxiously +till, seeing some sheep running, he concluded that someone must have +disturbed them, and went to the spot. A tall, ungainly woman in a long +cloak started forward to meet him brandishing a big knotted stick. As +soon as Kingsburgh named himself the Prince knew that he had found a +friend, and placed himself in his hands with the frank confidence he +always showed in dealing with his Highland followers, a confidence which +they so nobly justified. + +After the Prince had had something to eat and drink, the pair set out to +walk to Kingsburgh, a considerable distance off. Unfortunately it was +Sunday, and they met many country people returning from church, who were +all eager to have a little business chat with Sir Alexander's factor. He +got rid of most of them by slyly reminding them of the sacredness of the +day, for the Prince's awkward movements and masculine stride made his +disguise very apparent. 'They may call you the Pretender,' cried +Kingsburgh, between annoyance and amusement, 'but I never knew anyone so +bad at your trade.' + +At the first stream they had to cross the Prince lifted his skirts with +a most masculine disregard of appearances, and to mend matters, when he +came to the next, let his petticoats float in the water with a most +unfeminine disregard of his clothes. + +Halfway on their road Miss Macdonald rode past them on horseback, +accompanied by Mrs. Macdonald of Kirkibost and the latter's maid. 'Look, +look,' cried that damsel, 'what strides the jade takes! I dare say she's +an Irishwoman or else a man in woman's clothes.' Miss Macdonald thought +it best to quicken her pace and make no reply. + +She was already at Kingsburgh when the Prince and his host arrived there +at about eleven o'clock. All the household were in bed. A message was +sent up to Mrs. Macdonald to tell her of the arrival of guests, but she +very naturally refused to get up, and merely sent her compliments to +Miss Macdonald and begged she would help herself to everything she +wanted. When, however, her husband came up to her room and gravely +requested her to come down and attend to his guest, she felt that +something was wrong. Nor did it allay her fears when her little daughter +ran up crying that 'the most odd, muckle, ill-shaken-up wife' she had +seen in all her life was walking up and down in the hall. Mrs. Macdonald +entered the main room with some misgiving, and in the uncertain +firelight saw a tall, ungainly woman striding up and down. The figure +approached her and, according to the manners of the time, saluted her. +The rough touch of the unshaven lip left no doubt on the lady's mind; +her husband's guest was certainly a man in disguise, probably a +proscribed Jacobite. She hurried out of the room and met Kingsburgh in +the hall. It did not occur to this good woman to upbraid her husband for +bringing danger on his family; her first question was, 'Do you think the +stranger will know anything about the Prince?' + +'My dear,' said Kingsburgh very gravely, taking her hands in his, '_this +is the Prince himself_!' + +'The Prince!' cried Mrs. Macdonald, rather overwhelmed, 'then we shall +all be hanged!' + +'We can die but once,' said her husband, 'could we ever die in a better +cause?' + +Then, returning to the homely necessities of the hour, he begged her to +bring bread and cheese and eggs. + +Bread and cheese and eggs to set before Royalty! This disgrace to her +housewifery affected Mrs. Macdonald almost as feelingly as the danger +they were in. The idea, too, of sitting down at supper with her lawful +sovereign caused the simple lady the greatest embarrassment. However, +she was prevailed upon to take the seat at the Prince's left hand, while +Miss Macdonald had her usual place at his right. After the ladies had +retired Charles lighted his 'cutty,' and he and Kingsburgh had a +comfortable chat and a bowl of punch over the fire. Indeed, good food, +good fires, and good company were such congenial luxuries after the life +he had been leading, that Charles sat on and on in his chair, and the +hospitable Kingsburgh had at last to insist upon his guest going to bed. + +Hour after hour the Prince slept on next morning, Kingsburgh being +unwilling to disturb the one good rest he might have for weeks; Miss +Macdonald was growing impatient and Mrs. Macdonald anxious, and at last +Kingsburgh consented to rouse him at about one o'clock. Portree was +seven miles off, and had to be reached before dark. It was decided that +the Prince might resume male attire _en route_, but in case of exciting +suspicion among the servants he had still to masquerade as Betty Burke +till he left the house. Mrs. Macdonald, her daughter, and Miss Flora all +came up to assist at his toilet, for 'deil a preen could he put in,' as +his hostess expressed herself. He laughed so heartily over his own +appearance that they could hardly get his dress fastened. Before he left +the room he permitted Flora Macdonald to cut off a lock of his hair, +which she divided with Mrs. MacLeod. What is a still more touching proof +of the devotion of these two good women is that they carefully took off +the sheets of the Prince's bed, vowing that these should be neither +washed nor used again till they should serve each of them as +winding-sheets. Kingsburgh accompanied his guests part of the way, +assisted Charles to change his dress in a little wood, and then, with +tears, bade him farewell. + +Flora Macdonald rode on to Portree by another road, leaving her +servant, Neil MacKechan, and a little herd-boy to act as guides to the +Prince. + +In the meantime, Donald Roy had been active in the Prince's service. At +Portree he had met young Rona MacLeod of Rasay and his brother Murdoch, +and, as he had expected, found them eager to face any danger or +difficulty for their Prince. They had a cousin rather older than +themselves, Malcolm MacLeod, who had been a captain in the Prince's +army. He entered into the scheme as heartily as the other two, and only +suggested prudently that Rona should leave the matter to himself and +Murdoch, who were 'already as black as black can be.' But Rona was not +to be baulked of his share of the danger and glory of serving the +Prince, and vowed that he _would_ go even if it should cost him his +estate and his head. So with two stout faithful boatmen they arrived +within a mile of Portree, drew up their boat among the rocks where it +could be hid, and remained waiting for the Prince, while the night fell +and the rain came down in sheets. + +It had been arranged at Mugstatt that Donald Roy was to meet the Prince +late on Monday afternoon in the one public-house that Portree could +boast. This public-house consisted of one large, dirty, smoky room, and +people of all kinds kept going in and out, and here Donald took up his +post. Flora Macdonald was the first to arrive, and she, Donald Roy, and +Malcolm MacLeod sat together over the fire waiting anxiously. It was +already dark when a small, wet herd-boy slipped in and going up to +Donald whispered that a gentleman wanted to see him. The poor Prince was +standing in the darkness outside drenched to the skin. As soon as they +were at the inn Donald insisted on his changing his clothes, and Malcolm +at once gave him his own dry philibeg. Food they could get, and water +was brought in an old, battered, rusty tin from which the Prince drank, +being afraid of arousing suspicion by any fastidiousness. He also bought +sixpennyworth of the coarsest tobacco, and nearly betrayed his quality +to the already suspicious landlord by a princely indifference to his +change, but Malcolm prudently secured the 'bawbees' and put them into +the Prince's sporran. + +Miss Flora now rose very sadly to go, as she had to continue her journey +that night. The Prince kissed her and said farewell with much suppressed +emotion, but with his usual hopefulness added that he trusted that they +might yet meet at St. James's. These constant partings from so many +faithful, warm-hearted friends were among the hardest trials of +Charles's wandering life. He seems to have clung with special affection +to Donald Roy, and urged him again and again not to leave him, but to go +with him to Rasay. Donald could only reply that the state of his wounded +foot made it impossible. + +This conversation took place as they plunged through wet and darkness +from Portree down to the shore where the boat was lying. Malcolm +MacLeod, who made a third in the little party, had a spirit as firm and +a heart as warm as Donald's own, and before the end of the week the +Prince was clinging with the same affection to this new friend. + +The wild and desolate island of Rasay offered the Prince a comparatively +secure hiding-place, and the three MacLeods had both the will and the +power to protect him, and to provide a reasonable amount of comfort for +him. But a kind of restlessness seems to have come over the Prince at +this time. It was only by being constantly on the move that he could +escape from anxious and painful thoughts. Possibly he may have felt a +little insecure in the midst of the Clan MacLeod (though he had met +nowhere with more devotion than that of the three cousins); he certainly +seems to have bestowed far more affection and confidence on Malcolm than +on the other two. + +On Thursday he insisted on starting for Skye, in spite of the entreaties +of the young MacLeods, nor would he turn back when a storm broke and +threatened to overwhelm them. It was night before they landed at +Trotternish, a night such as had become familiar to the Prince, dark and +chill and pouring with rain. They made for a byre on the property of Mr. +Nicholson of Scorobeck. Young Rasay went on in front to see that no one +was there. 'If there had been anyone in it, what would you have done?' +he asked the Prince rather reproachfully; for Charles's self-will and +foolhardiness must at times have been very trying to those who were +risking life and estate for him. In the byre they lighted a fire, dried +their clothes, and slept for some hours. The next day, Rona being away, +the Prince asked Murdoch if he would accompany him into the country of +the Mackinnons in the south of Skye (the old chief of that clan had been +in the Prince's army, and Charles felt that he would be safe amongst +them). Murdoch's wound prevented his undertaking such a journey--it was +thirty miles over the wildest part of Skye--but Malcolm could go, and +his cousin assured the Prince that he could nowhere find a more faithful +and devoted servant. So the pair set out in the morning for their wild +tramp. To prevent discovery the Prince affected to be Malcolm's +servant, walked behind him, and, further to disguise himself, put his +periwig in his pocket and bound a dirty cloth round his head--a disguise +specially calculated, one would think, to excite attention. The two +young men talked frankly and confidentially, making great strides in +friendship as they went along. Once a covey of partridges rose, and, +with a true British instinct for sport at all hazards,[7] the Prince +raised his gun and would have fired if Malcolm had not caught his arm. +They were careful to pass through the hostile MacLeod country at night, +and at break of day arrived in Strath, the country of the Mackinnons. +Malcolm MacLeod had a sister married to a Mackinnon, an honest, +warm-hearted follow who had followed his chief and served as captain in +the Prince's army. To his house they directed their steps; Mackinnon +himself was away, but his wife received her brother and his friend with +the utmost kindness. The Prince passed for a certain Lewis Caw, a +surgeon's apprentice (who was actually 'skulking' in Skye at the time), +and acted his part of humble retainer so well that poor Malcolm was +quite embarrassed; and the rough servant-lass treated him with the +contempt Highland servants seem to have for their own class, if 'Lowland +bodies.' Both the tired travellers lay down to sleep, and when Malcolm +awoke late in the afternoon he found the sweet-tempered Prince playing +with Mrs. Mackinnon's little child. 'Ah, little man,' he cried, in a +moment of forgetfulness, 'you may live to be a captain in my service +yet.' 'Or you an old sergeant in his,' said the indignant nurse, jealous +of her charge's position. + +Next day Malcolm went out to meet his brother-in-law. He had absolute +confidence in Mackinnon's faithfulness and loyalty, but he feared that +his warm-hearted feelings might lead him into indiscretions which would +betray the Prince; and in spite of all warnings Mackinnon could not +restrain his tears when he saw his Prince under his roof in such a +wretched plight. + +It was important that Charles should be at once taken to the mainland, +and John Mackinnon went off at noon to the house of the chief of the +Mackinnons to borrow a boat. This old man was a fine type of a Highland +gentleman. It was his daily--probably his only--prayer that he might die +on the field of battle fighting for his king and country. He was +simple-minded, brave, and faithful, and though now between sixty and +seventy, as active and courageous as any young man. John had received +injunctions not to betray the Prince's presence in the neighbourhood to +the laird, but to keep such a piece of news from his chief was quite +beyond honest John's powers. Nothing would restrain the old man from +going off at once with his wife to pay their homage to the Prince. Nor +would he hear of anyone conducting Charles to the mainland but himself. + +[Illustration: PRINCE CHARLIE'S WANDERINGS. + +The black lines indicating land and the dotted lines sea journeys.] + +At eight o'clock that night the little party embarked. The Prince took a +most affecting farewell of Malcolm MacLeod. With courtly punctilio he +sent a note to Donald Roy to tell of his safe departure, then pressed +ten guineas--almost his last--on his friend's acceptance, smoked a last +pipe with him, and finally presented him with the invaluable 'cutty.' + + +CHAPTER IV + +ON THE MAINLAND + +TO understand the Prince's proceedings for the next few weeks it is +necessary to have a clear idea of the country which was the scene of his +wanderings. From Loch Hourn (which opens opposite Sleat in Skye) on the +north down to Loch Shiel on the south a little group of wild and rugged +peninsulas run out into the Atlantic, called respectively Knoydart, +Morar, Arisaig, and Moidart. Between these deep narrow lochs run far +inland. Loch Nevis lies between Knoydart and Morar; Loch Morar, a +freshwater loch, cuts off the peninsula of the same name from Arisaig, +and this again is separated from Moidart by Lochs Nanuagh and Aylort, +and Loch Shiel separates the whole group from Ardnamurchan in the south. +The wild, inaccessible nature of the country, the deep valleys and many +rocky hollows in the hills offered many hiding-places; but a glance at +the map will show that a vigilant enemy by stationing men-of-war in all +the lochs and drawing a cordon of soldiers from the head of Loch Hourn +to the head of Loch Shiel, could draw the net so tightly that escape +would be nearly impossible. + +In these first days of July, however, the search was still chiefly +confined to the Long Island and Skye, and Charles got a clear start of +his enemies. On July 5, in the early morning, he and his faithful +Mackinnons landed at a place named Mallach on Loch Nevis, and spent the +next three days in the open. They were in a good deal of perplexity as +to their next movements, and when Charles learned that old Clanranald +was staying in the neighbourhood, at the home of his kinsman Scothouse, +he sent to ask his advice and help, expecting confidently to find the +old faithful kindness that had helped him in Uist. But the old gentleman +had had enough of danger and suffering in the Prince's cause; his son +was a fugitive, his brother a prisoner, he himself was in hiding. The +sudden appearance of Mackinnon startled him into a state of nervous +terror, and he declared querulously that he could do no more nor knew +anyone else who could give any help. Mackinnon returned indignant and +mortified, but the Prince received the news philosophically, 'Well, Mr. +Mackinnon, we must do the best we can for ourselves.' + +It was the first rebuff he had met with; but a day or two later he found +the same lukewarm spirit in Mr. Macdonald of Morar, a former friend. The +poor man had had his house burnt over his head and was living with his +family in a wretched hut, and probably thought that he had suffered +enough for the cause. This desertion cut the Prince to the quick. 'I +hope, Mackinnon,' he cried, addressing John, 'that you will not desert +me too.' The old chief thought that the words were addressed to him. 'I +will never leave your Royal Highness in the hour of danger,' he +declared, with tears, and John's reply was no less fervent. + +There was one house in the neighbourhood where the Prince could always +count on a welcome whether he came at midnight, at cockcrow, or at noon, +whether as a Prince on his way to win a crown or as a beggar with +neither home nor hope. The hospitable house of Borodale was a mass of +blackened ruins, but the laird--'my kind old landlord,' as the Prince +fondly called him--and his two sons had still strong hands, shrewd +heads, and warm hearts ready for the Prince's service. + +From Morar the Prince and the two Mackinnons walked through the summer +night over the wildest mountain track and arrived at Borodale in the +early morning. Old Angus was still in bed when they knocked at the door +of the bothy where the family was living. He came to the door, wrapt in +his blanket. When Mackinnon explained who it was that desired his +hospitality, the old man's welcome came prompt and unhesitating. '_I_ +have brought him here,' said Mackinnon, 'and will commit him to _your_ +charge. I have done my duty, do you do yours.' + +'I am glad of it,' said Angus, 'and shall not fail to take care of him. +I shall lodge him so securely that all the forces in Great Britain shall +not find him.' + +[Illustration] + +So John Mackinnon, having done all he could, parted from the Prince with +the same affectionate sorrow that had marked the farewells of all his +faithful Highlanders. He was caught on his return to Skye, by the cruel +Captain Scott, and five days later was brought back to Lochnanuagh, a +prisoner on board an English man-of-war. Opposite the place where the +ship cast anchor was a fissure in the rock, and halfway up was what +looked like a mere grassy bank. In reality it was a small hut roofed +with sods, so contrived that no one unless he were in the secret would +have suspected it of being anything but a grassy slope. Here the Prince +had spent the preceding night, but as soon as the ship entered the loch +he betook himself to the hills. He was accompanied by old Borodale and +his son John--the young man who had been supposed to have died at +Culloden. A cousin of Borodale's, Macdonald of Glenaladale, had always +been a special friend of the Prince's. He joined him now in the wilds, +resolved to share all his worst dangers, though he had to leave his wife +and 'five weak pretty children' unprotected and living in a bothy, the +only home the English soldiers had left them. The first plan these brave +men concerted together was to carry the Prince into Lochiel's country, +where young Clanranald had promised to provide him a hiding-place. On +their way, however, they heard that a body of soldiers were approaching +from Loch Arkaig, which completely blocked their way on that side. That +same night old Borodale learnt that General Campbell with several ships +was in Loch Nevis, Captain Scott was still in Lochnanuagh, and parties +from these ships were searching every foot of ground in their +neighbourhoods. At the same time troops had been landed at the head of +Loch Hourn, and others simultaneously at the head of Loch Shiel. Between +these two points the distance as the crow flies must be some twenty or +five-and-twenty miles, but the wild mountainous nature of the country +makes the actual distance far greater. In spite of all difficulties the +Government troops in a few days had drawn a complete cordon from one +point to the other. This cordon consisted of single sentinels planted +within sight of each other who permitted no one to pass unchallenged. At +night large fires were lighted, and every quarter of an hour patrolling +parties passed from one to the other to see that all the sentinels were +on the alert. + +Charles's case was almost desperate. For several days he and his +companions lived like hunted animals on the mountain-tops. They were +frequently within sight of some camp of the enemy; more than once they +had to go precipitately down one side of a hill because the soldiers +were coming up the other. They changed their quarters at night, +sometimes marching long miles merely to reach some mountain which having +been searched the day before was less likely to be visited again. In the +daytime the Prince could snatch a few hours of troubled sleep in some +rocky hollow while the rest of the party kept guard. News of the enemy's +movements was brought them occasionally by secret friends under cover of +darkness, but even their approach was full of terror for the fugitives. +Worst of all was their suffering from hunger. The soldiers devoured and +destroyed what meagre stores the country could boast, and in spite of +the generosity of the poorer clansmen no food could be had. For four +days the whole party lived on a few handfuls of dry meal and some +butter. On one occasion soldiers passed below their lair driving cattle. +The Prince, who was starving, proposed to follow them, and 'lift' some +of the cattle in the night. His companions remonstrated, but he led the +party himself, and secured the beef.[8] The guide, and indeed the leader +of the little band, was a farmer, Donald Cameron of Glenpean. But for +this man's daring courage and his intimate knowledge of the country the +Prince must sooner or later have fallen into the hands of his enemies. + +The circle was daily being drawn more closely round the prey, and daily +the fear of starvation stared them in the face. Should they wait to die +like driven deer or make one desperate effort to break through the toils +that surrounded them, and either escape or die like men? For brave men +there could only be one answer to such a question. On the night of July +25 they determined to force their way through the cordon. + +All that day the Prince had lain in closest hiding on a hill on the +confines of Knoydart, not a mile from the chain of sentinels. He had +slept some hours while two of the party had kept watch and the other two +had gone and foraged for food, bringing back two dry cheeses as the +result. (Old Borodale had gone back at this time; the party consisted of +his son John, Glenaladale and his brother, and Cameron of Glenpean.) All +day parties of soldiers had been searching the neighbourhood, and now +the sentinel fires were alight all along the line of defence. At +nightfall the little band started, walking silently and rapidly up a +mountain called Drumnachosi. The way was very steep, and the night very +dark. Once crossing a little stream the Prince's foot slipped, he +stumbled, and would have fallen down over a cliff had not Cameron caught +one arm and Glenaladale the other and pulled him up. From the top of the +hill they could see the sentinel fires close in front of them, and were +near enough to hear the voices of the soldiers quite distinctly. Under +cover of the friendly darkness they crept up another hill and came out +opposite another fire. At a point midway between these two posts a +mountain torrent had made a deep fissure on the side of a hill on the +further side. Could they break through the line and reach this river-bed +the overhanging banks, aided by the darkness of night, would conceal +their figures, and following the stream they could cross over into wild +broken country, where they could hide themselves. Donald Cameron, with +a fine Highland gallantry, undertook to make trial of the way first. If +he could reach the spot and return again to report 'all safe,' the rest +of the party might make the attempt. It had all to be done in a quarter +of an hour, for that was the interval at which the patrolling parties +succeeded each other. + +In dead silence they waited till the sentinels had past; then as +stealthily and rapidly as a cat Cameron slipped down the hillside and +disappeared into the darkness. The rest stood breathless, straining +every nerve for the faintest sound; no footfall or falling pebble broke +the stillness, and in a few long, heavily-weighted minutes Cameron +returned and whispered that all was well. It was two o'clock now and the +darkness was growing thinner. They waited till the sentries had crossed +again and had now their backs to the passage, then they all moved +forward in perfect silence. Reaching the torrent, they sank on all fours +and one after the other crept up the rocky bed without a sound. The +dreaded cordon was passed, and in a short time they reached a place +where they were completely hidden and could take a little much-needed +rest. + +Once clear of this chain of their enemies they turned northward to the +Glenelg country. Their plan was to go through the Mackenzie's country to +Poole Ewe, where they hoped to find a French vessel. But the next day +they learned from a wayfaring man that the only French ship which had +been there had left the coast. Seeing that that plan was fruitless, +their next idea was to move eastward into the wilds of Inverness and +wait there till the way should be clear for the Prince's joining Lochiel +in Badenoch. + +[Illustration] + +In Glen Sheil they parted with Cameron of Glenpean, and here too they +had a curious adventure which might have proved seriously inconvenient +to them. They had spent a whole hot August day hiding behind some rocks +on a bare hillside, the midges had tormented them, and they were +oppressed with thirst, but had not ventured from their hiding-place even +to look for water. At sunset a boy appeared bringing quarts of goat's +milk; he was the son of a certain Macraw, a staunch though secret friend +in the neighbourhood. Glenaladale at this time carried the fortune of +the little party--some forty gold louis and a few shillings--in his +sporran. He paid the lad for the milk, and in his hurry did not notice +that he had dropped his purse. They had hardly gone an English mile +before the loss was discovered, and Glenaladale insisted at all risks on +going back to look for the purse. He and his cousin did indeed find it +lying at the expected place, but though some shillings remained the +louis were gone. It was midnight before the indignant pair reached +Macraw's house, and the family were all asleep. They roused the master, +however, and fairly told him what had happened. No shadow of doubt seems +to have crossed the father's mind, no word of expostulation rose to his +lips. 'Without a moment's delay he returned to the house, got hold of a +rope hanging there, and gripped his son by the arm in great passion, +saying, "You damned scoundrel, this instant get these poor gentlemen's +money, or by the heavens I'll hang you to that very tree you see there." +The boy, shivering with fear, went instantly for the money, which he had +buried underground thirty yards from his father's house.' This accident +turned out most luckily for the Prince. He and Glenaladale's brother +while awaiting the other two had hidden behind some rocks; shortly after +they were hidden they saw an officer and two soldiers _coming along the +very path they had intended to take_. But for the delay caused by their +companions going back they must have fallen into the hands of their +enemies. + +They now turned eastward, and after a long night's march found +themselves in the wild tract of country called the Braes of +Glenmoriston. + +Here Charles was to find a new set of friends, different indeed from the +chivalrous Kingsburgh and the high-bred Lady Margaret, but men who were +as staunch and incorruptible as any of his former friends. These were +the famous 'Seven Men of Glenmoriston,' men who had served in the +Prince's army, and who now lived a wild, lawless life among the +mountains, at feud with everything that represented the existing law and +order. They have been described as a robber band, but that title is +misleading. They were rather a small remnant of irreconcilable rebels +who had vowed undying enmity and revenge against Cumberland and his +soldiers. And indeed there was ample excuse for their hatred and +violence in the cruelties they saw practised all round them. Sixty of +their clansmen after surrendering themselves had been shipped off to the +colonies, all their own possessions and those of their neighbours had +been seized, and friends and kinsfolk had been brutally put to death. + +Swooping down like mountain eagles on detached bands of soldiers, these +seven men wreaked instant vengeance on oppressors and informers, and +carried off arms and baggage in the face of larger bodies of the enemy. +To these men, ignorant, reckless, and lawless, Charles unhesitatingly +confided his person, a person on whose head a sum of thirty thousand +pounds was set. + +Four of these men were in a cave, Coraghoth, in the Braes of +Glenmoriston, when Glenaladale brought Charles to see them. They had +expected to see young Clanranald, and as soon as they saw the Prince one +of their number recognised him, but had the presence of mind to address +him as an old acquaintance by the name of 'MacCullony.' When the four +knew who their guest really was, they bound themselves to be faithful to +him by the dreadful Highland oath, praying 'that their backs might be to +God, and their faces to the devil, and that all the curses the +Scriptures do pronounce might come upon them and their posterity if they +did not stand firm to the Prince in the greatest danger.' + +For about three weeks Charles shared the life of these outlaws, sleeping +in caves and holes of the earth, living on the wild deer of their +shooting and the secret gifts of the peasantry. They did not understand +his English, but the Prince was beginning to pick up a little Gaelic. He +was able at least to improve their cooking and reprove their swearing, +two services they liked afterwards to recall. Here too, as elsewhere on +his wanderings, the Prince gained the hearts of all his followers by his +gracious gaiety and plucky endurance of hardships. In the beginning of +August his hopes had again turned to Poole Ewe, but learning for a +second time that no French ship could land on the closely guarded coast, +he and his friends determined to remain in the northern straths of +Inverness-shire till the Government troops should withdraw from the +Great Glen--the chain of lakes which now forms the Caledonian Canal--and +thus leave the way clear into Badenoch, where Lochiel and Macpherson of +Cluny were hiding. + +A curious incident is supposed to have helped the Prince at this time. +There had been among his Life Guards a handsome youth named Roderick +Mackenzie, son of a jeweller in Edinburgh, who in face and figure was +startlingly like the Prince. This lad was actually 'skulking' among the +Braes of Glenmoriston at the time when the Prince was surrounded in +Knoydart. A party of soldiers tracked him to a hut, which they +surrounded. Flight was impossible, and the poor boy stood at bay. As he +fell beneath their sword-thrusts he cried out, 'Villains, ye have slain +your King.' Whether these words were a curious last flash of vanity, or +whether he intended to serve the Prince by a generous act of imposture, +can never be known. The soldiers at any rate believed that they had +secured the prize. They carried off Mackenzie's head with them to Fort +Augustus, and the authorities seem for some time to have been under the +impression that it was indeed that of the Prince. Possibly it was owing +to this that in the middle of August the Government rather relaxed their +vigilance along the Great Glen. Charles was eager to press at once into +Badenoch, but the wary outlaws would only consent to taking him to the +Lochiel country, between Loch Arkaig, Loch Lochy, and Loch Garry. They +travelled chiefly by night; the season was very wet, and the rivers were +in flood, and they had to cross the River Garry Highland fashion in a +line, with each man's arm on his neighbour's shoulder, for the water was +running breast-high. + +At this time the Prince's condition was as bad as at any period of his +wanderings. His clothes were of the coarsest, and _they_ were in rags. +Lady Clanranald's six good shirts had long since disappeared; it was as +much as he could do to have a clean shirt once a fortnight. The +provisions they carried were reduced to one peck of meal. In this state +did the Prince arrive in the familiar country round Loch Arkaig. It was +a year almost to the day since he had passed through that very country +elate and hopeful at the head of his brave Macdonalds and Camerons. He +was now a fugitive, ill-fed, ill-clad, with a price on his head; the +only thing that was unchanged was the faithful devotion of his +Highlanders. + +Cameron of Clunes and Macdonald of Lochgarry, or Lochgarie, though they +were themselves 'skulking,' received the Prince with the utmost kindness +and found a hiding-place for him in a hut in a wood at the south side of +Loch Arkaig. Here the outlaws left him; only one of their number, +Patrick Grant, remained till the Prince should be supplied with money to +reward their faithful service. From this place, also, John Macdonald and +Glenaladale's brother returned to the coast, where they were to keep a +careful look-out and to send the Prince news of any French ship which +might appear. + +Glenaladale still remained, but the Prince's thoughts were turning more +and more towards Badenoch, where his friend Lochiel was in comparatively +secure hiding. + +Among all the gallant gentlemen who risked life and estate in this +rising there is no figure more attractive than that of the 'Gentle +Lochiel.' He had for years before the rebellion been the mainstay of the +Jacobite party. No man in the Highlands carried so much weight as he, +partly from his position, but more from his talents and the charm of his +character. 'Wise' and 'gentle' are the words that were applied to him, +and with all the qualities of a high-bred gentleman he combined the +simpler virtues of the Highland clansman--faithfulness, courage, and a +jealous sense of personal honour. From the very beginning he had seen +the folly of the rising. But when he had failed to convince Charles of +its hopelessness, he had thrown himself into the movement as if it had +been of his own devising. Never did he afterwards reproach Charles by +word or look for the ill-fated result. + +He and his cousin, Macpherson of Cluny, were at this time hiding among +the recesses of Benalder. The road to Inverness ran by within a few +miles, and at a little distance lay Lord Loudoun's camp, but so great +was the devotion of the clansmen, so admirable their caution and +secrecy, that the English commander had not the slightest suspicion that +the two most important Jacobite fugitives had for three months been in +hiding so near to him. Lochiel had been wounded in the feet at +Culloden, and his lameness as well as his dangerous position prevented +his going to look for the Prince. He had two brothers, one a doctor and +the other a clergyman, both accomplished and bold men, who had also been +involved in the Jacobite rebellion. Towards the end of August, news +having come to Benalder that the Prince was living near Auchnacarry +under the protection of Cameron of Clunes, the two Cameron brothers set +off secretly for that country. The Prince with a son of Clunes and the +faithful outlaw Patrick Grant were at this time living in a hut in a +wood close to Loch Arkaig. It was early on the morning of August 25, the +Prince and young Clunes were asleep in the hut, while Patrick Grant kept +watch. He must have got drowsy, for waking with a start he saw a party +of men approaching. He rushed into the hut and roused the Prince and his +companion. Charles had long lived in expectation of such moments. He +kept his presence of mind completely, decided that it was too late to +fly, and prepared to defend himself. The fowling-pieces were loaded and +got into position, and they very nearly received their friends with a +volley. Dr. Cameron in his narrative describes the Prince's appearance +thus: 'He was barefoot; had an old black kilt coat on and philibeg and +waistcoat, a dirty shirt and a long red beard, a gun in his hand and a +pistol and dirk at his side; still he was very cheerful and in good +health.' + +Another week they all waited in the neighbourhood of Auchnacarry (the +ruined home of the Lochiels). At last a message reached them from +Benalder that the passes were free and that they might safely try to +join Lochiel. Having parted with his devoted friend Glenaladale, who +returned to the coast, the Prince, with Dr. Cameron and Lochgarry, +arrived on August 30 at Mellaneuir, at the foot of Benalder. People in +hiding have no means of discriminating their friends from their enemies +at a little distance. Lochiel seeing a considerable party approaching +believed that he was discovered and determined to make a good fight for +it. He as narrowly missed shooting Charles as Charles had missed +shooting Dr. Cameron the week before. When, however, he recognised the +figure in the coarse brown coat, the shabby kilt, and the rough red +beard, he hobbled to the door and wanted to receive the Prince on his +knees. 'My dear Lochiel,' remonstrated Charles as he embraced him, 'you +don't know who may be looking down from these hills.' + +In the hut there was a sufficiency of mutton, beef sausages, bacon, +butter, cheese, &c., and an anker of whisky, and the Prince was almost +overwhelmed by such an excess of luxury. 'Now, gentlemen,' he said with +a cheerful air, 'now I _live like a Prince_.' Charles's wardrobe was as +usual most dilapidated, and Cluny's three sisters set at once to work to +make him a set of six shirts with their own fair hands, doubtless sewing +the most passionate loyalty and infinite regret into their 'seams.' + +The hiding-place where the Prince was now concealed was a very curious +hut contrived by Cluny in one of the inmost recesses of the hills. It +was called 'The Cage,' and was placed in a little thicket on the rocky +slope of a hill. The walls were formed by actual growing trees with +stakes planted between them, the whole woven together by ropes of +heather and birch. Till you were close to the hut it looked merely like +a thick clump of trees and bushes. The smoke escaped along the rocks, +and the stone being of a bluish colour it could easily pass unnoticed. +This hut could only hold six persons at a time, so the party generally +divided in this way: one man cooked the food, four played cards, and the +last man looked on at the others and possibly smoked! + +Probably they played cards and talked and jested over the daily needs +and hardships, and spoke little of the disastrous times that lay behind +them, or the doubtful hopes that lay before them. Fearing lest the +Prince might have to remain in hiding all winter the ingenious Cluny +began to fit up a subterranean dwelling, thickly boarded up, where the +party would have been in safety and shelter. But in the meantime no +efforts were lacking to find a means of escape. Lochiel's brother, the +clergyman, a man of great prudence, went secretly to Edinburgh, and +there procured a ship and sent it round to a port on the East coast to +await the Prince. Succour, however, had come from another quarter; it +was known to the Prince and his followers that a certain Colonel Warren +was fitting out a couple of ships in France for the purpose of bringing +off the Prince, and daily they expected news of their arrival. On +September 6 two ships, _L'Heureux_ and _La Princesse_, appeared at +Lochnanuagh. Old Borodale and his two sons immediately fled to the +hills, leaving a faithful servant to find out and report to them who the +strangers might be. After nightfall, twelve French officers came to the +hut where they were hiding and told their errand. Information was at +once sent to Glenaladale, who undertook to go to Auchnacarry and send on +the news through Cameron of Clunes, he himself not knowing where the +Prince was hiding. Any delay, even of a few hours, might be fatal, as +the presence of the French ships must sooner or later become known to +the authorities at Fort Augustus. To his dismay Glenaladale failed to +find Clunes, and only by an accident met with an old woman, who directed +him to the place where the latter was hiding. A messenger was at once +despatched, and he, happening by a curious chance to meet with Cluny and +Dr. Cameron on a dark night in Badenoch, gave them his message, and an +express was at once sent to the Cage. On September 13, at one in the +morning, the party--which now included Cluny, Lochiel, Macpherson of +Breakachie, and some others of the Prince's more important +followers--set off for the coast. They travelled by night, remaining in +concealment by day, but so lonely was the country, so recklessly high +were the Prince's spirits, that one whole day he amused himself by +flinging up caps into the air and shooting at them. + +[Illustration] + +Again he passed through the well-known country round Loch Arkaig, past +Auchnacarry, the home of the Lochiels, which was lying in ruins, over +the rugged hills where he had been hunted like a wild creature a few +weeks before, down to the familiar waters of Lochnanuagh, back to the +warm-hearted household of Borodale. + +A considerable number of Jacobite gentlemen who had lain for months in +hiding had been drawn to Lochnanuagh by the report of the landing of the +French ships; amongst these were young Clanranald, Glenaladale, and +Macdonald of Daleby. On the Prince's ship there sailed with him +Lochgarry, John Roy Stuart, Dr. Cameron, and Lochiel. 'The gentlemen as +well as commons were seen to weep, though they boasted of being soon +back with an irresistible force,' says the newspaper of the day. For the +greater part they never came back, never saw again the homes they loved +so well. Most were to spend a life of hope deferred and of desperate +longings for home, as dependents on a foreign Court. Dr. Cameron was ten +years later taken prisoner in London and executed, the last man who +suffered as a rebel; Lochiel died two years after he left Scotland, a +heart-broken exile. 'Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him; but +weep sore for him that goeth away, for he shall return no more nor see +his native country.'[9] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] 'I had three sons, who now hae nane, + I bred them toiling sarely, + And I wad bare them a' again + And lose them a' for Charlie!' + +[6] In this he resembled his father, who, on leaving Scotland after the +failure of 1715, sent money to Argyll to compensate the country folk +whose cottages had been burned in the war; an act without precedent or +imitation. + +[7] Charles, about 1743, introduced golf into Italy, according to Lord +Elcho. + +[8] The authority for this is an unpublished anecdote in Bishop Forbes's +MS., _The Lyon in Mourning_. + +[9] The authorities are Chambers's _Jacobite Memoirs_, selected from the +MS. _Lyon in Mourning_; Chambers's _History of the Rising of 1745_; +Macdonald of Glenaladale's manuscript, published in _Blackwood's +Magazine_; Ewald's _History of Prince Charles Edward_, and the +contemporary pamphlets anonymously published by Dr. Burton on +information derived from Bishop Forbes, who collected it at first hand. +Fastened on the interior of the cover of the _Lyon in Mourning_ is a +shred of the flowered calico worn by the Prince in disguise. + + + + +_TWO GREAT MATCHES_ + + +THE University matches, between the elevens of Oxford and Cambridge, are +the most exciting that are played at Lord's. The elevens have been so +equal that neither University is ever more than one or two victories +ahead of its opponent. The players are at their best for activity and +strength, and the fielding is usually the finest that can anywhere be +seen. But, of all University matches, the most famous are those of 1870 +and of 1875, for these were the most closely contested. + +In 1870 Cambridge had won for three years running. They had on their +side Mr. Yardley, one among the three best gentlemen bats who ever +played, the others being Dr. Grace and Mr. Alan Steel. In 1869, when +Cambridge won by 58 runs, Mr. Yardley had only made 19 and 0. Mr. Dale +and Mr. Money were the other pillars of Cambridge batting: they had Mr. +Thornton too, the hardest of hitters, who hit over the pavilion (with a +bat which did not drive!) when he played for Eton against Harrow. On the +Oxford side were Mr. Tylecote (E. F. S.), a splendid bat, Mr. Ottaway, +one of the most finished bats of his day, and Mr. Pauncefote. The Oxford +team was unlucky in its bowling, as Mr. Butler had strained his arm. In +one University match, Mr. Butler took all ten wickets in one innings. He +was fast, with a high delivery, and wickets were not so good then as +they are now. Mr. Francis was also an excellent bowler, not so fast as +Mr. Butler; and Mr. Belcher, who bowled with great energy, but did not +excel as a bat, was a useful man. For Cambridge, Mr. Cobden bowled fast, +Mr. Ward was an excellent medium pace bowler, Mr. Money's slows were +sometimes fortunate, and Mr. Bourne bowled slow round. Cambridge went in +first, and only got 147. Mr. Yardley fell for 2, being caught by Mr. +Butler off Mr. Francis. Mr. Scott's 45 was the largest score, and Mr. +Thornton contributed 17, while Mr. Francis and Mr. Belcher divided the +wickets. Oxford was only 28 runs better than Cambridge, so that you +might call it anybody's match. A good stand was made for the first +wicket, Mr. Fortescue getting 35, and Mr. Hadow 17, but there was no +high scoring. Mr. Butler got 18, which is not a bad score for a bowler, +but Mr. Stewart and Mr. Belcher, who followed him, got ducks, and +clearly the tail was not strong in batting. The beginning of the +Cambridge second innings was most flattering to Oxford. When the fifth +wicket fell, Cambridge had but 40 runs, or twelve 'on.' + +[Illustration] + +Tobin and Money, Fryer and Scott had made but 8 among them, but Dale was +in, and Yardley joined him. Mr. Dale was playing in perfect style, and +he needed to do so, for Mr. Francis was bowling his best. Then came an +hour and a half, or so, of sorrow for Oxford. Mr. Butler was tried, and +bowled eight overs for 8 runs, but his arm was hurt, and he had to go +off. He got Mr. Thornton's wicket, but Oxford were playing, as Tom +Sayers fought, with a broken arm. Seven bowlers were put on, but the end +of it was that, after making the first 100 recorded in these matches, +Mr. Yardley sent a hard hit to Mr. Francis, who caught and bowled him. +Mr. Dale was splendidly caught at leg by Mr. Ottaway, off Mr. Francis, +with one hand over the ropes. He got 67; there was but one other double +figure, Mr. Thornton's 11. + +Oxford had to make 178 to win, and 178 is never easy to get, especially +in a University match, where _so much depends on it_, and men are often +nervous, as you shall see. Mr. Hadow came to grief, but Mr. Ottaway and +Mr. Fortescue were not nervous bats. Mr. Ward bowled beautifully, but +they got 44 and 69; it was 72 for one wicket, and Oxford were buoyant. +At 86, however, the second wicket fell, and E. F. S. joined Mr. Ottaway. +He put on 29, and Ottaway's defence was like a stone wall. Finally Mr. +Ward bowled Mr. Tylecote; 25 to get and seven wickets to get them. It +seemed all over but shouting. Another wicket fell for 1; 24 to get, and +six wickets to fall. Mr. Hill came in, and played like a printed book, +while Mr. Ottaway was always there. He played a ball to short leg, and +Mr. Fryer held it so low down that Mr. Ottaway appealed. I dare say +Oxford men in the pavilion distinctly saw that ball touch the ground, +but the umpire did not; 17 to get, and four wickets to fall; but the +last two wickets had scored exactly nothing in the first innings. But +Mr. Francis could bat, and he stayed while Mr. Hill made 12, when he was +l. b. w. to Ward, for a single. Four runs to get, and three wickets to +fall! 'Mr. Charles Marsham's face wore a look that his friends know +well.' Mr. Butler came in; he scored well in the first innings, and he +could hit. Then came a bye. Four to get and three wickets to fall. Mr. +Hill hit the next square, good for a 4, but Mr. Bourne got at it, and +only a single was run. Three to get and three wickets to fall. _We did +not get them!_ Mr. Cobden, who had not done much, took the ball. Mr. +Hill made a single to cover point. The next ball, to Mr. Butler, was +well up on the off stump. Mr. Butler drove at it, Mr. Bourne caught it, +and Mr. Belcher walked in, 'rather pale,' says Mr. Lyttelton, and if so, +it was unusual. Mr. Belcher was of a ruddy countenance. He was yorked! +he took a yorker for a half volley. Let us pity Mr. Stewart. If he could +escape that one ball, the odds were that Mr. Hill would make the runs +next over. Mr. Pauncefote had told Mr. Stewart to keep his bat immovable +in the block-hole, but--he did not. Cobden scattered his bails to the +breezes, 'and smash went Mr. Charles Marsham's umbrella against the +pavilion brickwork.' Cambridge had won by two. + +This is called Cobden's year, and will be so called while cricket is +played. But, in fact, Mr. Ward had taken six wickets for 29, and these +were all the best bats. + +[Illustration: THE BALL HIT THE MIDDLE STUMP] + +Mr. Butler's revenge came next year. He took fifteen wickets, and made +the winning hit. Oxford's revenge came in 1875. In 1874 Cambridge was +terribly beaten. They went in on a good wicket. Mr. Tabor, first man in, +got 52, when a shower came. The first ball after the shower, Mr. Tabor +hit at a dropping ball of Mr. Lang's, and was bowled. The whole side +were then demolished by Mr. Lang and Mr. Ridley, for 109, and 64 second +innings, while Oxford got 265 first innings. In 1876 Oxford had Mr. +Webbe, an admirable bat, as he is still; Mr. Lang, who had been known to +score; Mr. Ridley, a cricketer of the first class; Mr. Royle, the finest +field, with Mr. Jardine, ever seen; Mr. Game, who had not quite come +into his powers as a hitter; and Mr. Grey Tylecote, a good all-round +man; also Mr. Pulman, a sterling cricketer, and Mr. Buckland, a very +useful player all round. Cambridge had Mr. George Longman, who could +play anything but Mr. Ridley's slows; Mr. Edward Lyttelton, one of the +prettiest and most spirited bats in the world; Mr. A. P. Lucas, whom it +were superfluous to praise; Mr. Sims, a hard hitter; Mr. W. J. +Patterson, a renowned bat, and others. In bowling, Oxford had Mr. +Ridley, whose slows were rather fast and near the ground. Being as tall +as Mr. Spofforth, and following his ball far up the pitch, Mr. Ridley +was alarming to the nervous batsman. He fielded his own bowling +beautifully. Mr. Lang was a slow round-arm bowler with a very high +delivery, and a valuable twist from either side. Mr. Buckland was +afterwards better known as a bowler; Mr. Royle could also deliver a +dangerous ball; the fast bowler was Mr. Foord Kelcey, but he, again, was +lame, through an accident to his foot. For Cambridge Mr. Sharpe and Mr. +Sims bowled. Lang and Webbe went to the wicket for Oxford, and made a +masterly stand, the ball being cut and driven to the ropes in all +directions. Mr. Webbe got 55, Mr. Lang 45, while Mr. Ridley contributed +21, Mr. Pulman 25, and Mr. Buckland 22. The whole score was 200, 86 for +the first wicket. Mr. Longman's 40 was the best score for Cambridge, and +Mr. Edward Lyttelton got 23; total 163. Mr. Lang got five wickets for +35, Mr. Ridley, Mr. Buckland, and Mr. Foord Kelcey divided the other +four. In the second Oxford innings Mr. Sharpe got six wickets for 66, +and the whole score was but 137, in which Mr. Pulman's 30 was very +useful; Mr. Royle, Mr. Game, and Mr. Webbe got 21, 22, and 21, and Mr. +Grey Tylecote, not out, contributed an invaluable 12. The tail of the +Cambridge side made 14 among them in the first innings, not an +assortment of duck's eggs. Cambridge went in, with 175 to get, much like +Oxford in 1870. An over was bowled before seven o'clock, and resulted in +a four to leg. Sharpe and Hamilton, who went in last, first innings, +went in first in the second, to avoid losing a good bat in the five +minutes before drawing stumps. One doubts if it was worth Mr. Ridley's +while to insist on that one over, but such is the letter of the law. The +two victims, in any case, played rarely, Mr. Sharpe making 29 and Mr. +Hamilton 11. Mr. Lucas, however, was bowled by Mr. Buckland for 5. Two +for 26. Mr. Longman came in and drove off Mr. Lang and Mr. Ridley. Mr. +Royle then took the ball, a fast change-bowler. He bowled three maidens, +and then settled Mr. Sharpe (at 65), Mr. Blacker (at 67), and Mr. +Longman at 76 (for 23), with a fine breaking shooter such as you seldom +see now. Twenty years ago a large percentage of balls shot dead. Mr. +Greenfield and Mr. Edward Lyttelton stuck together. + +At 97, an awful yell went up; mid-on had missed Mr. Lyttelton, a low +hard catch, but one which he would have taken nine times in ten. At 101, +Mr. Campbell caught Mr. Greenfield off Mr. Royle, six down and 70 to +get. Then Mr. Sims came in, and another yell was heard. Mid-on had given +Mr. Lyttelton another let-off, an easy thing he might have held in his +mouth. Mid-on wished that the earth would open and swallow him. +Presently Mr. Lyttelton hit Mr. Buckland a beautiful skimming smack to +square leg. Mr. Webbe was standing deeper, but, running at full speed +along the ropes, sideways to the catch, he held it low down--a +repetition of what he did unto Mr. Lyttelton when they played for Harrow +and Eton. Mr. Lyttelton had scored 20, but not in his best manner. There +were now three wickets to fall for 60; Oxford seemed to have the +advantage. Sims and Patterson had added 14 (40 to win), when a heavy +shower came down, lasted for an hour and a half, and left Oxford with a +wet ball and a slippery ground. The rain, which favoured Oxford in 1874, +when Cambridge collapsed, was now on the Cambridge side. Mr. Sims was +determined to knock the runs off by a forcing game, and these were the +right tactics. Then Ridley went on, and his first slow bowled Mr. +Patterson clean. Mr. Macan came in, and got a single (13 to win). Then +Mr. Sims hit Mr. Ridley over his head to the ropes for 4 (9 to win). Mr. +Lang went on for Mr. Royle, a leg bye followed, and then a no-ball (7 to +win). Mr. Lang then, in a moment of despair, as unusual measures were +needed, bowled a full pitch right at Mr. Sims's head. Mr. Sims, +naturally concluding that two more hits would finish the match, hit at +it as hard as he could. Mr. Pulman was standing by the ropes 'in the +country' and the ball soared towards him; would it cross the ropes? +would Pulman reach it; he had a long way to run? He reached it, he held +it, and back went Mr. Sims. There remained Mr. Smith, in the same +historical position as Mr. Belcher. There were six runs to get, and Mr. +Macan, his companion, a good bat, was not yet settled. Some one in the +pavilion said, 'His legs are trembling, Oxford wins.' Mr. Smith, unlike +Mr. Belcher, stopped two of Mr. Ridley's slows, but not with enthusiasm. +To the third he played slowly forward, the ball hit the middle stump, +and Oxford won by six runs. + +There was also a very good match in 1891. Cambridge was far the better +team, and went in, second innings, for a small score. But Mr. Berkeley +(left-hand medium) bowled so admirably that there were only two wickets +to fall for the last run. Mr. Woods, however, was not nervous, and hit +the first ball he received for 4 to the ropes. Still, I am inclined to +think that, in these three matches, the bowling of Mr. Berkeley was the +best, for he had very little encouragement, whereas, with 178 or so to +get, a bowler has a good chance, and is on his mettle. + +The moral is, don't poke about in your block-hole, but hit, and, when +you bowl in an emergency, aim at getting wickets by any means, rather +than at keeping down runs. + + + + +_THE STORY OF KASPAR HAUSER_ + + +ON May 28, 1828, the town of Nuremberg, in Bavaria, presented a +singularly deserted appearance, as it was Whit-Monday, and most of the +inhabitants were spending their holiday in the country. A cobbler, who +lived in Umschlitt Square, was an exception to the general rule, but +towards four o'clock he, too, thought that he would take a stroll +outside the city walls. When he came out of his door his curiosity was +excited by a strange figure, which was leaning, as if unable to support +itself, against a wall near, and uttering a moaning sound. The figure +was that of a young man of about seventeen, dressed in a grey riding +suit, and wearing a pair of dilapidated boots; he held a letter in one +hand. + +[Illustration] + +The cobbler's curiosity led him to approach the strange figure, which +moaned some incoherent sounds, and held out the letter in its hand. This +was addressed 'To the Captain of the 4th squadron of the 6th regiment +of dragoons now stationed at Nuremberg'; and, as he lived quite near, +the cobbler thought the surest way of gratifying his own curiosity was +to take the stranger there. The poor creature stumbled and shuffled +along behind his guide, and reached the captain's house quite worn out. +The captain was not at home, but his servant, pitying the sufferings of +the stranger, gave him a sack of straw to lie on in the stable, and +brought him some bread and meat and beer. The meat and the beer he would +not touch, but ate the bread greedily and drank some water; he then fell +fast asleep. Towards eight o'clock the captain came home, and was told +of his strange visitor, and of the letter he had brought with him. This +letter was written in a feigned hand, and said that the writer, a poor +labourer with ten children, had received the boy in 1812, and had kept +him shut up in his house for sixteen years, not allowing him to see or +know anything; that he could keep him no longer, and so sent him to the +captain, who could make a soldier of him, hang him, or put him up the +chimney, just as he chose. He added that the boy knew nothing and could +tell nothing, but was quick at learning. Enclosed was a letter giving +the date of the boy's birth (April 30, 1812), and purporting to be +written by the mother; but the writing, paper, and ink all showed that +the two letters were by the same person. + +The captain could make nothing of this mysterious letter, but went to +the stable, where he found the stranger still asleep. After many pushes, +kicks, and thumps he awoke. When asked his name and where he came from, +he made some sounds, which were at last understood to be, 'Want to be a +soldier, as father was;' 'Don't know;' and 'Horse home.' These sentences +he repeated over and over again like a parrot, and at last the captain +decided to send his new recruit to the police office. Here he was asked +his name, where he came from, &c., &c., but the result of the police +inspector's questioning was the same: the stranger repeated his three +sentences, and at last, in despair of getting any sensible reply from +him, he was put into a cell in the west tower of the prison where +vagrants were kept. This cell he shared with another prisoner, a butcher +boy, who was ordered to watch him carefully, as the police naturally +suspected him of being an impostor. He slept soundly through the night +and woke at sunrise. He spent the greater part of the day sitting on the +floor taking no notice of anything, but at last the gaoler gave him a +sheet of paper and a pencil to play with. These he seized with pleasure +and carried them off to a seat; nor did he stop writing until he had +covered the paper with letters and syllables, arranged just as they +would be in a copy-book. Among the letters were three complete words, +'Kaspar Hauser,' and 'reiter' (horse soldier). 'Kaspar Hauser' was +evidently his name, though he did not recognise it when called by it. + +[Illustration] + +The news of the strange arrival spread through the city. The +guard-house, where he spent part of the day, was thronged by a curious +crowd, anxious to see this strange creature, who looked at things +without seeing them, who could not bear a strong light, who loathed any +food but bread and water, and who, parrot-like, repeated a couple of +phrases which he evidently did not understand, and one word, 'horse,' to +which he seemed to attach some meaning. What they saw was a youth of +about seventeen, with fair hair and blue eyes, the lower part of his +face slightly projecting like a monkey's. He was four feet nine inches +in height, broad-shouldered, with tiny hands and delicate little feet, +which had never worn shoes nor been put to their natural use, for the +soles were as soft as a baby's. He was dressed in grey riding-breeches, +a round jacket, which had been made out of a frock-coat by cutting off +the skirts, and wore a round felt hat bound with red leather. In his +pockets were some rags, some tracts, a rosary, and a paper of gold sand. + +Everyone who saw him and watched him came to the same conclusion, that +his mind was that of a child of two or three, while his body was nearly +grown up; and yet he was not half-witted, because he immediately began +to pick up words and phrases, had a wonderful memory, and never forgot a +face he had once seen, or the name which belonged to it. During the next +two or three weeks he spent part of every day in the guard-room; part +with the family of the gaoler, whose children taught him to talk and to +walk as they did their own baby sister. He was not afraid of anything; +swords were whirled round his head without his paying any attention to +them; he stretched out his hand to the flame of a lighted candle, and +cried when it burnt him, and when he saw his face in a looking-glass, +looked behind it for the other person. He was particularly pleased when +anything bright or glittering was given to him. Whenever this happened +he called out 'Horse, horse,' and made signs as if he wanted to hang it +on to the neck of something. At last one of the policemen gave him a +wooden horse, when his happiness was complete, and he spent hours +sitting on the floor playing with this horse and the dozens of horses +which were given to him by his visitors as soon as they heard of his +liking for them. + +Six or seven weeks passed in this way, and all this time the town +council were discussing what they would do with him. At last they +decided to adopt him as the 'Child of Nuremberg,' and to have him +properly cared for and taught, so that, if possible, something of his +past might be learned. He was taken away from the prison and put under +the charge of Professor Daumer, whose interest in the youth led him to +undertake the difficult task of developing his mind so that it might fit +his body. The burgomaster issued a notice to the inhabitants that in +future they would not be allowed to see Kaspar Hauser at all hours of +the day, and that the police had orders to interfere if the curiosity of +visitors led them to annoy Dr. Daumer and his household. He entered Dr. +Daumer's house on July 18, 1828, and during the next five months made +such astonishing progress that the delight of his teacher knew no +bounds. In order to satisfy public curiosity the burgomaster published, +in July, a short account of Hauser's previous life, gleaned from him by +careful questioning. It was to this effect:-- + +'He neither knows who he is nor where he came from, for it was only at +Nuremberg that he came into the world. He always lived in a hole, where +he sat on straw on the ground; he never heard a sound, nor saw any vivid +light. He awoke and he slept, and awoke again; when he awoke he found a +loaf of bread and a pitcher of water beside him. Sometimes the water +tasted nasty and then he fell asleep again, and when he woke up found he +had a clean shirt on; he never saw the face of the man who came to him. +He had two wooden horses and some ribbons to play with; was never ill, +never unhappy in his hole; once only the man struck him with a stick for +making too much noise with his horses. One day the man came into his +room and put a table over his feet; something white lay on the table, +and on this the man made black marks with a pencil which he put into his +fingers. This the man did several times, and when he was gone Kaspar +imitated what he had done. At last he taught him to stand and to walk, +and finally carried him out of his hole. Of what happened next Kaspar +had no very clear idea, until he found himself in Nuremberg with the +letter in his hand.' + +At first sight this story seems quite impossible, but it is borne out by +two or three things. Kaspar's legs were deformed in just such a way as +would happen in the case of a person who had spent years sitting on the +ground; he never walked properly to the end, and had great difficulty in +getting upstairs. His feet showed no signs of use, except the blisters +made by his boots and his walk to Nuremberg; he could see in the dark +easily and disliked light; and finally, for several months after he came +to Nuremberg, he refused to eat anything but bread and water, and was, +in fact, made quite ill by the smell of meat, beer, wine, or milk. + +For the first four months of his stay with Daumer, his senses of sight, +taste, hearing, and smell were very acute. He had got past the stage in +which he disliked light, and could now see much further than most people +by day, without, however, losing his power of seeing in the dark; at +the same time he could not distinguish between a thing and a picture of +that thing, and could not for a long time judge distances at all, for he +saw everything flat. His favourite colours were red and yellow; black +and green he particularly disliked; everything ugly was called green. He +could not be persuaded that a ball did not roll because it wished to do +so, or that his top did not spin of its own accord. For a long time he +saw no reason why animals should not behave like human beings, and was +much annoyed because the cat refused to sit up at table and to eat with +its paws, blaming its disobedience in not doing as it was told. He +further thought that a cow which had lain down in the road would do well +to go home to bed if it were tired. His sense of smell was very keen, +painfully so, in fact, for he was made quite ill by the smell of the dye +in his clothes, the smell of paper, and of many other things which other +people do not notice at all; while the smell of a sweep a hundred yards +off on the other side of the road upset him for a week. On the other +hand, he could distinguish the leaves of trees by their smell. + +By November he had made sufficient progress to make it possible for Dr. +Daumer to teach him other things besides the use of his senses: he was +encouraged to write letters and essays, to use his hands in every way, +to draw, to make paper-models, to dig in the garden, where he had a +little plot of ground with his name in mustard and cress; in fact, to +use his lately acquired knowledge. The great difficulty was to persuade +him to eat anything but bread and water, but by slow degrees he learned +to eat different forms of farinaceous food, gruel, bread and milk, rice, +&c., into which a little gravy and meat was gradually introduced. By the +following May he could eat meat without being made ill by it, but never +drank anything but water, except at breakfast, when he had chocolate. + +For the next eleven months he lived a happy, simple life with his friend +and tutor, who mentions, however, that the intense acuteness of his +senses was gradually passing away, but that he had still the charming, +obedient, child-like nature which had won all hearts. In the summer, +public interest was aroused by the news that Kaspar Hauser was writing +his life, and the paper was eagerly looked forward to. All went well +until October 17, when Kaspar was discovered senseless in a cellar under +Dr. Daumer's house, with a wound in his forehead. He was carried +upstairs and put to bed, when he kept on moaning, 'Man! man!--tell +mother (Mrs. Daumer)--tell professor--man beat me--black sweep.' For +some days he was too ill to give any account of his wound, but at last +said, that he had gone downstairs and was suddenly attacked by a man +with a black face,[10] who hit him on the head; that he fell down, and +when he got up the man was gone; that he went to look for Mrs. Daumer, +and, as he could not find her, finally hid in the cellar to be quite +safe. After this murderous attack it was no longer safe to leave him in +Dr. Daumer's house, so when well again he was removed to the house of +one of the magistrates, and constantly guarded by two policemen, without +whom he never went out. He was not very happy here, and after some +months was put under the charge of Herr von Tucher (June 1830), with +whom he remained for eighteen months. At first the arrangement answered +admirably; he was happy in his new home, his only trouble being that he +was sent to the grammar school and put into one of the upper forms, +where he had to learn Latin, a task which proved too hard for his brain. +By this time his face had quite lost the brutish character it had when +he came to Nuremberg, and its expression was pleasant, though rather +sad. Unfortunately for himself, he was one of the sights of Nuremberg, +was always introduced to any stranger of distinction who came to the +town, and attracted even more attention than the kangaroo; so that even +his warmest friends were obliged to admit that he was rather spoiled. + +At the beginning of 1831, an Englishman, Lord Stanhope, came to +Nuremberg, saw the foundling, was curiously interested in him, and +wished to adopt him. Kaspar was very much flattered, and drew +unfavourable comparisons between this Englishman who thought nothing too +good for him, and his guardians, who were thinking of apprenticing him +to a bookbinder. Lord Stanhope's kindness turned his head, and Herr von +Tucher, after repeated remonstrances, resigned his guardianship in +December 1831. With the full consent of the town council of Nuremberg, +Lord Stanhope removed Kaspar to Ausbach, and placed him under the care +of Dr. Mayer. It was generally supposed that this was only preparatory +to taking him to England. Ample funds were provided for his maintenance, +but the journey to England was again and again put off; and at last +there were signs that Lord Stanhope was not quite satisfied with his new +plaything. So much had been said about Kaspar's cleverness, that his new +teachers were disappointed to find that his acquirements were about +those of a boy of eight. They accused him of laziness and of deceit; and +he, finding himself suspected and closely questioned as to everything +he did, took refuge in falsehood. At last a government clerkship of the +lowest class was procured for him, but great complaints were made of his +inattention to his duties (mainly copying); he was unhappy, and, when on +a visit to Nuremberg in the summer, made plans for the happy time when +he should be able to come back and live with his friends there. For the +people of Ausbach, though making him one of the shows of the place, do +not seem to have had that perfect belief in him shown by his earlier +friends; while his new guardians expected a great deal too much from +him. His chief friend in Ausbach was the clergyman who had prepared him +for confirmation, who noticed, in November 1833, that he was very much +depressed; but this passed away. On the afternoon of December 14, Kaspar +came to call on the clergyman's wife, and was particularly happy and +bright. Three hours afterwards he staggered into his tutor's house, +holding his hand to his side, gasping out 'Garden--man--stabbed--give +purse--let it drop--come--' and dragged the astonished Dr. Mayer off to +a public garden, where a little purse was found on the ground. In it was +a piece of paper, on which was written backwards in pencil these lines: +'I come from the Bavarian frontier. I will even tell you my name, "M. L. +O."' + +Kaspar was taken home and put to bed, when it was discovered that there +was a deep stab in his left side. For some hours he was too ill to be +questioned, but on the 15th he was able to tell his story. On the 14th, +as he was coming out of the government buildings to go home to dinner, +he was accosted by a man who promised to tell him who his parents were, +if he would come to a spot in the public gardens. He refused, as he was +going home to dinner, but made an appointment for that afternoon. After +dinner he called on the clergyman's wife, and then went to the gardens, +where he found the man waiting for him. The man led him to the Uz +monument, which was at a little distance from the main path, and shut in +by trees. Here he made him take a solemn oath of secrecy and handed him +the little purse, which Kaspar, in his hurry to seize it, let drop. As +he stooped to pick it up he was stabbed, and when he lifted himself up +the stranger was gone. Then he ran home. + +For two days he was not supposed to be in any danger, but fever set in; +the doctors gave no hope of his recovery, and on the 17th he died. + +His death caused great excitement, not only in Ausbach and Nuremberg, +but throughout all Germany. The question as to whether he was an +impostor or not was hotly debated; those who favoured the former theory +insisting that he had killed himself accidentally when he only meant to +wound himself and so excite sympathy. Some of the doctors declared, +however, that that was quite impossible, for the wound was meant to +kill, and could only have been self-inflicted by a left-handed person of +great strength, for it had pierced through a padded coat. A large reward +(1,200_l._) was offered for the capture of the assassin, but in vain; +and the spot of the murder was marked by an inscription in Latin: + + HIC + OCCULTUS + OCCULTO + OCCISUS EST + + (Here the Mystery was mysteriously murdered). + +The same idea is repeated on his tombstone. 'Here lies K. H., the riddle +of the age. His birth was unknown, his death mysterious.' + +His death was the signal for a violent paper-war between his friends and +his enemies. It raged hotly for years; but his friends have never +succeeded in proving who he was; why, after having been shut up for so +long, he was at last set free; or why his death was, after all, +necessary; while his enemies have utterly failed to prove that he was an +impostor.[11] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] Probably the man had tied a piece of black crape over his face as a +mask. + +[11] This is rather a picturesque than a critical story of Kaspar +Hauser. The evidence of the men who first met him shows that he could +then speak quite rationally. The curious will find a brief but useful +account of him in the Duchess of Cleveland's 'Kaspar Hauser' +(Macmillans, 1893.) + + + + +_AN ARTIST'S ADVENTURE_ + + +NEARLY four hundred years ago, a boy was born in Italy who grew up to be +one of the most accomplished artists of his own or any other age. +Besides excelling as a sculptor, modeller, and medallist, he was a +musician, an author, and an admirable swordsman; and popes, kings, and +other great princes eagerly employed him, and vied with each other to +secure his services. His name was Benvenuto Cellini. + +Under Pope Clement VII. he took part in the defence of the Castle of St. +Angelo, when it was besieged by the Constable de Bourbon, and the Pope +reposed such confidence in Cellini that he was entrusted with the task +of removing all the gems in the treasury from their settings, and +concealing the stones in the thick folds of his clothing. However, I am +not going to enlarge on Benvenuto's many talents, but to tell you of a +wonderful adventure which befell him in the very Castle of St. Angelo he +had helped to defend. + +Those were lawless days, and Cellini was a man of fiery temper, to whom +blows came more naturally than patience and forbearance. So it came to +pass that, being told that a certain goldsmith named Pompeo had been +spreading false reports about him, Benvenuto fell upon him one fine day +in the very midst of Rome, and promptly stabbed him to death. + +This might possibly have been overlooked, but a workman, jealous of +Cellini's success and reputation, accused the artist to the reigning +Pope, Paul III., of having purloined some of the jewels entrusted to his +care during the siege, and Paul was not to be trifled with where the +affairs of the treasury were concerned. Moreover, a near relation of the +Pope's was Cellini's sworn enemy, and this sufficed to seal his fate. + +So, when taking a walk one morning, Benvenuto suddenly found himself +face to face with Crespino, the sheriff, attended by his band of +constables. Crespino advanced, saying, 'You are the Pope's prisoner.' + +'Crespino,' exclaimed Benvenuto, 'you must take me for some one else.' + +'No, no,' replied Crespino, 'I know you perfectly, Benvenuto, and I have +orders to carry you to the Castle of St. Angelo, where great nobles and +men of talent like yourself are sent.' + +Then he politely begged Benvenuto to give up his sword, and led him off +to the Castle, where he was locked up in a room above the keep. + +It was easy enough for Benvenuto to refute the accusations brought +against him; nevertheless he was kept prisoner, in spite of the +intervention of the French ambassador, who demanded his liberty in the +name of Francis I. + +The governor of the Castle was, like Cellini, a Florentine, and at first +showed himself full of kind attentions towards his countryman, allowing +him a certain amount of liberty on parole, within the Castle walls. +Growing suspicious later, he kept his prisoner closer, but after a time +he restored him to comparative liberty. + +When Benvenuto found how changeable the governor's humour was, he set +himself to think over matters seriously. 'For,' he reflected, 'should a +fresh fit of anger or suspicion cause him to confine me more strictly, I +should feel myself released from my word, and it may be as well to be +prepared.' + +Accordingly he ordered some new coarse linen sheets to be brought him, +but when soiled he did not send them back. When his servants asked for +the sheets so as to have them washed he bade them say no more, as he had +given them to one of the poor soldiers on guard, who would be sure to +get into trouble if the matter were known. By degrees he emptied the +straw out of his mattress, burning a little of it at a time in his +fireplace, and replacing it with the sheets, which he cut into strips +some inches wide. As soon as he thought these strips were long enough +for his purpose, he told his servants that he had given all the sheets +away, and that in future they had better bring him finer linen, which he +would be sure to return. + +Now it so happened that every year the governor was subject to a most +distressing illness, which, for the time being, entirely deprived him of +his reason. When it began to come on, he would talk and chatter +incessantly. Each year he had some fresh hallucination, at one time +fancying himself an oil-jar, at another a frog, and skipping about like +one. Again, another time, he declared he was dead, and wished to be +buried; and so, year by year, he was the victim of some new delusion. +This year he imagined he was a bat, and as he walked about he uttered +little half-smothered cries like a bat, and flapped his hands and moved +his body as though about to fly. His faithful old servants and his +doctors noticed this, and, thinking change of ideas and variety of +conversation might do him good, they frequently fetched Benvenuto to +entertain him. + +One day the governor asked Benvenuto whether it had ever occurred to him +to desire to fly, and; on being answered in the affirmative, he inquired +further how he should set about it. + +Benvenuto replied that the only flying creature it would be at all +possible to imitate artificially was the bat, on which the poor man +cried out, 'True, true, that's it, that's the thing.' Then turning round +he said, 'Benvenuto, if you had everything you required for it, do you +think you could fly?' + +'Oh, yes,' said the artist; 'if you will only leave me free to do it, I +will engage to make a pair of wings of fine waxed cloth, and to fly from +here to Prati with them.' + +'And I, too,' exclaimed the governor; 'I could do it too, but the Pope +has ordered me to keep you like the apple of his eye, and as I strongly +suspect you're a cunning fellow, I shall lock you well up and give you +no chance of flying.' + +Thereupon, and in spite of all Benvenuto's entreaties and protestations, +the governor ordered him to be taken back to prison and more carefully +guarded than ever. + +Seeing he could not help himself, Cellini exclaimed before the officers +and attendants: 'Very well! lock me up and keep me safe, for I give you +due warning I mean to escape in spite of everything.' + +No sooner was he shut up in his cell than he fell to turning over in his +mind how this escape could be made, and began minutely examining his +prison, and, after discovering what he thought would be a sure way of +getting out, he considered how best he might let himself down from the +top of this enormous donjon tower, which went by the name of 'Il +Mastio.' He began by measuring the length of the linen strips, which he +had cut and joined firmly together so as to form a sort of rope, and he +thought there would be enough for his purpose. Next, he armed himself +with a pair of pincers which he had taken from one of his guards who was +fond of carpentering, and who, amongst his tools, had a particularly +large and strong pair of pincers, which appeared so useful to Benvenuto +that he abstracted them, and hid them in his mattress. + +As soon as he thought himself safe from interruption, he began to feel +about for the nails in the ironwork of the door, but owing to its +immense thickness they were by no means easy to get at. However, he +managed at length to extract the first nail. Then came the question, how +to conceal the hole left behind. This he contrived by making a paste of +rusty scrapings and wax, which he modelled into an exact representation +of the head of a nail, and in this way he replaced each nail he drew by +a facsimile of its head in wax. + +Great care was required to leave just a sufficient number of nails to +keep the ironwork and hinges in their places. But Benvenuto managed this +by first drawing the nails, cutting them as short as he dared, and then +replacing them in such a way as to keep things together, and yet to +allow of their being easily drawn out at the last moment. + +All this was by no means easy to contrive, for the governor was +constantly sending some one to make sure that his prisoner was safe. + +The two men who were specially charged with this duty were rough and +rude, and one of them in particular took pains to inspect the whole room +carefully every evening, paying special attention to the locks and +hinges. + +Cellini lived in constant terror lest it should occur to them to examine +his bedding, where, besides the pincers, he had hidden a long sharp +dagger and some other instruments, as well as his long strips of linen. +Each morning he swept out and dusted his room and carefully made his +bed, ornamenting it with flowers which he got the soldier from whom he +had taken the pincers to bring him. When his two warders appeared he +desired them on no account to go near or touch his bed, for fear of +soiling or disturbing it. Sometimes, in order to tease him, they would +touch it, and then he would shout: 'Ah! you dirty rascals! Just let me +get at one of your swords and see how I'll punish you! How dare you +touch the bed of such a man as I am? Little care I about risking my own +life, for I should be certain to take yours. Leave me in peace with my +grief and trouble, or I will show you what a man can do when driven to +desperation!' + +These words were repeated to the governor, who forbade the gaolers +touching Cellini's bed, or entering his room armed. The bed once safe, +he felt as if all else must go right. + +[Illustration: HE PREPARED TO ATTACK THE SENTRY] + +One night the governor had a worse attack than ever, and in a fit of +madness kept repeating that he certainly was a bat, and that, should +they hear of Benvenuto's escape, they must let him fly off too, as he +was sure he could fly better at night and would overtake the fugitive. +'Benvenuto,' said he, 'is but a sham bat, but as I am a real bat, and he +has been given into my keeping, I shall soon catch him again, depend on +it.' + +This bad attack lasted several nights, and the Savoyard soldier, who +took an interest in Benvenuto, reported to him that the servants were +quite worn out watching their sick master. Hearing this, Cellini +resolved to attempt his escape at once, and set hard to work to complete +his preparations. He worked all night, and about two hours before dawn +he, with much care and trouble, removed the hinges from the door. The +casing and bolts prevented his opening it wide, so he chipped away the +woodwork, till at length he was able to slip through, taking with him +his linen ropes, which he had wound on two pieces of wood like two great +reels of thread. + +Having passed the door he turned to the right of the tower, and having +removed a couple of tiles, he easily got out on the roof. He wore a +white doublet and breeches and white boots, into one of which he had +slipped his dagger. Taking one end of his linen rope, he now proceeded +to hook it carefully over an antique piece of tile which was firmly +cemented into the wall. This tile projected barely four fingers' +breadth, and the band hooked over it as on a stirrup. When he had made +it firm he prayed thus: 'O Lord, my God, come now to my aid, for Thou +knowest that my cause is righteous, and that I am aiding myself.' Then +he gently let himself slide down the rope till he reached the ground. +There was no moon, but the sky was clear, and once down he gazed up at +the tower from which he had made so bold a descent, and went off in high +spirits, thinking himself at liberty, which indeed was by no means the +case. + +On this side of the Castle the governor had had two high walls built to +inclose his stables and his poultry-yard, and these walls had gates +securely bolted and barred on the outside. + +In despair at these obstacles Benvenuto roamed about at random, cursing +his bad luck, when suddenly he hit his foot against a long pole which +lay hidden in the straw. With a good deal of effort he managed to raise +it against the wall and to scramble up to the top. Here he found a +sharply sloping coping stone which made it impossible to draw the pole +up after him, but he fastened a portion of the second linen band to +it, and by this means let himself down as he had done outside the donjon +tower. + +By this time Benvenuto was much exhausted, and his hands were all cut +and bleeding; however, after a short rest he climbed the last inclosure, +and was just in the act of fastening his rope to a battlement, when, to +his horror, he saw a sentinel close to him. Desperate at this +interruption, and at the thought of the risk he ran, he prepared to +attack the sentry, who, however, seeing a man advance on him with a +drawn dagger and determined air, promptly took to his heels, and +Benvenuto returned to his rope. Another guard was near, but, hoping not +to have been observed, the fugitive secured his band and hastily slid +down it. Whether it was fatigue, or that he thought himself nearer the +ground than he really was, it is impossible to say, but he loosened his +hold, and fell, hitting his head, and lay stretched on the ground for +more than an hour. + +The sharp freshness of the air just before sunrise revived him, but his +memory did not return immediately, and he fancied his head had been cut +off and that he was in purgatory. By degrees, as his senses returned, he +realised that he was no longer in the Castle, and remembered what he had +done. He put his hands to his head and withdrew them covered with blood, +but on carefully examining himself he found he had no serious wound, +though on attempting to move he discovered that his right leg was +broken. Nothing daunted, he drew from his boot his poniard with its +sheath, which had a large ball at the end; the pressure of this ball on +the bone had caused the fracture. He threw away the sheath, and cutting +off a piece of the remaining linen band with his dagger, he bound up his +leg as best he could, and then, dagger in hand, proceeded to drag +himself along on his knees towards the gate of the town. It was still +closed, but seeing one stone near the bottom, which did not look very +huge, he tried to displace it. After repeated efforts it shook, and at +length yielded to his efforts, so, forcing it out, he squeezed himself +through. + +He had barely entered Rome when he was attacked by a band of savage +dogs, who bit and worried him cruelly. He fought desperately with his +dagger, and gave one dog such a stab that it fled howling, followed by +the rest of the pack, leaving Benvenuto free to drag himself as best he +could towards St. Peter's. + +By this time it was broad daylight, and there was much risk of +discovery; so, seeing a water-carrier passing with his train of asses +laden with jars full of water, Benvenuto hailed him and begged he would +carry him as far as the steps of St. Peter's. + +'I am a poor fellow,' said he, 'who have broken my leg trying to get out +of the window of a house where I went to see my lady-love. As the house +belongs to a great family, I much fear I shall be cut to pieces if I am +found here; so pray help me off and you shall have a gold crown for your +pains,' and Benvenuto put his hand to his purse, which was well filled. + +The water-carrier readily consented, and carried him to St. Peter's, +where he left him on the steps, from whence Benvenuto began to crawl +towards the palace of Duke Ottavio, whose wife, a daughter of the +emperor's, had brought many of Cellini's friends from Florence to Rome +in her train. She was well disposed towards the great artist, and he +felt that beneath her roof he would be in safety. Unluckily, as he +struggled along, he was seen and recognised by a servant of Cardinal +Cornaro's, who had apartments in the Vatican. The man hurried to his +master's room, woke him up, and cried: 'Most reverend lord, Benvenuto is +below; he must have escaped from the Castle, and is all bleeding and +wounded. He appears to have broken his leg, and we have no idea where he +is going.' + +'Run at once,' exclaimed the Cardinal, 'and fetch him here, to my room.' + +When Benvenuto appeared the Cardinal assured him he need have no fears, +and sent off for the first surgeons in Rome to attend to him. Then he +shut him up in a secret room, and went off to try and obtain his pardon +from the Pope. + +Meantime a great commotion arose in Rome, for the linen ropes dangling +from the great tower had attracted notice, and all the town was running +out to see the strange sight. At the Vatican Cardinal Cornaro met a +friend, to whom he related all the details of Benvenuto's escape, and +how he was at that very moment hidden in a secret chamber. Then they +both went to the Pope, who, as they threw themselves at his feet, cried, +'I know what you want with me.' + +'Holy Father,' said the Cardinal's friend, 'we entreat you to grant us +the life of this poor man. His genius deserves some consideration; and +he has just shown an almost superhuman amount of courage and dexterity. +We do not know what may be the crimes for which your Holiness has seen +fit to imprison him, but if they are pardonable we implore you to +forgive him.' + +The Pope, looking somewhat abashed, replied that he had imprisoned +Benvenuto for being too presumptuous; 'however,' he added, 'I am well +aware of his talents and am anxious to keep him near me, and am resolved +to treat him so well that he shall have no desire to return to France. I +am sorry he is ill; bid him recover quickly, and we will make him forget +his past sufferings.' + +I am sorry to say the Pope was not so good as his words, for Benvenuto's +enemies plotted against him, and after a time he was once more shut up +in his former prison, from which, however, he was eventually delivered +at the urgent request of the King of France, who warmly welcomed the +great artist to his Court, where he spent some years in high honour. + + + + +_THE TALE OF ISANDHLWANA AND RORKE'S DRIFT_ + + +[Illustration: A]LTHOUGH but fourteen years have gone by since 1879, +perhaps some people, if they chance to be young, have forgotten about +the Zulus, and the story of our war with them; so, before beginning the +tale of Isandhlwana and Rorke's Drift, it may be worth while to tell of +these matters in a few words. + +The Zulus live in South-Eastern Africa. Originally they were not one +tribe but many, though the same blood was in them all. Nobody knows +whence they came or who were their forefathers; but they seem to have +sprung from an Arab or Semitic stock, and many of their customs, such as +the annual feast of the first fruits, resemble those of the Jews. At the +beginning of this century there arose a warrior king, called Chaka, who +gathered up the scattered tribes of the Zulus as a woodman gathers +sticks, and as of the frail brushwood the woodman makes a stout faggot, +that none can break, so of these tribes Chaka fashioned a nation so +powerful that no other black people could conquer it. + +The deeds of Chaka are too many to write of here. Seldom has there been +a monarch, black or white, so terrible or so absolute, and never perhaps +has a man lived more wicked or more clever. Out of 'nothing,' as the +Kafirs say, he made the Amazulu, or the 'people of heaven,' so +powerful, that before he died he could send out an army of a hundred +thousand men to destroy those whom he feared or hated or whose cattle he +coveted. These soldiers were never beaten; if they dared to turn their +back upon an enemy, however numerous, they were killed when the battle +was done, so that soon they learned to choose death with honour before +the foe in preference to death with shame at the hands of the +executioner. Where Chaka's armies went they conquered, till the country +was swept of people for hundreds of miles in every direction. At length, +after he had killed or been the cause of the violent death of more than +a million human beings, in the year 1828 Chaka's own hour came; for, as +the Zulu proverb says, 'the swimmer is at last borne away by the +stream.' He was murdered by the princes of his house and his body +servant Umbopo or Mopo. But as he lay dying beneath their spear thrusts, +it is said that the great king prophesied of the coming of white men who +should conquer the land that he had won. + +'What,' he said, 'do you slay me, my brothers--dogs of mine own house +whom I have fed, thinking to possess the land? I tell you that I hear +the sound of running feet, the feet of a great white people, and they +shall stamp you flat, children of my father.' + +After the death of Chaka his brother Dingaan reigned who had murdered +him. In due course he was murdered also, and his brother Panda succeeded +to the throne. Panda was a man of peace, and the only one of the four +Zulu kings who died a natural death; for though it is not commonly +known, the last of these kings, our enemy Cetywayo, is believed to have +met his end by poison. In 1873, Cetywayo was crowned king of Zululand in +succession to his father Panda on behalf of the English Government by +Sir Theophilus Shepstone. He remained a firm friend to the British till +Sir Bartle Frere declared war on him in 1879. Sir Bartle Frere made war +upon the Zulus because he was afraid of their power, and the Zulus +accepted the challenge because we annexed the Transvaal and would not +allow them to fight the Boers or the Swazis. They made a brave +resistance, and it was not until there were nearly as many English +soldiers in their country armed with breech-loading rifles as they had +effective warriors left alive in it, for the most part armed with spears +only, that at length we conquered them. But their heart was never in the +war; they defended their country against invasion indeed, but by +Cetywayo's orders they never attacked ours. Had they wished to do so, +there was nothing to prevent them from sweeping the outlying districts +of Natal and the Transvaal after our first great defeat at Isandhlwana, +but they spared us. + +And now I have done with dull explanations, and will go on to tell of +the disaster at Isandhlwana or the 'place of the Little Hand,' and of +the noble defence of Rorke's Drift. + +On the 20th of January, 1879, one of the British columns that were +invading Zululand broke its camp on the left bank of the Buffalo river, +and marched by the road that ran from Rorke's Drift to the Indeni +forest, encamping that evening under the shadow of a steep-cliffed and +lonely mountain, called Isandhlwana. This force was known as number 3 +column, and with it went Lord Chelmsford, the general in command of the +troops. The buildings at Rorke's Drift were left in charge of sixty men +of the 2nd battalion 24th regiment under the late Colonel Bromhead, then +a lieutenant, and some volunteers and others, the whole garrison being +commanded, on the occasion of the attack, by Lieutenant Chard, R.E. + +On January 21, Colonel, then Major, Dartnell, the officer in command of +the Natal Mounted Police and volunteers, who had been sent out to effect +a reconnaissance of the country beyond Isandhlwana, reported that the +Zulus were in great strength in front of him. Thereupon Lord Chelmsford +ordered six companies of the 2nd battalion 24th regiment, together with +four guns and the Mounted Infantry, to advance to his support. This +force, under the command of Colonel Glyn, and accompanied by Lord +Chelmsford himself, left Isandhlwana at dawn on the 22nd, a despatch +having first been sent to Lieut.-Colonel Durnford, R.E., who was in +command of some five hundred friendly Natal Zulus, about half of whom +were mounted and armed with breech-loaders, to move up from Rorke's +Drift and strengthen the camp, which was now in charge of Lieut.-Colonel +Pulleine of the 1st battalion 24th regiment. Orders were given to +Colonel Pulleine by the general that he was to 'defend' the camp. + +About ten o'clock that morning Colonel Durnford arrived at Isandhlwana +and took over the command of the camp, which was then garrisoned by +seven hundred and seventy-two European and eight hundred and fifty-one +native troops, in all one thousand six hundred and twenty-three men, +with two guns. Little did Lord Chelmsford and those with him guess in +what state they would find that camp when they returned to it some +eighteen hours later, or that of those sixteen hundred men the great +majority would then be dead! + +Meanwhile a Zulu 'impi' or army, numbering about twenty thousand men, or +something more than one-third of King Cetywayo's entire strength, had +moved from the Upindo Hill on the night of January 21, and taken up its +position on a stony plain, a mile and a half to the east of Isandhlwana. +The impi was made up of the Undi regiment, about three thousand strong, +that formed its breast, or centre, the Nokenke and Umcityu regiments, +seven thousand strong, that formed its right wing or horn, and the +Imbonanbi and Nkobamikosi regiments, ten thousand strong, forming its +left horn or wing. That night the impi slept upon its spears and watched +in silence, lighting no fires. The king had reviewed it three days +previously, and his orders to it were that it should attack number 3 +column, and drive it back over the Buffalo, but it had no intention of +giving battle on the 22nd, for the state of the moon was not propitious, +so said the 'doctors'; moreover, the soldiers had not been 'moutied,' +that is, sprinkled with medicines to 'put a great heart' into them and +ensure their victory. The intention of the generals was to attack the +camp at dawn on the 23rd; and the actual engagement was brought about by +an accident. + +Before I tell of this or of the fight, however, it may be as well to +describe how these splendid savages were armed and disciplined. To begin +with, every corps had a particular head-dress and fighting shields of +one colour, just as in our army each regiment has its own facings on the +tunics. These shields are cut from the hides of oxen, and it is easy to +imagine what a splendid sight was presented by a Zulu impi twenty +thousand strong, divided into several regiments, one with snow-white +shields and tall cranes' feathers on their heads, one with coal-black +shields and black plumes, and others with red and mottled shields, and +bands of fur upon their foreheads. In their war with the English many of +the Zulus were armed with muzzle-loading guns and rifles of the worst +description, of which they could make little use, for few of them were +trained to handle firearms. A much more terrible weapon in their hands, +and one that did nearly all the execution at Isandhlwana, was the +broad-bladed short-shafted stabbing assegai. This shape of spear was +introduced by the great king Chaka, and if a warrior cast it at an +enemy, or even chanced to lose it in a fight, he was killed when the +fray was over. Before Chaka's day the Zulu tribes used light assegais, +which they threw at the enemy from a distance, and thus their ammunition +was sometimes spent before they came to close quarters with the foe. + +Among the Zulus every able-bodied man was enrolled in one or other of +the regiments--even the girls and boys were made into regiments or +attached to them, and though these did not fight, they carried the mats +and cooking pots of the army, and drove the cattle for the soldiers to +eat when on the march. Thus it will be seen that this people differed +from any other in the world in modern days, for whereas even the most +courageous and martial of mankind look upon war as an exceptional state +of affairs and an evil only to be undertaken in self-defence, or perhaps +for purposes of revenge and aggrandisement, the Zulus looked on peace as +the exceptional state, and on warfare as the natural employment of man. +Chaka taught them that lesson, and they had learnt it well, and so it +came about that Cetywayo was forced to allow the army to fight with us +when Sir Bartle Frere gave them an opportunity of doing so, since their +hearts were sick with peace, and for years they had clamoured to be +allowed to 'wash their spears,' saying that they were no longer men, but +had become a people of women. Indeed, had the king not done so, they +would have fought with each other. It is a terrible thing to be obliged, +year after year, to keep quiet an army of some fifty or sixty thousand +men who are too proud to work and clamour daily to be led to battle that +they may die as their fathers died. We may be sure that the heart of +many a Zulu warrior beat high as in dead silence he marched that night +from the heights of Upindo towards the doomed camp of Isandhlwana, since +at last he was to satisfy the longing of his blood, and fight to the +death with a foe whom he knew to be worthy of him. + +Doubtless, also, the hearts of the white men beat high that night as +they gathered round the fires of their camp, little knowing that +thousands of Zulu eyes were watching them from afar, or that the black +rock looming above them was destined to stand like some great tombstone +over their bones for ever. Englishmen also are a warlike race, and there +was honour and advancement to be won, and it would seem that but few of +those who marched into the Zulu country guessed how formidable was the +foe with whom they had to deal. A horde of half-naked savages armed with +spears did not strike English commanders, imperfectly acquainted with +the history and nature of those savages, as particularly dangerous +enemies. Some there were, indeed, who, having spent their lives in the +country, knew what was to be expected, but they were set down as +'croakers,' and their earnest warnings of disaster to come were +disregarded. + +Now let us return to the camp. It will be remembered that Colonel Glyn's +force, accompanied by General Lord Chelmsford, had left at dawn. About +eight o'clock a picket placed some 1,500 yards distant reported that +Zulus were approaching from the north-east. This information was +despatched by mounted messengers to Colonel Glyn's column. + +Lieut.-Colonel Durnford, with his mounted natives and a rocket battery +arriving from Rorke's Drift about 10 A.M., took over the command of the +camp from Colonel Pulleine. According to the evidence of Lieutenant +Cochrane given at the court of inquiry, Colonel Pulleine thereupon +stated to Colonel Durnford the orders that he had received, to 'defend +the camp,' and it would appear that either then or subsequently some +altercation took place between these two officers. In the issue, +however, Colonel Durnford advanced his mounted force to ascertain the +enemy's movements, and directed a company of the 1st battalion 24th +regiment to occupy a hill about 1,200 yards to the north of the camp. + +Other companies of the 24th were stationed at various points at a +distance from the camp. It may be well to explain here, that to these +movements of troops, which, so far as can be ascertained, were made by +the direct orders of Colonel Durnford, must be attributed the terrible +disaster that followed. There are two ways of fighting a savage or +undisciplined enemy; the scientific way, such as is taught in staff +colleges, and the unscientific way that is to be learned in the sterner +school of experience. We English were not the first white men who had to +deal with the rush of the Zulu impis. The Boers had encountered them +before, at the battle of the Blood River, and armed only with +muzzle-loading 'roers,' or elephant guns, despite their desperate +valour, had worsted them, with fearful slaughter. But they did not +advance bodies of men to this point or to that, according to the +scientific method; they drew their ox waggons into a square, lashing +them together with 'reims' or hide-ropes, and from behind this rough +defence, with but trifling loss to themselves, rolled back charge after +charge of the warriors of Dingaan. + +Had this method been followed by our troops at the battle of +Isandhlwana, who had ample waggons at hand to enable them to execute the +manoeuvre, had the soldiers even been collected in a square beneath +the cliff of the mountain, it cannot be doubted but that, armed as they +were with breech-loaders, they would have been able to drive back not +only the impi sent against them, but, if necessary, the entire Zulu +army. Indeed, that this would have been so is demonstrated by what +happened on the same day at Rorke's Drift, where a hundred and thirty +men repelled the desperate assaults of three or four thousand. Why, +then, it may be asked, did Colonel Durnford, a man of considerable +colonial experience, adopt the more risky, if the more scientific, mode +of dealing with the present danger, and this in spite of Colonel +Pulleine's direct intimation to him that his orders were 'to defend the +camp'? As it chances, the writer of this account, who knew Colonel +Durnford well, and has the greatest respect for the memory of that good +officer, and honourable gentleman, is able to suggest an answer to the +problem which at the time was freely offered by the Natal colonists. A +few years before, it happened that Colonel Durnford was engaged upon +some military operations against a rebellious native chief in Natal. +Coming into contact with the followers of this chief, in the hope that +matters might be arranged without bloodshed, Durnford ordered the white +volunteers under his command not to fire, with the result that the +rebels fired, killing several of his force and wounding him in the arm. +This incident gave rise to an irrational indignation in the colony, and +for a while he himself was designated by the ungenerous nickname of +'Don't fire Durnford.' It is alleged, none can know with what amount of +truth, that it was the memory of this undeserved insult which caused +Colonel Durnford to insist upon advancing the troops under his command +to engage the Zulus in the open, instead of withdrawing them to await +attack in the comparative safety of a 'laager.' + +The events following the advance of the various British companies at +Isandhlwana are exceedingly difficult to describe in their proper order, +since the evidence of the survivors is confused. + +[Illustration] + +It would appear, however, that Durnford's mounted Basutos discovered and +fired on a portion of the Umcityu regiment, which, forgetting its +orders, sprang up and began to charge. Thereon, accepting the position, +the other Zulu regiments joined the movement. Very rapidly, and with the +most perfect order, the impi adopted the traditional Zulu ox-head +formation, namely, that of a centre and two horns, the centre +representing the skull of the ox. In this order they advanced towards +the English camp, slowly and without sound. Up to this time there had +been no particular alarm in the camp. The day was bright and lovely, +with a hot sun tempered by a gentle breeze that just stirred the tops of +the grasses, and many men seem to have been strolling about quite +unaware of their imminent danger, although orders were given to collect +the transport oxen, which were at graze outside the camp; not for the +purpose of inspanning the waggons, but to prevent them from being +captured by the enemy. One officer (Captain, now Colonel, Essex) reports +that after the company had been sent out, he retired to his tent to +write letters, till, about twelve o'clock, a sergeant came to tell him +that firing was to be heard behind a hill in face of the camp. He +mounted a horse and rode up the slope, to find the company firing on a +line of Zulus eight hundred paces away to their front. This line was +about a thousand yards long, and shaped like a horn, tapering towards +the point. It advanced slowly, taking shelter with great skill behind +rocks, and opened a quite ineffective fire on the soldiers. Meanwhile +the two guns were shelling the Zulu centre with great effect, the shells +cutting lanes through their dense ranks, which closed up over the dead +in perfect discipline and silence. The attack was now general, all the +impi taking part in it except a reserve regiment that sat down upon the +ground taking snuff, and never came into action, and the Undi corps, +which moved off to the right with the object of passing round the north +side of the Isandhlwana hill. + +On came the Zulus in silence, and ever as they came the two horns crept +further and further ahead of the black breast of their array. Hundreds +of them fell beneath the fire of the breech-loaders, but they did not +pause in their attack. Ammunition began to fail the soldiers, and orders +having reached them--too late--to concentrate on the camp, they retired +slowly to that position. Captain Essex also rode back, and assisted the +quartermaster of the 24th to place boxes of ammunition in a mule cart, +till presently the quartermaster was shot dead at his side. Now the +horns or nippers of the foe were beginning to close on the doomed camp, +and the friendly natives, who knew well what this meant, though as yet +the white men had not understood their danger, began to steal away by +twos and threes, and then, breaking into open rout, they rushed through +the camp, seeking the waggon road to Rorke's Drift. + +Then at last the Zulu generals saw that the points of the horns had met +behind the white men, and the moment was ripe. Abandoning its silence +and slow advance, the breast of the impi raised the war-cry and charged, +rolling down upon the red coats like a wave of steel. So swift and +sudden was this last charge, that many of the soldiers had no time to +fix bayonets. For a few moments the scattered companies held the impi +back, and the black stream flowed round them, then it flowed _over_ +them, sweeping them along like human wreckage. In a minute the defence +had become an utter rout. Some of the defenders formed themselves into +groups and fought back to back till they fell where they stood, to be +found weeks afterwards mere huddled heaps of bones. Hundreds of others +fled for the waggon road, to find that the Undi regiment, passing round +the Isandhlwana mountain, had occupied it already. Back they rolled from +the hedge of Undi spears to fall upon the spears of the attacking +regiments. One path of retreat alone remained, a dry and precipitous +'donga' or watercourse, and into this plunged a rabble of men, white and +black, mules, horses, guns, and waggons. + +Meanwhile the last act of the tragedy was being played on the field of +death. With a humming sound such as might be made by millions of bees, +the Zulu swarms fell upon those of the soldiers who remained alive, and, +after a desperate resistance, stabbed them. Wherever the eye looked, men +were falling and spears flashing in the sunshine, while the ear was +filled with groans of the dying and the savage _S'gee S'gee_ of the Zulu +warriors as they passed their assegais through and through the bodies of +the fallen. Many a deed of valour was done there as white men and black +grappled in the death-struggle, but their bones alone remained to tell +the tale of them. Shortly after the disaster, one of the survivors told +the present writer of a duel which he witnessed between a Zulu and an +officer of the 24th regiment. The officer having emptied his revolver, +set his back against the wheel of a waggon and drew his sword. Then the +Zulu came at him with his shield up, turning and springing from side to +side as he advanced. Presently he lowered the shield, exposing his head, +and the white man falling into the trap aimed a fierce blow at it. As it +fell the shield was raised again, and the sword sank deep into its edge, +remaining fixed in the tough ox-hide. This was what the Zulu desired; +with a twist of his strong arm he wrenched the sword from his opponent's +hand, and in another instant the unfortunate officer was down with an +assegai through his breast. + +In a few minutes it was done, all resistance had been overpowered, the +wounded had been murdered--for the Zulu on the war-path has no +mercy--and the dead mutilated and cut open to satisfy the horrible +native superstition. Then those regiments that remained upon the field +began the work of plunder. Most of the bodies they stripped naked, +clothing themselves in the uniforms of the dead soldiers. They stabbed +the poor oxen that remained fastened to the 'trek-tows' of the waggons, +and they drank all the spirits that they could find, some of them, it is +said, perishing through the accidental consumption of the medical +stores. Then, when the sun grew low, they retreated, laden with +plunder, taking with them the most of their dead, of whom there are +believed to have been about fifteen hundred, for the Martinis did their +work well, and our soldiers had not died unavenged. + + * * * * * + +All this while Lord Chelmsford and the division which he accompanied +were in ignorance of what had happened within a few miles of them, +though rumours had reached them that a Zulu force was threatening the +camp. The first to discover the dreadful truth was Commandant Lonsdale +of the Natal Native Contingent. This officer had been ill, and was +returning to camp alone, a fact that shows how little anything serious +was expected. He reached it about the middle of the afternoon, and there +was nothing to reveal to the casual observer that more than three +thousand human beings had perished there that day. The sun shone, on the +white tents and on the ox waggons, around and about which groups of +red-coated men were walking, sitting, and lying. It did not chance to +occur to him that those who were moving were Zulus wearing the coats of +English soldiers, and those lying down, soldiers whom the Zulus had +killed. As Commandant Lonsdale rode, a gun was fired, and he heard a +bullet whizz past his head. Looking in the direction of the sound, he +saw a native with a smoking rifle in his hand, and concluding that it +was one of the men under his command who had discharged his piece +accidentally, he took no more notice of the matter. Forward he rode, +till he was within ten yards of what had been the headquarter tents, +when suddenly out of one of them there stalked a great Zulu, bearing in +his hand a broad assegai from which blood was dripping. Then his +intelligence awoke, and he understood. The camp was in the possession of +the enemy, and those who lay here and there upon the grass like holiday +makers in a London park on a Sunday in summer, were English soldiers +indeed, not living but dead. + +Turning his horse, Commandant Lonsdale fled as swiftly as it could carry +him. More than a hundred rifle-shots were fired after him, but the Zulu +marksmanship was poor, and he escaped untouched. A while afterwards, a +solitary horseman met Lord Chelmsford and his staff returning: he +saluted, and said, '_The camp is in the possession of the enemy, sir!_' +None who heard those words will forget them, and few men can have +experienced a more terrible shock than that which fell upon the English +general in this hour. + +[Illustration] + +Slowly, and with all military precaution, Lord Chelmsford and his force +moved onward, till at length, when darkness had fallen, they encamped +beneath the fatal hill of Isandhlwana. Here, momentarily expecting to be +attacked, they remained all night amid the wreck, the ruin, and the +dead, but not till the following dawn did they learn the magnitude of +the disaster that had overtaken our arms. Then they saw, and in silence +marched from that fatal field, heading for Rorke's Drift, and leaving +its mutilated dead to the vulture and the jackal. + + * * * * * + +Now let us follow the fate of the mob of fugitives, who, driven back +from the waggon road by the Undi, plunged desperately into the donga +near it, the sole avenue of retreat which had not been besieged by the +foe, in the hope that they might escape the slaughter by following the +friendly natives who were mixed up with them. How many entered on that +terrible race for life is not known, but it is certain that very few won +through. Indeed, it is said that, with the exception of some natives, no +single man who was not mounted lived to pass the Buffalo River. For five +miles or more they rode and ran over paths that a goat would have found +it difficult to keep his footing on, while by them, and mixed up with +them, went the destroying Zulus. Very soon the guns became fixed among +the boulders, and one by one the artillerymen were assegaied. On went +the survivors, hopeless yet hoping. Now a savage sprang on this man, and +now on that; the assegai flashed up, a cry of agony echoed among the +rocks, and a corpse fell heavily to the red earth. Still, those whom it +pleased Providence to protect struggled forward, clinging to their +horses' manes as they leaped from boulder to boulder, till at length +they came to a cliff, beneath which the Buffalo rolled in flood. Down +this cliff they slid and stumbled, few of them can tell how; then, +driven to it by the pitiless spears, they plunged into the raging river. +Many were drowned in its waters, some were shot in the stream, some were +stabbed upon the banks, yet a few, clinging to the manes and tails of +their horses, gained the opposite shore in safety. + +Among these were two men whose memory their country will not willingly +let die, who, indeed (it is the first time in our military history), +have been decreed the Victoria Cross although they were already dead: +Lieutenants Coghill and Melvill of the 24th regiment. One of these, +Lieutenant Coghill, the writer of this sketch had the good fortune to +know well. A kindlier-hearted and merrier young English gentleman never +lived. Melvill and Coghill were swept away upon the tide of flight, down +the dreadful path that led to Fugitives' Drift, but Melvill bore with +him the colours of the 24th regiment that were in his charge as +adjutant, not tied round his waist, as has been reported, but upon the +pole to which they were attached. He arrived in safety at the river, +but, owing to the loss of his horse, was unable to cross it, and took +refuge upon a rock in mid-stream, still holding the colours in his hand. +Coghill, whose knee was disabled by an accident and who had reached the +Natal bank already, saw the terrible position of his friend and brother +officer, and, though spears flashed about him and bullets beat the water +like hail, with a courage that has rarely been equalled, he turned his +horse and swam back to his assistance. The worst was over; safety lay +before him, there behind him in the river was almost certain death; but +this gallant gentleman heeded none of these things, for there also were +the colours of his regiment and his drowning friend. Back he swam to the +rock through the boiling current. Soon his horse was shot dead beneath +him, yet, though none knows how, the two of them came safe to shore. The +colours were lost indeed, for they could no longer carry them and live, +but these never fell into the hands of their savage foes: days +afterwards they were searched for and found in the bed of the river. +Breathless, desperate, lamed, and utterly outworn, the two friends +struggled up the bank and the hill beyond. But Zulus had crossed that +stream as well as the fugitive Englishmen. They staggered forward for a +few hundred yards, then, unable to go further, the friends stood back to +back and the foe closed in upon them. There they stood, and there, +fighting desperately, the heroes died. Peace be with them in that land +to which they have journeyed, and among men, immortal honour to their +names! + +They sold their lives dearly, for several Zulus were found lying about +their bodies. + +About forty white men lived to cross the river at Fugitives' Drift, and +these, almost the only English survivors of the force at Isandhlwana, +rode on, still followed by Zulus, to the provision depot at Helpmakaar +some fifteen miles away, where they mustered and entrenched themselves +as best they were able, expecting to be attacked at any moment. But no +attack was delivered, the Zulus being busily employed elsewhere. + + * * * * * + +Some little distance from the banks of the Buffalo, and on the Natal +side near to a mountain called Tyana, stood two buildings erected by the +Rev. Mr. Witt; Rorke's Drift, from which No. 3 column had advanced, +being immediately in front of them. One of these buildings had been +utilised as a storehouse and hospital, and in it were thirty-five sick +men. The other was occupied by a company of the 2nd 24th regiment, under +the command of the late Lieut. Bromhead.[12] + +On January 22, the ponts at Rorke's Drift were left in charge of Lieut. +Chard, R.E., with a few men. About a quarter-past three on that day an +officer of Lonsdale's regiment, Lieut. Adendorff, and a carbineer, were +seen galloping wildly towards the ponts. On coming to the bank of the +river, they shouted to Lieut. Chard to take them across, and so soon as +he reached them, they communicated to him the terrifying news that the +general's camp had been captured and destroyed by a Zulu impi. A few +minutes later a message arrived from Lieut. Bromhead, who also had +learned the tidings of disaster, requesting Lieut. Chard to join him at +the commissariat store. Mounting his horse he rode thither, to find +Lieut. Bromhead, assisted by Mr. Dolton, of the commissariat, and the +entire force at his command, amounting to about 130, inclusive of the +sick and the chaplain, Mr. Smith, a Norfolk man, actively engaged in +loopholing and barricading the house and hospital (both of which +buildings were thatched), and in connecting them by means of a +fortification of mealie bags and waggons. Having ridden round the +position, Lieut. Chard returned to the Drift. Sergeant Milne and Mr. +Daniells, who managed the ponts, offered to moor them in the middle of +the stream, and with the assistance of a few men to defend them from +their decks. This gallant suggestion being rejected as impracticable, +Lieut. Chard withdrew to the buildings with the waggon and those under +his command. + +They arrived there about 3.30, and shortly afterwards an officer of +Durnford's native horse rode up, accompanied by about 100 mounted men, +and asked for orders. He was requested to send out outposts in the +direction of the enemy, and, having checked their advance as much as +possible, to fall back, when forced so to do, upon the buildings and +assist in their defence. Posts were then assigned to each man in the +little garrison, and, this done, the defensive preparations went on, all +doing their utmost, for they felt that the life of every one of them was +at stake. Three-quarters of an hour went by, and the officer of +Durnford's horse rode up, reporting that the Zulus were advancing in +masses, and that his men were deserting in the direction of Helpmakaar. +At this time some natives of the Natal contingent under the command of +Capt. Stephenson also retired, an example which was followed by that +officer himself. + +Lieuts. Chard and Bromhead now saw that their lines of defence were too +large for the number of men left to them, and at once began the erection +of an inner entrenchment formed of biscuit boxes taken from the stores. +When this wall was but two boxes high, suddenly there appeared five or +six hundred Zulus advancing at a run against the southern side of their +position. These were soldiers of the Undi regiment, the same that had +turned the Isandhlwana mountain, cutting off all possibility of retreat +by the waggon road, who, when they knew that the camp was taken, had +advanced to destroy the guard of Rorke's Drift. On they came, to be met +presently by a terrible and concentrated fire from the Martinis. Many +fell, but they did not stay till, when within 50 yards of the wall, the +cross fire from the store took them in flank. Their loss was now so +heavy that, checking their advance, some of them took cover among the +ovens, cookhouse, and outbuildings, whence they in turn opened fire upon +the garrison. Hundreds more rushing round the hospital came at full +speed against the north-west fortification of sacks filled with corn. In +vain did the Martinis pump a hail of lead into them: on they came +straight to the frail defence, striving to take it at the point of the +assegai. But here they were met by British bayonets and a fire so +terrible that even the courage of the Zulus could not prevail against +it, and they fell back, that is, those of them who were left alive. + +By this time the main force of the Undi had arrived, two thousand of +them, perhaps, and having lined an overlooking ledge of rocks, took +possession of the garden of the station and the bush surrounding it, +from all of which the fire, though badly directed, was so continuous +that at length the little garrison of white men were forced back into +their inner entrenchment of biscuit boxes. Creeping up under cover of +the bush, the Zulus now delivered assault after assault upon the wall. +Each of these fierce rushes was repelled with the bayonets wielded by +the brave white men on its further side. The assegais clashed against +the rifle barrels, everywhere the musketry rang and rolled, the savage +war-cries and the cheers of the Englishmen rose together through the +din, while British soldier and Zulu warrior thrust and shot and tore at +each other across the narrow wall, that wall which all the Undi could +not climb. + +Now it grew dark, for the night was closing in; the spears flashed +dimly, and in place of smoke long tongues of flame shot from the rifle +barrels, illumining the stern faces of those who held them as lightning +does. But soon there was to be light. If any had leisure to observe, +they may have seen flakes of fire flying upwards from the dim bush, and +wondered what they were. They were bunches of burning grass being thrown +on spears to fall in the thatch of the hospital roof. Presently +something could be seen on this roof that shone like a star. It grew +dim, then suddenly began to brighten and to increase till the star-like +spot was a flame, and a hoarse cry passed from man to man of: 'O God! +the hospital is on fire!' + +The hospital was on fire, and in it were sick men, some of whom could +not move. It was defended by a garrison, a handful of men, and at one +and the same time these must bear away the sick to the store building, +and hold the burning place against the Zulus, who now were upon them. +They did it, but not all of it, for this was beyond the power of mortal +bravery and devotion. When the thatch blazed above them, room after room +did Privates Williams and Hook, R. and W. Jones, and some few others +hold with the white arm--for their ammunition was spent--against the +assegais of the Zulus, while their disabled comrades were borne away to +the store building beneath the shelter of the connecting wall. One of +them lost his life here, others were grievously wounded, but, dead or +alive, their names should always be remembered among their countrymen, +ay! and always will. Yet they could not save them every one; the fire +scorched overhead and the assegais bit deep in front, and ever, as foes +fell, fresh ones sprang into their places, and so, fighting furiously, +those few gallant men were thrust back, alas! leaving some helpless +comrades to die by fire and the spear. + +It would be of little use to follow step by step all the events of that +night. All night long the firing went on, varied from time to time by +desperate assaults. All night long the little band of defenders held +back the foe. All were weary, some of them were dead and more wounded, +but they fought on by the light of the burning hospital, wasting no +single shot. To and fro went the bearded clergyman with prayers and +consolations upon his lips, and a bag of cartridges in his hands, and to +and fro also went Chard and Bromhead, directing all things. By degrees +the Englishmen were driven back, the hospital and its approaches were in +the hands of the foe, and now they must retire to the inner wall of the +cattle kraal. But they collected sacks of mealies and built two +redoubts, which gave them a second line of fire, and let the Zulus do +what they would, storm the place they could not, nor could they serve it +as they had served the hospital and destroy it by fire. + +At length the attacks slackened, the firing dwindled and died, and the +dawn broke, that same dawn which showed to General Lord Chelmsford and +those with him all the horror of Isandhlwana's field. Here also at +Rorke's Drift it revealed death and to spare, but for the most part the +corpses were those of the foe, some four hundred of whom lay lost in +their last sleep around the burning hospital, in the bush, and beneath +the walls of corn-sacks; four hundred killed by one hundred and +thirty-nine white men all told, of whom thirty-five were sick when the +defence began. The little band had suffered, indeed, for fifteen of +them were dead, and twelve wounded, some mortally, but seeing what had +been done the loss was small. Had the Zulus once won an entrance over +the last entrenchment of biscuit boxes not a man would have remained +alive. Surely biscuits were never put to a nobler or a stranger use. + +The daylight had come and the enemy vanished with the night, retreating +over a hill to the south-west. But, as the defenders of Rorke's Drift +guessed, he had no intention of abandoning his attack. Therefore they +knew that this was no time to be idle. Sallying out of their defences +they collected the arms of the dead Zulus, then returned, and began to +strip the roof of the store of its thatch, which was a constant source +of danger to them, seeing that fire is a deadlier foe even than the +assegai. They were thus engaged when again the Zulus appeared to make an +end of them. Once more the weary soldiers took up their positions, and a +while passed. Now they perceived that the Undi, which had been +advancing, slowly commenced to fall back, a movement that they were at a +loss to understand, till a shout from those who were engaged in +stripping the roof told the glad news that English troops were advancing +to their relief. + +These were the remains of No. 3 column, moving down from Isandhlwana. +Little did the general and those with him expect to find a soul living +at Rorke's Drift, for they also had seen the sullen masses of the Undi +retreating from the post, and the columns of smoke rising from the +burning hospital confirmed their worst fears. What then was their joy +when they perceived a Union Jack flying amidst the smoke, and heard the +ring of a British cheer rising from the shattered walls and the defences +of sacks of corn! Forward galloped Col. Russell and his mounted men, and +in five minutes more those who remained of the garrison were safe, and +the defence of Rorke's Drift was a thing of the past; another glorious +page ready to be bound into that great book which is called 'The Deeds +of Englishmen.' + + * * * * * + +Nearly six months passed before all the dead at Isandhlwana were +reverently buried. Strange were the scenes that those saw whose task it +was to lay them to their rest. Here, hidden by the rank grass, in one +heap behind the officers' tents, lay the bodies of some seventy men, who +had made their last stand at this spot; lower down the hill lay sixty +more. Another band of about the same strength evidently had taken refuge +among the rocks of the mountains, and defended themselves there till +their ammunition was exhausted, and their ring broken by the assegai. +All about the plain lay Englishmen and Zulus, as they had died in the +dread struggle:--here side by side, amidst rusted rifles and bent +assegais, here their bony arms still locked in the last hug of death, +and yonder the Zulu with the white man's bayonet through his skull, the +soldier with the Zulu's assegai in what had been his heart. One man was +found, who, when his cartridges were spent, and his rifle was broken, +had defended himself to the end with a tent-hammer that lay among his +bones, and another was stretched beneath the precipice, from the crest +of which he had been hurled. + +[Illustration] + +Well, they buried them where they were discovered, and there they sleep +soundly beneath the shadow of Isandhlwana's cliff. + + * * * * * + +And now a few words more, and this true story will be finished. We +conquered the Zulus at last, at a battle called Ulundi, where they +hurled themselves in vain upon the bullets and bayonets of the British +square. To the end they fought bravely for their king and country, and +though they were savages, and, like all savages, cruel when at war, they +were also gallant enemies, and deserve our respect. The king himself, +Cetywayo, was hunted down, captured, and sent into captivity. +Afterwards, there was what is called a 'popular movement' on his behalf +in England, and he was sent back to Zululand, with permission to rule +half the country. Meanwhile, after the conclusion of the war, our +Government would not take the land, and a settlement was effected, under +which thirteen chiefs were put in authority over the country. As might +have been expected, these chiefs fought with each other, and many men +were killed. When Cetywayo returned the fighting became fiercer than +ever, since those who had tasted power refused to be dispossessed, until +at last he was finally defeated, and, it is believed, poisoned by his +own side, to whom he had ceased to be serviceable. Meanwhile also, the +Dutch Boers, taking advantage of the confusion, occupied a great part of +Zululand, which they still hold. Indeed, they would long ago have taken +it all, had not the English government, seeing the great misery to which +its ever-changing policy had reduced the unhappy Zulus, assumed +authority over the remainder of the country. From that day forward, +there has been no more killing or trouble in British Zululand, which is +ruled by Sir Melmoth Osborn, K.C.M.G., and the Queen has no more +contented subjects than the Zulus, nor any who pay their taxes with +greater regularity! + +But the Zulus as a nation are dead, and never again will a great Impi, +such as swept away our troops at Isandhlwana, be seen rushing down to +war. Their story is but one scene in the vast drama which is being +enacted in this generation, and which some of you who read these lines +may live to see, not accomplished, indeed, but in the way of +accomplishment--the drama of the building up of a great Anglo-Saxon +empire in Africa--an empire that within the next few centuries may well +become one of the mightiest in the world. We have made many and many a +mistake, but still that empire grows; in spite of the errors of the Home +Government, the obstinacy of the Boers, the power of native chiefs, and +the hatred of Portuguese, still it grows. Already it is about as big as +Europe, and it is only a baby yet, a baby begotten by the genius and +courage of individual Englishmen. + +When the child has become a giant--yes, even in those far-off ages when +it is a very old giant, a king among the nations--we may be sure that, +from generation to generation, men will show their sons the mountain +that was called Isandhlwana, or the place of the Little Hand, and a +certain spot on the banks of the Buffalo River, and tell the tale of how +beneath that hill the wild Zulus of the ancient times overwhelmed the +forces of the early English settlers; of how, for a long night through, +a few men of those forces held two grass-thatched sheds against their +foe's savage might; and of how some miles away two heroes named Melville +and Coghill died together whilst striving to save the colours of their +regiment from the grasp of the victorious 'Children of Heaven.' + + * * * * * + +Now it may interest you to know that these last words are written with a +pen that was found among the bones of the dead at Isandhlwana. + + H. RIDER HAGGARD. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[12] Col. Bromhead died recently. + + + + +_HOW LEIF THE LUCKY FOUND VINELAND THE GOOD_ + + +THIS is the story of the first finding of America by the Icelanders, +nearly five hundred years before Columbus. They landed on the coast, and +stayed for a short time; where they landed is uncertain. Thinking that +it was in New England, the people of Boston have erected a statue of +Leif in their town. The story was not written till long after Leif's +time, and it cannot _all_ be true. Dead men do not return and give +directions about their burial as we read here. We have omitted a silly +tale of a one-footed man. In the middle ages, people believed that +one-footed men lived in Africa; they thought Vineland was near Africa, +so they brought the fable into the Saga. + +Hundreds of years before Columbus discovered America, there lived in +Iceland a man named Eric the Red. His father had slain a man in Norway, +and fled with his family to Iceland. Eric, too, was a dangerous man. His +servants did mischief on the farm of a neighbour, who slew them. Then +Eric slew the farmer, and also Holmgang Hrafn, a famous duellist, of +whom the country was well rid. Eric was banished from that place, and, +in his new home, had a new quarrel. He lent some furniture to a man who +refused to restore it. Eric, therefore, carried off his goods, and the +other pursued him. They fought, and Eric killed him. For this he was +made an outlaw, and went sailing to discover new countries. He found +one, where he settled, calling it Greenland, because, he said, people +would come there more readily if it had a good name. + +One Thorbiorn, among others, sailed to Greenland, but came in an unlucky +time, for fish were scarce, and some settlers were drowned. At that day, +some of the new comers were Christians, some still worshipped the old +Gods, Thor and Woden, and practised magic. These sent for a prophetess +to tell them what the end of their new colony would be. It is curious to +know what a real witch was like, and how she behaved, so we shall copy +the story from the old Icelandic book. + +[Illustration] + +'When she came in the evening, with the man who had been sent to meet +her, she was clad in a dark-blue cloak, fastened with a strap, and set +with stones quite down to the hem. She wore glass beads around her neck, +and upon her head a black lambskin hood, lined with white catskin. In +her hands she carried a staff upon which there was a knob, which was +ornamented with brass, and set with stones up about the knob. Circling +her waist she wore a girdle of touchwood, and attached to it a great +skin pouch, in which she kept the charms which she used when she was +practising her sorcery. She wore upon her feet shaggy calfskin shoes, +with long, tough latchets, upon the ends of which there were large brass +buttons. She had catskin gloves upon her hands; the gloves were white +inside and lined with fur. When she entered, all of the folk felt it to +be their duty to offer her becoming greetings. She received the +salutations of each individual according as he pleased her. Yeoman +Thorkel took the sibyl by the hand, and led her to the seat which had +been made ready for her. Thorkel bade her run her eyes over man and +beast and home. She had little to say concerning all these. The tables +were brought forth in the evening, and it remains to be told what manner +of food was prepared for the prophetess. A porridge of goat's beestings +was made for her, and for meat there were dressed the hearts of every +kind of beast which could be obtained there. She had a brass spoon, and +a knife with a handle of walrus tusk, with a double hasp of brass around +the haft, and from this the point was broken. And when the tables were +removed, Yeoman Thorkel approaches the prophetess Thorbiorg, and asks +how she is pleased with the home, and the character of the folk, and how +speedily she would be likely to become aware of that concerning which he +had questioned her, and which the people were anxious to know. She +replied that she could not give an opinion in this matter before the +morrow, after that she had slept there through the night. And on the +morrow, when the day was far spent, such preparations were made as were +necessary to enable her to accomplish her soothsaying. She bade them +bring her those women who knew the incantation which she required to +work her spells, and which she called Warlocks; but such women were not +to be found. Thereupon a search was made throughout the house, to see +whether anyone knew this [incantation]. Then says Gudrid, Thorbiorn's +daughter: "Although I am neither skilled in the black art nor a sibyl, +yet my foster-mother, Halldis, taught me in Iceland that spell-song, +which she called Warlocks." Thorbiorg answered: "Then art thou wise in +season!" Gudrid replies; "This is an incantation and ceremony of such a +kind that I do not mean to lend it any aid, for that I am a Christian +woman." Thorbiorg answers: "It might so be that thou couldst give thy +help to the company here, and still be no worse woman than before; +however, I leave it with Thorkel to provide for my needs." Thorkel now +so urged Gudrid that she said she must needs comply with his wishes. The +women then made a ring round about, while Thorbiorg sat up on the +spell-dais. Gudrid then sang the song, so sweet and well, that no one +remembered ever before to have heard the melody sung with so fair a +voice as this. The sorceress thanked her for the song, and said: "She +has indeed lured many spirits hither, who think it pleasant to hear +this song, those who were wont to forsake us hitherto and refuse to +submit themselves to us. Many things are now revealed to me, which +hitherto have been hidden, both from me and from others. And I am able +to announce that this period of famine will not endure longer, but the +season will mend as spring approaches. The visitation of disease, which +has been so long upon you, will disappear sooner than expected."' + +After this, Thorbiorn sailed to the part of Greenland where Eric the Red +lived, and there was received with open arms. Eric had two sons, one +called Thorstein, the other Leif the Lucky, and it was Leif who +afterwards discovered Vineland the Good, that is, the coast of America, +somewhere between Nova Scotia and New England. He found it by accident. +He had been in Norway, at the court of king Olaf, who bade him proclaim +Christianity in Greenland. As he was sailing thither, Leif was driven by +tempests out of his course, and came upon coasts which he had never +heard of, where wild vines grew, and hence he called that shore Vineland +the Good. The vine did not grow, of course, in Iceland. But Leif had +with him a German Tyrker, and one day, when they were on shore, Tyrker +was late in joining the rest. He was very much excited, and spoke in the +German tongue, saying 'I have found something new, vines and grapes.' +Then they filled their boat full of grapes, and sailed away. He also +brought away some men from a wreck, and with these, and the message of +the Gospel, he sailed back to Greenland, to his father, Eric the Red, +and from that day he was named Leif the Lucky. But Eric had no great +mind to become a Christian, he had been born to believe in Thor and his +own sword. + +Next year Leif's brother, Thorstein, set out to find Vineland, and Eric, +first burying all his treasures, started with him, but he fell from his +horse, and broke his ribs, and his company came within sight of Ireland, +but Vineland they did not see, so they returned to Ericsfirth in +Greenland, and there passed the winter. + +[Illustration] + +There was much sickness, and one woman died. After her death she rose, +and they could only lay her by holding an axe before her breast. +Thorstein, Eric's son, died also, but in the night he arose again and +said that Christian burial should be given to men in consecrated ground. +For the manner had been to bury the dead in their farms with a long pole +driven through the earth till it touched the breast of the corpse. +Afterwards the priest came, and poured holy water through the hole, and +not till then, perhaps long after the death, was the funeral service +held. After Thorstein rose and spoke, Christian burial was always used +in Greenland. Next year came Karlsefni from Iceland, with two ships, and +Eric received him kindly, and gave all his crew winter quarters. In +summer nothing would serve Karlsefni but to search again for Vineland +the Good. They took three ships and one hundred and sixty men, and south +they sailed. They passed Flat Stone Land, where there were white foxes, +and Bear Island, where they saw a bear, and Forest Land, and a cape +where they found the keel of a wrecked ship, this they named Keelness. +Then they reached the Wonder Strands, long expanses of sandy shore. Now +Karlsefni had with him two Scotch or Irish savages, the swiftest of all +runners, whom King Olaf had given to Leif the Lucky, and they were +fleeter-footed than deer. They wore only a plaid and kilt all in one +piece, for the rest they were naked. Karlsefni landed them south of +Wonder Strands, and bade them run south and return on the third day to +report about the country. When they returned one carried a bunch of +grapes, the other ears of native wheat (maize?). Then they sailed on, +passed an isle covered with birds' eggs, and a firth, which they called +Streamfirth, from the tide in it. + +Beyond Streamfirth they landed and established themselves there. + +'There were mountains thereabouts. They occupied themselves exclusively +with the exploration of the country. They remained there during the +winter, and they had taken no thought for this during the summer. The +fishing began to fail, and they began to fall short of food. Then +Thorhall the Huntsman disappeared. They had already prayed to God for +food, but it did not come as promptly as their necessities seemed to +demand. They searched for Thorhall for three half-days, and found him on +a projecting crag. He was lying there, and looking up at the sky, with +mouth and nostrils agape, and mumbling something. They asked him why he +had gone thither; he replied, that this did not concern anyone. They +asked him then to go home with them, and he did so. Soon after this a +whale appeared there, and they captured it, and flensed it, and no one +could tell what manner of whale it was; and when the cooks had prepared +it, they ate of it, and were all made ill by it. Then Thorhall, +approaching them, says: "Did not the Red-beard (that is, Thor) prove +more helpful than your Christ? This is my reward for the verses which I +composed to Thor the Trustworthy; seldom has he failed me." When the +people heard this, they cast the whale down into the sea, and made their +appeals to God. The weather then improved, and they could now row out to +fish, and thenceforward they had no lack of provisions, for they could +hunt game on the land, gather eggs on the island, and catch fish from +the sea.' + +Next spring Thorhall the heathen left them, laughing at the wine which +he had been promised, and sailed north. He and his crew were driven to +Ireland, where they were captured and sold as slaves, and that was all +Thorhall got by worshipping the Red Beard. Karlsefni sailed south and +reached a rich country of wild maize, where also was plenty of fish and +of game. Here they first met the natives, who came in a fleet of +skin-canoes. 'They were swarthy men and ill-looking, and the hair of +their heads was ugly. They had great eyes and were broad of cheek.' + +The Icelanders held up a white shield in sign of peace, and the natives +withdrew. They may have been Eskimo or Red Indians. + +The winter was mild and open, but spring had scarce returned, when the +bay was as full of native canoes 'as if ashes had been sprinkled over +it.' They only came to trade and exchanged furs for red cloth, nor did +they seem to care whether they got a broad piece of cloth or a narrow +one. They also wanted weapons, but these Karlsefni refused to sell. The +market was going on busily when a bull that Karlsefni had brought from +Greenland came out of the wood and began to bellow, whereon the +Skraelings (as they called the natives) ran! Three weeks passed when the +Skraelings returned in very great force, waving their clubs _against_ +the course of the sun, whereas in peace they waved them with it. +Karlsefni showed a red shield, the token of war, and fighting began. It +is not easy to make out what happened, for there are two sagas, or +stories of these events, both written down long after they occurred. In +one we read that the Skraelings were good slingers, and also that they +used a machine which reminds one rather of gunpowder than of anything +else. They swung from a pole a great black ball, and it made a fearful +noise when it fell among Karlsefni's men. So frightened were they that +they saw Skraelings where there were none, and they were only rallied by +the courage of a woman named Freydis, who seized a dead man's sword and +faced the Skraelings, beating her bare breast with the flat of the +blade. On this the Skraelings ran to their canoes and paddled away. In +the other account Karlsefni had fortified his house with a palisade, +behind which the women waited. To one of them, Gudrid, the appearance of +a white woman came; her hair was of a light chestnut colour, she was +pale and had very large eyes. 'What is thy name?' she said to Gudrid. +'My name is Gudrid; but what is thine?' 'Gudrid!' says the strange +woman. Then came the sound of a great crash and the woman vanished. A +battle followed in which many Skraelings were slain. + +It all reads like a dream. In the end Karlsefni sailed back to +Ericsfirth with a great treasure of furs. A great and prosperous family +in Iceland was descended from him at the time when the stories were +written down. But it is said that Freydis who frightened the Skraelings +committed many murders in Vineland among her own people. + +The Icelanders never returned to Vineland the Good, though a bishop +named Eric is said to have started for the country in 1121. Now, in the +story of Cortes, you may read how the Mexicans believed in a God called +Quetzalcoatl, a white man in appearance, who dwelt among them and +departed mysteriously, saying that he would come again, and they at +first took Cortes and his men for the children of Quetzalcoatl. So we +may fancy if we please that Bishop Eric, or one of his descendants, +wandered from Vineland south and west across the continent and arrived +among the Aztecs, and by them was taken for a God.[13] + +FOOTNOTE: + +[13] The story is taken from the Saga of Eric the Red, and from the +Flatey Book in Mr. Reeves's _Finding of Wineland the Good_ (Clarendon +Press, 1890). The discovery of Vineland was made about the year 1000. +The saga of Eric the Red was written about 1300-1334, but two hundred +years before, about 1134, Ari the learned mentions Vineland as quite +familiar in his _Islandingabok_. There are other traces of Vineland, +earlier than the manuscript of the Saga of Eric the Red. Of course we do +not know when that saga was first written down. The oldest extant +manuscript of it belonged to one Hauk, who died in 1334. + + + + +_THE ESCAPES OF CERVANTES_ + + +MOST people know of the terrible war, waged even down to the present +century, between the Christian ships cruising about the Mediterranean +and the dreaded Moors or Corsairs of the Barbary Coast. It was a war +that began in the name of religion, the Crescent against the Cross; but, +as far as we can learn from the records of both sides, there was little +to choose in the way that either party treated the captives. A large +number of these were chained to the oars of the galleys which were the +ships of battle of the middle ages, and sometimes the oars were so long +and heavy that they needed forty men to each. The rowers had food enough +to give them the strength necessary for their work, and that was all, +and the knowledge that they were exerting themselves for the downfall of +their fellow-Christians, often of their fellow-countrymen, must have +made their labour a toil indeed. Often it happened that a man's courage +gave way and he denied his faith and his country, and rose to great +honours in the service of the Sultan, the chief of the little kings who +swarmed on the African coasts. The records of the Corsairs bristle with +examples of these successful renegades, many of them captured as boys, +who were careless under what flag they served, as long as their lives +were lives of adventure. + +All the captives were not, however, turned into galley slaves. Some were +taken to the towns and kept in prisons called _bagnios_, waiting till +their friends sent money to redeem them. If this was delayed, they were +set to public works, and treated with great severity, so that their +letters imploring deliverance might become yet more urgent. The others, +known as the king's captives, whose ransom might be promptly expected, +did no work and were kept apart from the rest. + +It was on September 26, 1575, that Miguel Cervantes, the future author +of 'Don Quixote,' fell into the hands of a Greek renegade Dali Mami by +name, captain of a galley of twenty-two banks of oars. Cervantes, the +son of a poor but well-descended gentleman of Castile, had served with +great distinction under Don John of Austria at the battle of Lepanto +four years earlier, and was now returning with his brother Rodrigo to +Spain on leave, bearing with him letters from the commander-in-chief, +Don John, the Duke of Sesa, Viceroy of Sicily, and other distinguished +men, testifying to his qualities as a soldier, 'as valiant as he was +unlucky,' and recommending Philip II. to give him the command of a +Spanish company then being formed for Italian service. But all these +honours proved his bane. The Spanish squadron had not sailed many days +from Naples when it encountered a Corsair fleet, and after a sharp fight +Cervantes and his friends were carried captive into Algiers. + +Of course the first thing done was to examine each man as to his +position in life, and the amount of ransom he might be expected to +bring, and the letters found upon Miguel Cervantes impressed them with +the notion that he was a person of consequence, and capable of +furnishing a large sum of money. They therefore took every means of +ensuring his safety, loading him with chains, appointing him guards, and +watching him day and night. + + 'Stone walls do not a prison make, + Nor iron bars a cage.' + +Cervantes never lost heart a moment, but at once began to plan an escape +for himself and his fellow-captives. But the scheme broke down owing to +the treachery of the man in whom he had confided, and the Spaniards, +particularly Cervantes, were made to suffer a stricter confinement than +before. The following year the old Cervantes sent over what money he had +been able to raise on his own property and his daughters' marriage +portions for the ransom of his sons, by the hands of the Redemptorist +Fathers, an Order which had been founded for the sole purpose of +carrying on this charitable work. But when the sum was offered to Dali +Mami he declared it wholly insufficient for purchasing the freedom of +such a captive, though it was considered adequate as the ransom of the +younger brother Rodrigo. Accordingly, in August 1577, Rodrigo Cervantes +set sail for Spain, bearing secret orders from his brother Miguel to fit +out an armed frigate, and to send it by way of Valencia and Majorca to +rescue himself and his friends. + +But even before the departure of Rodrigo, Cervantes had been laying +other plans. He had, somehow or other, managed to make acquaintance +with the Navarrese gardener of a Greek renegade named Azan, who had a +garden stretching down to the sea-shore, about three miles east of +Algiers, where Cervantes was then imprisoned. This gardener had +contrived to use a cave in Azan's garden as a hiding place for some +escaped Christians, and as far back as February 1577 about fifteen had +taken refuge there, under the direction of Cervantes. How they remained +for so many months undiscovered, and how they were all fed, no one can +tell; but this part of the duty had been undertaken by a captive +renegade called El Dorador, or the Gilder, to whom their secret had been +confided. + +Meanwhile, Rodrigo had proved faithful to his trust. He had equipped a +frigate for sea, under the command of a tried soldier, Viana by name, +who was familiar with the Barbary coast. It set sail at the end of +September, and by the 28th had sighted Algiers. From motives of prudence +the boat kept to sea till nightfall, when it silently approached the +shore. The captives hailed it with joy, and were in the act of +embarking, when a fishing craft full of Moors passed by, and the rescue +vessel was forced to put to sea. Meanwhile, Cervantes and the fugitives +in the cave had to return disheartened into hiding, and await another +opportunity. + +But once lost, the opportunity was gone for ever. Before any fresh +scheme could be concerted, El Dorador had betrayed the hiding place of +the Christians and their plan of escape to the cruel Dey or King Azan, +who saw in the information a means to satisfy his greed. According to +the law of the country, he was enabled to claim the escaped slaves as +his own property (except Cervantes, for whom he paid 500 crowns), and +with a company of armed men presented himself before the cave. + +In this dreadful strait Cervantes' courage never faltered. He told the +trembling captives not to fear, as he would take upon himself the entire +responsibility of the plan. Then, addressing Azan's force, he proclaimed +himself the sole contriver of the scheme, and professed his willingness +to bear the punishment. The Turks were struck dumb at valour such as +this, in the presence of the most dreadful torments, and contented +themselves with ordering the captives into close confinement at the +bagnio, hanging the gardener, and bringing Cervantes bound to receive +his sentence from the Dey Azan himself. + +The threats of impalement, torture, mutilation of every kind, which +Cervantes well knew to be no mere threats, had no effect upon his +faithful soul. He stuck to the story he had told, and the Dey, 'wearied +by so much constancy,' as the Spanish historian says, ended by loading +him with chains, and throwing him again into prison. + +For some time he remained here, strictly and closely guarded, but his +mind always active as to plans of escape. At last, however, he managed +to enter into relations with Don Martin de Cordoba, General of Oran, by +means of a Moor, who undertook to convey letters asking for help for the +Spanish prisoners. But his ill fortune had not yet deserted him. The +messenger fell into the hands of other Moors, who handed him over to +Azan, and the wretched man was at once put to a cruel death by the Dey's +orders. Curiously enough, the sentence of 2,000 lashes passed upon +Cervantes was never carried into effect. + +Disappointments and dangers only made Cervantes more determined to free +himself or die in the attempt; but nearly two years dragged by before he +saw another hope rise before him, though he did everything he could in +the interval to soothe the wretched lot of his fellow-captives. This +time his object was to induce two Valencia merchants of Algiers to buy +an armed frigate, destined to carry Cervantes and a large number of +Christians back to Spain, but at the last minute they were again +betrayed, this time by a countryman, and again Cervantes took the blame +on his own shoulders, and confessed nothing to the Dey. + +Now it seemed indeed as if his last moment had come. His hands were tied +behind him, and a cord was put round his neck; but Cervantes never +swerved from the tale he had resolved to tell, and at the close of the +interview found himself within the walls of a Moorish prison, where he +lay for five months loaded with fetters and chains, and treated with +every kind of severity, though never with actual cruelty. + +All this time his mind was busy with a fresh scheme, nothing short of a +concerted insurrection of all the captives in Algiers, numbering about +25,000, who were to overpower the city, and to plant the Spanish flag on +its towers. His measures seem to have been taken with sufficient +prudence and foresight to give them a fair chance of success, bold as +the idea was, but treachery as usual caused the downfall of everything. +Why, under such repeated provocation, the cruel Azan Aga did not put him +to a frightful death it is hard to understand, but in his 'Captive's +Story,' Cervantes himself bears testimony to the comparative moderation +of the Dey's behaviour towards him. 'Though suffering,' he says, +'often, if not indeed always, from hunger and thirst, the worst of all +our miseries was the sight and sound of the tortures daily inflicted by +our master on our fellow-Christians. Every day he hanged one, impaled +another, cut off the ears of a third; and all this for so little reason, +or even for none at all, that the very Turks knew he did it for the mere +pleasure of doing it; and because to him cruelty was the natural +employment of mankind. Only one man did he use well, and that was a +Spanish soldier, named Saavedra, and though this Saavedra had struck +blows for liberty which will be remembered by Moors for many years to +come, yet Azan never either gave him stripes himself, nor ordered his +servants to do so, neither did he ever throw him an evil word; while we +trembled lest for the smallest of his offences the tyrant would have him +impaled, and more than once he himself expected it.' This +straightforward account of matters inside the bagnio is the more +valuable and interesting if we recollect that Cervantes' +great-grandmother was a Saavedra, and that the soldier alluded to in the +text was really himself. It is impossible to explain satisfactorily the +sheathing of the tiger's claws on his account alone; did Cervantes +exercise unconsciously a mesmeric influence over Azan? Did Azan ascribe +his captive's defiance of death and worse than death to his bearing a +charmed life? Or did he hold him to be a man of such consequence in his +own country, that it was well to keep him in as good condition as Azan's +greed would permit? We shall never know; only there remains Cervantes' +emphatic declaration that during the five long years of his captivity no +man's hand was ever lifted against him. + +Meanwhile, having no more money wherewith to ransom his son, Rodrigo de +Cervantes made a declaration of his poverty before a court of law, and +set forth Miguel's services and claims. In March 1578, the old man's +prayer was enforced by the appearance of four witnesses who had known +him both in the Levant and in Algiers and could testify to the truth of +his father's statement, and a certificate of such facts as were within +his knowledge being willingly offered by the Duke of Sesa, the King, +Philip II., consented to furnish the necessary ransom. + +But the ill-fortune which had attended Cervantes in these past years +seemed to stick to him now. Just when the negotiations were drawing to a +conclusion, his father suddenly died, and it appeared as if the +expedition of the Redemptorist Fathers would sail without him. However, +his mother was happily a woman of energy, and after managing somehow to +raise three hundred ducats on her own possessions, appealed to the King +for help. This he appears to have granted her at once, and he gave her +an order for 2,000 ducats on some Valencia merchandise; but with their +usual bad luck they only ultimately succeeded in obtaining about sixty, +which with her own three hundred were placed in the hands of the +Redemptorist Fathers. + +It was time: the fact that the term of Azan's government of Algiers had +drawn to an end rendered him more than ever greedy for money, and he +demanded for Cervantes double the price that he himself had paid, and +threatened, if this was not forthcoming, to carry his captive on board +his own vessel, which was bound for Constantinople. Indeed, this threat +was actually put into effect, and Cervantes, bound and loaded with +chains, was placed in a ship of the little squadron that was destined +for Turkish waters. The good father felt that once in Constantinople, +Cervantes would probably remain a prisoner to the end of his life, and +made unheard of efforts to accomplish his release, borrowing the money +that was still lacking from some Algerian merchants, and even using the +ransoms that had been entrusted to him for other captives. Then at last +Cervantes was set free, and after five years was able to go where he +would and return to his native country. + +His work however was not yet done. He somehow discovered that a Spaniard +named Blanco de Paz, who had once before betrayed him, was determined, +through jealousy, to have him arrested the moment he set foot in Spain, +and to this end had procured a mass of false evidence respecting his +conduct in Algiers. It is not easy to see what Cervantes could have done +to incur the hatred of this man, but about this he did not trouble +himself to inquire, and set instantly to consider the best way of +bringing his schemes to naught. He entreated his friend, Father Gil, to +be present at an interview held before the notary Pedro de Ribera, at +which a number of respectable Christians appeared to answer a paper of +twenty-five questions, propounded by Cervantes himself, as to the +principal events of his five years of imprisonment, and his treatment of +his fellow-captives. Armed with this evidence, he was able to defy the +traitor, and to return in honour to his native land. + +With the rest of his life we have nothing to do. It was not, we may be +sure, lacking in adventure, for he was the kind of man to whom +adventures come, and as his inheritance was all gone, he went back to +his old trade, and joined the army which Philip was assembling to +enforce his claim to the crown of Portugal. In this country as in all +others to which his wandering life had led him, he made many friends and +took notice of what went on around him. He was in all respects a man +practical and vigorous, in many ways the exact opposite of his own Don +Quixote, who saw everything enlarged and glorified and nothing as it +really was, but in other ways the true counterpart of his hero in his +desire to give help and comfort wherever it was needed, and to leave the +world better than he found it. + + + + +_THE WORTHY ENTERPRISE OF JOHN FOXE, AN ENGLISHMAN, IN DELIVERING TWO +HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX CHRISTIANS OUT OF THE CAPTIVITY OF THE TURKS AT +ALEXANDRIA, JANUARY 3, 1577_ + + +AMONG our English merchants it is a common thing to traffic with Spain, +for which purpose, in 1563, there set out from Portsmouth a ship called +the 'Three Half Moons,' with thirty-eight men on board, and well armed, +the better to encounter any foes they might meet. Now, drawing near the +Straits, they found themselves beset by eight Turkish galleys, so that +it was impossible for them to fly, but they must either yield or be +sunk. This the owner perceiving, manfully encouraged his company, +telling them not to faint in seeing such a heap of their foes ready to +devour them; putting them in mind also that if it were God's pleasure to +give them into their enemies' hands, there ought not to be one +unpleasant look among them, but they must take it patiently; putting +them in mind also of the ancient worthiness of their countrymen, who in +the hardest extremities have always most prevailed. With other such +encouragement they all fell on their knees, making their prayers briefly +to God. + +Then stood up Grove, the master, being a comely man, with his sword and +target, holding them up in defiance against his enemies. Likewise stood +up the owner, boatswain, purser, and every man well armed. Now also +sounded up the trumpets, drums, and flutes, which would have encouraged +any man, however little heart he had in him. + +Then John Foxe, the gunner, took him to his charge, sending his bullets +among the Turks, who likewise fired among the Christians, and thrice as +fast. But shortly they drew near, so that the English bowmen fell to +shooting so terribly among their galleys that there were twice as many +of the Turks slain as the whole number of the Christians. But the Turks +discharged twice as fast against the Christians, and so long that the +ship was very sorely battered and bruised, which the foe perceiving, +made the more haste to come aboard. For this coming aboard many a Turk +paid dearly with his life, but it was all in vain, and board they did, +where they found a hot skirmish. For the Englishmen showed themselves +men indeed, and the boatswain was valiant above the rest, for he fought +among the Turks like a mad lion, and there was none of them that could +stand in his face; till at last there came a shot that struck him in the +breast, so that he fell down, bidding them farewell, and to be of good +comfort, and exhorting them rather to win praise by death than to live +in captivity and shame. This, they hearing, indeed intended to have +done, but the number and press of the Turks was so great that they could +not wield their weapons, and so were taken, when they intended rather to +have died, except only the master's mate, who shrank from the fight like +a notable coward. + +[Illustration] + +But so it was, and the Turks were victors, though they had little cause +of triumph. Then it would have grieved any hard heart to see these +infidels wantonly ill-treating the Christians, who were no sooner in +the galleys than their garments were torn from their backs, and they set +to the oars. + +I will make no mention of their miseries, being now under their enemies' +raging stripes, their bodies distressed with too much heat, and also +with too much cold; but I will rather show the deliverance of those who, +being in great misery, continually trust in God, with a steadfast hope +that He will deliver them. + +Near the city of Alexandria, being a harbour, there is a ship-road, very +well defended by strong walls, into which the Turks are accustomed to +bring their galleys every winter, and there repair them and lay them up +against the spring. In this road there is a prison, in which the +captives and all those prisoners who serve in the galleys are confined +till the sea be calm again for voyaging, every prisoner being most +grievously laden with irons on his legs, giving him great pain. Into +this prison all these Christians were put, and fast guarded all the +winter, and every winter. As time passed the master and the owner were +redeemed by friends; but the rest were left in misery, and +half-starved--except John Foxe, who being a somewhat skilful barber, +made shift now and then, by means of his craft, to help out his fare +with a good meal. Till at last God sent him favour in the sight of the +keeper of the prison, so that he had leave to go in and out to the road, +paying a stipend to the keeper, and wearing a lock about his leg. This +liberty six more had, on the same conditions; for after their long +imprisonment, it was not feared that they would work any mischief +against the Turks. + +In the winter of the year 1577, all the galleys having reached port, and +their masters and mariners being at their own homes, the ships +themselves being stripped of their masts and sails, there were in the +prison two hundred and sixty-eight Christian captives, belonging to +sixteen different nations. Among these were three Englishmen, one of +them John Foxe, the others William Wickney and Robert Moore. And John +Foxe, now having been thirteen or fourteen years under the bondage of +the Turks, and being weary thereof, pondered continually, day and night, +how he might escape, never ceasing to pray God to further his +enterprise, if it should be to His glory. + +Not far from the road, at one side of the city, there was a certain +victualling-house, which one Peter Unticare had hired, paying a fee to +the keeper of the prison. This Peter Unticare was a Spaniard, and also a +Christian, and had been a prisoner about thirty years, never contriving +any means to escape, but keeping himself quiet without being suspected +of conspiracy. But on the coming of John Foxe they disclosed their minds +to each other about their loss of liberty; and to this Unticare John +Foxe confided a plan for regaining their freedom, which plan the three +Englishmen continually brooded over, till they resolved to acquaint five +more prisoners with their secret. This being done, they arranged in +three more days to make their attempt at escape. Whereupon John Foxe, +and Peter Unticare, and the other six arranged to meet in the prison on +the last day of December, and there they told the rest of the prisoners +what their intention was, and how they hoped to bring it to pass. And +having, without much ado, persuaded all to agree, John Foxe gave them a +kind of files, which he had hoarded together by means of Peter Unticare, +charging them every man to be free of his fetters by eight o'clock on +the following night. + +The next night John Foxe and his six companions, all having met at the +house of Peter Unticare, spent the evening mirthfully for fear of +rousing suspicion, till it was time for them to put their scheme into +execution. Then they sent Peter Unticare to the master of the road, in +the name of one of the masters of the city, with whom he was well +acquainted, and at the mention of whose name he was likely to come at +once, desiring him to meet him there, and promising to bring him back +again. + +The keeper agreed to go with Unticare, telling the warders not to bar +the gate, for he would come again with all speed. In the meantime the +other seven had provided themselves with all the weapons they could find +in the house, and John Foxe took a rusty old sword without a hilt, which +he managed to make serve by bending the hand end of the sword instead of +a hilt. + +Now the keeper being come to the house, and seeing no light nor hearing +any noise, straightway suspected the plot, and was turning back. But +John Foxe, standing behind the corner of the house, stepped forth to +him. He perceiving it to be John Foxe, said: 'O Foxe! what have I +deserved of thee that thou shouldest seek my death?' + +'Thou, villain,' quoth Foxe, 'hast been a blood-sucker of many a +Christian's blood, and now thou shalt know what thou hast deserved at my +hands!' + +Therewith he lifted up his bright shining sword, cleared of its ten +years' rust, and struck him so strong a blow that his head was cleft +asunder, and he fell stark dead to the ground. Thereupon Peter Unticare +went in and told the rest how it was with the keeper, and at once they +came forth, and with their weapons ran him through and cut off his head, +so that no man should know who he was. + +Then they marched towards the road, and entered it softly. There were +six warders guarding it, and one of them asked who was there. Then quoth +Foxe and his company, 'All friends!' + +But when they were within it proved contrary, for, quoth Foxe to his +companions: + +'My masters, here there is not a man to a man, so look you play your +parts!' They so behaved themselves indeed that they had despatched those +six quickly. Then John Foxe, intending not to be thwarted in his +enterprise, barred the gate surely, and planted a cannon against it. + +They entered the gaoler's lodge, where they found the keys of the +fortress and prison by his bedside, and then they all got better +weapons. In this chamber was a chest holding a great treasure, all in +ducats, which Peter Unticare and two more stuffed into their garments, +as many as they could carry. But Foxe would not touch them, saying that +it was his liberty and theirs he sought, and not to make a spoil of the +wicked treasure of the infidels. Yet these words did not sink into their +hearts, though they had no good of their gain. + +Now, having provided themselves with the weapons they needed, they came +to the prison, and unlocked its gates and doors, and called forth all +the prisoners, whom they employed, some in ramming up the gate, some in +fitting up a galley which was the best in the road. + +In the prison were several warders, whom John Foxe and his company slew; +but this was perceived by eight more Turks, who fled to the top of the +prison, where Foxe and his company had to reach them by ladders. Then +followed a hot skirmish, and John Foxe was shot thrice through his +apparel, without being hurt; but Peter Unticare and the other two, who +had weighed themselves down with the ducats so that they could not +manage their weapons, were slain. + +Among the Turks there was one thrust through who fell from the top of +the prison wall, and made such a crying out that the inhabitants of a +house or two that stood near came and questioned him, and soon +understood the case--how the prisoners were attempting to escape. Then +they raised both Alexandria on the west side of the road, and a castle +at the end of the city next to the road, and also another fortress on +the north side of the road. And now the prisoners had no way to escape +but one that might seem impossible for them. + +[Illustration] + +Then every man set to work, some to their tackling, some carrying arms +and provisions into the galley, some keeping the enemy from the wall of +the road. To be short, there was no man idle, nor any labour spent in +vain; so that presently the galley was ready, and into it they all +leaped hastily, and hoisted sail. + +But when the galley had set sail, and was past the shelter of the road, +the two castles had full power over it, and what could save it from +sinking? The cannon let fly from both sides, and it was between them +both. + +Yet there was not one on board that feared the shot that came thundering +about their ears, nor yet was any man scarred or touched. For now God +held forth His buckler and shielded this galley, having tried their +faith to the uttermost. And they sailed away, being not once touched +with the glance of a shot, and were presently out of the reach of the +Turkish cannon. Then might you see the Turks coming down to the +waterside, in companies like swarms of bees, trying to make ready their +galleys--which would have been a quick piece of work, seeing that they +had in them neither oars, nor sails, nor anything else. Yet they carried +them in, but some into one galley, some into another, for there was much +confusion among them; and the sea being rough, and they having no +certain guide, it was a thing impossible that they should overtake the +prisoners. For they had neither pilot, mariners, nor any skilful master +that was ready at this pinch. + +When the Christians were safe out of the enemy's coast, John Foxe called +to them all, telling them to fall down upon their knees, thanking God +for their delivery, and beseeching Him to aid them to the land of their +friends. Then they fell straightway to labouring at the oars, striving +to come to some Christian country, as near as they could guess by the +stars. But the winds were so contrary, now driving them this way, now +that, that they were bewildered, thinking that God had forsaken them and +left them to yet greater danger. And soon there were no victuals left in +the galley; and the famine grew to be so great that in twenty-eight days +there had died eight persons. + +But it fell out that upon the twenty-ninth day, they reached the Isle of +Candy, and landed at Gallipoli, where they were made much of by the +Abbot and monks, and cared for and refreshed. They kept there the sword +with which John Foxe had killed the keeper, esteeming it a most precious +jewel. + +Then they sailed along the cost to Tarento, where they sold the galley, +and went on foot to Naples, having divided the price. But at Naples they +parted asunder, going every man his own way, and John Foxe journeyed to +Rome, where he was well entertained by an Englishman and presented to +the Pope, who rewarded him liberally and gave him letters to the King of +Spain. And by the King of Spain also he was well entertained, and +granted twenty pence a day. Thence, desiring to return into his own +country, he departed in 1579, and being come into England, he went into +the Court, and told all his travel to the Council, who, considering that +he had spent a great part of his youth in thraldom, extended to him +their liberality, to help to maintain him in age--to their own honour +and the encouragement of all true-hearted Christians. + +[Illustration] + + + + +_BARON TRENCK_ + + +MOST men who have escaped from prison owe their fame, not to their +flight, but to the deeds which caused their imprisonment. It may, +however, safely be asserted that few people out of his own country would +have heard of Baron Trenck had it not been for the wonderful skill and +cunning with which he managed to cut through the 'stone walls' and 'iron +bars' of all his many 'cages.' He was born at Koenigsberg in Prussia in +1726, and entered the body-guard of Frederic II. in 1742, when he was +about sixteen. Trenck was a young man of good family, rich, +well-educated, and, according to his own account, fond of amusement. He +confesses to having shirked his duties more than once for the sake of +some pleasure, even after the War of the Austrian Succession had broken +out (September 1744), and Frederic, strict though he was, had forgiven +him. It is plain from this, that the King must have considered that +Trenck had been guilty of some deadly treachery towards him, when in +after years he declined to pardon him for crimes which after all the +young man had never committed. + +Trenck's first confinement was in 1746, when he was thrown into the +Castle of Glatz, on a charge of corresponding with his cousin and +namesake, who was in the service of the Empress Maria Theresa, and of +being an Austrian spy. At first he was kindly treated and allowed to +walk freely about the fortifications, and he took advantage of the +liberty given him to arrange a plan of escape with one of his +fellow-prisoners. The plot was, however, betrayed by the other man, and +a heavy punishment fell on Trenck. By the King's orders, he was promptly +deprived of all his privileges, and placed in a cell in one of the +towers, which overlooked the ramparts lying ninety feet below, on the +side nearest the town. This added a fresh difficulty to his chances of +escape, as, in passing from the castle to the town, he was certain to be +seen by many people. But no obstacles mattered to Trenck. He had money, +and then, as now, money could do a great deal. So he began by bribing +one of the officials about the prison, and the official in his turn +bribed a soap-boiler, who lived not far from the castle gates, and +promised to conceal Trenck somewhere in his house. Still, liberty must +have seemed a long way off, for Trenck had only one little knife +(_canif_) with which to cut through everything. By dint of incessant and +hard work, he managed to saw through three thick steel bars, but even +so, there were eight others left to do. His friend the official then +procured him a file, but he was obliged to use it with great care, lest +the scraping sound should be heard by his guards. Perhaps they wilfully +closed their ears, for many of them were sorry for Trenck; but, at all +events, the eleven bars were at last sawn through, and all that remained +was to make a rope ladder. This he did by tearing his leather +portmanteau into strips, and plaiting them into a rope, and as this was +not long enough, he added his sheets. The night was dark and rainy, +which favoured him, and he reached the bottom of the rampart in safety. +Unluckily, he met here with an obstacle on which he had never counted. +There was a large drain, opening into one of the trenches, which Trenck +had neither seen nor heard of, and into this he fell. In spite of his +struggles, he was held fast, and his strength being at last exhausted, +he was forced to call the sentinel, and at midday, having been left in +the drain for hours to make sport for the town, he was carried back to +his cell. + +Henceforth he was still more strictly watched than before, though, +curiously enough, his money never seems to have been taken from him, and +at this time he had about eighty louis left, which he always kept hidden +about him. Eight days after his last attempt, Fouquet, the commandant of +Glatz, who hated Trenck and all his family, sent a deputation consisting +of the adjutant, an officer, and a certain Major Doo, to speak to the +unfortunate man, and exhort him to patience and submission. Trenck +entered into conversation with them for the purpose of throwing them off +their guard, when suddenly he snatched away Doo's sword, rushed from his +cell, knocked down the sentinel and lieutenant who were standing +outside, and striking right and left at the soldiers who came flying to +bar his progress, he dashed down the stairs and leapt from the ramparts. +Though the height was great, he fell into the fosse without injury, and +still grasping his sword. He scrambled quickly to his feet and jumped +easily over the second rampart, which was much lower than the first, and +then began to breathe freely, as he thought he was safe from being +overtaken by the soldiers, who would have to come a long way round. At +this moment, however, he saw a sentinel making for him a short distance +off, and he rushed for the palisades which divided the fortifications +from the open country, from which the mountains and Bohemia were easily +reached. In the act of scaling them, his foot was caught tight between +the bars, and he was trapped till the sentinel came up, and after a +sharp fight got him back to prison. + +For some time poor Trenck was in a sad condition. In his struggle with +the sentinel he had been wounded, while his right foot had got crushed +in the palisades. Beside this, he was watched far more strictly than +before, for an officer and two men remained always in his cell, and two +sentinels were stationed outside. The reason of these precautions of +course was to prevent his gaining over his guards singly, either by pity +or bribery. His courage sank to its lowest ebb, as he was told on all +sides that his imprisonment was for life, whereas long after he +discovered the real truth, that the King's intention had been to keep +him under arrest for a year only, and if he had had a little more +patience, three weeks would have found him free. His repeated attempts +to escape naturally angered Frederic, while on the other hand the King +knew nothing of the fact which excused Trenck's impatience--namely, the +belief carefully instilled in him by all around him that he was doomed +to perpetual confinement. + +It is impossible to describe in detail all the plans made by Trenck to +regain his freedom, first because they were endless, and secondly +because several were nipped in the bud. Still the unfortunate man felt +that as long as his money was not taken from him his case was not +hopeless, for the officers in command were generally poor and in debt, +and were always sent to garrison work as a punishment. After one wild +effort to liberate _all_ the prisoners in the fortress, which was +naturally discovered and frustrated, Trenck made friends with an officer +named Schell, lately arrived at Glatz, who promised not only his aid but +his company in the new enterprise. As more money would be needed than +Trenck had in his possession, he contrived to apply to his rich +relations outside the prison, and by some means--what we are not +told--they managed to convey a large sum to him. Suspicion, however, got +about that Trenck was on too familiar a footing with the officers, and +orders were given that his door should always be kept locked. This +occasioned further delay, as false keys had secretly to be made, before +anything else could be done. + +Their flight was unexpectedly hastened by Schell accidentally learning +that he was in danger of arrest. One night they crept unobserved through +the arsenal and over the inner palisade, but on reaching the rampart +they came face to face with two of the officers, and again a leap into +the fosse was the only way of escape. Luckily the wall at this point was +not high, and Trenck arrived at the bottom without injury; but Schell +was not so happy, and hurt his foot so badly that he called on his +friend to kill him, and to make the best of his way alone. Trenck, +however, declined to abandon him, and having dragged him over the outer +palisade, took him on his back, and made for the frontier. Before they +had gone five hundred yards they heard the boom of the alarm guns from +the fortress, while clearer still were the sounds of pursuit. As they +knew that they would naturally be sought on the side towards Bohemia, +they changed their course and pushed on to the river Neiss, at this +season partly covered with ice. Trenck swam over slowly with this friend +on his back, and found a boat on the other side. By means of this boat +they evaded their enemies, and reached the mountains after some hours, +very hungry, and almost frozen to death. + +Here a new terror awaited them. Some peasants with whom they took refuge +recognised Schell, and for a moment the fugitives gave themselves up for +lost. But the peasants took pity on the two wretched objects, fed them +and gave them shelter, till they could make up their minds what was best +to be done. To their unspeakable dismay, they found that they were, +after all, only seven miles from Glatz, and that in the neighbouring +town of Wunschelburg a hundred soldiers were quartered, with orders to +capture all deserters from the fortress. This time, however, fortune +favoured the luckless Trenck, and though he and Schell were both in +uniform, they rode unobserved through the village while the rest of the +people were at church, and, skirting Wunschelburg, crossed the Bohemian +frontier in the course of the day. + +Then follows a period of comparative calm in Trenck's history. He +travelled freely about Poland, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Denmark and +Holland, and even ventured occasionally across the border into Prussia. +Twelve years seem to have passed by in this manner, till in 1758 his +mother died, and Trenck asked leave of the council of war to go up to +Dantzic to see his family and to arrange his affairs. Curiously enough, +it appears never to have occurred to him that he was a deserter, and as +such liable to be arrested at any moment. And this was what actually +happened. By order of the King, Trenck was taken first to Berlin, where +he was deprived of his money and some valuable rings, and then removed +to Magdeburg, of which place Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick was the +governor. + +Here his quarters were worse than he had ever known them. His cell was +only six feet by ten, and the window was high, with bars without as well +as within. The wall was seven feet thick, and beyond it was a palisade, +which rendered it impossible for the sentinels to approach the window. +On the other side the prisoner was shut in by three doors, and his food +(which was not only bad, but very scanty) was passed to him through an +opening. + +One thing only was in his favour. His cell was only entered once a week, +so he could pursue any work to further his escape without much danger of +being discovered. Notwithstanding the high window, the thick wall, and +the palisade, notwithstanding too his want of money, he soon managed to +open negotiations with the sentinels, and found, to his great joy, that +the next cell was empty. If he could only contrive to burrow his way +into that, he would be able to watch his opportunity to steal through +the open door; once free he could either swim the Elbe and cross into +Saxony, which lay about six miles distant, or else float down the river +in a boat till he was out of danger. + +Small as the cell was, it contained a sort of cupboard fixed into the +floor by irons, and on these Trenck began to work. After frightful +labour he at last extracted the heavy nails which fastened the staples +to the floor, and breaking off the heads (which he put back to avoid +detection), he kept the rest to fashion for his own purposes. By this +means he made instruments to raise the bricks. + +On this side also the wall was seven feet thick, and formed of bricks +and stones. Trenck numbered them as he went on with the greatest care, +so that the cell might present its usual appearance before the Wednesday +visit of his guards. To hide the joins, he scraped off some of the +mortar, which he smeared over the place. + +As may be supposed, all this took a very long time. He had nothing to +work with but the tools he himself had made, which of course were very +rough. But one day a friendly sentinel gave him a little iron rod, and a +small knife with a wooden handle. These were treasures, indeed! And with +their help he worked away for six months at his hole, as in some places +the mortar had become so hard that it had to be pounded like a stone. + +During this time he enlisted the compassion of some of the other +sentinels, who not only described to him the lie of the country which he +would have to traverse if he ever succeeded in getting out of prison, +but interested in his behalf a Jewess named Esther Heymann, whose own +father had been for two years a prisoner in Magdeburg. In this manner +Trenck became the possessor of a file, a knife, and some writing paper, +as the friendly Jewess had agreed to convey letters to some influential +people both at Vienna and Berlin, and also to his sister. But this step +led to the ruin, not only of Trenck, but of several persons concerned, +for they were betrayed by an Imperial Secretary of Embassy called +Weingarten, who was tempted by a bill for 20,000 florins. Many of those +guilty of abetting Trenck in this fresh effort to escape were put to +death, while his sister was ordered to build a new prison for him in the +Fort de l'Etoile, and he himself was destined to pass nine more years in +chains. + +In spite of his fetters, Trenck was able in some miraculous way to get +on with his hole, but his long labour was rendered useless by the +circumstance that his new prison was finished sooner than he expected, +and he was removed into it hastily, being only able to conceal his +knife. He was now chained even more heavily than before, his two feet +being attached to a heavy ring fixed in the wall, another ring being +fastened round his body. From this ring was suspended a chain with a +thick iron bar, two feet long at the bottom, and to this his hands were +fastened. An iron collar was afterwards added to his instruments of +torture. + +Besides torments of body, nothing was wanting which could work on his +mind. His prison was built between the trenches of the principal +rampart, and was of course very dark. It was likewise very damp, and, to +crown all, the name of 'Trenck' had been printed in red bricks on the +wall, above a tomb whose place was indicated by a death's head. + +[Illustration] + +Here again, he tells us, he excited the pity of his guards, who gave him +a bed and coverlet, and as much bread as he chose to eat; and, wonderful +as it may seem, his health did not suffer from all these horrors. As +soon as he got a little accustomed to his cramped position, he began to +use the knife he had left, and to cut through his chains. He next burst +the iron band, and after a long time severed his leg fetters, but in +such a way that he could put them on again, and no one be any the wiser. +Nothing is more common in the history of prisoners than this exploit, +and nothing is more astonishing, yet we meet with the fact again and +again in their memoirs and biographies. Trenck at any rate appears to +have accomplished the feat without much difficulty, though he found it +very hard to get his hand back into his handcuffs. After he had disposed +of his bonds, he began to saw at the doors leading to the gallery. These +were four in number, and all of wood, but when he arrived at the fourth, +his knife broke in two, and the courage that had upheld him for so many +years gave way. He opened his veins and lay down to die, when in his +despair he heard the voice of Gefhardt, the friendly sentinel from the +other prison. Hearing of Trenck's sad plight, he scaled the palisade, +and, we are told expressly, bound up his wounds, though we are _not_ +told how he managed to enter the cell. Be that as it may, the next day, +when the guards came to open the door, they found Trenck ready to meet +them, armed with a brick in one hand, and a knife, doubtless obtained +from Gefhardt, in the other. The first man that approached him, he +stretched wounded at his feet, and thinking it dangerous to irritate +further a desperate man, they made a compromise with him. The governor +took off his chains for a time, and gave him strong soup and fresh +linen. Then, after a while, new doors were put to his cell, the inner +door being lined with plates of iron, and he himself was fastened with +stronger chains than those he had burst through. + +For all this the watch must have been very lax, as Gefhardt soon +contrived to open communications with him again, and letters were passed +through the window (to which the prisoner had made a false and movable +frame) and forwarded to Trenck's rich friends. His appeal was always +answered promptly and amply. More valuable than money were two files, +also procured from Gefhardt, and by their means the new chains were +speedily cut through, though, as before, without any apparent break. +Having freed his limbs, he began to saw through the floor of his cell, +which was of wood. Underneath, instead of hard rock, there was sand, +which Trenck scooped out with his hands. This earth was passed through +the window to Gefhardt, who removed it when he was on guard, and gave +his friend pistols, a bayonet and knives to assist him when he had +finally made his escape. + +All seemed going smoothly. The foundations of the prison were only four +feet deep, and Trenck's tunnel had reached a considerable distance when +everything was again spoilt. A letter written by Trenck to Vienna fell +into the hands of the governor, owing to some stupidity on the part of +Gefhardt's wife, who had been entrusted to deliver it. The letter does +not seem to have contained any special disclosure of his plan of escape, +as the governor, who was still Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, could find +nothing wrong in Trenck's cell except the false window frame. The cut +chains, though examined, somehow escaped detection, from which we gather +either that the officials were very careless, or the carpenter very +stupid. Perhaps both may have been the case, for as the Seven Years' War +(against Austria) was at this time raging, sentinels and officers were +frequently changed, and prison discipline insensibly relaxed. Had this +not been so, Trenck could never have been able to labour unseen, but as +it was, he was merely deprived of his bed, as a punishment for tampering +with the window. + +As soon as he had recovered from his fright and an illness which +followed, he returned to his digging. It was necessary for him to bore +under the subterranean gallery of the principal rampart, which was a +distance of thirty-seven feet, and to get outside the foundation of the +rampart. Beyond that was a door leading to the second rampart. Trenck +was forced to work naked, for fear of raising the suspicions of the +officials by his dirty clothes, but in spite of all his precautions and +the wilful blindness of his guards, who as usual were on his side, all +was at length discovered. His hole was filled up, and a year's work +lost. + +The next torture invented for him was worse than any that had gone +before. He was visited and awakened every quarter of an hour, in order +that he might not set to work in the night. This lasted for four years, +during part of which time Trenck employed himself in writing verses and +making drawings on his tin cups, after the manner of all prisoners, and +in writing books with his blood, as ink was forbidden. We are again left +in ignorance as to how he got paper. He also began to scoop out another +hole, but was discovered afresh, though nothing particular seems to have +been done to him, partly owing to the kindness of the new governor, who +soon afterwards died. + +It had been arranged by his friends that for the space of one year +horses should be ready for him at a certain place, on the first and +fifteenth of every month. Inspired by this thought, he turned to his +burrowing with renewed vigour, and worked away at every moment when he +thought he could do so unseen. One day, however, when he had reached +some distance, he dislodged a large stone which blocked up the opening +towards his cell. His terror was frightful. Not only was the air +suffocating and the darkness dreadful, but he knew that if any of the +guards were unexpectedly to come into his cell, the opening must be +discovered, and all his toil again lost. For eight hours he stayed in +the tunnel paralysed by fear. Then he roused himself, and by dint of +superhuman struggles managed to open a passage on one side of the stone, +and to reach his cell, which for once appeared to him as a haven of +rest. + +Soon after this the war ended with the Peace of Paris (1763), and +Trenck's hopes of release seemed likely to be realised. He procured +money from his friends, and bribed the Austrian Ambassador in Berlin to +open negotiations on his behalf, and while these were impending he +rested from his labours for three whole months. Suddenly he was +possessed by an idea which was little less than madness. He bribed a +major to ask for a visit from Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, again +governor of Magdeburg, offering to disclose his passage, and to reveal +all his plans of escape, on condition that the Duke would promise to +plead for him with the King. This message never reached the Duke +himself, but some officers arrived ostensibly sent by him, but in +reality tools of the major's. They listened to all he had to say, and +saw all he had to show, then broke their word, filled up the passage, +and redoubled the chains and the watch. + +Notwithstanding this terrible blow, Trenck's trials were drawing to an +end. Whether Frederic's heart was softened by his brilliant victories, +or whether Trenck's influential friends succeeded in making themselves +heard, we do not know, but six months later he was set free, on +condition that he never tried to revenge himself on any one, and that he +never again should cross the frontiers of Saxony or Prussia. + + + + +_THE ADVENTURE OF JOHN RAWLINS_ + + +IN the year 1621, one John Rawlins, native of Rochester, sailed from +Plymouth in a ship called the 'Nicholas,' which had in its company +another ship of Plymouth, and had a fair voyage till they came within +sight of Gibraltar. Then the watch saw five sails that seemed to do all +in their power to come up with the 'Nicholas,' which, on its part, +suspecting them to be pirates, hoisted all the sail it could; but to no +avail, for before the day was over, the Turkish ships of war--for so +they proved to be--not only overtook the Plymouth ships, but made them +both prisoners. + +Then they sailed for Argier, which, when they reached, the English +prisoners were sold as slaves, being hurried like dogs into the market, +as men sell horses in England, and marched up and down to see who would +give most for them. And though they had heavy hearts and sad +countenances, yet many came to behold them, sometimes taking them by the +hand, sometimes turning them round about, sometimes feeling their arms +and muscles, and bargaining for them accordingly, till at last they were +sold. + +John Rawlins was the last who was sold, because his hand was lame, and +he was bought by the very captain who took him, named Villa Rise, who, +knowing Rawlins' skill as a pilot, bought him and his carpenter at a +very low rate--paying for Rawlins seven pounds ten reckoned in English +money. Then he sent them to work with other slaves: but the Turks, +seeing that through Rawlins' lame hand he could not do so much as the +rest, complained to their master, who told him that unless he could +obtain a ransom of fifteen pounds, he should be banished inland, where +he would never see Christendom again. + +But while John Rawlins was terrified with this stern threat of Villa +Rise, there was lying in the harbour another English ship that had been +surprised by the pirates--the 'Exchange,' of Bristol. This ship was +bought by an English Turk, who made captain of it another English Turk, +and because they were both renegades, they concluded to have English +and Dutch slaves to go in her. So it came about that, inquiring if any +English slave were to be sold who could serve them as pilot, they heard +of John Rawlins, and forthwith bought him of his master, Villa Rise. + +By January 7 the ship left Argier, with, on board her, sixty-three Turks +and Moors, nine English slaves, and a French slave, four Dutchmen, who +were free, and four gunners, one English, and one Dutch renegade. + +Now, the English slaves were employed for the most part under hatches, +and had to labour hard, all of which John Rawlins took to heart, +thinking it a terrible lot to be subject to such pain and danger only to +enrich other men, and themselves to return as slaves. Therefore he broke +out at last with such words as these: + +'Oh, horrible slavery, to be thus subject to dogs! Oh, Heaven strengthen +my heart and hand, and something shall be done to deliver us from these +cruel Mahometan dogs!' + +The other slaves, pitying what they thought his madness, bade him speak +softly, lest they should all fare the worse for his rashness. + +'Worse,' said Rawlins, 'what can be worse? I will either regain my +liberty at one time or another, or perish in the attempt; but if you +would agree to join with me in the undertaking, I doubt not but we +should find some way of winning glory with our freedom.' + +'Prithee be quiet,' they returned, 'and do not think of impossibilities, +though, if indeed you could open some way of escape, so that we should +not be condemned as madmen for trying as it were to pull the sun out of +the heavens, then we would risk our lives; and you may be sure of +silence.' + +After this the slavery continued, and the Turks set their captives to +work at all the meanest tasks, and even when they laboured hardest, +flogged and reviled them, till more and more John Rawlins became +resolved to recover his liberty and surprise the ship. So he provided +ropes with broad spikes of iron, and all the iron crows, with which he +could, with the help of the others, fasten up the scuttles, gratings, +and cabins, and even shut up the captain himself with his companions; +and so he intended to work the enterprise, that, at a certain watchword, +the English being masters of the gunner-room and the powder, would +either be ready to blow the Turks into the air, or kill them as they +came out one by one, if by any chance they forced open the cabins. + +Then, very cautiously, he told the four free Dutchmen of his plot, and +last of all the Dutch renegades, who were also in the gunner-room; and +all these consented readily to so daring an enterprise. So he fixed the +time for the venture in the captain's morning watch. + +But you must understand that where the English slaves were there always +hung four or five iron crows, just under the gun carriages, and when the +time came it was very dark, so that John Rawlins, in taking out his iron +dropped it on the side of the gun, making such a noise that the +soldiers, hearing it, waked the Turks and told them to come down. At +this the boatswain of the Turks descended with a candle, and searched +everywhere, making a great deal of stir, but finding neither hatchet nor +hammer, nor anything else suspicious, only the iron which lay slipped +down under the gun-carriages, he went quietly up again and told the +captain what had happened, who thought that it was no remarkable thing +to have an iron slip from its place. But through this John Rawlins was +forced to wait for another opportunity. + +When they had sailed further northward there happened another suspicious +accident, for Rawlins had told his scheme to the renegade gunner, who +promised secrecy by everything that could induce one to believe in him. +But immediately after he left Rawlins, and was absent about a quarter of +an hour, when he returned and sat down again by him. Presently, as they +were talking, in came a furious Turk, with his sword drawn, who +threatened Rawlins as if he would certainly kill him. This made Rawlins +suspect that the renegade gunner had betrayed him; and he stepped back +and drew out his knife, also taking the gunner's out of its sheath; so +that the Turk, seeing him with _two_ knives, threw down his sword, +saying he was only jesting. But the gunner, seeing that Rawlins +suspected him, whispered something in his ear, calling Heaven to witness +that he had never breathed a word of the enterprise, and never would. +Nevertheless, Rawlins kept the knives in his sleeve all night, and was +somewhat troubled, though afterwards the gunner proved faithful and +zealous in the undertaking. + +All this time Rawlins persuaded the captain, who himself had little +knowledge of seamanship, to steer northward, meaning to draw him away +from the neighbourhood of other Turkish vessels. On February 6 they +descried a sail, and at once the Turks gave chase, and made her +surrender. It proved to be a ship from near Dartmouth, laden with silk. +As it was stormy weather, the Turks did not put down their boat, but +made the master of the conquered ship put down his, and come on board +with five of his men and a boy, while ten of the Turks' men, among whom +were one English and two Dutch renegades belonging to the conspiracy, +went to man the prize instead. + +[Illustration] + +But when Rawlins saw this division of his friends, before they could set +out for the other ship, he found means to tell them plainly that he +would complete his enterprise either that night or the next, and that +whatever came of it they must acquaint the four English left on the +captured ship with his resolution, and steer for England while the Turks +slept and suspected nothing. For, by God's grace, in his first watch he +would show them a light, to let them know that the enterprise was begun, +or about to be begun. + +So the boat reached the ship from Dartmouth; and next Rawlins told the +captain and his men whom the Turks had sent down among the other +prisoners of his design, and found them willing to throw in their lot +with him. + +The next morning, being February 7, the prize from Dartmouth was not to +be seen--the men indeed having followed Rawlins' counsel and steered for +England. But the Turkish captain began to storm and swear, telling +Rawlins to search the seas up and down for her--which he did all day +without success. Then Rawlins, finding a good deal of water in the hold, +persuaded the captain, by telling him that the ship was not rightly +balanced, to have four of the guns brought aft, that the water might run +to the pump. This being done, and the guns placed where the English +could use them for their own purpose, the final arrangement was made. +The ship having three decks, those that belonged to the gunner-room were +all to be there, and break up the lower deck. The English slaves, who +belonged to the middle deck, were to do the same with that, and watch +the scuttles. Rawlins himself prevailed with the gunner to give him as +much powder as would prime the guns, and told them all there was no +better watchword than, when the signal gun was heard, to cry: + +'For God, and King James, and Saint George for England.' + +Then, all being prepared, and every man resolute, knowing what he had to +do, Rawlins advised the gunner to speak to the captain, that he might +send the soldiers to the poop, to bring the ship aft, and, weighing it +down, send the water to the pumps. This the captain was very willing to +do; and so, at two o'clock in the afternoon the signal was given, by the +firing of the gun, whose report tore and broke down all the binnacle and +compasses. + +But when the Turks heard this, and the shouts of the conspirators, and +saw that part of ship was torn away, and felt it shake under them, and +knew that all threatened their destruction--no bear robbed of her whelps +was ever so mad as they, for they not only called us dogs, and cried in +their tongue, 'The fortune of war! the fortune of war!' but they tried +to tear up the planking, setting to work hammers, hatchets, knives, the +oars of the boat, the boat hook, and whatever else came to hand, besides +the stones and bricks of the cook-room, still trying to break the +hatches, and never ceasing their horrible cries and curses. + +Then Rawlins, seeing them so violent, and understanding that the slaves +had cleared the decks of all the Turks and Moors underneath, began to +shoot at them through different scoutholes, with their own muskets, and +so lessened their number. At this they cried for the pilot, and so +Rawlins, with some to guard him, went to them, and understood by their +kneeling that they cried for mercy and begged to come down. This they +were bidden to do, but coming down one by one, they were taken and slain +with their own curtleaxes. And the rest, perceiving this, some of them +leapt into the water, still crying: 'The fortune of war!' and calling +their foes English dogs, and some were slain with the curtleaxes, till +the decks were well cleared, and the victory assured. + +[Illustration] + +At the first report of the gun, and the hurly-burly on deck, the captain +was writing in his cabin, and he came out with his curtleaxe in hand, +thinking by his authority to quell the mischief. But when he saw that +the ship was surprised, he threw down his curtleaxe, and begged Rawlins +to save his life, telling him how he had redeemed him from Villa Rise, +and put him in command in the ship, besides treating him well through +the voyage. This Rawlins confessed, and at last consented to be +merciful, and brought the captain and five more renegades into England. + +When all was done, and the ship cleared of the dead bodies, John Rawlins +assembled his men, and with one consent gave the praise to God, using +the accustomed services on shipboard. And for want of books they lifted +up their voices to God, as He put it into their hearts or renewed their +memories. Then did they sing a psalm, and last of all, embraced one +another for playing the men in such a deliverance, whereby their fear +was turned into joy. That same night they steered for England, and +arrived at Plymouth on February 13, and were welcomed with all gladness. + +As for the ship from Dartmouth, that had arrived in Penzance on February +11, for the English had made the Turks believe that they were sailing to +Argier, till they came in sight of England. Then one of the Turks said +plainly _that the land was not like Cape Vincent_; but the Englishmen +told them to go down into the hold, and trim more to windward, and they +should see and know more to-morrow. Thereupon five of them went down +very orderly, while the English feigned themselves asleep; but presently +they started up, and nailed down the hatches, and so overpowered the +Turks. And this is the story of this enterprise, and the end of John +Rawlins' voyage. + + + + +_THE CHEVALIER JOHNSTONE'S ESCAPE FROM CULLODEN_ + + +THE Chevalier Johnstone (or _de_ Johnstone, as he preferred to call +himself) was closely connected with the Highland army, hastily collected +in 1745 for the purpose of restoring Charles Edward to his grandfather's +throne. He was aide-de-camp to Lord George Murray, Generalissimo to the +little force, and seems to have known enough of warfare to be capable of +appreciating his commander's skill. He was also a captain in the +regiment of the Duke of Perth, and later, when the petals of the White +Rose were trampled under foot, he became an officer in the French +service. + +From his position, therefore, he was peculiarly fitted to tell the tale +of those two eventful years, 1745 and 1746. Though only the son of a +merchant, Johnstone was well connected, and, like many Scottish +gentlemen of that day, had been bred in loyalty to the Jacobite cause. +He was one of the first to join the Prince when he had reached Perth, +and it was from the Prince himself that he received his company, after +the fight at Prestonpans. His life was all romance, but the part on +which it is our present purpose to dwell is the account he has left in +his memoirs of his escape from the field of Culloden, and the terrible +sufferings he went through for some months, till he finally made his way +safely to Holland. + +'The battle of Culloden,' he says,[14] 'was lost rather by a series of +mistakes on our part than by any skilful manoeuvre of the Duke of +Cumberland,' and every Scot in arms knew too well the doom that awaited +him at the 'Butcher's' hands. The half-starved Highlanders were no match +for the well-fed English troops, and when the day was lost, and the rout +became general, each man sought to conceal himself in the fastnesses of +the nearest mountains, and, as long as he put himself well out of reach, +was not particular as to the means he took to purchase safety. + +[Illustration] + +Panics disclose strange and unexpected depths in men's minds, and +Johnstone was in no respect superior to his fellows. 'Being no longer +able to keep myself on my legs,' he relates,[15] 'and the enemy always +advancing very slowly, but redoubling their fire, my mind was agitated +and undecided whether I should throw away my life, or surrender a +prisoner, which was a thousand times worse than death on the field of +battle. All at once I perceived a horse, about thirty paces before me, +without a rider. The idea of being yet able to escape gave me fresh +strength and served as a spur to me. I ran and laid hold of the bridle, +which was fast in the hand of a man lying on the ground, whom I supposed +dead; but, what was my surprise when the cowardly poltroon, who was +suffering from nothing but fear, dared to remain in the most horrible +fire to dispute the horse with me, at twenty paces from the enemy. All +my menaces could not induce him to quit the bridle. Whilst we were +disputing, a discharge from a cannon loaded with grape-shot fell at our +feet, without however producing any effect upon this singular +individual, who obstinately persisted in retaining the horse. +Fortunately for me, Finlay Cameron, an officer in Lochiel's regiment, a +youth of twenty years of age, six feet high, and very strong and +vigorous, happened to pass near us. I called on him to assist me. "Ah +Finlay," said I, "this fellow will not give me up the horse." Finlay +flew to me like lightning, immediately presented his pistol to the head +of this man, and threatened to blow out his brains if he hesitated a +moment to let go the bridle. The fellow, who had the appearance of a +servant, at length yielded and took to his heels. Having obtained the +horse, I attempted to mount him several times, but all my efforts were +ineffectual, as I was without strength and completely exhausted. I +called again on poor Finlay, though he was already some paces from me, +to assist me to mount. He returned, took me in his arms, with as much +ease as if I had been a child, and threw me on the horse like a loaded +sack, giving the horse at the same time a heavy blow to make him set off +with me. Then wishing that I might have the good fortune to make my +escape, he bounded off like a roe, and was in a moment out of sight. We +were hardly more than fifteen or twenty paces from the enemy when he +quitted me. As soon as I found myself at the distance of thirty or forty +paces, I endeavoured to set myself right on the horse, put my feet in +the stirrups, and rode off as fast as the wretched animal could carry +me.' + +[Illustration] + +There is something peculiarly funny in the simplicity of this account of +horse-stealing with violence! Why a man should be more of a coward who +clings to his own property and only means of safety, than the person who +deliberately deprives him of both, is not easy to see. But Johnstone +never doubts for one moment that what he does is always right, and what +anyone else does is always wrong, and he goes on complacently to remark +that he probably 'saved the life of the poltroon who held the horse, in +rousing him out of his panic fear, for in less than two minutes the +English army would have passed over him.'[16] + +The shelter which Johnstone made up his mind to seek was the castle of +Rothiemurchus, the property of the Grant family, situated in the heart +of the mountains, and on the banks of the 'rapid Spey.' But his troubles +were not so easily over. The English army barred the way, and Johnstone +was forced to take the road to Inverness. Again he was turned from his +path by the dreaded sight of the British uniform, and, accompanied by a +Highlander whom he had met by chance, he took refuge in a small cottage +in Fort Augustus. In spite of his peculiar views about courage, +Johnstone was a man who generally managed to do whatever he had set his +heart on. He had resolved to go to Rothiemurchus, and to Rothiemurchus +he would go. At last he arrived there, but found, to his great +disappointment, that the laird, his old friend, was away from home. In +his place was his eldest son, who was urgent that Johnstone should +surrender himself a prisoner, as Lord Balmerino had just done, by his +advice, and under his escort. Johnstone replied that he would keep his +liberty as long as he could, and when it was no longer possible, he +would meet his fate with resignation. We all know the end to which poor +Balmerino came, but Johnstone was more fortunate. + +[Illustration] + +His brother-in-law, the son of Lord Rollo, had been made inspector of +merchant ships in the town of Banff, and Johnstone fondly hoped that by +his help he might obtain a passage to some foreign country. So he set +off with three gentlemen of the name of Gordon, who had also been +staying at Rothiemurchus, and rested the first night at the house of a +shepherd near the mountain of Cairngorm. Here he saw for the first time +the stones which bear this name, and though he is flying for his life, +he dwells with the delight of a collector on the beauty of the colours, +and even persuades his friends to put off their departure for a day, in +order that he may search for some specimens himself. He contrived, he +tells us,[17] to find several beautiful topazes, two of which he had +cut as seals, and presented to the Duke of York, brother of Prince +Charles Edward. + +Four days after leaving Rothiemurchus Banff was reached, and the +fugitives were sheltered by a Presbyterian minister, who was a secret +adherent of the Stuarts. Johnstone at once took the precaution of +exchanging his laced Highland dress for that of an old labourer, 'quite +ragged, and exhaling a pestilential odour,' due apparently to its having +been used for many years 'when he cleaned the stables of his master.' In +this unpleasant disguise, he entered the town of Banff, then garrisoned +with four hundred English soldiers, and went straight to the house of a +former acquaintance, Mr. Duff. After gaining admittance from the servant +with some difficulty, he found with dismay that his brother-in-law was +away from home, and he could not therefore carry out his plan of +embarking, with his permission, on board one of the merchant ships. +There seemed nothing for it, therefore, but for Johnstone to return at +daybreak to the house of Mr. Gordon, where he had spent the previous +night. At daybreak, however, he was roused by a fearful disturbance in +the courtyard below, occasioned by the quarrels of some stray soldiers. +For a moment he thought death was certain, but the soldiers had no +suspicion of his presence in the house, and as soon as they had settled +their affairs took themselves off elsewhere. + +Mr. Rollo proved a broken reed, and the Chevalier found, after a few +minutes' talk with his brother-in-law, that if he wished to reach the +Continent he must not count on a passage in the merchant ships to help +him. He therefore, after consultation with his friends, came to the +conclusion that his best plan was to make for the Lowlands, and to this +end he set out for Edinburgh as soon as possible. Of course this scheme +was beset with difficulties and dangers of every kind. The counties +through which he would be forced to pass were filled with Calvinists, +inspired with deadly hatred of the Jacobite party. To escape their hands +was almost certainly to fall into those of the soldiery, and over and +above this, government passports were necessary for those who desired to +cross the Firths of Forth and Tay. + +But, nothing daunted, Johnstone went his way. He was passed in disguise +from one house to another, well-fed at the lowest possible prices (he +tells us of the landlady of a small inn who charged him threepence for +'an excellent young fowl' and his bed), till at last he found himself in +the region of Cortachy, the country of the Ogilvies, who one and all +were on the side of the Prince. At Cortachy he was quite secure, as long +as no English soldiery came by, and even if they did, the mountains were +full of hiding places, and there was no risk of treachery at home. Two +officers who had served in the French army, Brown and Gordon by name, +had sought refuge here before him, and lay concealed in the house of a +peasant known as Samuel. They implored him not to run the risk of +proceeding south till affairs had quieted down a little, and he agreed +to remain at Samuel's cottage till it seemed less dangerous to travel +south. + +It would be interesting to know what was 'the gratification beyond his +hopes' which Johnstone gave Samuel when they parted company some time +after. It ought to have been something very handsome considering the +risks which the peasant had run in his behalf, and also the fact that +for several weeks Johnstone and his two friends had shared the scanty +fare of Samuel and his family. They had 'no other food than oatmeal, and +no other drink than the water of the stream which ran through the glen. +We breakfasted every morning on a piece of oatmeal bread which we were +enabled to swallow by draughts of water; for dinner we boiled oatmeal +with water, till it acquired a consistency, and we ate it with horn +spoons; in the evening, we poured boiling water on this meal in a dish, +for our supper.'[18] Even this frugal diet could not be swallowed long +in peace, for shortly after their arrival, Samuel's daughter, who lived +at the mouth of the glen, came to inform her father that some English +troops had been seen in the neighbourhood, and whenever there was any +chance of their appearing in the glen Johnstone and his friends had to +take refuge in the mountains. + +One day this woman arrived with the news that the soldiery were hovering +dangerously near, and had taken several notable prisoners. Upon this the +fugitives decided to leave their shelter at daybreak the following +morning and to make the best of their way to the Highlands, where they +would be sure of finding some rocks and caverns to hide them from their +foes. + +This resolution once taken, they all went early to bed, and there +Johnstone had a dream which he relates with many apologies for his +superstition. He fancied himself in Edinburgh safe from the snares of +his enemies, and with no fears for the future, and describing his +adventures and escapes since the battle of Culloden to his old friend +Lady Jane Douglas. The impression of peace and happiness and relief from +anxiety was so strong that it remained with him after he woke, and +after lying turning the matter over in his mind for another hour, +informed Samuel (who had come to rouse him with the intelligence that +his companions had already set off for the mountains) that he had +altered his plans and intended to go straight to Edinburgh. In vain the +old man argued and entreated. Johnstone was determined, and that same +evening he set forth on horseback with Samuel for his guide, and made +straight for the nearest arm of the sea, which he describes, though +quite wrongly, as being only eight miles from Cortachy. + +To reach this, they were obliged to pass through Forfar, a town which, +being a Calvinistic stronghold, the Chevalier can never mention without +an abusive epithet. But here poor Samuel, whose nerves had doubtless +been strained by the perpetual watching and waiting of the last few +weeks, was frightened out of his senses by the barking of a dog, and +tried to throw himself from his horse. At this juncture, Johnstone, who +knew that to be left without a guide in this strange place meant certain +death, interfered promptly. 'He was continually struggling to get down,' +he says,[19] 'but I prevented him by the firm hold I had of his coat. I +exhorted him to be quiet; I reproached him; I alternately entreated and +menaced him; but all in vain. He no longer knew what he was about, and +it was to no purpose I assured him that it was only the barking of a +dog. He perspired at every pore, and trembled like a person in an ague. +Fortunately I had an excellent horse, and galloped through Forfar at +full speed, retaining always fast hold of his coat. As soon as we were +fairly out of the town, as no persons had come out of their houses, poor +Samuel began to breathe again, and made a thousand apologies for his +fears.' + +As the day broke and they drew near Broughty Ferry, where Johnstone +intended to cross the Firth of Tay, the Chevalier dismounted, and being +obliged to part from his horse, offered it as a present to Samuel, who +declined the animal from motives of prudence. It was then turned loose +in a field (the saddle and bridle being first thrown down a well), and +the wayfarers proceeded on their way. Only a few minutes later, they +were joined by an acquaintance of Samuel's, who seems to have been of a +curious turn of mind, and cross-questioned him as to where he was going +and why. Samuel, with more readiness than could have been expected from +his recent behaviour, invented a story that sounded plausible enough, +explaining Johnstone to be a young man whom he had picked up on the +road, and had taken into his service at low wages, owing to his want of +a character. The stranger was satisfied, and after a prolonged drink +they separated, when Samuel informed Johnstone that the man was one of +the 'greatest knaves and cheats in the country,' and that they would +assuredly have been betrayed if he had discovered who they were. + +[Illustration] + +They arrived at the Ferry about nine in the morning, and by Samuel's +advice, the Chevalier immediately sought the help of Mr. Graham, a +gentleman of Jacobite family, then living at Duntroon. After a warm +welcome from Mr. Graham, who gave him all the entertainment he could +without the knowledge of his servants, a boat was engaged to convey him +across the Firth about nine that night. Mr. Graham did not, however, +dare to be his guide down to the sea-shore, but gave him careful +directions as to his following an old woman who had been provided for +this purpose. But all Mr. Graham's precautions would have been useless, +had not chance once more favoured the Chevalier. His protectress decided +that it would be dangerous to allow him to loiter about the shore while +the boat was getting ready for sea, so she told her charge to wait for +her on the road on top of the hill, and she would return and fetch him +when all was ready. Half an hour passed very slowly: the sun was +sinking, and the Chevalier grew impatient. He left the road by which he +had been sitting, and lay down in a furrow a few yards off, nearer the +brow of the hill, so that he might perceive his guide at the earliest +moment. Scarcely had he changed his quarters, than he heard the sound of +horses, and peeping cautiously out, 'saw eight or ten horsemen pass in +the very place he had just quitted.' No sooner were they out of sight, +than the old woman arrived, trembling with fright. 'Ah!' she exclaimed +in a transport of joy, 'I did not expect to find you here.' She then +explained that the horsemen were English dragoons, and that they had so +threatened the boatmen engaged by Mr. Graham that they absolutely +refused to fulfil their compact. This was a terrible blow to the +Chevalier, but he declined to listen to the old woman's advice and +return for shelter to Mr. Graham, and after much persuasion, induced his +guide to show him the way to the public-house by the sea-shore. Here he +was welcomed by the landlady, whose son had been likewise 'out' with the +Prince, but neither her entreaties nor those of the Chevalier could move +the boatmen from their resolution. They even resisted the prayers of the +landlady's two beautiful daughters, till the girls, disgusted and +indignant with such cowardice, offered to row him across themselves. + +'We left Broughty Ferry,' he writes in his memoirs, 'at ten o'clock in +the evening, and reached the opposite shore about midnight.' He then +took an affectionate leave of his preservers, and proceeded, footsore as +he was, to walk to St. Andrews. At this time Johnstone seems to have +felt more physically exhausted than at almost any other moment of his +travels; and it was only by dint of perpetually washing his sore and +bleeding feet in the streams he passed, that he managed to reach St. +Andrews towards eight o'clock. He at once made his way to the house of +his cousin, Mrs. Spence, who, herself a suspected person, was much taken +aback by the sight of him, and hastily sent a letter to a tenant farmer +living near the town, to provide the fugitive with a horse which would +carry him to Wemyss, a seaport town on the way to Edinburgh. The old +University city does not appear to have made a favourable impression on +the Chevalier. He declares that no town 'ever deserved so much the fate +of Sodom and Gomorrah,'[20] and this, not from any particular wickedness +on the part of the inhabitants, but because they were supposed to be +Calvinists. However, his sentiments must have been confirmed when the +farmer declined to take his horses out on a Sunday, and, lame as he was, +Johnstone had no choice but to set out on foot for Wemyss. Halfway, he +suddenly remembered that close by lived an old servant of his family, +married to the gardener of Mr. Beaton, of Balfour. Here he was housed +and fed for twenty hours, and then conducted by his host, a rigid +Presbyterian, to a tavern at Wemyss, kept by the mother-in-law of the +gardener. By her advice they applied to a man named Salmon, who, though +a rabid Hanoverian, could be trusted not to betray those who had faith +in him. It was hard work to gain over Salmon, who was proof against +bribery, but at last it was done. By his recommendation Johnstone was to +lie till dawn in a cave near Wemyss (a place whose name means 'caves'), +and with the first ray of light was to beg a passage to Leith from some +men who were with Salmon part owners of a boat. In this cave, which, +notwithstanding its narrow entrance, was deep and spacious, the +Chevalier was glad to repose his weary bones. But, after dozing about an +hour, he was 'awakened by the most horrible and alarming cries that ever +were heard.'[21] His first thought was that Salmon had betrayed him, and +he retreated to the interior of the cavern, cocked his pistol, and +prepared to sell his life dearly. Soon, however, the swift movements +accompanying the noise convinced him that it did not proceed from men, +for 'sometimes the object was about my ears, and nearly stunned me, and, +in an instant, at a considerable distance. At length I ceased to examine +any more this horrible and incomprehensible phenomenon, which made a +noise in confusion like that of a number of trumpets and drums, with a +mixture of different sounds, altogether unknown to me.' + +Effectually aroused by the whining of the owls and bats (for these, of +course, were the authors of all this disturbance), Johnstone fixed his +eyes on the sea to note the first entrance of the fishing boats into the +harbour. He then went down to the shore and began to make the bargain as +directed by Salmon, and the fishermen agreed to land him at Leith for +half-a-crown. But alas! once more his hopes were blighted. He was in the +act of stepping into the boat, when Salmon's wife appeared on the scene, +and forbade her husband to go to Leith that day, still less to take a +stranger there. Neither Salmon nor Johnstone dared insist, for fear of +rousing the woman's suspicions, and after a short retreat in the cave in +order to collect his thoughts, he returned to the tavern at Wemyss, to +consult with the friendly landlady. Thanks to her, and with the help of +one or two people to whom she introduced him, Johnstone at last arrived +at the house of one Mr. Seton, whose son had formerly served with +Johnstone in the army of the Prince. Here he remained eight days, vainly +seeking to find a second man who could aid the fisherman who had already +promised to put him across, though it does not appear why Johnstone, +who had already observed[22] that he was able to row, did not take an +oar when his own head was at stake. + +[Illustration] + +At last affairs were brought to a crisis, by rumours having got abroad +of the presence of a fugitive on the coast. Things seemed in a desperate +condition, when young Seton threw himself into the breach, and agreed to +help Cousselain, the fisherman, to take the Chevalier to Leith. They +were actually launching the boat when the inhabitants of the village, +alarmed by the noise they made, raised a cry that a rebel was escaping, +and the two oarsmen had barely time to conceal themselves without being +discovered. However, in flat defiance of everyone's advice, and, as it +turned out, in spite of the drunken state of Cousselain, Johnstone +resolved to repeat the attempt in an hour's time, taking in the end, as +he might have done at the beginning, his place at the oar. For a few +moments they breathed freely; then the wind got up, and the waves, and, +what was perhaps more dangerous, the drunken Cousselain, who had been +placed in the bottom of the boat. 'We were obliged to kick him most +unmercifully in order to keep him quiet,' observes Johnstone, 'and to +threaten to throw him overboard if he made the least movement. Seton and +myself rowed like galley slaves. We succeeded in landing, about six in +the morning, on a part of the coast a league and a half to the east of +Edinburgh,[23] near the battlefield of Gladsmuir.' Here he parted with +his deliverers, tenderly embracing young Seton, and presenting to the +'somewhat sober' Cousselain a gratification beyond his hopes. + +After taking a little of the food with which Mr. Seton had provided him, +he determined to seek refuge for a few days with an old governess, Mrs. +Blythe, wife of a small shipowner at Leith. Blythe himself was another +of the many 'rigid Calvinists and sworn enemies of the house of Stuart' +to whom Johnstone entrusted his safety during his wanderings, and never +once had occasion to repent it. Mr. Blythe, indeed, combined the +profession of Calvinist with that of smuggler, and had numerous hiding +places in his house for the concealment of contraband goods, which would +prove equally serviceable, as Johnstone told him, for 'the most +contraband and dangerous commodity that he had ever had in his +possession.' + +Though Johnstone had reached the goal of his desires, his perils were by +no means at an end. English soldiers visited the house, and could with +difficulty be persuaded to admit the exemption pleaded by Mr. Blythe. In +consequence of this event, Johnstone accepted the offer of an asylum +made him by Lady Jane Douglas, in her place at Drumsheugh, half a +league away. So his dream came true, and after all his wanderings he was +safe with Lady Jane, telling the story of his adventures. He remained +with her for two months, unknown to anyone but his hostess and the +gardener, reading all day, and only taking a walk at night, when the +household was in bed. At the end of that time, when Lady Jane and his +father were of opinion that he might safely go to London, and thence +abroad, fresh rumours as to his whereabouts began to arise, and fearing +the immediate visit of a detachment of English soldiers, he was +concealed for a whole day under a huge haycock, so overcome by the heat +that he could hardly breathe, in spite of a bottle of water and another +of wine, with which he was provided. + +This measure, which after all was needless, for no soldiers came, was +the last trial he had to undergo before leaving Scotland, and here we +must part from him. In France, which he made his home, he became the +friend of many eminent men, and was aide-de-camp in Canada to the +Marquis de Montcalm. But the end of his life was sad, and he died in +poverty.[24] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] P. 211. + +[15] P. 215. + +[16] P. 217. + +[17] P. 229. + +[18] P. 249. + +[19] P. 257. + +[20] P. 274. + +[21] P. 295. + +[22] P. 271. + +[23] P. 308. + +[24] From _Memoirs of the Chevalier de Johnstone_. Longmans. London, +1822. The Memoirs were written in French, and deposited in the Scots +College at Paris. They were communicated to Messrs. Longman by Robert +Watson, the adventurer, who, under Napoleon, was Principal of the Scots +College. The Chevalier left a granddaughter, who corresponded on the +subject of the Memoirs with Sir Walter Scott. + + + + +_THE ADVENTURES OF LORD PITSLIGO_ + + +WHEN Prince Charles came to Scotland in 1745, to seek his grandfather's +crown, no braver and no better man rode with him than Lord Pitsligo. He +was now sixty-seven years of age, for he was born in 1678, ten years +before James II. was driven out of England. As a young man he had lived +much in France, where he became the friend of the famous Fenelon, author +of 'Telemaque.' Though much interested in the doctrines of Fenelon, Lord +Pitsligo did not change his faith, but remained a member of the +persecuted Episcopal Church of Scotland. In France he met the members of +the exiled Royal family, whom he never ceased to regard as his lawful +monarchs, though Queen Anne, and later the First and Second Georges, +occupied the throne of England. When the clans rose for King James, the +son of James II., in 1715, Lord Pitsligo, then a man of twenty-seven, +joined the forces under his kinsman, Lord Marr. His party was defeated, +and he went abroad. He did not stay long with James in Rome, but was +allowed to return to his estates in Scotland. Here he lived very +quietly, beloved by rich and poor. But, in 1745, Prince Charles landed, +and the old Lord believed it to be his duty to join him. He had, as he +says, no keen enthusiasm for the Stuarts, but to his mind they were his +lawful rulers. So aged was he, and so infirm, that, when he left a +neighbour's house before setting out, a little boy brought a stool to +help him to mount his horse. 'My little fellow,' he said, 'this is the +severest reproof I have yet met with, for presuming to go on such an +expedition.' Lady Pitsligo in vain reminded him of the failure of 1715. +'There never was a bridal,' he replied, 'but the second day was the +best.' The gentlemen of his county thought that they could not do wrong +in following so learned and excellent a man, so they all mounted the +white cockade and rode with him. He arrived just too late for the +victory of Preston Pans. 'It seemed,' said an eye-witness, 'as if +religion, virtue, and justice were entering the camp under the +appearance of this venerable old man.' When he wrote home, he said, 'I +had occasion to discover the Prince's humanity, I ought to say +tenderness: this is giving myself no great airs, for he showed the same +dispositions to everybody.' In the fatigues of the campaign, the Prince, +who was young and strong, insisted on Lord Pitsligo's using his +carriage, while he himself marched on foot at the head of his army. + +[Illustration] + +After the defeat of Culloden, Lord Pitsligo hid among the mountains, +living on oatmeal, moistened with hot water. They had not even salt to +their brose; for, as one of the Highlanders said, 'Salt is touchy,' +meaning expensive. Yet these men, who could not even buy salt, never +betrayed their Prince for the great reward of thirty thousand pounds, +nor any of the other gentlemen in hiding. Possibly they did not believe +that there was so much money in the world. Lord Pitsligo had made up his +mind not to go abroad again, but to live or die among his own people. At +one time he lay for days hidden in a damp hole under a little bridge, +and at other times concealed himself in the mosses and moors. Here the +lapwings, flitting and crying above him, were like to have drawn the +English soldiers to his retreat. His wife gave him two great bags, like +those which beggars carried; in these he would place the alms which were +given to him, and in this disguise he had many narrow escapes. Once he +saw some dragoons on the road behind him, but he was too old and too ill +to run. He was obliged to sit down and cough, and one of the dragoons +who were in search of him actually gave him some money as they passed +by, and condoled with him on the severity of his cough. + +[Illustration] + +Lord Pitsligo often hid in a cave on the coast of Buchan. Here was a +spring of water welling through the rock, and he carved a little cistern +for it, to pass the time. He was fed by a little girl, too young to be +suspected, who carried his meals from a neighbouring farm. One day he +was sitting in the kitchen of the farm, when some soldiers came in, and +asked the goodwife to guide them to Lord Pitsligo's cave. She said, +'That travelling body will go with you,' and Lord Pitsligo conducted the +soldiers to his hiding place, left them there, and walked back to the +farm. But the following adventure was perhaps his narrowest escape. + +In March 1756, and of course long after all apprehension of a search had +ceased, information having been given to the then commanding officer at +Fraserburgh, that Lord Pitsligo was at that moment in the house of +Auchiries, it was acted upon with so much promptness and secrecy, that +the search must have proved successful but for a very singular +occurrence. Mrs. Sophia Donaldson, a lady who lived much with the +family, repeatedly dreamt on that particular night that the house was +surrounded by soldiers. Her mind became so haunted with the idea, that +she got out of bed, and was walking through the room in hopes of giving +a different current to her thoughts before she lay down again, when, day +beginning to dawn, she accidentally looked out at the window as she +passed it in traversing the room, and was astonished at actually +observing the figures of soldiers among some trees near the house. So +completely had all idea of a search been by that time laid asleep, that +she supposed they had come to steal poultry; Jacobite poultry-yards +affording a safe object of pillage for the English soldiers in those +days. Under this impression Mrs. Sophia was proceeding to rouse the +servants, when her sister having awaked, and inquiring what was the +matter, and being told of soldiers near the house, exclaimed, in great +alarm, that she feared they wanted something more than hens. She begged +Mrs. Sophia to look out at a window on the other side of the house, when +not only soldiers were seen in that direction, but also an officer +giving instructions by signals, and frequently putting his fingers on +his lips, as if enjoining silence. There was now no time to be lost in +rousing the family, and all the haste that could be made was scarcely +sufficient to hurry the venerable man from his bed, into a small recess +behind the wainscot of an adjoining room, which was concealed by a bed, +in which a lady, Miss Gordon of Towie, who was there on a visit, lay, +before the soldiers obtained admission. A most minute search took place. +The room in which Lord Pitsligo was concealed did not escape: Miss +Gordon's bed was carefully examined, and she was obliged to suffer the +rude scrutiny of one of the party, by feeling her chin, to ascertain +that it was not a man in a lady's night-dress. Before the soldiers had +finished their examination in this room, the confinement and anxiety +increased Lord Pitsligo's asthma so much, and his breathing became so +loud, that it obliged Miss Gordon, lying in bed, to counterfeit and +continue a violent coughing, in order to prevent the high breathing +behind the wainscot from being heard. It may easily be conceived what +agony she would suffer, lest, by overdoing her part, she should increase +suspicion, and in fact lead to a discovery. The _ruse_ was fortunately +successful. On the search through the house being given over, Lord +Pitsligo was hastily taken from his confined situation, and again +replaced in bed; and as soon as he was able to speak, his accustomed +kindness of heart made him say to his servant, 'James, go and see that +these poor fellows get some breakfast, and a drink of warm ale, for this +is a cold morning; they are only doing their duty, and cannot bear me +any ill-will.' When the family were felicitating each other on his +escape, he pleasantly observed, 'A poor prize had they obtained it--an +old dying man!' That the friends who lived in the house,--the hourly +witnesses of his virtues, and the objects of his regard, who saw him +escape all the dangers that surrounded him, should reckon him the +peculiar care of Providence, is not to be wondered at; and that the +dream which was so opportune, as the means of preventing his +apprehension, and probably of saving his life, was supposed by some of +them at last to be a special interposition of Heaven's protecting shield +against his enemies, need not excite surprise. This was accordingly the +belief of more than one to their dying hour. + +[Illustration] + +After some fifteen years, the English Government ceased to think Lord +Pitsligo dangerous. He was allowed to live unmolested at the house of +his son, where he died in 1762, in his eighty-fifth year. 'He was never +heard to speak an ill word of any man living,' says one who knew him +well, and who himself spoke many ill words of others.[25] Lord Pitsligo +left a little book of 'Thoughts on Sacred Things,' which reminds those +who read it of the meditations of General Gordon. His character, as far +as its virtues went, is copied in the Baron Bradwardine, in Sir Walter +Scott's novel of 'Waverley.'[26] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[25] Dr. King, of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford. + +[26] _From Thoughts Concerning Man's Condition and Duties in this Life_. +By Alexander, Lord Pitsligo. Edinburgh: Blackwood. 1854. + + + + +_THE ESCAPE OF CAESAR BORGIA FROM THE CASTLE OF MEDINA DEL CAMPO_ + + + [CAESAR BORGIA forms, with his father Pope + Alexander VI., and his sister Lucrezia, one of a + trio who have become a proverb for infamy of every + kind. His father, Roderigo, was by birth a + Spaniard, and by education a lawyer, in which + profession he gained much distinction, till + suddenly, with an impetuosity strange in a man who + did everything by calculation, he threw up his + legal career for that of a soldier. But the rough + life was repugnant to one of his temperament, + which demanded ease and luxury, so after a little + active service, when his courage, during some + sharp engagements, was proved beyond a doubt, he + abandoned the army also, and retired to live in + comfort on the large fortune lately bequeathed to + him by his father. + + It required some pressing on the part of his + uncle, Calixtus III., recently made Pope, to + induce him to leave his native land and his + secular existence, for Italy and a Cardinalate. + But no sooner did he occupy his new position, than + a set of base qualities, which had hitherto lain + dormant, suddenly developed themselves, and from + this moment he became one of the cleverest and + most successful hypocrites of his age. + + It was in 1492, the year that saw the landing of + Columbus in America, and the death of Lorenzo the + Magnificent at Florence, that the Cardinal Borgia + obtained, by means of huge bribes, his election to + the Papal Throne, and took the name of Alexander + VI. His first care was to establish (for his own + credit's sake) order and security in Rome, and + this done, he turned his thoughts to the + aggrandisement of his family. For when Roderigo + sailed for Italy he was shortly followed by his + four children, Francis, Caesar, Lucrezia and + Geoffrey, and their mother Rosa Vanozza. All four, + but more particularly Caesar and Lucrezia, + inherited in the highest degree their father's + beauty, talents and wickedness. Honours of every + kind were showered upon them, marriages made and + unmade to suit the requirements of the moment, + murders committed to ensure them wealth and + possessions. For eleven years the roll of crime + grew heavier day by day, till at last the + chastisement came, and the Borgias, who had + invited several of the Cardinals to supper for the + purpose of poisoning them and seizing on their + revenues, were themselves served with the draught + they had intended for their guests. The Pope died + after eight days, in mortal agony, but, owing to + his having drunk less of the wine, Caesar slowly + recovered, and resumed his old trade of arms. The + talents which had made him one of the first + captains in Italy caused him to be the dread of + all his enemies, and finally led to his capture + (by violation of a safe-conduct), at the hands of + Gonsalvo de Cordova, Captain of the Forces of + Ferdinand of Spain.] + +It was in June 1504 that Caesar Borgia, General of the Church and Duke of +Romagna and Valentinois, was conducted to the Castle of Medina del Campo +in Spain. For two years Caesar waited in prison, hoping that his old +ally, Louis XII., whose cousin Mlle. d'Albret he had married, would come +to his assistance. But he waited in vain and his courage began to give +way, when one day something happened which proved to him that he had +still one friend left, his faithful Michelotto, a soldier of fortune who +had followed him to Spain, and was now hidden in the neighbourhood of +the prison. It was breakfast time, and Caesar was in the act of cutting +his bread when he suddenly touched a hard substance, and found a file, +and a small bottle containing a narcotic, and a note concealed in the +loaf. The note was from Michelotto, and informed Caesar that he and the +Count of Benevento would hide themselves every night on the road between +the castle and the village, in company with three good horses, and that +he must make the best use he could of the file and the sleeping +draught.[27] + +Two years' imprisonment had weighed too heavily on Caesar for him to +waste a single moment in trying to regain his freedom. He, therefore, +lost no time in beginning to work on one of the bars of his window, +which opened on an inside court, and soon contrived to cut through so +far, that a violent shake would enable him to remove it altogether. But +the window was nearly seventy feet above the ground, while the only way +of leaving the court was by a door reserved for the governor alone, the +key of which was always carried about his person. By day it was +suspended from his belt, by night it was under his bolster. To gain +possession of this key was the most difficult part of the matter. + +Now in spite of the fact that he was a prisoner, Caesar had invariably +been treated with all the respect due to his name and rank. Every day at +the dinner hour, he was conducted from the room in which he was +confined to the governor's apartments and was received by him as an +honoured guest. Don Manuel himself was an old soldier who had served +with distinction under Ferdinand, and, while carrying out punctually his +orders for Caesar's safe custody, he admired his military talents, and +listened with pleasure to the story of his fights. He had often desired +that Caesar should breakfast as well as dine with him, but, luckily for +himself, the prisoner, perhaps aided by some presentiment, had always +refused this favour. It was owing to his solitude that he was able to +conceal the instruments for his escape sent by Michelotto. + +Now it happened that the very same day that he had received them, Caesar +contrived to stumble, and twist his foot as he was returning to his +room. When the hour of dinner came he tried to go down, but declared +that walking hurt him so much, that he should be obliged to give it up, +so the governor paid him a visit instead, and found him stretched on his +bed. + +The next day Caesar was no better; his dinner was ordered to be served +upstairs, and the governor paid him a visit as before. He found his +prisoner so dull and bored with his own company, that he offered to come +and share his supper. Caesar accepted the offer with gratitude and joy. + +This time it was the prisoner who did the honours of the table, and +Caesar was particularly charming and courteous in manner. The governor +seized the opportunity of putting some questions as to his capture, and +inquired, with the pride of a Castilian noble, who set honour above all, +what was the exact truth as to the way in which Gonsalvo de Cordova and +Ferdinand had broken their faith with him. Caesar showed every +disposition to give him satisfaction on this point, but indicated by a +sign that he could not speak freely before the valets. This precaution +was so natural, that the governor could not seem offended at it, and +dismissed his attendants, so that he and his companion remained alone. +When the door was shut, Caesar filled his glass and that of the governor, +and proposed the king's health. The governor emptied his glass at once, +and Caesar began his story, but he had hardly told a third of it, when in +spite of its exciting adventures, the eyes of his guest closed as if by +magic, and his head fell on the table in a deep sleep. + +At the end of half-an-hour, the servants, not hearing any noise, entered +the room, and found the two boon companions, one on the table and the +other under it. There was nothing very unusual about such an event to +excite their suspicions, so they contented themselves with carrying Don +Manuel to his chamber and laying Caesar on his bed; they then locked the +door with great care, leaving the prisoner alone. + +[Illustration] + +For a minute or two longer Caesar lay still, apparently plunged in a +profound slumber, but when the sound of footsteps had completely died +away, he softly raised his head, opened his eyes, and moved towards the +door, rather slowly it is true, but without seeming to feel any +ill-effects from his accident on the previous day. He stood still for a +few seconds with his ear at the keyhole, then, raising himself, with a +strange expression of triumph on his face, he passed his hand over his +forehead, and, for the first time since the guards had left the room, +breathed freely. + +But there was no time to be lost, and without a moment's delay he +fastened the door from the inside as securely as it was fastened +without. He next extinguished his lamp, threw open his window, and +finished cutting through the bar. This done, he took off the bandages +tied round his leg, tore down the curtains, both of his window and his +bed, and made them into strips, adding to them sheets, table cloths, +napkins, and whatever else he could lay hands on. At last he had a rope +between fifty and sixty feet long, which he secured firmly at one end to +the bar next to the one that he had sawn away, and mounting on the +window-ledge, he began the most dangerous part of his expedition in +trusting himself to this frail support. Happily, Caesar was as strong as +he was agile, and slid down the whole length of the cord without +accident; but when he had reached the very end, in vain he tried to +touch the earth with his feet. The rope was too short. + +Caesar's position was terrible. The darkness of the night preventing his +knowing how far he might be above the ground, and his exertions had so +fatigued him that he could not have gone back even had he wished. There +was no help for it, and, after muttering a short prayer, he let go the +rope, and fell, a distance of twelve or fifteen feet. + +The danger he had escaped was too great for the fugitive to mind some +slight bruises caused by his fall, so he jumped up, and taking his +bearings, made straight for the little door which stood between him and +freedom. When he reached it he felt in his pocket for the key, and a +cold sweat broke out on his face as he found it was not there. Had he +forgotten it in his room, or had he lost it in his descent? + +Collecting his thoughts as well as he could, he soon came to the +conclusion that it must have fallen out of his pocket as he climbed down +the rope. So he made his way a second time cautiously across the court, +trying to discover the exact spot where it might be, by the aid of the +wall of a cistern, which he had caught hold of to raise himself from the +ground. But the lost key was so small and so insignificant, that there +was little chance that he would ever see it. However, it was his last +resource, and Caesar was searching for it with all his might, when +suddenly a door opened and the night patrol came out, preceded by two +torches. At first Caesar gave himself up for lost, then, remembering the +water-butt that was behind him, he at once plunged into it up to his +neck, watching with intense anxiety the movements of the soldiers who +were advancing towards his hiding place. They passed him within a few +feet, crossed the court, and vanished through the door opposite; but, +though all this had taken such a very short time, the light of the +torches had enabled Caesar to distinguish the key lying on the ground, +and hardly had the gate closed on the soldiers when he was once more +master of his liberty. + +Half-way between the castle and the village the Count of Benevento and +Michelotto awaited him with a led horse. Caesar flung himself on its back +and all three set out for Navarre, where, after three days' hard riding, +they found an asylum with the king, Jean d'Albret, brother of Caesar's +wife. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[27] What follows is translated from Dumas. + + + + +_THE KIDNAPPING OF THE PRINCES_ + +(_The following story is adapted from Carlyle's Essay, 'The +Prinzenraub'_) + + +ABOUT the year 1455, one of the Electors of Saxony, Friedrich der +Sanftmuetige (Frederick the Mild), quarrelled with a certain knight named +Konrad von Kaufungen. Friedrich had hired Konrad, or Kunz as he was +called, to fight for him in a war against another Elector. In one of the +battles, Kunz was taken prisoner. To ransom himself he was obliged to +pay 4,000 gold gulden, for which he thought Friedrich ought to repay +him. Friedrich refused to do so, as Kunz was not his vassal whom he was +bound to protect, but only a hired soldier who had to take all risks on +himself. Kunz was very angry, and threatened to revenge himself on the +Elector, who took all his threats very calmly, saying to him, 'Keep +cool, Kunz; don't burn the fish in the ponds.' But Kunz was in bitter +earnest. He went away to an old castle called Isenburg in Bohemia, on +the Saxon frontier, where he lived for some time with his two squires, +Mosen and Schoenberg, plotting against the Elector and his family. He +had, moreover, bribed one of the Elector's servants, Hans Schwalbe, to +tell him all that was being done in his castle of Altenburg. In July, +Schwalbe sent word to him that, on the seventh day of the month, the +Elector and most of his followers were going away to Leipzig, and would +leave the Electress and his two boys, Ernst and Albrecht, guarded only +by a few servants, and these, he added, would probably spend the evening +drinking in the town. Now the castle of Altenburg was built on a steep +hill, and one side of it overhung a precipice. As this side was little +guarded, Hans agreed to let down a rope-ladder from one of the windows, +and thus enable Kunz to get an entrance into the castle. His plan then +was to make his way to the sleeping room of the two little princes, +carry them off to his castle at Isenburg, and keep them till their +father should grant his demands. Isenburg Castle was about a day's +journey from the little town of Altenburg; so Kunz and his two squires, +Mosen and Schoenberg, and a few other men, started early on the 7th to +ride to Altenburg, and when they reached it they hid themselves till +nightfall. About midnight Kunz and his men went as quietly as possible +to the foot of the cliff. Everyone seemed asleep in the castle, and +outside no sound was to be heard but the stealthy tramp of the armed +men. When they reached the rendezvous under the castle, Kunz gave his +men their orders. Mosen, Schoenberg, and three or four more were to come +with him into the castle, and, when inside, to lock the doors of the +Electress's and the servants' room, while the rest were to guard the +gates in order that no one should escape to give the alarm. Each was to +be ready when once the princes were secured to ride away for Isenburg as +hard as possible. + +Then Kunz whistled softly. He listened for a moment; another whistle +answered his own, and a rope-ladder was slowly lowered from one of the +windows. Kunz mounted it, and made his way to the room where the two +little princes were sleeping under the charge of an old governess. He +seized the eldest, a boy of fourteen, and carried him down the ladder, +and Mosen followed with a second child in his arms. This boy kept +calling out, 'I am not one of the princes; I am their playfellow, Count +von Bardi. Let me go! Let me go!' Thereupon, telling the others to ride +on with Prince Ernst in order to secure him, Kunz dashed up the ladder +again, and ran to the princes' room, where he found little Prince +Albrecht hiding under the bed. He caught him up and descended again with +him. As he went, the Electress, roused by the boys' cries and finding +her door bolted, rushed to the window and begged and implored him not to +take her children. + +'My husband shall grant all your demands, I swear to you,' she cried, +'only leave me my children!' + +'Tell the Elector, Madam,' laughed Kunz, looking up, 'that I _can_ burn +the fish in the ponds!' + +Then he mounted his horse, which his servant was holding, and away they +rode as fast as the horses would carry them. They had not ridden many +miles before the clang of bells broke on their ears. The alarm peal of +the castle had awakened that of the town, and in a few hours every bell +in every belfry in Saxony was ringing an alarm. The sun rose, and Kunz +and his followers plunged deeper into the forest, riding through +morasses and swamps, over rough and stony ground--anywhere to escape +from the din of those alarm bells. At last the ride for dear life was +nearly over; the band was within an hour's journey of the castle of +Isenburg, when Prince Albrecht declared that he was dying of thirst. + +'For the love of Heaven, give me something to drink, Sir Knight,' he +implored. + +Kunz bade the others ride on, and giving his squire his horse to hold he +dismounted, lifted Albrecht down, and began looking for bilberries for +him. + +Whilst he was doing so, a charcoal-burner with his dog came up. He was +much surprised to see such grand people in the forest, and asked, + +'What are you doing with the young lord?' + +'He has run away from his parents,' answered Kunz, impatiently. 'Can you +tell me where bilberries are to be found here?' + +'I do not know,' replied the charcoal-burner, still staring at the +strangers. + +Anxious to make him leave them, Kunz turned angrily round on him, and in +doing so caught his spurs in the bushes, and fell flat on his face. + +Albrecht caught hold of the charcoal-burner's arm. + +'Save me!' he whispered eagerly. 'I am the Elector's son; this man has +stolen me!' + +The squire struck at the Prince with his sword, but the charcoal-burner +warded aside the blow with his long pole, and felled the man to the +ground. Kunz fought fiercely with him, but in answer to his summons for +help, and attracted by the barking of the dog, a number of other +charcoal-burners appeared on the scene to help their comrade, and Kunz +was disarmed and taken prisoner. They marched him in triumph to the +monastery of Gruenheim, where he was secured in one of the cells, and in +a few days was sent to Freiburg. On the 14th he was tried and condemned +to death. It is said that a pardon was sent by the Elector, but if it +were so it arrived too late, and Kunz was beheaded. + +The rest of the robber-band with Prince Ernst did not fare much better. +The alarm bells had aroused the whole country; six of the men were +captured, and Mosen and the others with Prince Ernst took refuge in a +cave near Zwickau. Not daring to venture out, and half starving for want +of food, they lay there for three days in wretched plight. Then they +learned accidentally from some woodmen, whose conversation they +overheard, that Kunz had been taken prisoner, had been tried, and by +this time was in all probability beheaded. As soon as they received this +piece of intelligence, they held a consultation and finally decided to +send a message to the Amtmann of Zwickau, offering to restore Prince +Ernst if a free pardon were granted to them, but threatening, if this +was refused, they would at once kill him. Had they known that Kunz was +still alive, they might have stipulated for his pardon as well, but +believing him dead, they made no terms as regards his fate. The Amtmann +had no choice but to accede to their demands when their proposal reached +him. Prince Ernst was given up. Mosen and the rest fled away, nor were +they ever heard of any more. + +[Illustration] + +When the brave charcoal-burner, Georg Schmidt, was brought before the +Elector and his court, the Electress asked him how he had dared to fight +the robber-knight with no weapon but his pole. + +'Madam,' he replied, 'I gave him a sound "drilling" with my pole.' + +All the court laughed, and thenceforward he was always called Georg der +Triller (the Driller), and his descendants took this name as their +surname. The only reward he would accept for his brave deed was leave +for himself and his family to cut what wood they needed in the forest in +which he lived. + +The Electress and the two princes made a pilgrimage to the shrine at the +monastery of Ebersdorf, and there in the church they hung up the coats +which they and Kunz and the 'Triller' had worn on the memorable night +when they were kidnapped, and there it is said they may be seen at this +day. + + + + +_THE CONQUEST OF MONTEZUMA'S EMPIRE_ + + +THE YOUTH OF CORTES + +LONG ago, when Henry VIII. was King of England and Charles V. was King +of Spain, there lived a young Spanish cavalier whose name was Hernando +Cortes. His father, Don Martin Cortes, sent him to Salamanca when he was +about fourteen years old, intending to have him educated as a lawyer. +But Hernando cared nothing for books, and after wasting two years at +college returned home, to the great annoyance of his parents, who were +glad enough when, after another year of idleness, he proposed to go and +seek his fortune in the New World so lately discovered by Columbus. An +exploring expedition was just being fitted out, and Hernando Cortes had +quite made up his mind to join it, when he unluckily fell from a high +wall which he was climbing, and before he had recovered from his +injuries the ships had sailed without him. Two more years did he remain +at home after this misadventure, but at length, when he was nineteen +years old, he joined a small fleet bound for the Indian Islands. The +vessel in which he sailed was commanded by one Alonso Quintero, who, +when they reached the Canary Islands, and all the other vessels were +detained by taking in supplies, stole out of the harbour under cover of +the night, meaning to reach Hispaniola before his companions, and so +secure a better chance of trading. However, he met with a furious storm, +and was driven back to the port with his ship dismasted and battered. +The rest of the fleet generously consented to wait while his ship was +being refitted, and after a short delay they set out again, but so soon +as they neared the islands, the faithless Quintero again gave his +companions the slip, but with no better success, for he met with such +heavy gales that he entirely lost his reckoning, and for many days they +tossed about helplessly, until one morning they were cheered by the +sight of a white dove, which settled upon the rigging. Taking the +direction of the bird's flight, they soon reached Hispaniola, where the +captain had the satisfaction of finding all the other ships had arrived +before him, and had sold all their cargoes. Cortes, as soon as he +landed, went to see Ovando, the governor of the island, whom he had +known in Spain, and presently was persuaded by him to accept a grant of +land and settle down to cultivate it, though at first he said, 'I came +to get gold, not to till the ground like a peasant.' So six years +passed, during which the monotony of Cortes's life was only broken by +occasional expeditions against the natives, in which he learned to +endure toil and danger, and became familiar with the tactics of Indian +warfare. At length, in 1511, when Diego Velasquez, the governor's +lieutenant, undertook the conquest of Cuba, Cortes gladly accompanied +him, and throughout the expedition made himself a favourite both with +the commander and the soldiers. But when later on there arose discontent +over the distribution of lands and offices, the malcontents fixed upon +Cortes as the most suitable person to go back to Hispaniola, and lay +their grievances before the higher authorities. This came to the ears of +Velasquez, however, and he at once seized Cortes, whom he loaded with +fetters and threw into prison. Luckily he soon succeeded in freeing +himself from the irons, and letting himself down from the window took +refuge in the nearest church, where he claimed the right of sanctuary. +Velasquez, who was very angry at his escape, stationed a guard with +orders to seize Cortes if he should leave the sanctuary, and this he was +soon careless enough to do. As he stood outside the church an officer +suddenly sprang upon him from behind, and made him prisoner once more. +This time he was carried on board a ship which was to sail the next +morning for Hispaniola, where he was to be tried, but again he managed +to escape by dragging his feet through the rings which fettered them, +and dropping silently over the ship's side into a little boat under +cover of the darkness. As he neared the shore the water became so rough +that the boat was useless, and he was forced to swim the rest of the +way; but at last he got safely to land, and again took refuge in the +church. After this he married a lady named Catalina Xuarez, and by the +aid of her family managed to make his peace with Velasquez. Cortes now +received a large estate near St. Jago, where he lived prosperously for +some years, and even amassed a considerable sum of money. But at last +news came of an exploring expedition which had set out in 1518 under +Grijalva, the nephew of Velasquez. He had touched at various places on +the Mexican coast, and had held a friendly conference with one cacique, +or chief, who seemed desirous of collecting all the information he could +about the Spaniards, and their motives in visiting Mexico, that he might +transmit it to his master, the Aztec emperor. Presents were exchanged at +this interview, and in return for a few glass beads, pins, and such +paltry trifles, the Spaniards had received such a rich treasure of +jewels and gold ornaments that the general at once sent back one of his +ships under the command of Don Pedro de Alvarado to convey the spoil, +and acquaint the governor of Cuba with the progress of the expedition, +and also with all the information he had been able to glean respecting +the Aztec emperor and his dominions. Now in those days nothing whatever +was known about the interior of the country or of its inhabitants--it +was as strange to the explorers as another planet. + + +THE WONDERS OF MEXICO + +This was what they had to tell the governor. Far away towards the +Pacific Ocean there stood, in a beautiful and most fertile valley, the +capital of a great and powerful empire, called by its inhabitants +'Tenochtitlan,' but known to the Europeans only by its other name of +'Mexico,' derived from 'Mexitli,' the war-god of the Aztecs. These +Aztecs seem to have come originally from the north, and after many +wanderings to have halted at length on the south-western borders of a +great lake, of which there were several in the Mexican valley. This +celebrated valley was situated at a height of about 7,500 feet above the +sea, and was oval in form, about 67 leagues in circumference, and +surrounded by towering rocks, which seemed to be meant to protect it +from invasion. It was in the year 1325 that the Aztecs paused upon the +shore of the lake, and saw, as the sun rose, a splendid eagle perched +upon a prickly pear which shot out of a crevice in the rock. It held a +large serpent in its claws, and its broad wings were opened towards the +rising sun. The Aztecs saw in this a most favourable omen, and there and +then set about building themselves a city, laying its foundations upon +piles in the marshy ground beside the lake, and to this day the eagle +and the cactus form the arms of the Mexican republic. + +[Illustration] + +The little body of settlers increased rapidly in number and power, and +made their name terrible throughout the valley, in which various other +tribes had long been settled, until at last they united themselves with +the king of the Tezcucans, to aid him against a tribe called the +Tepanecs, who had invaded his territory. The allies were completely +successful, and this led to an agreement between the states of Mexico, +Tezcuco, and Tlacopan, that they should support each other in all their +wars, and divide all the spoils between them. This alliance remained +unbroken for over a hundred years and under a succession of able +princes the Aztec dominion grew, till at the coming of the Spaniards it +reached across the continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. +The Aztecs had many wise laws and institutions, and were indeed in some +respects a highly civilised community. When their emperor died a new one +was chosen from among his sons or nephews, by four nobles. The one +preferred was obliged to have distinguished himself in war, and his +coronation did not take place until a successful campaign had provided +enough captives to grace his triumphal entry into the capital, and +enough victims for the ghastly sacrifices which formed an important part +of all their religious ceremonies. Communication was held with the +remotest parts of the country by means of couriers, who, trained to it +from childhood, travelled with amazing swiftness. Post-houses were +established on the great roads, and the messenger bearing his despatches +in the form of hieroglyphical paintings, ran to the first station, where +they were taken by the next messenger and carried forward, being sent in +one day a hundred or two hundred miles. Thus fish was served at the +banquets of the emperor Montezuma which twenty-four hours before had +been caught in the Gulf of Mexico, two hundred miles away. Thus too the +news was carried when any war was going on, and as the messengers ran to +acquaint the court with the movements of the royal armies, the people by +the way knew whether the tidings were good or bad by the dress of the +courier. But the training of warriors was the chief end and aim of all +Aztec institutions. Their principal god was the god of war, and one +great object of all their expeditions was the capture of victims to be +sacrificed upon his altars. They believed that the soldier who fell in +battle was transported at once to the blissful regions of the sun, and +they consequently fought with an utter disregard of danger. The dress of +the warriors was magnificent. Their bodies were protected by a vest of +quilted cotton, impervious to light missiles, and over this the chiefs +wore mantles of gorgeous feather-work, and the richer of them a kind of +cuirass of gold or silver plates. Their helmets were of wood, fashioned +like the head of some wild animal, or of silver surmounted by plumes of +variously coloured feathers, sprinkled with precious stones, beside +which they wore many ornaments of gold, and their banners were +embroidered with gold and feather-work. + +The Aztecs worshipped thirteen principal gods, and more than two hundred +of less importance, each of whom, however, had his day of festival, +which was duly observed. At the head of all stood the war-god, the +terrible Huitzilopochtli, whose fantastic image was loaded with costly +ornaments, and whose temples, in every city of the empire, were the most +splendid and stately. The Aztecs also had a legend that there had once +dwelt upon the earth the great Quetzalcoatl, god of the air, under whose +sway all things had flourished and all people had lived in peace and +prosperity; but he had in some way incurred the wrath of the principal +gods, and was compelled to leave the country. On his way he stopped at +the city of Cholula, where a temple was dedicated to him, of which the +great ruins remain to this day. When he reached the shores of the +Mexican Gulf he embarked in his magic boat, made of serpents' skins, for +the fabulous land of Tlapallan, but before he bade his followers +farewell he promised that he and his descendants would one day come +again. The Aztecs confidently looked forward to the return of their +benevolent god, who was said to have been tall in stature, with a white +skin, long dark hair, and a flowing beard, and this belief of theirs +prepared the way, as you will presently see, for the success of +Cortes.[28] The Mexican temples, or teocallis as they were called--which +means 'Houses of God'--were very numerous, there being several hundreds +of them in each of the principal cities. They looked rather like the +Egyptian pyramids, and were divided into four or five stories, each one +being smaller than the one below it, and the ascent was by a flight of +steps at an angle of the pyramid. This led to a sort of terrace at the +base of the second story, which passed quite round the building to +another flight of steps immediately over the first, so that it was +necessary to go all round the temple several times before reaching the +summit. The top was a broad space on which stood two towers, forty or +fifty feet high, which contained the images of the gods. Before these +towers stood the dreadful stone of sacrifice, and two lofty altars on +which the sacred fires burned continually. Human sacrifices were adopted +by the Aztecs about two hundred years before the coming of the +Spaniards. Rare at first, they became more and more frequent till at +length nearly every festival closed with this cruel abomination. The +unhappy victim was held by five priests upon the stone of sacrifice, +while the sixth, who was clothed in a scarlet mantle, emblematic of his +horrible office, cut open his breast with a sharp razor of 'itztli,' a +volcanic substance as hard as flint, and tearing out his heart, held it +first up to the sun, which they worshipped, and then cast it at the feet +of the god to whom the temple was devoted; and to crown the horror, the +body of the captive thus sacrificed was afterwards given to the warrior +who had taken him in battle, who thereupon gave a great banquet and +served him up amid choice dishes and delicious beverages for the +entertainment of his friends. When the great teocalli of Huitzilopochtli +was dedicated in the year 1486, no less than 70,000 prisoners were thus +sacrificed, and in the whole kingdom every year the victims were never +fewer than 20,000, or, as some old writers say, 50,000. The Aztec +writing was not with letters and words, but consisted of little coloured +pictures, each of which had some special meaning. Thus a 'tongue' +denoted speaking, a 'footprint' travelling, a 'man sitting on the +ground' an earthquake. As a very slight difference in position or colour +intimated a different meaning, this writing was very difficult to read, +and in the Aztec colleges the priests specially taught it to their +pupils. At the time of the coming of the Spaniards there were numbers of +people employed in this picture-writing, but unfortunately hardly any of +the manuscripts were preserved; for the Spaniards, looking upon them as +magic scrolls, caused them to be burned by thousands. In many mechanical +arts the Aztecs had made considerable progress. Their ground was well +cultivated, they had discovered and used silver, lead, tin, and copper. +Gold, which was found in the river-beds, they cast into bars, or used as +money by filling transparent quills with gold dust. They also made many +fantastic ornaments of gold and silver, and cast gold and silver +vessels, which they carved delicately with chisels. Some of the silver +vases were so large that a man could not encircle them with his arms. +But the art in which they most delighted was the wonderful feather-work. +With the gorgeous plumage of the tropical birds they could produce all +the effect of a beautiful mosaic. The feathers, pasted upon a fine +cotton web, were wrought into dresses for the wealthy, hangings for +their palaces, and ornaments for their temples. + +These then were the people of whom Grijalva sent back to Cuba a few +vague reports, and these, and the accounts of the splendour of the +treasure, spread like wildfire through the island. The governor having +resolved to send out more ships to follow up these discoveries, looked +about him for a suitable person to command the expedition and share the +expenses of it, and being recommended by several of his friends to +choose Hernando Cortes, he presently did so. Cortes had now attained +his heart's desire, and at once began with the utmost energy to purchase +and fit out the ships. He used all the money he had saved, and as much +more as he could persuade his friends to lend him, and very soon he was +in possession of six vessels, and three hundred recruits had enrolled +themselves under his banner. His orders were, first, to find Grijalva +and to proceed in company with him; then to seek out and rescue six +Christians, the survivors of a previous expedition, who were supposed to +be lingering in captivity in the interior; and to bear in mind, before +all things, that it was the great desire of the Spanish monarch that the +Indians should be converted to Christianity. They were to be invited to +give their allegiance to him, and to send him presents of gold and +jewels to secure his favour and protection. The explorers were also to +survey the coast, acquaint themselves with the general features of the +country, and to barter with the natives. + + +THE BEGINNING OF THE EXPEDITION + +But before Cortes was ready to start, a jealousy and distrust of him +took possession of the mind of Velasquez, so that he determined to +entrust the command of the fleet to someone else. This came to the ears +of Cortes, and he with great promptitude assembled his officers +secretly, and that very night set sail with what supplies he was able to +lay hands upon, his ships being neither ready for sea nor properly +provisioned. When morning broke news was carried to Velasquez that the +fleet was under weigh, and he rose hastily and galloped down to the +quay. Cortes rowed back to within speaking distance. + +'This is a courteous way of taking leave of me, truly,' cried the +governor. + +'Pardon me,' answered Cortes, 'time presses, and there are some things +that should be done before they are even thought of.' And with that he +returned to his vessel, and the little fleet sailed away to Macaca, +where Cortes laid in more stores. This was on November 18, 1518. Shortly +afterwards he proceeded to Trinidad, a town on the south coast of Cuba, +where he landed, and setting up his standard, invited all who would to +join the expedition, holding out to them great hopes of wealth to be +gained. Volunteers flocked in daily, including many young men of noble +family, who were attracted by the fame of Cortes. Among them were Pedro +de Alvarado, Cristoval de Olid, Alonso de Avila, Juan Velasquez de Leon, +Alonso Hernandez de Puertocarrero, and Gonzalo de Sandoval, of all of +whom you will hear again before the story is finished. Finally, in +February 1519, when all the reinforcements were assembled, Cortes found +he had eleven vessels, one hundred and ten mariners, five hundred and +fifty-three soldiers, and two hundred Indians. He also had sixteen +horses, ten large guns, and four lighter, which were called falconets. +Cortes, before embarking, addressed his little army, saying that he held +out to them a glorious prize, and that if any among them coveted riches, +he would make them masters of such as their countrymen had never dreamed +of; and so they sailed away for the coast of Yucatan. + +The first thing that happened was that they were overtaken by a furious +tempest, and Cortes was delayed by looking after a disabled vessel, and +so was the last to reach the island of Cozumel. Here he found that +Alvarado, one of his captains, had landed, plundered a temple, and by +his violence caused the natives to fly and hide themselves inland. + +Cortes, much displeased, severely reprimanded his officer, and, by the +aid of an interpreter, explained his peaceful intentions to two Indians +who had been captured. Then he loaded them with presents, and sent them +to persuade their countrymen to return, which they presently did, and +the Spaniards had the satisfaction of bartering the trifles they had +brought for the gold ornaments of the natives. Next Cortes sent two +ships to the opposite coast of Yucatan, where they were to despatch some +Indians inland, to seek for and ransom the Christian captives, of whom +he had gained some tidings from a trader, and while they were gone he +explored the island, and induced the natives to declare themselves +Christians by the very summary method of rolling their venerated idols +out of their temple, and setting up in their stead an image of the +Virgin and Child. When the Indians saw that no terrible consequences +followed, they listened to the teaching of the good priest, Father +Olmedo, who accompanied the expedition, though it is probable that they +did not, after all, understand much of his instruction. After eight days +the two ships came back, but with no news of the captives, and Cortes +sorrowfully decided that he could wait no longer. He accordingly took in +provisions and water, and set sail again, but before they had gone far +one of the ships sprang a leak, which obliged them to put back into the +same port. It was lucky that they did, for soon after they landed a +canoe was seen coming from the shore of Yucatan, which proved to contain +one of the long-lost Spaniards, who was called Aguilas. He had been for +eight years a slave among the natives in the interior, but his master, +tempted by the ransom of glass-beads, hawk-bells, and such treasures, +had consented to release him. When he reached the coast the ships were +gone, but owing to the fortunate accident of their return, he found +himself once more among his countrymen. Cortes at once saw the +importance of having him as an interpreter, but in the end he proved to +be of more use to the explorers than could have been at first imagined. + +[Illustration] + +Again the fleet set out, and coasted along the Gulf of Mexico till they +reached the mouth of the Rio de Tabasco. Here Cortes landed, but found +that the Indians were hostile, and were drawn up in great force against +him. However, after some hard fighting the Spaniards were victorious, +and having taken possession of the town of Tabasco, Cortes sent +messengers to the chiefs saying that if they did not at once submit +themselves he would ravage the country with fire and sword. As they had +no mind for any more fighting they came humbly, bringing presents, and +among them thirty slaves, one of whom, a beautiful Mexican girl named +Malinche, was afterwards of the utmost importance to the expedition. She +had come into the possession of the cacique of Tabasco through some +traders from the interior of the country, to whom she had been secretly +sold by her mother, who coveted her inheritance. Cortes now reembarked +his soldiers and sailed away to the island of San Juan de Uloa, under +the lee of which they anchored, and soon saw the light pirogues of the +Indians coming off to them from the mainland. They brought presents of +fruit and flowers, and little ornaments of gold which they gladly +exchanged for the usual trifles. Cortes was most anxious to converse +with them, but found to his disappointment that Aguilar could not +understand their dialect. In this dilemma he was informed that one of +the slaves was a Mexican, and could of course speak the language. This +was Malinche, or as the Spaniards always called her, 'Marina.' Cortes +was so charmed with her beauty and cleverness that he made her his +secretary, and kept her always with him; and she very soon learned +enough Spanish to interpret for him without the help of Aguilar. But at +first they were both necessary, and by their aid Cortes learned that his +visitors were subjects of Montezuma, the great Aztec emperor, and were +governed by Tenhtlile, one of his nobles. Cortes having ascertained that +there was abundance of gold in the interior, dismissed them, loaded with +presents, to acquaint their governor with his desire for an interview. +The next morning he landed on the mainland with all his force. It was a +level sandy plain, and the troops employed themselves in cutting down +trees and bushes to provide a shelter from the weather; in this they +were aided by the natives, who built them huts with stakes and earth, +mats and cotton carpets, and flocked from all the country round to see +the wonderful strangers. They brought with them fruits, vegetables, +flowers in abundance, game, and many dishes cooked after the fashion of +the country; and these they gave to, or bartered with, the Spaniards. +The next day came Tenhtlile, the governor, with a numerous train, and +was met by Cortes, and conducted to his tent with great ceremony. All +the principal officers were assembled, and after a ceremonious banquet +at which the governor was regaled with Spanish wines and confections, +the interpreters were sent for and a conversation began. Tenhtlile first +asked about the country of the strangers, and the object of their visit. +Cortes replied that he was the subject of a powerful monarch beyond the +seas, who had heard of the greatness of the Mexican emperor, and had +sent him with a present in token of his goodwill, and with a message +which he must deliver in person. He concluded by asking when he could +be admitted into Montezuma's presence. To this the Aztec noble replied +haughtily, + +'How is it that you have been here only two days, and demand to see the +emperor?' + +Then he added that he was surprised to hear that there could be another +monarch as powerful as Montezuma, but if it were so his master would be +happy to communicate with him, and that he would forward the royal gift +brought by the Spanish commander, and so soon as he had learned +Montezuma's will would inform him of it. Tenhtlile then ordered his +slaves to bring forward the present for the Spanish general. It +consisted of ten loads of fine cotton, several mantles of gorgeous +feather-work, and a wicker basket of golden ornaments. Cortes received +it with due acknowledgments, and in his turn ordered the presents for +Montezuma to be brought forward. These were an armchair richly carved +and painted, a crimson cloth cap with a gold medal, and a quantity of +collars, bracelets, and other ornaments of cut-glass, which in a country +where glass was unknown were as valuable as real gems. The Aztec +governor observed a soldier in the camp in a shining gilt helmet, and +expressed a wish that Montezuma should see it, as it reminded him of one +worn by the god Quetzalcoatl. Cortes declared his willingness that the +helmet should be sent, and begged that the emperor would return it +filled with the gold dust of the country, that he might compare its +quality with that of his own. He also said that the Spaniards were +troubled with a disease of the heart, for which gold was a sure remedy. +In fact, he made his want of gold very clear to the governor. While +these things were passing Cortes observed one of Tenhtlile's attendants +busy with a pencil, and on looking at his work he found it was a sketch +of the Spaniards, their costumes, weapons, and all objects of interest +being correctly represented both in form and colour. This was the +celebrated picture-writing, and the governor said that this man was +drawing all these things for Montezuma, as he would get a much better +idea of their appearance thus. Cortes thereupon ordered out the cavalry, +and caused them to go through their military exercises upon the firm wet +sands of the beach; and the appearance of the horses--which were +absolutely unknown in Mexico--filled the natives with astonishment, +which turned to alarm when the general ordered the cannon to be fired, +and they saw for the first time the smoke and flame, and beheld the +balls crashing among the trees of the neighbouring forest and reducing +them to splinters. Nothing of this sort was lost upon the painters, who +faithfully recorded every particular, not omitting the ships--the +'water-houses,' as they called them--which swung at anchor in the bay. +Finally, the governor departed as ceremoniously as he had come, leaving +orders with his people to supply the Spanish general with all he might +require till further instructions should come from the emperor. + +In the meantime the arrival of the strangers was causing no small stir +in the Mexican capital. A general feeling seems to have prevailed that +the Return of the White God, Quetzalcoatl, was at hand, and many +wonderful signs and occurrences seemed to confirm the belief. + +In 1510 the great lake of Tezcuco, without tempest, earthquake, or any +visible cause, became violently agitated, overflowed its banks, and, +pouring into the streets of Mexico, swept away many buildings by the +fury of its waters. In 1511 one of the towers of the great temple took +fire, equally without any apparent cause, and continued to burn in +defiance of all attempts to extinguish it. In the following years three +comets were seen, and not long before the coming of the Spaniards a +strange light broke forth in the east, resembling a great pyramid or +flood of fire thickly powdered with stars: at the same time low voices +were heard in the air, and doleful wailings, as if to announce some +strange, mysterious calamity. A lady of the Royal house died, was +buried, and rose again, prophesying ruin to come. After the conquest she +became a Christian. + +Montezuma, terrified at these apparitions, took counsel of +Nezahualpilli, King of Tezcuco, who was a great proficient in astrology; +but far from obtaining any comfort from him, he was still further +depressed by being told that all these things predicted the speedy +downfall of his empire. When, therefore, the picture-writings showing +the Spanish invaders reached Montezuma, they caused him great +apprehension, and he summoned the kings of Tezcuco and Tlacopan to +consult with them as to how the strangers should be received. There was +much division of opinion, but finally Montezuma resolved to send a rich +present which should impress them with a high idea of his wealth and +grandeur, while at the same time he would forbid them to approach the +capital. After eight days at the most, which however seemed a long time +to the Spaniards, who were suffering from the intense heat of the +climate, the embassy, accompanied by the governor Tenhtlile, reached the +camp, and presented to Cortes the magnificent treasure sent by +Montezuma. One of the two nobles had been sent on account of his great +likeness to the picture of Cortes which the Aztec painter had executed +for Montezuma. This resemblance was so striking that the Spanish +soldiers always called this chief 'the Mexican Cortes.' After the usual +ceremonious salutes, the slaves unrolled the delicately wrought mats and +displayed the gifts they had brought. There were shields, helmets, and +cuirasses embossed with plates and ornaments of pure gold, with collars +and bracelets of the same precious metal, sandals, fans, plumes, and +crests of variegated feathers wrought with gold and silver thread and +sprinkled with pearls and precious stones. Also imitations of birds and +animals in wrought or cast gold and silver of exquisite workmanship; and +curtain coverlets and robes of cotton, fine as silk--of rich and varied +hues--interwoven with feather-work that rivalled the most delicate +painting. There were more than thirty loads of cotton cloth, and the +Spanish helmet was returned filled to the brim with grains of gold. But +the things which excited the most admiration were two circular plates of +gold and silver as large as carriage-wheels. One, representing the sun, +was richly carved with plants and animals, and was worth fifty-two +thousand five hundred pounds. The Spaniards could not conceal their +rapture at this exhibition of treasure which exceeded their utmost +dreams; and when they had sufficiently admired it the ambassadors +courteously delivered their message, which was to the effect that +Montezuma had great pleasure in holding communication with so powerful a +monarch as the King of Spain, but he could not grant a personal +interview to the Spaniards; the way to his capital was too long and too +dangerous. Therefore the strangers must return to their own land with +the gifts he had sent them. Cortes, though much vexed, concealed his +annoyance and expressed his sense of the emperor's munificence. It made +him, he said, only the more desirous of a personal interview, so that he +felt it was impossible that he should present himself again before his +sovereign without having accomplished this great object of his journey. +He once more requested them to bear this message to their master, with +another trifling gift. This they seemed unwilling to do, and took their +leave repeating that the general's wish could not be gratified. The +soldiers were by this time suffering greatly from the heat, surrounded +as they were by burning sands and evil-smelling marshes, and swarms of +venomous insects which tormented them night and day. Thirty of their +number died, and the discomfort of the rest was greatly increased by +the indifference of the natives, who no longer brought them such +abundant supplies, and demanded an immense price for what they did +provide. After ten days the Mexican envoys returned, bearing another +rich present of stuffs and gold ornaments, which, though not so valuable +as the first, was yet worth three thousand ounces of gold. Beside this +there were four precious stones, somewhat resembling emeralds, each of +which they assured the Spaniards was worth more than a load of gold, and +was destined as a special mark of respect for the Spanish monarch, since +only the nobles of Mexico were allowed to wear them. Unfortunately, +however, they were of no value at all in Europe. Montezuma's answer was +the same as before. He positively forbade the strangers to approach +nearer to his capital, and requested them to take the treasure he had +bestowed upon them, and return without delay to their own country. +Cortes received this unwelcome message courteously, but coldly, and +turning to his officers exclaimed, 'This is a rich and powerful prince +indeed, yet it shall go hard but we will one day pay him a visit in his +capital.' Father Olmedo then tried to persuade the Aztec chiefs to give +up their idol-worship, and endeavoured by the aid of Marina and Aguilar +to explain to them the mysteries of his own faith, but it is probable +that he was not very successful. The chiefs presently withdrew coldly, +and that same night every hut was deserted by the natives, and the +Spaniards were left without supplies in a desolate wilderness. Cortes +thought this so suspicious that he prepared for an attack, but +everything remained quiet. + +The general now decided to remove his camp to a more healthy place a +little farther along the coast, where the ships could anchor and be +sheltered from the north wind. But the soldiers began to grumble and be +discontented, and to say that it was time to return with their spoil, +and not linger upon those barren shores until they had brought the whole +Mexican nation about their ears. Fortunately at this juncture five +Indians made their appearance in the camp, and were taken to the +general's tent. They were quite different from the Mexicans in dress and +appearance, and wore rings of gold and bright blue gems in their ears +and nostrils, while a gold leaf, delicately wrought, was attached to the +under lip. Marina could not understand their language, but luckily she +found that two of them could speak in the Aztec tongue. They explained +that they came from Cempoalla, the chief town of a tribe called the +Totonacs, and that their country had been lately conquered by the +Aztecs, whose oppressions they greatly resented. They also said that the +fame of the Spaniards had reached their master, who had sent to request +them to visit him in his capital. It is easy to imagine how eagerly +Cortes listened to this communication, and how important it was to him. +Hitherto, as he knew absolutely nothing of the state of affairs in the +interior of the country, he had supposed the empire to be strong and +united. Now he saw that the discontent of the provinces conquered by +Montezuma might be turned to his own advantage, and that by their aid he +might hope to succeed in his cherished scheme of subduing the emperor +himself. He therefore dismissed the Totonacs with many presents, +promising soon to visit their city. Then with his usual energy and +diplomacy he turned upon the immediate difficulties which beset him--the +discontent of the soldiers, the jealousy of some of his officers, and +the fact that he had no warrant for his ambitious plans in the +commission that he had received from Velasquez. By tact and cunning he +managed to settle everything as he wished, and set to work to establish +a colony in the name of the Spanish sovereign, and appointed his chief +friend Puertocarrero to be one of its magistrates, and Montejo, who was +a friend of Velasquez, to be the other. The new town was called Villa +Rica de Vera Cruz, 'The rich town of the True Cross,' and, as you see, +its governors and officials were appointed before a single house was +built. To them Cortes then resigned the commission which he had received +from Velasquez, and the council, which consisted chiefly of his own +friends, immediately reappointed him to be captain-general and chief +justice of the colony, with power to do practically just as he liked. Of +course this caused a great commotion in the opposing party, but Cortes +put the leaders into irons and sent them on board one of the ships, +while he sent the soldiers on a foraging expedition into the surrounding +country. By the time these returned with supplies they had altered their +minds, and joined their companions in arms, pledging themselves to a +common cause, while even the cavaliers on board the ship came to the +same conclusion, and were reconciled to the new government, and were +from that time staunch adherents to Cortes. + +[Illustration] + +Peace being thus restored, the army set out to march northwards to the +place where it had been decided to build the town. They crossed a river +in rafts and broken canoes which they found upon its bank, and presently +came to a very different scene from the burning sandy waste, which they +had left. The wide plains were covered with green grass, and there were +groves of palms, among which the Spaniards saw deer and various wild +animals, and flocks of pheasants and turkeys. On their way they passed +through a deserted village, in the temples of which they found records +in the picture-writing, and also, to their horror, the remains of +sacrificed victims. As they proceeded up the river they were met by +twelve Indians, sent by the cacique of Cempoalla to show them the way to +his town. The farther they went the more beautiful did the country +become. The trees were loaded with gorgeous fruits and flowers, and +birds and butterflies of every hue abounded. As they approached the +Indian city they saw gardens and orchards on each side of the road, and +were met by crowds of natives, who mingled fearlessly with the soldiers, +bringing garlands of flowers, in which they specially delighted, to deck +the general's helmet and to hang about the neck of his horse. The +cacique, who was tall and very fat, received Cortes with much courtesy, +and assigned to the army quarters in a neighbouring temple, where they +were well supplied with provisions, and the general received a present +of gold and fine cotton. But in spite of all this friendliness he +neglected no precautions, stationing sentinels, and posting his +artillery so as to command the entrance. The following morning Cortes +paid the cacique a visit at his own residence, and, by the aid of +Marina, a long conference was held in which the Spanish general gained +much important information, and promised to aid the Totonacs against +Montezuma, and prevent him from carrying off their young men and maidens +to be sacrificed to his gods. The following day the army marched off +again to the town of Chiahuitztla, which stood like a fortress on a crag +overlooking the gulf. Though the inhabitants were alarmed at first, they +soon became friendly, and the chiefs came to confer with Cortes and the +cacique of Cempoallo, who had accompanied him, carried in a litter. Just +then there was a stir among the people, and five men entered the +market-place where they were standing. By their rich and peculiar dress +they seemed to belong to a different race: their dark glossy hair was +tied in a knot at the top of the head, and they carried bunches of +flowers in their hands. Their attendants carried wands, or fans, to +brush away the flies and insects from their lordly masters. These +persons passed the Spaniards haughtily, scarcely deigning to return +their salutations, and they were immediately joined by the Totonac +chiefs, who seemed anxious to conciliate them by every sort of +attention. The general, much astonished, inquired of Marina what this +meant, and she replied that these were Aztec nobles empowered to receive +tribute for Montezuma. + +Soon after the chiefs returned in dismay, saying that the Aztecs were +very angry with them for entertaining the Spaniards without the +emperor's permission, and had demanded twenty young men and maidens to +be sacrificed to the gods as a punishment. Cortes was most indignant at +this insolence, and insisted that the Totonacs should not only refuse +the demand, but should also seize the Aztec nobles, and throw them into +prison. This they did, but the Spanish general managed to get two of +them freed in the night, and brought before him. He then very cunningly +made them believe that he regretted the indignity that had been offered +them, and would help them to get away safely, and the next day would do +his best to release their companions. He also told them to report this +to Montezuma, assuring him of the great respect and regard in which he +was held by the Spaniards. Them he sent them away secretly to the port, +and they were taken in one of the vessels, and landed safely at a little +distance along the coast. The Totonacs were furious at the escape of +some of their prisoners, and would at once have sacrificed the +remainder, had not Cortes expressed the utmost horror at the idea, and +sent them on board one of the ships for safe keeping, whence he very +soon allowed them to join their companions. This artful proceeding had, +as we shall presently see, just the effect it was meant to have upon +Montezuma. By order of Cortes, messengers were now sent to all the other +Totonac towns, telling them of the defiance that had been shown to the +emperor, and bidding them also refuse to pay the tribute. The Indians +soon came flocking into Chiahuitztla to see and confer with the powerful +strangers, in the hope of regaining liberty by their aid, and so +cleverly had Cortes managed to embroil them with Montezuma, that even +the most timid felt that they had no choice but to accept the protection +of the Spaniards, and make a bold effort for the recovery of freedom. + +Cortes accordingly made them swear allegiance to the Spanish sovereign, +and then set out once more for the port where his colony was to be +planted. This was only half a league distant, in a wide and fruitful +plain, and he was not long in determining the circuit of the walls, and +the site of the fort, granary, and other public buildings. The friendly +Indians brought stone, lime, wood, and bricks, and in a few weeks a town +rose up, which served as a good starting-point for future operations, a +retreat for the disabled, a place for the reception of stores, or +whatever might be sent to or from the mother-country, and was, moreover, +strong enough to overawe the surrounding country. This was the first +colony in New Spain, and was hailed with satisfaction by the simple +natives, who could not foresee that their doom was sealed when a white +man set his foot upon their soil. + +While the Spaniards were still occupied with their new settlement they +were surprised by another embassy from Mexico. When the account of the +imprisonment of the royal collectors first reached Montezuma, his +feelings of fear and superstition were swallowed up in indignation, and +he began with great energy to make preparations for punishing his +rebellious vassals, and avenging the insult offered to himself. But when +the Aztec officers liberated by Cortes reached the capital and reported +the courteous treatment they had received from the Spanish commander, he +was induced to resume his former timid and conciliatory policy, and sent +an embassy consisting of two young nephews of his own and four of his +chief nobles to the Spanish quarters. As usual they bore a princely gift +of gold, rich cotton stuffs, and wonderful mantles of feather +embroidery. The envoys on coming before Cortes presented this offering, +with the emperor's thanks to him for the courtesy he had shown to the +captive nobles. At the same time Montezuma expressed his surprise and +regret that the Spaniards should have countenanced the rebellion. He had +no doubt, he said, that Cortes and his followers were the +long-looked-for strangers, and therefore of the same lineage as himself. +From deference to them he would spare the Totonacs while they were +present, but the day of vengeance would come. Cortes entertained the +Indians with frank hospitality, taking care, however, to make such a +display of his resources as should impress them with a sense of his +power. Then he dismissed them with a few trifling gifts and a +conciliatory message to the emperor, to the effect that he would soon +pay his respects to him in his capital, when all misunderstanding +between them would certainly be adjusted. The Totonacs were amazed when +they understood the nature of this interview; for, in spite of the +presence of the Spaniards, they had felt great apprehension as to the +consequence of their rash act, and now they felt absolutely in awe of +the strangers who even at a distance could exercise such a mysterious +influence over the terrible Montezuma. + +Not long after the cacique of Cempoalla appealed to Cortes to aid him +against a neighbour with whom he had a quarrel. The general at once +marched to support him with a part of his force, but when they reached +the hostile city they were received in a most friendly manner, and +Cortes had no difficulty in reconciling the two chiefs to one another. +In token of gratitude the Indian cacique sent eight noble maidens, +richly decked with collars and ornaments of gold, whom he begged the +general to give as wives to his captains. Cortes seized the opportunity +of declaring that they must first become Christians, and be baptized, +since the sons of the Church could not be allowed to marry idolaters. +The chief replied that his gods were good enough for him, and that he +should at once resent any insults offered to them, even if they did not +avenge themselves by instantly destroying the Spaniards. However, the +general and his followers had seen too much already of the barbarous +rites of the Indian religion and its horrible sacrifices. Without +hesitation they attacked the principal teocalli, whereupon the cacique +called his men to arms, the priests in their blood-stained robes rushed +frantically about among the people, calling upon them to defend their +gods, and all was tumult and confusion. Cortes acted with his usual +promptitude at this crisis. He caused the cacique and the principal +inhabitants and the priests to be taken prisoners, and then commanded +them to quiet the people, threatening that a single arrow shot at the +Spaniards should cost them their lives. Marina also represented the +madness of resistance, reminding the cacique that if he lost the +friendship of the strangers, he would be left alone to face the +vengeance of Montezuma. This consideration decided him: covering his +face with his hands, he exclaimed that the gods would avenge their own +wrongs. Taking advantage of this tacit consent, fifty soldiers rushed up +the stairway of the temple, and dragging the great wooden idols from +their places in the topmost tower, they rolled them down the steps of +the pyramid amid the groans of the natives and the triumphant shouts of +their comrades, and then burnt them to ashes. The Totonacs, finding that +their gods were unable to prevent or even punish this profanation of +their temple, now believed that they were indeed less to be feared than +the Spaniards, and offered no further resistance. By Cortes's orders the +teocalli was then thoroughly purified, and an altar was erected, +surmounted by a great cross hung with garlands of roses, and Father +Olmedo said Mass before the Indians and Spaniards, who seem to have been +alike impressed by the ceremony. An old disabled soldier, named Juan de +Torres, was left to watch over the sanctuary and instruct the natives in +its services, while the general, taking a friendly leave of his Totonac +allies, set out once more for Villa Rica, to finish his arrangements +before departing for the capital. Here he was surprised to find that a +Spanish vessel had arrived in his absence, having on board twelve +soldiers and two horses, a very welcome addition to the tiny army. +Cortes now resolved to execute a plan of which he had been thinking for +some time. He knew very well that none of his arrangements about the +colony would hold good without the Spanish monarch's sanction, and also +that Velasquez had great interest at court, and would certainly use it +against him. Therefore he resolved to send despatches to the emperor +himself, and such an amount of treasure as should give a great idea of +the extent and importance of his discoveries. He gave up his own share +of the spoil, and persuaded his officers to do the same, and a paper was +circulated among the soldiers, calling upon all who chose to resign the +small portion which was due to them, that a present worthy of the +emperor's acceptance might be sent home. It is only another proof of the +extraordinary power which Cortes had over these rough soldiers, who +cared for nothing but plunder, that not a single one refused to give up +the very treasure which he had risked so much to gain. + +[Illustration] + +These are some of the wonderful things that were sent. Two collars made +of gold and precious stones. Two birds made of green feathers, with +feet, beaks, and eyes of gold, and in the same piece with them animals +of gold resembling snails. A large alligator's head of gold. Two birds +made of thread and feather-work, having the quills of their wings and +tails, their feet, eyes and the ends of their beaks of gold, standing +upon two reeds covered with gold, which are raised on balls of +feather-work and gold embroidery, one white and the other yellow, with +seven tassels of feather-work hanging from each of them. A large silver +wheel, also bracelets, leaves, and five shields of the same metal. A +box of feather-work embroidered on leather, with a large plate of gold +weighing seventy ounces in the midst. A large wheel of gold with figures +of strange animals on it, and worked with tufts of leaves, weighing +three thousand eight hundred ounces. A fan of variegated feather-work +with thirty-seven rods plated with gold. Sixteen shields of precious +stones, with feathers of various colours hanging from their rims, and +six shields each covered with a plate of gold, with something resembling +a mitre in the centre. Besides all this there was a quantity of gold +ore, and many pieces of richly embroidered cotton cloth and +feather-work. He accompanied this present with a letter to the emperor +in which he gave an account of all his adventures and discoveries, and +ended by beseeching him to confirm his authority, as he was entirely +confident that he should be able to place the Castilian crown in +possession of this great Indian empire. He also sent four slaves, who +had been rescued from the cage in which were kept the victims about to +be sacrificed, and some Mexican manuscripts. + +Very soon after the departure of the treasure-ship Cortes discovered +that there was a conspiracy among some of his followers, who either did +not like the way the general arranged matters, or else were terrified at +the prospect of the dangerous campaign that was before them. They had +seized one of the ships, and got provisions and water stored, and were +on the eve of setting sail for Cuba, when one of their number repented +of the part he had taken in the plot, and betrayed it to Cortes, who at +once took measures for the arrest of the ringleaders, two of whom were +afterwards hanged. This affair showed the general that there were some +among his followers who were not heart and soul in the expedition, and +who might therefore fail him when he most needed them, and might also +cause their comrades to desert if there was any chance for them to +escape. He therefore determined to take the bold step of destroying the +ships without the knowledge of his army. Accordingly, he marched the +whole army to Cempoalla, and when he arrived there he told his plan to a +few of his devoted adherents, who entirely approved of it. Through them +he persuaded the pilots to declare the ships unseaworthy, and then +ordered nine of them to be sunk, having first brought on shore their +sails, masts, iron, and all movable fittings. When the news of this +proceeding reached Cempoalla, it caused the deepest consternation among +the Spaniards, who felt themselves betrayed and abandoned, a mere +handful of men arrayed against a great and formidable empire, and cut +off from all chance of escape. They murmured loudly, and a serious +mutiny was threatened. But Cortes, whose presence of mind never deserted +him, managed to reassure them, and to persuade them that he had only +done what was really best for everyone; and he so cunningly dwelt upon +the fame and the treasure which they were on the eve of gaining, that +not one of them accepted the offer which he made to them of returning to +Cuba in the only remaining ship. Their enthusiasm for their leader +revived, and as he concluded his speech they made the air ring with +their shouts of 'To Mexico! To Mexico!' + + +THE MARCH TO MEXICO + +While he was still at Cempoalla, news came to Cortes from Villa Rica +that four strange ships were hovering off the coast, and that they +refused to respond to repeated signals made to them by Don Juan de +Escalante, who was in command of the garrison left in the town. This +greatly alarmed Cortes, who was continually dreading the interference of +his enemy, the governor of Cuba. He rode hastily back to Villa Rica, +and, almost without stopping to rest, pushed on a few leagues northwards +along the coast, where he understood the ships were at anchor. On his +way he met with three Spaniards just landed from them, and learned that +they belonged to a squadron fitted out by Francisco de Garay, who had +landed on the Florida coast a year before, and had obtained from Spain +authority over the countries he might discover in its neighbourhood. +Cortes saw he had nothing to fear from them, but he did wish he could +have induced the crews of the ships to join his expedition. The three +men he easily persuaded, but those who remained on board feared +treachery, and refused to send a boat ashore. Finally, by a stratagem, +Cortes succeeded in capturing three or four more, out of a boat's crew +who came to fetch their comrades, and with this small party of recruits +he returned to Cempoalla. On August 16, 1519, Cortes bade farewell to +his hospitable Indian friends, and set out for Mexico. His force +consisted of about four hundred foot and fifteen horse, with seven +pieces of artillery, and in addition to these he had obtained from the +cacique of Cempoalla thirteen hundred warriors, and a thousand porters +to carry the baggage and drag the guns. During the first day the army +marched through the 'tierra caliente,' or hot region. All around them +fruit and flowers grew in the wildest profusion, as indeed they did all +the year round in that wonderful climate; the air was heavy with +perfume, and bright birds and insects abounded. But after some leagues' +travel, over roads made nearly impassable by the summer rains, they +began to ascend gradually, and at the close of the second day they +reached Xalapa, from which they looked out over one of the grandest +prospects that could be seen anywhere. Down below them lay the hot +region with its gay confusion of meadows, streams, and flowering +forests, sprinkled over with shining Indian villages, while a faint line +of light upon the horizon told them that there was the ocean they had so +lately crossed, beyond which lay their country, which many of them would +never see again. To the south rose the mighty mountain called 'Orizaba,' +in his mantle of snow, and in another direction the Sierra Madre, with +its dark belt of pine-trees, stretched its long lines of shadowy hills +away into the distance. Onward and upward they went, and on the fourth +day they arrived at the strong town of Naulinco. Here the inhabitants +entertained them hospitably, for they were friendly with the Totonacs, +and Cortes endeavoured, through Father Olmedo, to teach them something +about Christianity. They seem to have listened willingly, and allowed +the Spaniards to erect a cross for their adoration, which indeed they +did in most of the places where they halted. The troops now entered upon +a rugged, narrow valley, called 'the Bishop's Pass,' and now it began to +be terribly cold, the snow and hail beat upon them, and the freezing +wind seemed to penetrate to their very bones. The Spaniards were partly +protected by their armour, and their thick coats of quilted cotton, but +the poor Indians, natives of the hot region and with very little +clothing, suffered greatly, and indeed several of them died by the way. +The path lay round a bare and dreadful-looking volcanic mountain, and +often upon the edge of precipices three thousand feet in depth. After +three days of this dreary travelling the army emerged into a more genial +climate; they had reached the great tableland which spreads out for +hundreds of miles along the crests of the Cordilleras, more than seven +thousand feet above the sea-level. The vegetation of the torrid and +temperate regions had of course disappeared, but the fields were +carefully cultivated. Many of the crops were unknown to the Spaniards, +but they recognised maize and aloes, and various kinds of cactus. +Suddenly the troops came upon what seemed to be a populous city, even +larger than Cempoalla, and with loftier and more substantial buildings, +of stone and lime. There were thirteen teocallis in the town, and in one +place in the suburbs one of the Spaniards counted the stored-up skulls +of a hundred thousand sacrificed victims. The lord of the town ruled +over twenty thousand vassals; he was a tributary to Montezuma, and there +was a strong Mexican garrison in the place. This was probably the reason +of his receiving Cortes and his army very coldly, and vaunting the +grandeur of the Mexican emperor, who could, he declared, muster thirty +great vassals, each of whom commanded a hundred thousand men. In answer +to the inquiries of Cortes, he told him about Montezuma and his capital. +How more than twenty thousand prisoners of war were sacrificed every +year upon the altars of his gods, and how the city stood in the midst of +a great lake, and was approached by long causeways connected in places +by wooden bridges, which when raised cut off all communication with the +country--and many other strange things which were not of a kind to +reassure the minds of the Spaniards. They hardly knew whether to believe +the old cacique or not, but at any rate the wonders they heard made +them, as one of their cavaliers said, 'only the more earnest to prove +the adventure, desperate as it might appear.' + +[Illustration] + +The natives were also very curious to know about the Spaniards, their +horses and dogs, and strange weapons, and Marina in answering their +questions took care to expatiate upon the exploits and victories of her +adopted countrymen, and to state the extraordinary marks of respect they +had received from Montezuma. This had its effect upon the cacique, who +presently sent the general some slaves to make bread for the soldiers, +and supplied them with the means of refreshment and rest, which they +needed so much after their toilful march. + +The army rested in this city four or five days, and even at the end of +the last century the Indians would still point out the cypress tree +under the shelter of which the conqueror's horse had been tied. When the +journey was resumed, the way was through a broad green valley, watered +by a splendid river and shaded by lofty trees. On either side of the +river an unbroken line of Indian dwellings extended for several leagues, +and on some rising ground stood a town which might contain five or six +thousand inhabitants, commanded by a fortress with walls and trenches. +Here the troops halted again, and met with friendly treatment. + +In their last halting-place Cortes had been advised by the natives to +take the route to the ancient city of Cholula, the inhabitants of which +were a mild race, subjects of Montezuma, and given to peaceful arts, who +were likely to receive him kindly. But his Cempoallan allies declared +that the Cholulans were false and perfidious, and counselled him to go +to Tlascala, a valiant little republic which had managed to maintain its +independence against the arms of Mexico. The tribe had always been +friendly with the Totonacs, and had the reputation of being frank, +fearless, and trustworthy. The Spanish general decided to try and secure +their goodwill, and accordingly despatched four of the principal +Cempoallans with a gift, consisting of a cap of crimson cloth, a sword +and a cross-bow, to ask permission to pass through their country, +expressing at the same time his admiration of their valour, and of their +long resistance of the Aztecs, whose pride he, too, was determined to +humble. Three days after the departure of the envoys the army resumed +its march, lingering somewhat by the way in hopes of receiving an answer +from the Indian Republic. But the messengers did not return, which +occasioned the general no little uneasiness. As they advanced the +country became rougher and the scenery bolder, and at last their +progress was arrested by a most remarkable fortification. It was a stone +wall nine feet high and twenty feet thick, with a parapet a foot and a +half broad at the top, for the protection of those who defended it. It +had only one opening in the centre, made by two semicircular lines of +wall overlapping each other for the space of forty paces, and having a +passage-way between, ten paces wide, so contrived as to be perfectly +commanded by the inner wall. This fortification, which extended for more +than two leagues, rested at either end on the bold, natural buttresses +of the chain of mountains. It was built of immense blocks of stone +nicely laid together without cement, and from the remains that still +exist it is easy to imagine what its size and solidity must have been. +This singular structure marked the limits of Tlascala, and was intended, +the natives said, as a barrier against Mexican invasions. The soldiers +paused amazed, and not a little apprehensive as to their reception in +Tlascala, since a people who were capable of such a work as that would +indeed prove formidable should they not be friendly. But Cortes, putting +himself at the head of his cavalry, shouted, 'Forward, soldiers; the +Holy Cross is our banner, and under that we shall conquer.' And so they +marched through the undefended passage, and found themselves in +Tlascala. + +The Tlascalan people belonged to the same great family as the Aztecs, +and had planted themselves upon the western shore of Lake Tezcuco at +about the same period--at the close of the twelfth century. There they +remained many years, until they had, for some reason, incurred the +displeasure of all the surrounding tribes, who combined to attack them, +and a terrible battle took place. Though the Tlascalans were entirely +victorious, they were so disgusted by this state of things that they +resolved to migrate, and the greater number of them finally settled in +the warm and fruitful valley overshadowed by the mountains of Tlascala. +After some years the monarchy was divided, first into two, then four +separate states, each with its own chief, who was independent in his +own territory, and possessed equal authority with the other three in all +matters concerning the whole republic, the affairs of which were settled +by a council consisting of the four chiefs and the inferior nobles. They +were an agricultural people, and the fertility of their new country was +signified by its name--'Tlascala' meaning the land of bread. Presently +their neighbours began to be envious of their prosperity, and they were +frequently obliged to defend themselves against the Cholulans, and were +always successful. But when Axayacatl, king of the Aztecs, sent +demanding the same tribute and obedience from them which the other +people of the country paid him, threatening, if they refused, to destroy +their cities, and give their land to their enemies, they answered +proudly, 'Neither they nor their forefathers had ever paid tribute or +homage to a foreign power, nor ever would pay it. If their country was +invaded, they knew how to defend it.' + +This answer brought upon them the forces of the Mexican monarch, and a +pitched battle was fought in which the republic was again victorious, +but from that time hostilities never ceased between the two nations, +every captive was mercilessly sacrificed, and the Tlascalan children +were trained from the cradle to hate the Mexicans with a deadly hatred. +In this struggle the Tlascalans received valuable support from a wild +and warlike race from the north, called the Otomies. Some of them +settled in the republic, and having proved themselves courageous and +faithful, were entrusted with the defence of the frontier. After +Montezuma became emperor of Mexico greater efforts than before were made +to subdue Tlascala. He sent a great army against it, commanded by his +favourite son, but his troops were defeated and his son killed. Enraged +and mortified, Montezuma made still greater preparations and invaded the +valley with a terrific force. But the Tlascalans withdrew to the +recesses of the hills, and watching their opportunity, swept down upon +the enemy and drove them from their territory with dreadful slaughter. +Nevertheless they were greatly harassed by these constant struggles with +a foe so superior to themselves in numbers and resources. The Aztec +armies lay between them and the coast, cutting off all possibility of +obtaining any supplies. There were some things, as cotton, cacas, and +salt, which they were unable to grow or manufacture, of which they had +been deprived for more than fifty years, and their taste was so much +affected by this enforced abstinence that they did not get used to +eating salt with their food for several generations after the conquest. +This was the state of affairs in Tlascala when the Spaniards reached +it, and it is easy to see how important it was to Cortes to form an +alliance with it, but that was not an easy thing to do. + +The Tlascalans had heard about the Christians and their victorious +advance, but they had not expected that they would come their way. So +they were much embarrassed by the embassy demanding a passage through +their territories. The council was assembled, and a great difference of +opinion was found among its members. Some believed that these were the +white-skinned, bearded men whose coming was foretold, and at all events +they were enemies to Mexico, and might help them in their struggle +against it. Others argued that this could not be: the march of the +strangers through the land might be tracked by the broken images of the +Indian gods, and desecrated temples. How could they be sure that they +were not friends of Montezuma? They had received his embassies, accepted +his gifts, and were even now on their way to his capital in company with +his vassals. This last was the opinion of an aged chief, one of the four +rulers of the republic. His name was Xicotencatl, and he was nearly +blind, for he was over a hundred years old. He had a son of the same +name as himself, an impetuous young man, who commanded a powerful force +of Tlascalans and Otomies on the eastern frontier where the great +fortification stood. The old chief advised that this force should at +once fall upon the Spaniards. If they were conquered they would be at +the mercy of the Tlascalans, but if by any mischance his son should +fail, the council could declare that they had nothing to do with the +attack, laying the whole blame of it upon the young Xicotencatl. +Meantime the Cempoallan envoys were to be detained under pretence of +assisting at a religious sacrifice. By this time, as we know, Cortes and +his gallant band had passed the rocky rampart, from which, for some +reason or other, the Otomie guard was absent. After advancing a few +leagues he saw a small party of Indians, armed with sword and buckler, +who fled at his approach. He made signs for them to halt, but they only +fled the faster. + +The Spaniards spurred their horses, and soon succeeded in overtaking +them, when they at once turned, and, without showing the usual alarm at +the horses and strange weapons of the cavaliers, attacked them +furiously. The latter, however, were far too strong for them, and they +would soon have been cut to pieces had not a body of several thousand +Indians appeared, coming quickly to their rescue. Cortes seeing them, +hastily despatched a messenger to hurry up his infantry. The Indians, +having discharged their missiles, fell upon the little band of +Spaniards, striving to drag the riders from their horses and to tear +their lances from their grasp. They brought one cavalier to the ground, +who afterwards died of his wounds, and they killed two horses, cutting +their necks through with one blow of their formidable broadswords. This +was a most serious loss to Cortes, whose horses were so important, and +so few in number. + +The struggle was a hard one, and it was with no small satisfaction that +the Spaniards saw their comrades advancing to their aid. No sooner had +the main body reached the field of battle, than, hastily falling into +position, they poured such a volley from their muskets and cross-bows as +fairly astounded the enemy, who made no further attempt to continue the +fight, but drew off in good order, leaving the road open to the +Spaniards, who were only too glad to get rid of their foes and pursue +their way. Presently they met two Tlascalan envoys, accompanied by two +of the Cempoallans. The former, on being brought to the general, assured +him of a friendly reception in the capital, and declared the late +assault upon the troops to have been quite unauthorised. Cortes received +his message courteously, pretending to believe that all was as he said. +As it was now growing late the Spaniards quickened their pace, anxious +to reach a suitable camping-ground before nightfall, and they chose a +place upon the bank of a stream, where a few deserted huts were +standing. These the weary and famishing soldiers ransacked in search of +food, but could find nothing but some animals resembling dogs, which, +however, they cooked and ate without ceremony, seasoning their unsavoury +repast with the fruit of the Indian fig, which grew wild in the +neighbourhood. After several desperate battles with the Tlascalans, +Cortes finally won a great victory. + +The next day--as he usually did after gaining a battle--the Spanish +commander sent a new embassy to the Tlascalan capital, making as before +professions of friendship, but this time threatening that if his offers +were rejected he would visit their city as a conqueror, razing their +house to the ground and putting every inhabitant to the sword. Of course +this message was given to the envoys by the aid of the Lady Marina, who +became day by day more necessary to Cortes, and who was, indeed, +generally admired for her courage and the cheerfulness with which she +endured all the hardships of the camp and raised the drooping spirits of +the soldiers, while by every means in her power she alleviated the +miseries of her own countrymen. This time, the ambassadors of Cortes +received a respectful hearing from the deeply dejected council of +Tlascala, for whom nothing remained but to submit. Four principal +caciques were chosen to offer to the Spaniards a free passage through +the country, and a friendly reception in the capital. Their friendship +was accepted, with many excuses for the past, and the chiefs were +further ordered to touch at the camp of Xicotencatl, the Tlascalan +general, and require him to cease hostilities and furnish the white men +with a plentiful supply of provisions. + +[Illustration] + +While the Tlascalan envoys were still in the camp came a fresh embassy +from Montezuma. Tidings had been sent to him of each step in the +progress of the Spaniards, and it was with great satisfaction that he +had heard of their taking the road to Tlascala, trusting that if they +were mortal men they would find their graves there. Great was his +dismay, therefore, when courier after courier brought him news of their +successes, and how the most redoubtable warriors had been scattered by +this handful of strangers. His superstitious fears returned with greater +force than ever, and in his alarm and uncertainty he despatched five +great nobles of his court, attended by two hundred slaves, to bear to +Cortes a gift consisting of three thousand ounces of gold and several +hundred robes of cotton and feather-work. As they laid it at his feet +they said that they had come to offer Montezuma's congratulations upon +his victories, and to express his regret that he could not receive them +in his capital, where the numerous population was so unruly that he +could not be answerable for their safety. The merest hint of the +emperor's wishes would have been enough to influence any of the natives, +but they made very little impression upon Cortes; and, seeing this, the +envoys proceeded, in their master's name, to offer tribute to the +Spanish sovereign, provided the general would give up the idea of +visiting the capital. This was a fatal mistake, and a most strange one +for such a brave and powerful monarch to make, for it amounted to an +admission that he was unable to protect his treasures. Cortes in +replying expressed the greatest respect for Montezuma, but urged his own +sovereign's commands as a reason for disregarding his wishes. He added +that though he had not at present the power of requiting his generosity +as he could wish, he trusted 'to repay him at some future day with good +works.' You will hear before long how he kept his word. + +The Mexican ambassadors were anything but pleased at finding the war at +an end and a firm friendship established between their mortal enemies +and the Spaniards, and the general saw with some satisfaction the +evidences of a jealousy between them, which was his surest hope of +success in undermining the Mexican empire. Two of the Aztecs presently +returned to acquaint Montezuma with the state of affairs; the others +remained with the Spaniards, Cortes being willing that they should see +the deference paid to him by the Tlascalans, who were most anxious for +his presence in their city. + +[Illustration] + +The city of Tlascala lay about six leagues away from the Spanish camp, +and the road led through a hilly region, and across a deep ravine over +which a bridge had just been built for the passage of the army; they +passed some towns by the way, where they were received with the greatest +hospitality. The people flocked out to meet them, bringing garlands of +roses, with which they decorated the Spanish soldiers, and wreathed +about the necks of their horses. Priests in their white robes mingled +with the crowd, scattering clouds of incense from their censers, and +thus escorted the army slowly made its way through the gates of the city +of Tlascala. Here the press became so great that it was with difficulty +that a passage was cleared for it. The flat housetops were crowded with +eager spectators, while garlands of green boughs, roses, and +honeysuckle were thrown across the streets, and the air was rent with +songs and shouts and the wild music of the national instruments. +Presently the procession halted before the palace of the aged +Xicotencatl, the father of the general, and Cortes dismounted from his +horse, that the blind old man might satisfy his natural curiosity +respecting him, by passing his hand over his face. He then led the way +to a spacious hall, where a banquet was served to the whole army, after +which, quarters were assigned to them in a neighbouring teocalli, the +Mexican ambassadors being, at the desire of Cortes, lodged next to +himself that he might the better protect them in the city of their foes. + +For some days the Spaniards were feasted and entertained in four +quarters of the city, which was really like separate towns divided from +one another by high walls, in each of which lived one of the rulers of +the republic, surrounded by his own vassals. But amid all these friendly +demonstrations the general never for a moment relaxed the strict +discipline of the camp, and no soldier was allowed to leave his quarters +without special permission. At first this offended the Tlascalan chiefs, +as they thought it showed distrust of them. But when Cortes explained +that this was only in accordance with the established military system of +his country, they began to think it admirable, and the young Xicotencatl +proposed, if possible, to imitate it. The Spanish commander now turned +his thoughts to the converting of the Tlascalans; but as they refused to +part with their own gods, though they were willing enough to add the God +of the Christians to their number, he took the advice of the wise Father +Olmedo, and abandoned the idea for the time. However, a cross was +erected in one of the great squares, and there the Spaniards held their +religious services unmolested, and it happened, strangely enough, that +they had scarcely left the city when a thin, transparent cloud settled +like a column upon the cross, wrapping it round, and continuing through +the night to shed a soft light about it. This occurrence did more for +the conversion of the natives than all the preaching of Father Olmedo. +Several of the Indian princesses were now baptized, and given in +marriage to the officers of Cortes. One, who was the daughter of +Xicotencatl, became the wife of Alvarado, who was always a great +favourite with the Tlascalans. From his gay manners, joyous countenance, +and bright golden hair, he gained the nickname of 'Tonatiuh,' or the +'Sun,' while Cortes, who hardly ever appeared anywhere without the +beautiful Marina, was called by the natives 'Malinche,' which you will +remember was her Indian name. While all this was happening, came yet +another embassy from Montezuma, loaded as usual with costly gifts. This +time he invited the Spaniards to visit him in his capital, assuring them +that they would be welcome. Further, he besought them to enter into no +alliance with the base and barbarous Tlascalans, but he invited them to +take the route of the friendly city of Cholula, where arrangements were +being made, by his orders, for their reception. The Tlascalans were much +concerned that Cortes should propose to go to Mexico, and what they told +him fully confirmed all the reports he had heard of the power and +ambition of Montezuma, of the strength of his capital, and the number of +his soldiers. They warned him not to trust to his gifts and his fair +words, and when the general said that he hoped to bring about a better +understanding between the emperor and themselves, they replied that it +was impossible; however smooth his words, he would hate them at heart. +They also heartily protested against the general's going to Cholula. The +people, they said, though not brave in the open field, were crafty; they +were Montezuma's tools, and would do his bidding. That city, too, was +specially under the protection of the god Quetzalcoatl, and the priests +were confidently believed to have the power of opening an inundation +from the foundations of his shrine, which should overwhelm their enemies +in the deluge, and lastly, though many distant places had sent to +testify their goodwill, and offer their allegiance, Cholula, only six +leagues distant, had done neither. This consideration weighed more with +the general than either of the preceding ones, and he promptly +despatched a summons to the city demanding a formal tender of its +submission. It was not long before deputies arrived from Cholula profuse +in expressions of goodwill and invitations to visit their city; but the +Tlascalans pointed out that these messengers were below the usual rank +of ambassadors, which Cortes regarded as a fresh indignity. He therefore +sent a new summons, declaring that if they did not at once send a +deputation of their principal men he would treat them as rebels to his +own sovereign, the rightful lord of these realms. This soon brought some +of the highest nobles to the camp, who excused their tardy appearance, +by saying that they had feared for their personal safety in the capital +of their enemies. The Tlascalans were now more than ever averse to the +projected visit. A strong Aztec force was known to be near Cholula, and +the city was being actively prepared for defence. Cortes, too, was +disturbed by these circumstances, but he had gone too far to recede +without showing fear, which could not fail to have a bad effect on his +own men, as well as on the natives. Therefore, after a short +consultation with his officers, he decided finally to take the road to +Cholula. This ancient city lay six leagues to the south of Tlascala, and +was most populous and flourishing. The inhabitants excelled in the art +of working in metals and manufacturing cotton cloth and delicate +pottery, but were indisposed to war, and less distinguished for courage +than for cunning. You will remember that it was in this place that the +god Quetzalcoatl had paused on his way to the coast, and in his honour a +tremendous pyramid had been erected, probably by building over a natural +hill, and on the top of this rose a gorgeous temple, in which stood an +image of the god bedecked with gold and jewels. To this temple pilgrims +flocked from every corner of the empire, and many were the terrible +sacrifices offered there, as, indeed, in all the other teocallis, of +which there were about four hundred in the city. On the day appointed, +the Spanish army set out for Cholula, followed by crowds of citizens, +who admired the courage displayed by this little handful of men in +proposing to brave the mighty Montezuma in his own territory. An immense +body of warriors had offered to join the expedition, but Cortes thought +it wise to accept only six thousand, and even these he left encamped at +some distance from Cholula, because the caciques of that city, who came +out to meet the Spaniards, objected to having their mortal enemies +brought within its walls. As the troops drew near the town they were met +by swarms of men, women, and children, all eager to catch a glimpse of +the strangers, whose persons, horses, and weapons were equally objects +of intense curiosity to them. They in their turn were struck by the +noble aspect of the Cholulans, who were much superior in dress and +general appearance to the other tribes they had encountered. An immense +number of priests swinging censers mingled with the crowd, and, as +before, they were decorated with garlands and bunches of flowers, and +accompanied by gay music from various instruments. The Spaniards were +also struck by the width and cleanliness of the streets and the solidity +of the houses. They were lodged in the court of one of the many +teocallis, and visited by the great nobles of the city, who supplied +them plentifully with all they needed, and at first paid them such +attentions as caused them to believe that the evil apprehensions of the +Tlascalans had been merely suspicion and prejudice. But very soon the +scene changed. Messengers came from Montezuma, who shortly and +pleasantly told Cortes that his approach occasioned much disquietude to +their master, and then conferred apart with the Mexicans who were still +in the Spanish camp, presently departing, and taking one of them away +with them. From this time the Cholulans visited the Spanish quarters no +more, and when invited to do so excused themselves, saying they were +ill. Also, the supply of provisions ran short, and they said it was +because maize was scarce. Naturally, Cortes became very uneasy at this +change, and his alarm was increased by the reports of the Cempoallans, +who told him that in wandering about the city they had seen several +streets barricaded, and in some places holes had been dug, and a sharp +stake planted upright in each, and branches strewn to conceal them, +while the flat roofs of the houses were being stored with stones and +other missiles. Some Tlascalans also came in from their camp to inform +him that a great sacrifice, mostly of children, had been held in a +distant quarter of the town, to secure the aid of the gods in some +intended enterprise, and numbers of the people had taken their wives and +children out of the city. + +These tidings confirmed the worst suspicions of Cortes, but just then +the Lady Marina made a discovery which changed his doubts into +certainty. The wife of one of the Cholulan caciques had taken a great +fancy to the Mexican girl, and continually urged her to visit her house, +hinting mysteriously that she would in this way escape a great danger +which threatened the Spaniards. Marina pretended to be delighted with +this proposal, and glad of the chance of escaping from the white men, +and by degrees she thus won the confidence of the Cholulan, who +presently revealed the whole plot to her. It originated, she said, with +the Aztec emperor, who had bribed the caciques of Cholula, her husband +among the number, to assault the Spaniards as they marched out of the +city, and to throw them into confusion all sorts of obstacles had been +placed in their way. A force of twenty thousand Mexicans was already +quartered near the city to support the Cholulans, and the Spaniards +would, it was confidently expected, fall an easy prey to their united +enemies. A sufficient number of them were to be reserved to be +sacrificed in Cholula, and the rest led in fetters to the capital of +Montezuma. While this conversation was taking place, Marina was making a +show of collecting and packing up such dresses and jewels as she was to +take with her to the house of her new friend. But after a while she +managed to slip away without exciting her suspicion, and, rushing to the +general, told him all. Cortes at once caused the cacique's wife to be +seized, and she repeated to him the same story that she had told to +Marina. He was most anxious to gain further particulars of the +conspiracy, and accordingly induced two priests, one of them a person of +much influence, to visit his quarters, where by courteous treatment and +rich presents he got from them a complete confirmation of the report. +The emperor had been in a state of pitiable vacillation since the +arrival of the Spaniards. His first orders had been that they should be +kindly received, but on consulting his oracles anew he had obtained for +answer that Cholula would be the grave of his enemies, and so positive +of success were the Aztecs, that they had already sent into the city +numbers of the poles with thongs attached to them with which to bind the +prisoners. Cortes now dismissed the priests, bidding them observe the +strictest secrecy, which, indeed they were likely to do for their own +sakes. He also requested that they would induce some of the principal +caciques to grant him an interview in his quarters. When they came he +gently rebuked them for their want of hospitality, and said that the +Spaniards would burden them no longer, but would leave the city early +the next morning. He also asked that they would supply him with two +thousand men to carry his artillery and baggage. The chiefs, after some +consultation, agreed to this as being likely to favour their own plans. +Then he sent for the Mexican ambassadors, and acquainted them with his +discovery of the plot, saying that it grieved him much to find Montezuma +mixed up in so treacherous an affair, and that the Spaniards must now +march as enemies against a monarch they had hoped to visit as a friend. +The ambassadors, however, asserted their entire ignorance of the +conspiracy, and their belief that Montezuma also knew nothing of it. The +night that followed was one of intense anxiety; every soldier lay down +fully armed, and the number of sentinels was doubled; but all remained +quiet in the populous city, and the only sounds which reached their ears +were the hoarse cries of the priests who, from the turrets of the +teocallis, proclaimed through their trumpets the watches of the night. + +With the first streak of morning light Cortes was on horseback, +directing the movements of his little band, part of which he posted in +the great square court. A strong guard was placed at each of the three +gates, and the rest had charge of the great guns which were outside the +enclosure, and so placed as to command the roads which led to the +teocalli. The arrangements were hardly completed before the Cholulan +caciques appeared, bringing a larger body of porters than had been +demanded. They were marched at once into the square, which was, as we +have seen, completely lined by the Spanish troops. Cortes then took the +caciques aside, and sternly and abruptly charged them with the +conspiracy, taking care to show that he knew every detail. The Cholulans +were thunderstruck, and gazed with awe upon the strangers who seemed to +have the power of reading their most secret thoughts. They made no +attempt to deny the accusation, but tried to excuse themselves by +throwing the blame on Montezuma. Cortes, however, declared with still +more indignation that such a pretence would not serve them, and that he +would now make such an example of them as should be a warning to the +cities far and near, and then the fatal signal--the firing of a gun--was +given, and in an instant every musket and crossbow was levelled at the +unhappy Cholulans as they stood crowded together in the centre. They +were completely taken by surprise, having heard nothing of what was +going forward, and offered hardly any resistance to the Spanish +soldiers, who followed up the discharge of their pieces by rushing upon +them with their swords and mowing them down in ranks as they stood. + +While this dreadful massacre was going on the Cholulans from outside, +attracted by the noise, began a furious assault upon the Spaniards, but +the heavy guns opened fire upon them and swept them off in files as they +rushed on, and in the intervals of reloading the cavalry charged into +their midst. By this time the Tlascalans had come up, having by order of +Cortes bound wreaths of sedge about their heads that they might be the +more easily distinguished from the Cholulans, and they fell upon the +rear of the wretched townsmen, who, thus harassed on all sides, could no +longer maintain their ground. They fled, some to the near buildings, +which were speedily set on fire, others to the temples. One strong body +headed by the priests got possession of the great teocalli. There was, +as you remember, a tradition that if part of the wall was removed the +god would send a flood to overwhelm his enemies. Now the Cholulans +strove with might and main, and at last succeeded in wrenching away a +few stones, but dust, not water, followed. In despair they crowded into +the wooden turrets which surmounted the temple, and poured down stones, +javelins, and burning arrows upon the Spaniards as they came swarming up +the steps. But the fiery shower fell harmlessly upon the steel +head-pieces of the soldiers, and they used the blazing shafts to set +fire to the wooden towers, so that the wretched natives either perished +in the flames or threw themselves headlong from the parapet. In the fair +city, lately so peaceful and prosperous, all was confusion and +slaughter, burning and plundering. The division of spoil was greatly +simplified by the fact that the Tlascalans desired wearing-apparel and +provisions far more than gold or jewels; they also took hundreds of +prisoners, but these Cortes afterwards induced them to release. The work +of destruction had gone on for some hours before the general yielded to +the entreaties of the Cholulan chiefs who had been saved from the +massacre, and of the Mexican envoys, and called off his men, putting a +stop as well as he could to further violence. Two of the caciques were +also permitted to go to their countrymen with offers of pardon and +protection to all who would return to their obedience, and so by degrees +the tumult was appeased. Presently Cortes helped the Cholulans to choose +a successor to their principal cacique, who was among the slain, and +confidence being thus restored the people from the country round began +to flock in, the markets were again opened, and the ordinary life of the +city resumed, though the black and smouldering ruins remained to tell +the sad tale of the massacre of Cholula. This terrible vengeance made a +great impression upon the natives, and none trembled more than the +Mexican monarch upon his throne among the mountains. He felt his empire +melting away from him like a morning mist, for some of the most +important cities, overawed by the fate of Cholula, now sent envoys to +the Spanish camp tendering their allegiance, and trying to secure the +favour of the conqueror by rich gifts of gold and slaves. Again did +Montezuma seek counsel from his gods, but the answers he obtained were +far from reassuring, and he determined to send another embassy to Cortes +to declare that he had nothing to do with the conspiracy at Cholula. As +usual the envoys were charged with a splendid present of golden vessels +and ornaments, and among other things were artificial birds, made in +imitation of turkeys with plumage of worked gold; there were also +fifteen hundred robes of delicate cotton cloth. The emperor's message +expressed regret for the late catastrophe, and denied all knowledge of +the plot which had, he said, brought a retribution upon its authors +which they richly deserved; and he explained the presence of the Aztec +force in the neighbourhood by saying that there was a disturbance that +had to be quelled. More than a fortnight had passed since the Spaniards +entered Cholula, and the general had, after the city was once more +restored to order, tried to induce the people to give up their false +gods, but this they would not do willingly. However, he seized upon the +great teocalli of which all the woodwork had been burned, and built a +church of the stone that remained, and he opened the cages in which the +wretched victims about to be sacrificed were imprisoned, and restored +them to liberty, and then he thought it time to begin the march to +Mexico once more. So the allied army of Spaniards and Tlascalans set +out upon their journey through luxuriant plains and flourishing +plantations, met occasionally by embassies from different towns, anxious +to claim the protection of the white men, and bringing rich gifts of +gold to propitiate them. They passed between the two enormous mountain +peaks, Popocatapetl, 'the hill that smokes,' and Iztaccihuatl, 'the +white woman,' and presently encountered a blinding snow-storm, from +which they found shelter in one of the large stone buildings, put up by +the Mexicans for the use of travellers and couriers, and here they +encamped for the night. The next morning they reached the top of a range +of hills where progress was comparatively easy, and they had not gone +far when, turning sharply round the shoulder of a hill, they saw spread +out before them the lovely Mexican valley. The clearness of the air +enabled them to see distinctly the shining cities, the lakes, woods, +fields and gardens, and in the midst of all the fair city of Mexico rose +as it were from the waters of the great lake, with its towers and +temples white and gleaming, and behind it the royal hill of Chapoltepec, +the residence of the Mexican kings, crowned with the very same gigantic +cypress trees which to this day fling their broad shadows across the +land. The Spaniards gazed in rapture over the gay scene, exclaiming, 'It +is the promised land!' but presently the evidences of a power and +civilisation so far superior to anything they had yet encountered +disheartened the more timid among them, they shrank from the unequal +contest, and begged to be led back again to Vera Cruz. But this was not +the effect produced upon Cortes by the glorious prospect. His desire for +treasure and love of adventure were sharpened by the sight of the +dazzling spoil at his very feet, and with threats, arguments, and +entreaties he revived the drooping spirits of his soldiers, and by the +aid of his brave captains succeeded in once more rousing them to +enthusiasm, and the march down the slope of the hill was gaily resumed. + +[Illustration] + +With every step of their progress the woods became thinner, and villages +were seen in green and sheltered nooks, the inhabitants of which came +out to meet and welcome the Spaniards. Everywhere Cortes heard with +satisfaction complaints of the cruelty and injustice of Montezuma, and +he encouraged the natives to rely on his protection, as he had come to +redress their wrongs. The army advanced but slowly, and was soon met by +another embassy from the emperor, consisting of several Aztec lords +bringing a rich gift of gold, and robes of delicate furs and feathers, +and offering four loads of gold to the general, and one to each of his +captains, with a yearly tribute to the Spanish sovereign, if they would +even then turn back from Mexico. But Cortes replied that he could not +answer it to his sovereign if he were to return without visiting the +emperor in his capital. The Spaniards came in the spirit of peace as +Montezuma would see for himself; but should their presence prove +burdensome to him, it would be very easy for them to relieve him of it. + +This embassy had been intended to reach the Spaniards before they +crossed the mountains, and the dismay of the Aztec emperor was great +when he learned that it had failed, and that the dreaded strangers were +actually on their march across the valley. They were so utterly unlike +anything he had ever known before, these strange beings, who seemed to +have dropped from another planet, and by their superior knowledge and +more deadly weapons overcome the hitherto unconquerable nations, though +a mere handful of men in comparison to the swarms of his own countrymen. +He felt himself to be the victim of a destiny from which nothing could +save him. All peace, power, and security seemed to be gone from him, and +in despair he shut himself up in his palace, refusing food, and trying +by prayers and sacrifices to wring some favour from his gods. But the +oracles were dumb. Then he called a council of his chief nobles, but a +great difference of opinion arose amongst them. Cacama, the emperor's +nephew, king of Tezcuco, counselled him to receive the Spaniards +courteously as ambassadors of a foreign prince, while Cuitlahua, his +brother, urged him to muster his forces and then and there drive back +the invaders, or die in the defence of his capital. But Montezuma could +not rouse himself for this struggle. He exclaimed in deep dejection, "Of +what avail is resistance when the gods have declared themselves against +us? Yet I mourn for the old and infirm, the women and children, too +feeble to fight or fly. For myself and the brave men around me, we must +face the storm as best we may!" and he straightway sent off a last +embassy, with his nephew at its head, to meet the Spaniards and welcome +them to Mexico. By this time the army had reached the first of the towns +built on piles driven into the lake, and were delighted with its fine +stone houses, with canals between them instead of streets, up and down +which boats passed continually, laden with all kinds of merchandise. +Though received with great hospitality, Cortes still was strictly on his +guard, and neglected no precaution for the security of his men. Before +he left this place a messenger came, requesting him to wait for the +arrival of the king of Tezcuco, who very soon afterwards appeared, borne +in a palanquin richly decorated with plates of gold and precious stones, +having pillars curiously wrought which supported a canopy of green +plumes. He was accompanied by a numerous retinue of nobles and inferior +attendants, and when he came into the presence of Cortes he descended +from his palanquin and advanced towards him, his officers sweeping the +ground before him as he did so. + +The prince was a handsome young man, erect and dignified; he made the +usual Mexican salutation to people of high rank, touching the earth with +his right hand and raising it to his head, and said that he came as the +representative of Montezuma to bid the Spaniards welcome to Mexico, and +presented the general with three pearls of uncommon size and lustre. +Cortes embraced him, and in return threw over his neck a chain of cut +glass. After this exchange of courtesies, and the most friendly and +respectful assurances on the part of Cortes, the Indian prince withdrew, +leaving the Spaniards much impressed by his superiority in state and +bearing to anything they had before seen in the country. + +Resuming their march along the southern shore of Lake Chalco, through +splendid woods, and orchards glowing with unknown fruits, the army came +at length to a great dyke or causeway four or five miles long, which +divided the Lake Chalco from Xochicalco on the west. It was a lance in +breadth at the narrowest part, and in some places wide enough for eight +horsemen to ride abreast, and was solidly built of stone and lime. As +they passed along it they saw multitudes of Indians darting up and down +the lake in their light pirogues, eager to catch a glimpse of the +strangers, and they were amazed at the sight of the floating islands, +covered with flowers and vegetables and moving like rafts over the +waters. All round the margin, and occasionally far out in the lake, they +saw little towns and villages half buried in foliage; and the whole +scene seemed to them so new and wonderful that they could only compare +it to the magical pictures of the old romances. Midway across the lake +the army halted at the town of Cuitlahuae, which was not large, but was +remarkable for the beauty of its buildings. The curiosity of the Indians +increased as the Spaniards proceeded, and they clambered up the causeway +and lined the sides of the road, so that the troops were quite +embarrassed by them, and Cortes was obliged to resort to commands, and +even menaces, to clear a passage. He found, as he neared the capital, a +considerable change in the feeling shown towards the government, and +heard only of the pomp and magnificence of Montezuma, and nothing of his +oppressions. From the causeway the army descended on a narrow point of +land which lay between the two lakes, and crossing it reached the royal +residence of Iztapalapan. + +This place was governed by the emperor's brother, who, to do greater +honour to Cortes, had invited the neighbouring lords to be present at +his reception, and at the banquet which followed. The Spaniards were +struck with admiration, when, after the usual ceremonies had been gone +through, and a gift of gold and costly stuffs had been presented, they +were led into one of the gorgeous halls of the palace, the roof of which +was of odorous cedar-wood, and the stone walls tapestried with brilliant +hangings. But, indeed, this was only one of the many beautiful things +which they saw in this fairy city. There were gardens cunningly planted, +and watered in every part by means of canals and aqueducts, in which +grew gorgeous flowers and luscious fruits. There was an aviary filled +with all kinds of birds, remarkable for the brilliancy of their plumage +and the sweetness of their songs. But the most elaborate piece of work +was a huge reservoir of stone full of water and stocked with all kinds +of fish, and by this all the fountains and aqueducts were supplied. In +this city of enchantment the army rested for the night, within sight of +the capital into which Cortes intended to lead them on the morrow. + + +THE OCCUPATION OF MEXICO. + +[Illustration: MONTEZUMA GREETS THE SPANIARDS] + +With the first faint streak of dawn, on the morning of November 8, 1519, +the Spanish general was astir and mustering his followers, and as the +sun rose above the eastern mountains he set forth with his little troop +of horsemen as a sort of advanced guard, the Spanish infantry followed, +then the baggage, and finally the dark files of the Tlascalan warriors. +The whole number cannot have amounted to seven thousand, of which less +than four hundred were Spaniards. For a short distance the army kept +along the narrow tongue of land between the lakes, and then entered upon +the great dyke which crosses the salt waters of Lake Tezcuco to the very +gates of the capital. It was wide enough all the way for ten horsemen to +ride abreast, and from it the Spaniards could see many towns and +villages--some upon the shores of the lake, some built upon piles +running far out into its waters. These cities were evidently crowded +with a thriving population, and contained many temples and other +important buildings which were covered with a hard white stucco +glistening like enamel in the sunshine. The lake was darkened with a +swarm of canoes filled with Indians who were eager to gaze upon the +strangers, and here and there floated those fairy islands of flowers +which rose and fell with every undulation of the water, and yet were +substantial enough to support trees of a considerable size. At the +distance of half a league from the capital they encountered a solid +fortification, like a curtain of stone, which was built across the dyke. +It was twelve feet high, and had a tower at each end, and in the centre +a battlemented gateway through which the troops passed. This place was +called the Fort of Xoloc, and was afterwards occupied by Cortes in the +famous siege of Mexico. Here they were met by several hundred Aztec +chiefs in their gay and fanciful costume. Some of them wore broad +mantles of delicate feather embroidery, and collars and bracelets of +turquoise mosaic with which fine plumage was curiously mingled, while +their ears, underlips, and sometimes even their noses, were adorned with +pendants of precious stones, or crescents of fine gold. After the usual +formal salutations, which caused some delay, the march was resumed, and +the army presently reached a wooden drawbridge which crossed an opening +in the dyke, meant to serve as an outlet for the water, should it for +any reason rise beyond its usual height. As they left this bridge +behind them the Spaniards felt that they were indeed committing +themselves to the mercy of Montezuma, who might, by means of it, cut +them off from communication with the country, and hold them prisoners in +his capital. They now beheld the glittering retinue of the emperor +emerging from the great street which led through the heart of the city. +Amidst a crowd of Indian nobles, preceded by three officers of state +bearing golden wands, they saw the royal palanquin, blazing with +burnished gold. It was borne on the shoulders of nobles, and over it a +canopy of gorgeous feather-work, powdered with jewels and fringed with +silver, was supported by four attendants, also of high rank, who were +barefooted and walked with a slow, measured pace, with their eyes bent +upon the ground. As soon as the procession had come within a short +distance of the Spaniards the emperor descended from his palanquin, and +advanced under the canopy, leaning upon the arms of his nephew and his +brother. The ground before him was strewn with cotton tapestry by his +attendants, and the natives who lined the sides of the causeway bent +forward with their eyes fixed upon the ground as he passed, whilst some +of the humbler class prostrated themselves before him. Montezuma wore +the usual broad girdle and square cloak of the finest cotton, on his +feet were sandals with soles of gold, and leathern thongs ornamented +with the same metal. Both cloak and sandals were sprinkled with pearls +and precious stones, principally emeralds, and the green 'chalchivitl,' +which was more highly esteemed by the Aztecs than any jewel. On his head +he wore only a plume of royal green feathers, a badge of his military +rank. He was at this time about forty years of age, and was tall and +thin, and of a lighter complexion than is usual among his countrymen; he +moved with dignity, and there was a benignity in his whole demeanour +which was not to have been anticipated from the reports of his character +which had reached the Spaniards. The army halted as Montezuma drew near, +and Cortes dismounted and advanced to meet him with a few of the +principal cavaliers. The emperor received him with princely courtesy, +and expressed his satisfaction at seeing him in his capital. Cortes +responded by the most profound expressions of respect and gratitude for +all Montezuma's munificence to the Spaniards; he then hung round the +emperor's neck a chain of coloured crystal, making at the same time a +movement as if to embrace him, but was restrained by the two Aztec +lords, who were shocked at the idea of such presumption. Montezuma then +appointed his brother to conduct the Spaniards to their quarters in +the city, and again entering his litter was borne off amid prostrate +crowds in the same state in which he had come. The Spaniards quickly +followed, and with colours flying and music playing entered the southern +portion of the city of Mexico. The great wide street facing the causeway +stretched for some miles in nearly a straight line through the centre of +the city. In the clear atmosphere of the tableland it was easy to see +the blue mountains in the distance beyond the temples, houses, and +gardens which stood on either side of it. But what most impressed the +Spaniards was the swarm of people who thronged every street, canal, and +roof, and filled every window and doorway. To the Aztecs it must indeed +have been a strange sensation when they beheld the fair-faced strangers, +and for the first time heard their well-paved streets ringing under the +iron tramp of the horses--those unknown animals which they regarded with +superstitious terror. But their wonder changed to anger when they saw +their detested enemies, the Tlascalans, stalking through their city with +looks of ferocity and defiance. + +As they passed along the troops frequently crossed bridges which spanned +some of the numerous canals, and at length they halted in a wide open +space, near the centre of the city, close to the huge temple of the +war-god. Facing the western gate of the temple enclosure stood a range +of low stone buildings, spreading over a large extent of ground, once a +palace belonging to the emperor's father. This was to be the lodging of +the Spaniards. Montezuma himself was waiting in the courtyard to receive +them. Approaching Cortes he took from one of his slaves a massive +collar, made of the shells of a kind of crawfish much prized by the +Indians, set in gold, and connected by heavy golden links; from this +hung eight finely-worked ornaments, each a span long, made to resemble +the crawfish, but of fine gold. This gorgeous collar he hung round the +neck of the general, saying: 'This palace belongs to you, Malinche' +(this was the name by which he always addressed him), 'and your +brethren. Rest after your fatigues, for you have much need to do so; in +a little while I will visit you again.' So saying, he withdrew with his +attendants. The general's first care was to inspect his new quarters. +The rooms were of great size, and afforded accommodation for the whole +army--the Tlascalans probably encamping in the outer courts. The best +apartments were hung with draperies of gaily coloured cotton, and the +floors were covered with mats or rushes. There were also low stools +carved from single pieces of wood, and most of the rooms had beds made +of the palm-leaf, woven into a thick mat, with coverlets, and sometimes +canopies of cotton. The general, after a rapid survey, assigned his +troops their respective quarters, and took as vigilant precautions for +security as if he expected a siege; he planted his cannon so as to +command the approaches to the palace, stationed sentinels along the +walls, and ordered that no soldier should leave his quarters under pain +of death. After all these precautions he allowed his men to enjoy the +banquet prepared for them. This over, the emperor came again, attended +by a few nobles; he was received with great deference by Cortes, and +with Marina's aid they conversed, while the Aztecs and the cavaliers +stood around in respectful silence. Montezuma made many inquiries +concerning the country of the Spaniards, its sovereign, and its +government, and especially asked their reasons for visiting Mexico. +Cortes replied that they had desired to see its great monarch, and to +declare to him the true faith professed by the Christians. The emperor +showed himself to be fully acquainted with all the doings of the +Spaniards since their landing, and was curious as to their rank in their +own country; he also learned the names of the principal cavaliers, and +their position in the army. At the conclusion of the interview the +Aztecs brought forward a gift of cotton robes, enough to supply every +man, even including the Tlascalans, and gold chains and ornaments, which +were distributed in profusion among the Spaniards. That evening Cortes +ordered a general discharge of artillery, and the noise of the guns and +the volumes of smoke filled the superstitious Aztecs with dismay, +reminding them of the explosions of the great volcano. + +On the following morning he asked permission to return the emperor's +visit, and Montezuma sent officers to conduct the Spaniards to his +presence. + +[Illustration: CORTES IN THE TEMPLE OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI] + +On reaching the hall of audience the Mexican officers took off their +sandals, and covered their gay attire with mantles of 'nequen,' a coarse +stuff made from the fibres of the aloe, and worn only by the poorest +classes; for it was thus humbly that all, excepting the members of his +own family, approached the sovereign. Then with downcast eyes and formal +obeisance they ushered the Spaniards into the royal presence. They found +Montezuma surrounded by a few of his favourite chiefs, and were kindly +received by him; and Cortes soon began upon the subject uppermost in his +thoughts, setting forth as clearly as he could the mysteries of his +faith, and assuring Montezuma his idols would sink him in perdition. +But the emperor only listened calmly, and showed no sign of being +convinced. He had no doubt, he said, that the god of the Spaniards was +good, but his own gods were good also; what Cortes told him of the +creation of the world was like what he had been taught to believe. It +was not worth while to discuss the matter farther. He added that his +ancestors were not the original possessors of his land, but had been led +there by the great Being, who, after giving them laws, and ruling over +them for a time, had withdrawn to the region where the sun rises, +declaring on his departure that he or his descendants would some day +come again and reign. The wonderful deeds of the Spaniards, their fair +faces, and the quarter whence they came all showed that they were his +descendants. If Montezuma had resisted their visit to his capital, it +was because he had heard that they were cruel, that they sent the +lightning to consume his people, or crushed them to pieces under the +hard feet of the ferocious animals on which they rode. He was now +convinced that these were idle tales, that the Spaniards were kind and +generous,--mortals indeed, but of a different race from the Aztecs, +wiser, and more valiant. You, too, he added with a smile, have perhaps +been told that I am a god and dwell in palaces of gold and silver. But +you see it is false: my houses, though large, are of wood and stone; and +as to my body, he said, baring his tawny arm, you see it is flesh and +bone like yours. It is true that I have a great empire inherited from my +ancestors, lands, and gold and silver, but your sovereign beyond the +waters is, I know, the rightful lord of all. I rule in his name. You, +Malinche, are his ambassador; you and your brethren shall share these +things with me. Rest now from your labours. You are here in your own +dwellings, and everything shall be provided for your subsistence. I will +see that your wishes shall be obeyed in the same way as my own. Cortes, +while he encouraged the idea that his own sovereign was the great Being, +as Montezuma believed, assured him that his master had no desire to +interfere with his authority otherwise than, out of concern for his +welfare, to effect his conversion, and that of his people, to +Christianity. Before the emperor dismissed his visitors, rich stuffs and +ornaments of gold were distributed among them, so that the poorest +soldier received at least two heavy collars of gold, and on their +homeward way they could talk of nothing but the generosity and courtesy +of the Indian monarch. But the general was harassed by many anxious +thoughts. He had not been prepared to find so much luxury, civilisation, +and power. He was in the heart of a great capital which seemed like an +extensive fortification, with its dykes and drawbridges, where every +house might be converted into a castle. At a nod from the sovereign all +communication with the rest of the country might be cut off, and the +whole warlike population be at once hurled upon himself and his handful +of followers, and against such odds of what avail would be his superior +science? As to the conquest of the empire, now he had seen the capital, +it must have seemed to him a more doubtful enterprise than ever; but at +any rate his best policy was to foster the superstitious reverence in +which he was held by both prince and people, and to find out all he +could about the city and its inhabitants. To this end he asked the +emperor's permission to visit the principal public buildings, which was +readily granted, Montezuma even arranging to meet him at the great +temple. Cortes put himself at the head of his cavalry, and, followed by +nearly all the Spanish foot, set out under the guidance of several +caciques sent by Montezuma. They led him to the great teocalli near +their own quarters. It stood in the midst of a vast space which was +surrounded by a wall of stone and lime about eight feet high, ornamented +on the outer side by raised figures of serpents, which gave it the name +of the 'Coatepantli,' or 'wall of serpents.' This wall was pierced by +huge battlemented gateways, opening upon the four principal streets of +the city, and over each gate was a kind of arsenal filled with arms and +warlike gear. The teocalli itself was of the usual pyramidal shape, and +five stories high, coated on the outside with hewn stones. The ascent +was by flights of steps on the outside, and Cortes found two priests and +several caciques waiting to carry him up them as they had just carried +the emperor; but the general declined this compliment, preferring to +march up at the head of his men. On reaching the great paved space at +the summit, the first thing they saw was the stone on which the unhappy +victims were stretched for sacrifice; at the other end of the platform +stood two-towers, each three stories high, the lower story being of +stone, the two upper of carved wood. In these stood the images of the +gods, and before each stood an altar upon which blazed the undying +fires, the putting out of which was supposed to portend so much woe to +the nation. Here also was the huge drum, made of serpents' skins, struck +only on extraordinary occasions, when it sent forth a melancholy sound +that could be heard for miles--a sound of woe to the Spaniards in after +times. Montezuma, attended by a high priest, came forward to receive +Cortes. After conferring with the priests the emperor conducted the +Spaniards into the building, which was adorned with sculptured figures; +at one end was a recess, with a roof of timber richly carved and gilt, +and here stood a colossal image of Huitzilopochtli, the war-god. His +countenance was hideous; in his right hand he held a bow, and in his +left a bunch of golden arrows, which a mystic legend connected with the +victories of his people. A huge serpent of pearls and precious stones +was coiled about his waist, and costly jewels were profusely sprinkled +over his person. On his left foot were the delicate feathers of the +humming-bird, from which, singularly enough, he took his name, while +round his neck hung a chain of gold and silver hearts, as an emblem of +the sacrifice in which he most delighted. Indeed, even at that moment +three bleeding human hearts lay upon the altar before him. The next +sanctuary was dedicated to Tezcatlipoca, who, they believed, had created +the earth and watched over it. He was represented as a young man, and +his image of polished black stone was garnished with gold plates and +ornaments, among which was a shield burnished like a mirror, in which he +was supposed to see reflected all the doings of the world; and before +this shrine also lay five hearts in a golden platter. From the horrors +of this place the Spaniards gladly escaped into the open air, and Cortes +said, turning to Montezuma, 'I do not understand how a great and wise +prince like you can put faith in such evil spirits as these idols. If +you will but permit us to erect here the true cross, and place the +images of the Blessed Virgin and her Son in your sanctuaries, you will +soon see how your false gods will shrink before them.' Montezuma was +greatly shocked at this speech. 'These,' said he, 'are the gods who have +led the Aztecs on to victory since they were a nation, and who send us +the seed time and harvest. Had I thought you would have offered them +this outrage I would not have admitted you into their presence.' Cortes +then took his leave, expressing concern for having wounded the feelings +of the emperor, who remained to expiate, if possible, the crime of +having exposed the shrines of his gods to such profanation by the +strangers. On descending into the court the Spaniards took a leisurely +survey of the other buildings in the enclosure; there were several other +teocallis, but much smaller ones, in which the Spaniards saw implements +of sacrifice and many other horrors. And there was also a great mound +with a timber framework upon its summit, upon which were strung hundreds +of thousands of skulls--those of the victims who had been sacrificed. +Schools, granaries, gardens, and fountains filled up the remainder of +the enclosed space, which seemed a complete city in itself, containing a +mixture of barbarism and civilisation altogether characteristic of the +Aztec nation. The next day the Spaniards asked permission to convert one +of the halls in their palace into a chapel where they might hold the +services of their church. The request was granted, and while the work +was in progress some of them discovered what seemed to be a door +recently plastered over. As there was a rumour that Montezuma kept the +treasures of his father in this palace, they did not scruple to gratify +their curiosity by removing the plaster and forcing open the door which +it concealed, when they beheld a great hall filled with rich and +beautiful stuffs, articles of curious workmanship of various kinds, gold +and silver in bars or just as it had been dug from the earth, and many +jewels of great value. 'I was a young man,' says one of the Spaniards +who was allowed a sight of the treasure, 'and it seemed to me that all +the riches of the world were in that room.' + +By Cortes' order the wall was built up again, and strict injunctions +were given that the discovery should be kept a profound secret. The +Spaniards had now been a week in Mexico, and the general's anxieties +increased daily. Cortes resolved upon a bold stroke. Calling a council +of his officers, he laid his difficulties before them, and, ignoring the +opinion of some who advised an immediate retreat, he proposed to march +to the royal palace and by persuasion or force to induce Montezuma to +take up his abode in the Spanish quarters. Once having obtained +possession of his person, it would be easy to rule in his name by +allowing him a show of sovereignty, until they had taken measures to +secure their own safety and the success of their enterprise. A pretext +for the seizure of the emperor was afforded by a circumstance which had +come to the ears of Cortes while he was still in Cholula. Don Juan de +Escalante, who had been left in charge of the Spanish settlement at Vera +Cruz, had received a message from an Aztec chief called Quanhpopoca +declaring his desire to come in person and tender his allegiance to the +Spaniards, and requesting that four soldiers might be sent to protect +him through the country of an unfriendly tribe. This was not an uncommon +request, and the soldiers were sent, but on their arrival two of them +were treacherously murdered by the Aztec; the others escaped, and made +their way back to the garrison. The commander at once marched with fifty +of his men and some thousands of Indians to take vengeance upon the +cacique, and though his allies fled before the Mexicans, the few +Spaniards stood firm, and by the aid of their firearms made good the +field against the enemy. Unfortunately, seven or eight of them were +killed, including Escalante himself, and the Indians who were taken +prisoners declared that the whole proceeding had been by Montezuma's +orders. One of the Spaniards fell into the hands of the enemy, but soon +died from his wounds. He happened to be a very big man of ferocious +appearance, and when his head was sent to Montezuma, the Aztec emperor +gazed upon it with a shudder, and commanded that it should be taken out +of the city, and not offered at the shrine of any of his gods. He seemed +to see in those terrible features a prophecy of his sure destruction. +The bolder spirits among the cavaliers approved of the general's plan, +and the next day, having asked an audience of Montezuma, Cortes made the +necessary arrangements for his enterprise. The principal part of his +force was drawn up in the courtyard; one detachment was stationed in the +avenue leading to the palace, to prevent any attempt at rescue by the +citizens. Twenty-five or thirty soldiers were ordered to drop in at the +palace by twos and threes, as if accidentally, and he took with him five +cavaliers on whose coolness and courage he could rely. + +That they should all be in full armour excited no suspicion; it was too +common an occurrence. The Spaniards were graciously received by the +emperor, who by the aid of interpreters held a gay conversation with +them, and as usual presented them with gold and jewels. He paid Cortes +the compliment of offering him one of his daughters in marriage--an +honour which was respectfully declined, on the ground that he already +had one wife. But as soon as the general saw that his soldiers had all +come upon the scene he abruptly changed his tone, and accused the +emperor of being the author of the treacherous proceedings on the coast. +Montezuma listened in surprise, and declared that such an act could only +have been imputed to him by his enemies. Cortes pretended to believe +him, but said that Quanhpopoca and his accomplices must be sent for that +they might be dealt with after their deserts. Montezuma agreed, and, +taking his royal signet from his wrist, gave it to one of his nobles, +with orders to show it to the Aztec governor and require his immediate +presence in the capital, and in case of his resistance to call in the +aid of the neighbouring towns. When the messenger had gone, Cortes +assured the emperor that he was now convinced of his innocence in the +matter, but that it was necessary that his own sovereign should be +equally convinced of it. Nothing would promote this so much as for +Montezuma to transfer his residence to the palace occupied by the +Spaniards, as this would show a condescension and personal regard for +them which would absolve him from all suspicion. The emperor listened to +this proposal with profound amazement, exclaiming with resentment and +offended dignity: + +'When was it ever heard that a great prince like myself willingly left +his own palace to become a prisoner in the hands of strangers?' + +Cortes declared that he would not go as a prisoner, but would be simply +changing his residence. 'If I should consent to such degradation,' he +cried, 'my subjects never would.' + +When further pressed, he offered one of his sons and two of his +daughters as hostages, so that he might be spared this disgrace. Two +hours passed in this fruitless discussion, till Velasquez de Leon, +impatient of the long delay, and seeing that to fail in the attempt must +ruin them, cried out, 'Why do we waste words on this barbarian? Let us +seize him, and if he resists plunge our swords into his body!' The +fierce tone and menacing gesture alarmed the emperor, who asked Marina +what the angry Spaniard said. She explained as gently as she could, +beseeching him to accompany the white men, who would treat him with all +respect and kindness, while if he refused he would but expose himself to +violence, perhaps to death. + +This last appeal shook the resolution of Montezuma; looking round for +support and sympathy, he saw only the stern faces and mail-clad forms of +the Spaniards, and felt that his hour had indeed come. In a scarcely +audible voice he consented to accompany them, and orders were given for +the royal litter to be brought. The nobles who bore and attended it +could hardly credit their senses, but now Montezuma had consented to go +pride made him wish to appear to go willingly. As the royal retinue +marched dejectedly down the avenue, escorted by the Spaniards, the +people ran together in crowds, declaring that the emperor had been +carried off by force, and a tumult would have arisen had not he himself +called out to them to disperse, since he was of his own accord visiting +his friends, and on reaching the Spanish quarters he sent out his nobles +to the mob with similar assurances, bidding them all return to their +homes. + +He was received with ostentatious respect by the Spaniards, and chose +the apartments which pleased him best, which were speedily furnished +with tapestry, featherwork, and all other Indian luxuries. He was +attended by his own household, and his meals were served with the usual +pomp and ceremony, while not even the general himself approached him +without due obeisance, or sat down in his presence uninvited. +Nevertheless it was but too clear to his people that he was a prisoner, +for day and night the palace was guarded by sixty sentinels in front and +sixty in the rear, while another body was stationed in the royal +antechamber. This was the state of affairs when Quanhpopoca arrived from +the coast. Montezuma received him coldly, and referred the matter to +Cortes, who speedily made an end of it by condemning the unhappy chief +and his followers to be burnt to death. The funeral piles were erected +in the courtyard before the palace, and were made of arrows, javelins, +and other weapons drawn by the emperor's permission from those stored +round the great teocalli. To crown these extraordinary proceedings, +Cortes, just before the executions took place, entered the emperor's +apartments, followed by a soldier bearing fetters in his hands. Sternly +he again accused Montezuma of having been the original contriver of the +treacherous deed, and said that a crime which merited death in a subject +must in some way be atoned for even by a king, whereupon he ordered the +soldier to fasten the fetters upon Montezuma's ankles, and after coolly +waiting until it was done turned his back and quitted the room. + +The emperor was speechless under this last insult, like one struck down +by a heavy blow. But though he offered no resistance low moans broke +from him, which showed the anguish of his spirit. His faithful +attendants did their utmost to console him, holding his feet in their +arms, and trying to keep the irons from touching him by inserting their +own robes; but it was not the bodily discomfort that so afflicted him, +but the feeling that he was no more a king, and so utterly broken in +spirit was he that when Cortes came after the execution had taken place, +and with his own hands unclasped the irons, Montezuma actually thanked +him as if for some great and unmerited favour. Not long after the +Spanish general expressed his willingness that the emperor should if he +wished return to his own palace, but Montezuma declined the offer, +doubtless fearing to trust himself again to the haughty and ferocious +chieftains, who could not but despise the cowardly proceedings of their +master, so unlike the usual conduct of an Aztec monarch. Montezuma often +amused himself with seeing the Spanish troops go through their +exercises, or with playing at some of the national games with Cortes and +his officers. A favourite one was called 'totoloque,' played with +golden balls, which were thrown at a golden target, and the emperor +always staked precious stones or ingots of gold, and won or lost with +equal good-humour, and indeed it did not much matter to him, since if he +did win he gave away his gains to his attendants. But while Montezuma +thus resigned himself without a struggle to a life of captivity, some of +his kinsmen were feeling very differently about the matter, and +especially his nephew Cacama, lord of the Tezcuco, and second in power +to Montezuma himself. + +[Illustration] + +This prince saw with alarm and indignation his uncle's abject submission +to the Spaniards, and endeavoured to form a league with the other chiefs +to rescue him out of their hands. But they, from jealousy, declined to +join him, declaring themselves unwilling to do anything without the +emperor's sanction. These plots came to the ears of Cortes, who wished +at once to march upon Tezcuco and stamp out this spark of rebellion, but +Montezuma dissuaded him. He therefore sent a friendly message of +expostulation, which met with a haughty response, and to a second +message asserting the supremacy of the King of Spain Cacama replied that +'he acknowledged no such authority. He knew nothing of the Spanish +sovereign or his people, nor did he wish to know anything of them.' When +Montezuma sent to him to come to Mexico that this difference might be +adjusted, he answered that he understood the position of his uncle, and +that when he did visit the capital it would be to rescue it, as well as +the emperor himself and their common gods, from bondage, to drive out +the detested strangers who had brought such dishonour on their country. +This reply made Cortes very angry; but Montezuma, anxious to prevent +bloodshed, begged him still to refrain from declaring war against +Cacama, saying that it would be better to obtain possession of him +personally, which he could easily do by means of several Tezcucan nobles +who were in his own pay. So Cacama was enticed by these faithless chiefs +into a villa overhanging the lake, where he was easily overpowered and +forced into a boat, which speedily brought him to Mexico. Cortes +promptly fettered and imprisoned him, while Montezuma declared that he +had by his rebellion forfeited his kingdom and appointed his brother--a +mere boy--to reign in his stead. Now Cortes felt himself powerful enough +to demand that Montezuma and all his nobles should formally swear +allegiance to the Spanish sovereigns, and accordingly the emperor +assembled his principal caciques and briefly stated to them the object +for which he had summoned them. + +'You all know,' said he, 'our ancient tradition--how the great Being, +who once ruled over the land, declared that he would one day return and +reign again. That time has now arrived. The white men have come from the +land beyond the ocean, where the sun rises, sent by their master to +reclaim the obedience of his ancient subjects. I am ready, for my part, +to acknowledge his authority. You have been faithful vassals of mine all +the years that I have sat upon the throne of my fathers; I now expect +that you will show me a last act of obedience, by acknowledging the +great king beyond the waters to be your lord also, and that you will pay +him tribute as you have hitherto done to me.' As he spoke the tears fell +fast down his cheeks, and his nobles were deeply affected by the sight +of his distress. Many of them, coming from a distance, and not having +realised what was taking place in the capital, were filled with +astonishment on beholding the voluntary abasement of their master, whom +they had reverenced as the all-powerful lord of the whole country. His +will, they told him, was their law now as ever, and if he thought the +sovereign of the strangers was the ancient lord of their country, they +were willing to swear allegiance to him as such. Accordingly the oaths +were administered with all due solemnity, and a full record of the +proceedings was drawn up by the royal notary to be sent to Spain. Cortes +now seemed to have accomplished most of the great objects of his +expedition, but towards the conversion of the natives he had made no +progress, and still the horrible sacrifices took place day by day. The +general could bear it no longer, but told the emperor that the +Christians could not consent to hold the services of their religion shut +in within the narrow walls of the garrison. They wished to spread its +light abroad and share its blessings with the people. To this end they +requested that the great teocalli should be given up to them as a fit +place where their worship might be conducted in the presence of the +whole city. Montezuma listened in consternation. + +'Malinche,' said he, 'why will you push matters to an extremity that +must surely bring down the vengeance of our gods and stir up an +insurrection among my people, who will never endure this profanation of +their temple?' + +Cortes, seeing that he was much agitated, pretended that the demand had +come from his followers, and that he would endeavour to persuade them to +be contented with one of the sanctuaries of the teocalli. If that were +not granted, they should be obliged to take it by force and to throw +down the idols in the face of the city. Montezuma, still greatly +disturbed, promised to confer with the priests, and in the end the +Spaniards were allowed to take possession of one of the sanctuaries, in +which, when it had been purified, an altar was raised, surmounted by a +crucifix and the imago of the Virgin; its walls were decorated with +garlands of fresh flowers, and an old soldier was stationed to watch +over it. Then the whole army moved in solemn procession up the winding +ascent of the pyramid, and mass was celebrated by Father Olmedo and +another priest, while the Aztecs looked on with mingled curiosity and +repugnance. For a nation will endure any outrage sooner than that which +attacks its religion, and this profanation touched a feeling in the +natives which the priests were not slow to take advantage of. + +Soon the Spaniards noticed a change in Montezuma. He was grave instead +of cheerful, and avoided their society. Many conferences went on between +him and the priests and nobles, at which even Orteguilla, his favourite +page, was not allowed to be present. Presently Cortes received a summons +to appear before the emperor, who told him that his predictions had come +to pass, his gods were offended, and threatened to forsake the city if +the sacrilegious strangers were not driven from it, or sacrificed on +their altars as an expiation. 'If you have any regard for your safety,' +he continued, 'you will leave the country without delay. I have only to +raise my finger, and every Aztec in the land will rise against you.' + +Cortes knew well enough that this was true, but, concealing his dismay, +he replied that he should much regret to leave the capital so +precipitately, especially when he had no ships to take him back to his +own country. He should also regret that if he quitted it under these +circumstances he should be driven to taking the emperor with him. +Montezuma was evidently troubled by this last suggestion, and finally +offered to send workmen to the coast to build ships under the direction +of the Spaniards, while he restrained the impatience of his people with +the assurance that the white men would leave their land as soon as they +were ready. This was accordingly done, and the work went forward at Vera +Cruz with great apparent alacrity, but those who directed it took care +to interpose as many delays as possible, while Cortes hoped in the +meantime to receive such reinforcements from Spain as should enable him +to hold his ground. Nevertheless the whole aspect of affairs in the +Spanish quarters was utterly changed; apprehension had taken the place +of security, and as many precautions were observed as if the garrison +was actually in a state of siege. Such was the unpleasant state of +affairs when, in May 1520, six months after his arrival in the capital, +Cortes received tidings from the coast which caused him greater alarm +than even the threatened insurrection of the Aztecs. The jealous +governor of Cuba was sending an expedition to attack Cortes. + +It was the news of the arrival of this fleet at the place where he had +himself landed at first that had caused Cortes so much consternation, +for he at once suspected that it was sent by his bitter enemy the +governor. The commander of this second expedition, who was called +Narvaez, having landed, soon met with a Spaniard from one of the +exploring parties sent out by Cortes. This man related all that had +occurred since the Spanish envoys left Vera Cruz, the march into the +interior, the furious battles with the Tlascalans, the occupation of +Mexico, the rich treasures found in it, and the seizure of Montezuma, +'whereby,' said the soldier, 'Cortes rules over the land like its own +sovereign, so that a Spaniard may travel unarmed from one end of the +country to the other without insult or injury.' + +Narvaez and his followers listened in speechless amazement to this +marvellous report, and the leader waxed more and more indignant at the +thought of all that had been snatched from Velasquez, whose adherent he +was. He now openly proclaimed his intention of marching against Cortes +and punishing him, so that even the natives who had flocked to this new +camp comprehended that these white men were enemies of those who had +come before. Narvaez proposed to establish a colony in the barren, sandy +spot which Cortes had abandoned, and when informed of the existence of +Villa Rica, he sent to demand the submission of the garrison. Sandoval +had kept a sharp eye upon the movements of Narvaez from the time that +his ships had first appeared upon the horizon, and when he heard of his +having landed he prepared to defend his post to the last extremity. But +the only invaders of Villa Rica were a priest named Guevara and four +other Spaniards, who formally addressed Sandoval, pompously enumerating +the services and claims of Velasquez, taxing Cortes with rebellion, and +finally demanding that Sandoval should tender his submission to Narvaez. +That officer, greatly exasperated, promptly seized the unlucky priest +and his companions, and, remarking that they might read the obnoxious +proclamation to the general himself in Mexico, ordered them to be bound +like bales of goods upon the backs of sturdy porters and placed under a +guard of twenty Spaniards, and in this way, travelling day and night, +only stopping to obtain relays of carriers, they came within sight of +the capital at the end of the fourth day. + +Its inhabitants were already aware of the fresh arrival of white men +upon the coast. Indeed Montezuma had sent for Cortes and told him there +was no longer any obstacle to his leaving the country, as a fleet was +ready for him, and in answer to his astonished inquiries, had shown him +a picture map sent him from the coast, whereon the Spaniards, with their +ships and equipments, were minutely depicted. Cortes pretended to be +vastly pleased by this intelligence, and the tidings were received in +the camp with firing of cannon and other demonstrations of joy, for the +soldiers took the newcomers for a reinforcement from Spain. Not so +Cortes, who guessed from the first that they came from the governor of +Cuba. He told his suspicions to his officers, who in turn informed the +men; but, though alarm succeeded their joy, they resolved to stand by +their leader come what might. When Sandoval's letter acquainting him +with all particulars was brought to Cortes, he instantly sent and +released the bewildered prisoners from their ignominious position, and +furnished them with horses to make their entry into the capital, where, +by treating them with the utmost courtesy and loading them with gifts, +he speedily converted them from enemies into friends, and obtained from +them much important information respecting the designs of Narvaez and +the feelings of his army. He gathered that gold was the great object of +the soldiers, who were evidently willing to co-operate with Cortes if by +so doing they could obtain it. Indeed, they had no particular regard for +their own leader, who was arrogant, and by no means liberal. Profiting +by these important hints, the general sent a conciliatory letter to +Narvaez, beseeching him not to unsettle the natives by a show of +animosity, when it was only by union they could hope for success, and +declaring that for his part he was ready to greet Narvaez as a brother +in arms, to share with him the fruits of conquest, and, if he could +produce a royal commission, to submit to his authority. Of course Cortes +knew well enough that he had no such commission to show. Soon after the +departure of Guevara he resolved to send a special envoy of his own, and +chose Father Olmedo for the task, with instructions to converse +privately with as many of the officers and soldiers as he could with a +view to securing their goodwill; and to this end he was also provided +with a liberal supply of gold. During this time Narvaez had abandoned +his idea of planting a colony on the sea-coast, and had marched inland +and taken up his quarters at Cempoalla. He received the letter of Cortes +with scorn, which changed to stern displeasure when Guevara enlarged +upon the power of his rival and urged him to accept his friendly offers. +But the troops, on the other hand, listened with greedy ears to the +accounts of Cortes, his frank and liberal manners, and the wealth of his +camp, where the meanest soldier could stake his ingot and his chain of +gold at play, and where all revelled in plenty. And when Father Olmedo +arrived, his eloquence and his gifts soon created a party in the +interest of Cortes. This could not go on so secretly as not to excite +the suspicions of Narvaez, and the worthy priest was sent back to his +master, but the seed which he had sown was left to grow. + +Narvaez continued to speak of Cortes as a traitor whom he intended to +punish, and he also declared he would release Montezuma from captivity +and restore him to his throne. It was rumoured that the Aztec monarch +had sent him a rich gift, and entered into correspondence with him. All +this was observed by the watchful eye of Sandoval, whose spies +frequented his enemy's camp, and he presently sent to Cortes saying that +something must speedily be done to prevent Villa Rica from falling into +the hands of the enemy, and pointing out that many of the Indians, from +sheer perplexity, were no longer to be relied upon. + +The general felt that it was indeed time to act, but the situation was +one of great difficulty. However, he marched against Narvaez, defeated +and captured him, embodied his forces, and set out on his return to +Mexico, where he had left Alvarado in command. + +On his march he received a letter from Alvarado, which conveyed the +startling news that the Mexicans were up in arms and had assaulted the +Spanish quarters, that they had overwhelmed the garrison with a torrent +of missiles, which had killed some and wounded many, and had burned some +brigantines which Cortes had built to secure a means of retreat, and it +ended by imploring him to hasten to the relief of his men if he would +save them or keep his hold on the capital. This was a heavy blow to +Cortes, but there was no time for hesitation. He laid the matter fully +before his soldiers, and all declared their readiness to follow him. + +On June 24, 1520, the army reached the same causeway by which they had +before entered the capital; but now no crowds lined the roads, and no +pirogues swarmed upon the lake; a death-like stillness brooded over the +scene. As they marched across Cortes ordered the trumpets to sound, and +their shrill notes were answered by a joyful peal of artillery from the +beleaguered fortress. The soldiers quickened their pace, and all were +soon in the city once more. But here the appearance of things was far +from reassuring. In many places they saw the smaller bridges had been +taken away; the town seemed deserted, and the tramp of the horses +awakened melancholy echoes in the deserted streets. When they reached +the palace the great gates were speedily thrown open, and Cortes and his +party were eagerly welcomed by the garrison, who had much to tell and to +hear. Of course the general's first inquiry was as to the origin of the +tumult, and this was the story he heard. + +The Aztec festival called 'The incensing of Huitzilopochtli' was about +to be celebrated, in which, as it was an important one, nearly all the +nobles took part. The caciques asked the permission of Alvarado to +perform their rites in the teocalli which contained the chapel of the +Spaniards, and to be allowed the presence of Montezuma. This latter +request was refused, but he consented to their using the teocalli +provided they came unarmed and held no human sacrifice. Accordingly, on +the day appointed the Aztecs assembled to the number of at least six +hundred. They wore their magnificent gala costumes, with mantles of +featherwork sprinkled with precious stones, and collars, bracelets, and +ornaments of gold. Alvarado and his men, fully armed, attended as +spectators, and when the hapless natives were engaged in one of their +ceremonial dances, they fell upon them suddenly, sword in hand. Then +followed a great and dreadful slaughter. Unarmed, and taken unawares, +the Aztecs were hewn down without resistance. Those who attempted to +escape by climbing the wall of serpents were speared ruthlessly, till +presently not one of that gay company remained alive; then the Spaniards +added the crowning horror to their dreadful deed by plundering the +bodies of their murdered victims. The tidings of the massacre flew like +wildfire through the capital, and every long-smothered feeling of +hostility burst forth in the cry that arose for vengeance. The city rose +in arms to a man and almost before the Spaniards could secure themselves +in their defences, they were assaulted with desperate fury: some of the +assailants attempted to scale the walls, others succeeded in partially +undermining and setting fire to the works. It is impossible to say how +the attack would have ended, but the Spaniards entreated Montezuma to +interfere, and he, mounting the battlements, conjured the furious people +to desist from storming the fortress out of regard for his safety. They +so far respected him that they changed their operations into a regular +blockade, throwing up works round the palace to prevent the egress of +the Spaniards, and suspending the market so that they might not obtain +any supplies, and then they sat down to wait sullenly till famine should +throw their enemies into their hands. + +The condition of the besieged was gloomy enough. True their provisions +still held out, but they suffered greatly from want of water, that +within the enclosure being quite brackish, until a fresh spring was +suddenly discovered in the courtyard. Even then the fact that scarcely a +man had escaped unwounded, and that they had no prospect before them but +a lingering death by famine, or one more dreadful still upon the altar +of sacrifice, made their situation a very trying one. The coming of +their comrades was therefore doubly welcome. As an explanation of his +atrocious act, Alvarado declared that he had but struck the blow to +intimidate the natives and crush an intended rising of the people, of +which he had received information through his spies. + +Cortes listened calmly till the story was finished, then exclaimed with +undisguised displeasure, 'You have done badly. You have been false to +your trust. Your conduct has been that of a madman!' And so saying, he +turned and left him abruptly, no doubt bitterly regretting that he had +entrusted so important a command to one whose frank and captivating +exterior was but the mask for a rash and cruel nature. Vexed with his +faithless lieutenant, and embarrassed by the disastrous consequences of +his actions, Cortes for the first time lost his self-control, and +allowed his disgust and irritation to be plainly seen. He treated +Montezuma with haughty coldness, even speaking of him as 'this dog of a +king' in the presence of his chiefs, and bidding them fiercely go tell +their master and his people to open the markets, or he would do it for +them to their cost. The chiefs retired in deep resentment at the insult, +which they comprehended well enough from his look and gesture, and the +message lost nothing of its effect in transmission. By the suggestion of +Montezuma, Cortes now released his brother Cuitlahua, thinking he might +allay the tumult and bring about a better state of things. But this +failed utterly, for the prince, who was bold and ambitious, was bitterly +incensed by the injuries he had received from the Spaniards. Moreover, +he was the heir presumptive to the crown, and was welcomed by the people +as a substitute for the captive Montezuma. So being an experienced +warrior, he set himself to arrange a more efficient plan of operations +against the Spaniards, and the effect was soon visible. Cortes, +meanwhile, had so little doubt of his ability to quench the insurrection +that he said as much in the letter that he wrote to the garrison of +Villa Rica informing them of his safe arrival in the capital. But his +messenger had not been gone half-an-hour before he returned breathless +with terror, and covered with wounds, saying that the city was in arms, +the drawbridges were raised, and the enemy would soon be upon them. + +Surely enough before long a hoarse, sullen roar arose, becoming louder +and louder, till from the parapet surrounding the enclosure the great +avenues that led to it could be seen dark with masses of warriors +rolling on in a confused tide towards the fortress, while at the same +time the flat roofs of the neighbouring houses were suddenly covered, as +if by magic, with swarms of menacing figures, brandishing their +weapons--a sight to appal the stoutest heart. + + +FIGHTING IN MEXICO. + +When notice was given of the approach of the Aztecs, each man was soon +at his post, and prepared to give them a warm reception. On they came, +rushing forward in dense columns, each with its gay banner, and as they +neared the enclosure they set up the hideous yell or shrill whistle used +in fight, which rose high above the sound of their rude musical +instruments. They followed this by a tempest of stones, darts, and +arrows, which fell thick as rain on the besieged, and at the same time +those upon the roofs also discharged a blinding volley. The Spaniards +waited until the foremost column was within fire, and then, with a +general discharge of artillery, swept the ranks of their assailants, +mowing them down by hundreds. The Mexicans for a moment stood aghast, +but soon rallying swept boldly forward over the prostrate bodies of +their comrades: a second and third volley checked them and threw their +ranks into disorder, but still they pressed on, letting off clouds of +arrows, while those on the house-tops took deliberate aim at the +soldiers in the courtyard. Soon some of the Aztecs succeeded in getting +close enough to the wall to be sheltered by it from the fire of the +Spaniards, and they made gallant efforts to scale the parapet, but only +to be shot down, one after another, as soon as their heads appeared +above the rampart. Defeated here, they tried to effect a breach by +battering the wall with heavy pieces of timber, but it proved too strong +for them, and then they shot burning arrows among the temporary +buildings in the courtyard. Several of these took fire, and soon a +fierce conflagration was raging, which was only to be checked by +throwing down part of the wall itself, and thus laying open a formidable +breach. This was protected by a battery of heavy guns, and a file of +arquebusiers, who kept up an incessant volley through the opening. All +day the fight raged with fury, and even when night came, and the Aztecs +suspended operations according to their usual custom, the Spaniards +found but little repose, being in hourly expectation of an assault. +Early the next morning the combatants returned to the charge. Cortes did +not yet realise the ferocity and determination of the Mexicans, and +thought by a vigorous sortie he would reduce them to order, and, indeed, +when the gates were thrown open, and he sallied out, followed by his +cavalry, supported by a large body of infantry and Tlascalans, they were +taken by surprise and retreated in some confusion behind a barricade +which they had thrown up across the street. + +But by the time Cortes had ordered up his heavy guns and demolished the +barrier they had rallied again, and though, when the fight had raged all +day, Cortes was, on the whole, victorious, still he had been so harassed +on all sides by the battalions of natives who swarmed in from every side +street and lane, by those in canoes upon the canal, and by the showers +of huge stones from those upon the house-tops, that his losses had been +severe. Earlier in the day he had caused a number of houses to be burned +to rid himself of some of his tormentors, but the Aztecs could probably +better afford to lose a hundred men than the Spaniards one, and the +Mexican ranks showed no signs of thinning. At length, exhausted by toil +and hunger, the Spanish commander drew off his men, and retreated into +his quarters, pursued to the last by showers of darts and arrows; and +when the Spaniards re-entered their fortress, the Indians once more +encamped round it; and though through the night they were inactive, +still they frequently broke the stillness with menacing cries and +insults. + +'The gods have delivered you into our hands at last!' they said. +'Huitzilopochtli has long cried for his victims. The stone of sacrifice +is ready--the knives are sharpened. The wild beasts in the palace are +roaring for their feast.' These taunts, which sounded dismally in the +ears of the besieged, were mingled with piteous lamentations for +Montezuma, whom they entreated the Spaniards to deliver up to them. +Cortes was suffering much from a severe wound and from his many +anxieties, and he determined to induce Montezuma to exert his authority +to allay the tumult. In order to give greater effect to his appearance +he put on his imperial robes. His mantle of blue and white was held by a +rich clasp of the precious 'chalchivitl,' which with emeralds of +uncommon size, set in gold, also ornamented other portions of his dress. +His feet were shod with golden sandals, and upon his head he wore the +Mexican diadem. Surrounded by a guard of Spaniards and preceded by a +golden wand, the symbol of sovereignty, the Indian monarch ascended the +central turret of the palace. His presence was instantly recognised by +the people, and a magical change came over the scene: the clang of the +instruments and the fierce cries of the assailants ceased, and many in +the hushed throng knelt or prostrated themselves, while all eyes were +turned with eager expectation upon the monarch whom they had been taught +to regard with slavish awe. Montezuma saw his advantage, and in the +presence of his awestruck people felt once more a king. With his former +calm authority and confidence he addressed them: + +'Why do I see my people here in arms against the palace of my fathers? +Is it that you think your sovereign a prisoner, and wish to release him? +If so you have done well; but you are mistaken. I am no prisoner. The +strangers are my guests. I remain with them only for choice, and can +leave them when I will. Have you come to drive them from the city? That +is unnecessary; they will depart of their own accord if you will open a +way for them. Return to your homes then. Lay down your arms. Show your +obedience to me, whose right it is. The white men shall go back to their +land, and all shall be well again within the walls of Mexico.' + +As Montezuma declared himself the friend of the detested strangers a +murmur of contempt ran through the multitude. Their rage and desire for +vengeance made them forget their ancient reverence, and turned them +against their unfortunate monarch. + +'Base Aztec,' they cried, 'woman, coward! The white men have made you a +woman, fit only to weave and spin.' + +A chief of high rank brandished a javelin at Montezuma, as these taunts +were uttered, and in an instant the place where he stood was assailed +with a cloud of stones and arrows. The Spaniards, who had been thrown +off their guard by the respect shown by the people on their lord's +appearance, now hastily interposed their shields, but it was too late: +Montezuma was wounded by three of the missiles, one of which, a stone, +struck him on the head with such violence that he fell senseless to the +ground. The Mexicans, shocked at their own sacrilegious act, set up a +dismal cry, and dispersed panic-stricken until not one of all the host +remained in the great square before the palace. Meanwhile, the unhappy +king was borne to his own apartments, and as soon as he recovered from +his insensibility the full misery of his situation broke upon him. He +had tasted the last bitterness of degradation. He had been reviled and +rejected by his people. Even the meanest of the rabble had raised their +hands against him, and he had nothing left to live for. In vain did +Cortes and his officers endeavour to soothe the anguish of his spirit +and encourage him to hope for better things. Montezuma answered not a +word. His wounds, though dangerous, need not have proved fatal had he +not refused all remedies, tearing off the bandages as often as they were +applied, and maintaining all the while a determined silence. He sat +motionless, with downcast eyes, brooding over his humiliation; but from +this painful scene the Spanish general was soon called away by the new +dangers which threatened the garrison. + +[Illustration: MONTEZUMA ASSAILED BY MISSILES] + +Opposite to the Spanish quarters stood the great teocalli of +Huitzilopochtli, rising to a height of nearly a hundred and fifty feet, +and thus completely commanding the palace occupied by the Spaniards. A +body of five or six hundred Mexicans, many of them nobles and warriors +of the highest rank, now took possession of the teocalli, whence they +discharged such a tempest of arrows upon the garrison that it was +impossible for any soldier to show himself for an instant outside his +defences without great danger, while the Mexicans themselves were +completely sheltered. It was absolutely necessary that they should be +dislodged, and Cortes entrusted the task to his chamberlain Escobar, +giving him a hundred men for the purpose. But after making three +desperate attempts, in which he was repulsed with considerable loss, +this officer returned unsuccessful, and Cortes determined to lead the +storming party himself, though he was suffering much from a wound which +disabled his left hand. He made the arm serviceable, however, by +strapping his shield to it, and thus prepared sallied forth at the head +of three hundred chosen cavaliers and several thousand of the Indian +allies. In the courtyard of the temple a body of Mexicans was drawn up +to oppose him, and he charged them briskly, but the horses could not +keep their footing on the slippery pavement, and many of them fell. +Hastily dismounting the Spaniards sent the animals back to their +quarters, and then, renewing the assault, had little difficulty in +dispersing the Indians and securing a passage to the teocalli. And now +began a great and terrible struggle. You will remember that the huge +pyramid-shaped teocalli was built in five divisions, growing smaller and +smaller, till at the top you came out upon a square platform, crowned +only by the two sanctuaries in which stood the images of the Aztec gods. +You will also remember that the only ascent was by flights of stone +steps on the outside, one above another, and that it was necessary +between each flight to pass by a kind of terrace, right round the +building, so that a distance of nearly a mile had to be traversed before +reaching the top. Cortes sprang up the lower stairway, followed by +Alvarado, Sandoval, Ordaz, and the other gallant cavaliers, leaving a +strong detachment to hold the enemy in check at the foot of the temple. +On every terrace as well as on the topmost platform the Aztec warriors +were drawn up to dispute his passage. From their elevated position they +showered down heavy stones, beams, and burning rafters, which thundering +along the stairway overturned the ascending Spaniards and carried +desolation through their ranks. The more fortunate, eluding or springing +over these obstacles, succeeded in gaining the first terrace, where they +fell upon their enemies and compelled them to give way, and then, aided +by a brisk fire from the musketeers below, they pressed on, forcing +their opponents to retreat higher and higher, until at last they were +glad to take shelter on the broad summit of the teocalli. Cortes and his +companions were close behind them, and the two parties soon found +themselves face to face upon this strange battle-field, engaged in +mortal combat in the presence of the whole city, while even the troops +in the courtyard ceased hostilities, as if by mutual consent, and +watched with breathless interest the issue of the struggle. + +The Spaniards and Mexicans closed with the desperate fury of men who +have no hope but in victory. Quarter was neither asked nor given, and to +fly was impossible. The edge of the platform was unprotected by parapet +or battlement, and many of the combatants, as they struggled together, +were seen to roll over the edge of the precipice, locked in a +death-grip. Cortes himself but narrowly escaped this frightful fate. Two +powerful warriors had seized upon him, and were dragging him violently +towards the side of the pyramid, when, by sheer strength, he tore +himself from their grasp and hurled one of them over the brink with his +own arm. + +[Illustration] + +The battle raged unceasingly for three hours. The number of the Mexicans +was double that of the Spaniards, but the armour of the latter and their +skill as swordsmen outweighed the odds against them. Resistance grew +fainter and fainter on the side of the Aztecs. The priests, who had run +to and fro among them with streaming hair and wild gestures, encouraging +and urging them on, were all slain or captured. One by one the warriors +fell dead upon the blood-drenched pavement, or were hurled from the +dizzy height, until at last the wild struggle ceased, and the Spaniards +stood alone upon the field of battle. Their victory had cost them dear, +for forty-five of their comrades lay dead, and nearly all the remainder +were more or less seriously wounded; but there was no time for regrets. +The victorious cavaliers rushed to the sanctuaries to find that the +cross and the image of the Virgin had disappeared from the one they had +appropriated, and that in the other, before the grim figure of +Huitzilopochtli, lay the usual offering of human hearts, possibly those +of their own countrymen! With shouts of triumph the Spaniards tore the +hideous idol from its niche, and in the sight of the horror-stricken +Aztecs hurled it down the steps of the teocalli, and, after having set +fire to the sanctuaries, descended joyfully into the courtyard. + +Passing through the ranks of the Mexicans, who were too much dismayed by +all they had witnessed to offer any resistance, they reached their own +quarters in safety, and that very night they followed up the blow they +had struck by sallying forth into the sleeping town and burning three +hundred houses. Cortes now hoped that the natives were sufficiently +subdued to be willing to come to terms with him. He therefore invited +them to a parley, and addressed the principal chiefs, who had assembled +in the great square, from the turret before occupied by Montezuma. As +usual, Marina interpreted for him, and the Indians gazed curiously at +their countrywoman, whose influence with the Spanish general was well +known. Cortes told them that they must now know how little they had to +hope from their opposition to the Spaniards. They had seen their gods +trampled in the dust, their altars destroyed, their dwellings burned, +and their warriors falling on all sides. 'All this,' he continued, 'you +have brought upon yourselves by your rebellion. Yet, for the sake of the +affection felt for you by the sovereign you have treated so unworthily, +I would willingly stay my hand if you will lay down your arms and return +once more to your obedience. But if you do not,' he concluded, 'I will +make your city a heap of ruins, and leave not a soul alive to mourn over +it.' + +But the Spanish commander did not yet understand the character of the +Aztecs if he thought to intimidate them by menaces. It was true, they +replied, that he had destroyed their temples, broken in pieces their +gods, and massacred their countrymen. Many more doubtless were yet to +fall under their terrible swords. But they were content so long as for +every thousand Mexicans they could shed the blood of a single white man. +'Look out,' they said, 'upon our streets and terraces. See them still +thronged with warriors as far as your eyes can reach. Our numbers are +scarcely diminished by our losses. Yours, on the contrary, are lessening +hour by hour. Your provisions and water are failing. You are perishing +from hunger and sickness; you must soon fall into our hands. _The +bridges are broken down, and you cannot escape!_ There will be too few +of you left to glut the vengeance of our gods.' With this they +discharged a volley of arrows, which compelled the Spaniards to beat a +speedy retreat from the turret. The fierce answer of the Aztecs filled +the besieged with dismay. + +The general himself, pressed by enemies without and factions within, +was, as usual, only roused to more energetic action by a situation which +would have paralysed any ordinary mind. He calmly surveyed his position +before deciding what course he would pursue. To retreat was hazardous, +and it mortified him cruelly to abandon the city in which he had so long +been master and the rich treasure which he had secured, with which he +had hoped to propitiate the King of Spain. To fly now was to acknowledge +himself further than ever from the conquest and to give great +opportunity to his enemy, the Governor of Cuba, to triumph over him. On +the other hand, with his men daily diminishing in strength and numbers, +with the stock of provisions so nearly exhausted that one small daily +ration of bread was all the soldiers had, with the breaches in his +fortifications widening every day and his ammunition nearly gone, it was +manifestly impossible to hold the place much longer against the enemy. +Having reached this conclusion, the next difficulty was to decide how +and when it would be well to evacuate the city. He tried to fight his +way out, but he failed, and when night fell the Mexicans dispersed as +usual, and the Spaniards, tired, famished, and weak from their wounds, +slowly re-entered the citadel, only to receive tidings of a fresh +misfortune. Montezuma was dead. 'The tidings of his death,' says the old +Spanish chronicler, 'were received with real grief by every cavalier and +soldier in the army who had had access to his person, for we all loved +him as a father, and no wonder, seeing how good he was.' + +Montezuma's death was a real misfortune for the Spaniards. While he +lived there was still a possibility of his influence with the natives +being of use to them. Now that hope was gone. The Spanish commander +showed all respect for his memory. His body, arrayed in its royal robes, +was laid upon a bier, and borne on the shoulders of those nobles who had +remained with him to the last to his subjects in the city, whose +wailings over it were distinctly heard by the Spaniards; but where he +was buried, and with what honours, they never knew. + +The Spanish general now called a council to decide as speedily as +possible the all-important question of the retreat. It was his intention +to fall back upon Tlascala, and once there to arrange according to +circumstances his future operations. There was some difference of +opinion as to the hour of departure; but owing to the predictions of a +soldier named Botello, who pretended to be able to read the stars, and +who announced that to leave the city at night would be for the good of +his comrades, though he himself would meet his death through it, it was +decided that the fortress should be abandoned that very night. After +events proved that Botello's prophecy was unfortunately only true as far +as he himself was concerned. + +The general's first care was to provide for the safe conveyance of the +treasure. The soldiers had most of them converted their share into gold +chains or collars which could be easily carried about their persons. But +the royal fifth, with that of Cortes himself and his principal officers, +was in bars and wedges of solid gold. + +That belonging to the crown was now given in charge to the royal +officers, with the strongest horse to carry it, and a special guard for +its protection. But much treasure belonging to the crown and to private +individuals was necessarily abandoned, and the precious metal lay in +shining heaps upon the floors of the palace. 'Take what you will of it,' +said Cortes to the soldiers; 'better you should have it than those +Mexican hounds. But be careful not to overload yourselves: he travels +safest who travels lightest.' His own wary soldiers took heed to his +counsel, taking few treasures, and those of the smallest size. But the +troops of Narvaez thought that the very mines of Mexico lay open before +them, and the riches for which they had risked so much were within their +reach at last. Rushing upon the spoil, they loaded themselves with all +they could possibly carry or stow away. + +Cortes next arranged the order of march. The van consisted of two +hundred Spanish foot, commanded by Sandoval, with twenty other +cavaliers. The rest of the infantry formed the rear-guard under Alvarado +and De Leon, while the general himself took charge of the centre, some +of the heavy guns, the baggage, the treasure, and the prisoners, among +whom were a son and two daughters of Montezuma, Cacama, and several +nobles. The Tlascalans were pretty equally divided among the three +divisions. The general had previously superintended the construction of +a portable bridge to be laid across the open canals. This was entrusted +to the care of an officer named Magarino and forty men, all pledged to +defend the passage to the last extremity. Well would it have been if +three such bridges had been made, but the labour would have been great +and the time was short. At midnight all was ready, and after a solemn +mass had been celebrated by Father Olmedo, the Spaniards for the last +time sallied forth from the ancient fortress, the scene of so much +suffering and of such great courage. + + +THE NIGHT OR HORROR. + +The night was dark, and a fine rain fell steadily. The vast square +before the palace was deserted, as indeed it had been since the death of +Montezuma, and the Spaniards made their way across it as noiselessly as +possible, and entered the great street of Tlacopan. Though to their +anxious eyes every dark lane and alley seemed to swarm with the shadowy +forms of their enemies, it was not really so, and all went well until +the van drew near the spot where the street opened upon the causeway. +Before the bridge could be adjusted across the uncovered breach the +Mexican sentinels stationed there fled, raising the alarm as they went. +The priests from the summits of the teocallis heard them, and sounded +their shells, while the huge drum upon the desolate temple of the +war-god sent forth its solemn sound, which--heard only in seasons of +calamity--vibrated through every corner of the capital. The Spaniards +saw that there was no time to be lost; the bridge was fitted with all +speed, and Sandoval rode across first to try its strength, followed by +the first division, then came Cortes with the baggage and artillery, but +before he was well over, a sound was heard as of a stormy wind rising in +a forest. Nearer and nearer it came, and from the dark waters of the +lake rose the plashing noise of many oars. Then a few stones and arrows +fell at random among the hurrying troops, to be followed by more and +more, ever thicker and faster, till they became a terrible blinding +storm, while the air was rent with the yells and war-cries of the enemy, +who seemed to be swarming in myriads over land and lake. + +The Spaniards pushed on steadily, though the Mexicans, dashing their +canoes against the sides of the causeway, clambered up and broke in upon +their ranks. The soldiers, anxious only to make their escape, simply +shook them off, or rode over them, or with their guns and swords drove +them headlong down the sides of the dyke again. But the advance of such +a body of men necessarily took time, and the leading files had already +reached the second gap in the causeway before those in the rear had +cleared the first. They were forced to halt, though severely harassed by +the fire from the canoes, which clustered thickly round this opening, +and many were the urgent messages which were sent to the rear, to hurry +up the bridge. But when it was at length clear, and Magarino and his +sturdy followers endeavoured to raise it, they found to their horror +that the weight of the artillery and the horses passing over it had +jammed it firmly into the sides of the dyke, and it was absolutely +immovable. Not till many of his men were slain and all wounded did +Magarino abandon the attempt, and then the dreadful tidings spread +rapidly from man to man, and a cry of despair arose. All means of +retreat were cut off; they were held as in a trap. Order and discipline +were at an end, for no one could hope to escape except by his own +desperate exertions. Those behind pressed forward, trampling the weak +and wounded under foot, heeding not friend or foe. Those in front were +forced over the edge of the gulf, across which some of the cavaliers +succeeded in swimming their horses, but many failed, or rolled back into +the lake in attempting to ascend the opposite bank. The infantry +followed pell-mell, heaped one upon the other, frequently pierced by the +Aztec arrows, or struck down by their clubs, and dragged into the canoes +to be reserved for a more dreadful death. All along the causeway the +battle raged fiercely. + +[Illustration] + +The Mexicans clambered continually up the sides of the dyke, and +grappled with the Spaniards, till they rolled together down into the +canoes. But while the Aztec fell among friends, his unhappy antagonist +was secured, and borne away in triumph to the sacrifice. The struggle +was long and deadly, but by degrees the opening in the causeway was +filled up by the wreck of the waggons, guns, rich bales of stuffs, +chests of solid ingots, and bodies of men and horses which had fallen +into it; and over this dismal ruin those in the rear were able to reach +the other side. Cortes had found a place that was fordable, and, halting +halfway across, had vainly endeavoured to check the confusion, and lead +his followers safely to the opposite bank. But his voice was lost in the +wild uproar; and at length, attended by a few trusty cavaliers, he +pushed forward to the front. Here he found Sandoval and his companions, +halting before the last breach, trying to cheer on the soldiers to +attempt the crossing; but, though not so beset with enemies as the last, +it was wide and deep, and the men's resolution failed them. Again the +cavaliers set the example, by plunging into the lake. Horse and foot +followed, swimming or clinging to the manes and tails of the horses. +Those fared best, as the general had predicted, who travelled lightest, +and many were the unfortunate wretches, who, weighed down by the fatal +treasure, were buried with it at the bottom of the lake. Cortes, with a +few others, still kept in advance, leading the miserable remnant off the +causeway. The din of battle was growing faint in the distance, when the +rumour reached them that, without speedy succour, the rearguard must be +utterly overwhelmed. It seemed a desperate venture, but the cavaliers, +without thinking of the danger, turned their horses, and galloped back +to the relief of their comrades. Swimming the canal again, they threw +themselves into the thick of the fray. The first gleam of morning light +showed the hideous confusion of the scene; the masses of combatants upon +the dyke were struggling till the very causeway seemed to rock, while as +far as the eye could see, the lake was covered with a dense crowd of +canoes full of warriors. The cavaliers found Alvarado unhorsed, and, +with a mere handful of followers, defending himself against an +overwhelming tide of the enemy, who by this time possessed the whole +rear of the causeway, and received constant reinforcements from the +city. The Spanish artillery, which had done good service at first, had +been overthrown, and utterly confounded by the rush from the back. In +the general ruin, Cortes strove by a resolute charge to give his +countrymen time to rally, but it was only for a moment: they were +speedily borne down by the returning rush. The general and his +companions were forced to plunge into the lake once more, though with +their numbers reduced this time, and Alvarado stood for an instant upon +the brink, uncertain what to do. There was no time to be lost. He was a +tall and powerful man. Setting his long lance firmly on the wreck which +strewed the lake, he gave a mighty leap which landed him in safety upon +the opposite bank. Aztecs and Tlascalans looked on in amazement at this +almost incredible feat, and a general shout arose. 'This is truly the +Tonatiuh--the Child of the Sun.' To this day, the place is called +'Alvarado's Leap.' Cortes now rode to the front, where the troops were +straggling miserably off the fatal causeway. Most fortunately, the +attention of the Aztecs was diverted by the rich spoil that strewed the +ground, and their pursuit ceased, so that the Spaniards passed +unmolested through the village of Popotla. There the Spanish commander +dismounted from his weary steed, and sitting down on the steps of an +Indian temple, looked mournfully on while the broken files dragged +slowly past. It was a piteous spectacle. The cavalry, many of them +dismounted, were mingled with the infantry, their shattered mail +dripping with the salt ooze, and showing through its rents many a +ghastly wound; their firearms, banners, baggage, artillery, everything +was gone. Cortes, as he looked sadly on their thin, disordered ranks, +sought in vain many a familiar face, and missed more than one trusty +comrade who had stood by his side through all the perils of the +conquest; and accustomed as he was to conceal his emotions, he could +bear it no longer, but covered his face with his hands, while he wept +tears of anguish. It was, however, some consolation to him that Marina +had been carried safely through the awful night by her faithful guards. +Aguilar was also alive, and Martin Lopez, who had built two boats for +him in Mexico, as well as Alvarado, Avila, Sandoval, Olid, and Ordaz. + +[Illustration] + +But this was no time to give way to vain regrets. Cortes hastily mounted +again and led his men as speedily as possible through Tlacopan, and, as +soon as he reached the open country, endeavoured to bring his +disorganised battalions into something like order. The broken army, +half-starved, moved slowly towards the coast. On the seventh morning the +army reached the mountain range which overlooks the plains of Otumba. +All the day before, parties of the enemy had hovered round, crying +vindictively, 'Hasten on. You will soon find yourselves where you cannot +escape!' Now, as they climbed the steep hillside, Cortes realised what +this meant, for his scouts came back reporting that a powerful body of +Aztecs was encamped upon the other side waiting for them, and truly +enough, when they looked down into the valley, they saw it filled with a +mighty host of warriors who had been gathered together by Cuitlahua, and +stationed at this point to dispute the passage of the Spaniards. Every +chief of importance had taken the field with his whole array. As far as +the eye could reach extended a moving mass of glittering shields and +spears, mingled with the banners and bright feather-mail of the +caciques, and the white cotton robes of their followers. It was a sight +to dismay the stoutest heart among the Spaniards, and even Cortes felt +that his last hour was come. But since to escape was impossible, he +disposed his little army to the best advantage, and prepared to cut his +way through the enemy or perish in the attempt. He gave his force as +broad a front as possible, protecting it on each flank with his cavalry, +now reduced to twenty horsemen, who were instructed to direct their long +lances at the faces of the enemy, and on no account to lose their hold +of them. The infantry were to thrust, not strike, with their swords, and +above all to make for the leaders of the enemy, and then, after a few +brave words of encouragement, he and his little band began to descend +the hill, rushing, as it seemed, to certain destruction. The enemy met +them with the usual storm of stones and arrows, but when the Spaniards +closed with them, their superiority became apparent, and the natives +were thrown into confusion by their own numbers as they fell back from +the charge. The infantry followed up their advantage, and a wide lane +was opened in the ranks of the enemy, who receded on all sides as if to +allow them a free passage. But it was only to return with fresh fury, +and soon the little army was entirely surrounded, standing firmly, +protected on all sides by its bristling swords and lances, like an +island in the midst of a raging sea. In spite of many gallant deeds and +desperate struggles, the Spaniards found themselves, at the end of +several hours, only more deeply wedged in by the dense masses of the +enemy. Cortes had received another wound, in the head, his horse had +fallen under him, and he had been obliged to mount one taken from the +baggage train. The fiery rays of the sun poured down upon the nearly +exhausted soldiers, who were beginning to despair and give way, while +the enemy, constantly reinforced from the rear, pressed on with +redoubled fury. At this critical moment the eagle eye of Cortes, ever on +the watch for any chance of arresting the coming ruin, descried in the +distance a chief, who, from his dress and surroundings, he knew must be +the commander of the Aztec forces. He wore a rich surcoat of +feather-work, and a gorgeous plume of jewelled feathers floated from his +helmet, while above this, and attached to his back between the +shoulders, showed a golden net fastened to a short staff--the customary +symbol of authority for an Aztec commander. Turning quickly round to +Sandoval, Olid, Alvarado, and Avila who surrounded him, he cried, +pointing to the chief, 'There is our mark! Follow and support me!' And +shouting his war-cry he plunged into the thickest of the press. Taken by +surprise the enemy fell back; those who could not escape were trampled +under his horse's feet, or pierced by his long lance; the cavaliers +followed him closely; in a few minutes they were close to the Aztec +chief, and Cortes hurled him to the ground with one stroke from his +lance; a young cavalier named Juan de Salamanca hastily dismounted and +slew him where he lay, and tearing away his banner presented it to the +Spanish general. The cacique's guard, overpowered by this sudden onset, +fled precipitately, and their panic spread to the other Indians, who, +on hearing of the death of their chief, fought no more, but thought only +of escape. In their blind terror they impeded and trampled down their +own comrades, and the Spaniards, availing themselves fully of the +marvellous turn affairs had taken, pursued them off the field, and then +returned to secure the rich booty they had left behind them. + +[Illustration] + +Cortes reached Tlascala in safety, and at once began to prepare his +revenge on the Mexicans, aided by reinforcements of a few Spaniards from +Vera Cruz. Gunpowder had also to be manufactured, and a cavalier named +Francio Montano undertook the perilous task of obtaining sulphur for the +purpose from the terrible volcano of Popocatepetl. He set out with four +comrades, and after some days journeying, they reached the dense forest +which covered the base of the mountain, and forcing their way upward, +came by degrees to a more open region. As they neared the top the track +ended, and they had to climb as best they could over the black glazed +surface of the lava, which, having issued from the crater in a boiling +flood, had risen into a thousand odd forms wherever it met with any +obstacle, and continually impeded their progress. After this they +arrived at the region of perpetual snow, which increased their +difficulties, the treacherous ice giving way at every step, so that many +times they narrowly escaped falling into the frozen chasms that yawned +all round them. At last, however, they reached the mouth of the crater, +and, crawling cautiously to the very edge, peered down into its gloomy +depths. At the bottom of the abyss, which seemed to them to go down into +the very heart of the earth, a lurid flame burned sullenly, sending up a +sulphureous steam, which cooling as it rose, fell again in showers upon +the sides of the cavity. Into this one of the brave explorers had to +descend, and when they had cast lots the choice fell upon Montano +himself. His preparations were soon made, and his companions lowered him +in a basket into the horrible chasm to a depth of four hundred feet, and +there as he hung, he scraped the sulphur from the sides of the crater, +descending again and again until he had procured enough for the wants of +the army, with which they returned triumphantly to Tlascala. Meanwhile +the construction of the ships went forward prosperously, and by +Christmas, in the year 1520, there was no longer any reason to delay the +march to Mexico. + +[Illustration] + +While all these preparations were being made, some changes had taken +place among the Aztecs. Cuitlahua had suddenly died after reigning four +months, and Guatemozin his nephew had been chosen in his stead. This +young prince had married one of Montezuma's daughters. He was handsome +and valiant, and so terrible that his followers trembled in his +presence. He had a sort of religious hatred of the Spaniards, and +prepared manfully to meet the perils which he saw threatening his +country, for by means of spies he had kept a watch upon the movements of +the Spaniards, and had discovered their intention of besieging the +capital. Cortes, upon reviewing his army, found that his whole force +fell little short of six hundred men, of whom forty were cavalry, and +eighty arquebusiers and cross-bowmen. The rest were armed with sword, +target, and the long copper-headed pikes, which had been made specially +by the general's directions. There were also nine cannons of moderate +size, but the supply of powder was but indifferent. Cortes published a +code of strict regulations for the guidance of his men before they set +out, and addressed them as usual with stirring words, touching all the +springs of devotion, honour, and ambition in their hearts, and rousing +their enthusiasm as only he could have done. His plan of action was to +establish his headquarters at some place upon the Tezcucan lake, whence +he could cut off the supplies from the surrounding country, and place +Mexico in a state of blockade until the completion of his ships should +enable him to begin a direct assault. The most difficult of the three +ways into the valley was the one Cortes chose; it led right across the +mountain chain, and he judged wisely that he would be less likely to be +annoyed by the enemy in that direction. Before long the army halted +within three leagues of Tezcuco, which you will remember was upon the +opposite shore of the lake to Mexico, and somewhat further north. Up to +this time they only had had a few slight skirmishes with the Aztecs, +though beacon fires had blazed upon every hill-top, showing that the +country was roused. Cortes thought it very unlikely that he would be +allowed to enter Tezcuco, which was now reigned over by Coanaco, the +friend and ally of Guatemozin. But the next morning, before the troops +were well under arms, came an embassy bearing a golden flag, and a gift +for Cortes, and imploring him to spare Coanaco's territories, and to +take up his quarters in his capital. Cortes first sternly demanded an +account of the Spaniards who, while convoying treasure to the coast, had +been slain by Coanaco just when Cortes himself was retreating to +Tlascala. The envoys declared at once that the Mexican emperor alone was +to blame; he had ordered it to be done, and had received the gold and +the prisoners. They then urged that to give them time to prepare +suitable accommodation for him, Cortes should not enter Tezcuco until +the next day; but disregarding this he marched in at once, only to find +the place deserted, and Coanaco well on his way across the lake to +Mexico. The general, however, turned this to his own advantage by +assembling the few persons left in the city, and then and there electing +a brother of the late sovereign to be ruler in his place, and when a few +months later he died, he was succeeded by Ixtlilxochitl, son of +Negahualpilli, who, always a friend of the Spaniards, now became their +most valuable ally, and by the support of his personal authority and all +his military resources, did more than any other Aztec chieftain to rivet +the chains of the strangers round the necks of his own countrymen. + + +THE SIEGE AND SURRENDER OF MEXICO. + +The city of Tezcuco, which lay about half a league from the shore of the +lake, was probably the best position Cortes could have chosen for the +headquarters of the army. His first care was to strengthen the defences +of the palace in which they were lodged, and next to employ eight +thousand Indian labourers in widening a stream, which ran towards the +lake, so that when the ships arrived they might be put together in +Tezcuco, and floated safely down to be launched upon it. Meanwhile many +of the places in the neighbourhood sent in their submission to Cortes, +and several noble Aztecs fell into his hands. These men he employed to +bear a message to Guatemozin, in which he deprecated the necessity of +the present hostilities, and declared himself willing to forget the +past, inviting the Mexicans by a timely submission to save their capital +from the horrors of a siege. But every man in Mexico was determined to +defend it to the uttermost, and this appeal produced no effect. The +general now turned his attention to securing all the strong places upon +the lake. Iztapalapan was the first; the attacking party, after a sharp +struggle, succeeded in entering the town; many of the inhabitants fled +in their canoes, but those who remained were massacred by the Tlascalans +in spite of all Cortes could do to restrain them. Darkness set in while +the soldiers were eagerly loading themselves with plunder; some of the +houses had been set on fire, and the flames lighted up the scene of ruin +and desolation. Suddenly a sound was heard as of the rush of the +incoming tide--and Cortes with great alarm realised that the Indians had +broken down the dykes, and that before long the low-lying ground upon +which the town stood would be under water. He hastily called off his men +and retreated, the soldiers, heavily laden, wading with difficulty +through the flood which gained fast upon them. As they left the burning +city behind them they could no longer find their way, and sometimes +plunged into deep water where many of the allies, unable to swim, were +carried away and drowned. When morning dawned they were harassed by the +enemy, who hovered round and discharged volleys of arrows and stones, so +that it was with no small satisfaction that they presently found +themselves once more within the walls of Tezcuco. Cortes was greatly +disappointed at this disastrous end of an expedition which had begun so +well, but after all the fate of Iztapalapan produced a good effect, and +many more towns sent to tender their allegiance, amongst others Otumba +and Chalco, which was a place of great importance. Cortes also managed +to induce the tribes, who though friendly to him were hostile to one +another, to forget their feuds and combine against Mexico, and to this +wise policy he owed much of his future success. + +News now came from Tlascala that the ships were ready, and Sandoval was +despatched with a considerable guard to bring them to Tezcuco. On his +way he was to stop at Zoltepec, where the massacre of the Spaniards had +taken place, to find out and punish all who had had a hand in the +matter; but when they got there the inhabitants had fled. In the +deserted temples they had the horror of finding many traces of the fate +of their comrades; for beside their arms and clothing, and the hides of +their horses, the heads of several soldiers were found suspended as +trophies of victory; while traced in charcoal upon the wall in one +building were the words, in the Spanish language, 'In this place the +unfortunate Juan Juste, with many others of his company, was +imprisoned.' It was fortunate that the inhabitants had fled, for they +would have met with but scant mercy from the Spaniards, who were full of +indignation at the thought of the horrible doom which had overtaken +their companions. Sandoval now resumed his march to Tlascala, but before +he could reach it, the convoy appeared transporting the ships through +the mountain passes. Retaining twenty thousand of the warriors as a +guard, the Spanish captain dismissed the rest, and after four laborious +days Cortes and his garrison had the joy of welcoming them safe within +the walls of Tezcuco. It was not long before the general once more +sallied forth to reconnoitre the capital, and by the way to chastise +certain places which had sent him hostile messages. After an exciting +struggle Xaltocan and three other towns were taken, and a considerable +quantity of gold and food fell into the hands of the victors. Marching +on, the general found himself before Tlacopan, through whose streets he +had hurried in consternation at the end of the night of horror. It was +his intention to occupy the town, which he did after a sharp fight, just +before nightfall, and the next morning, seeing the enemy in battle array +on the open ground before the city, he marched out against them and +routed them utterly. The Aztecs fled into the town, but were driven +through its streets at the point of the lance, and compelled once more +to abandon it, after which the Tlascalans pillaged and set fire to the +houses, much against the will of Cortes, but they were a fierce race, +and sometimes dangerous to friends as well as foes. After six days the +general went back to Tezcuco, and for some time things went on as +before, with many skirmishes and expeditions against the towns +garrisoned by the Mexicans. Sandoval took several strongholds which +threatened the security of Chalco, and all the while the work upon the +canal was going rapidly forward, and the ships were nearing completion +in spite of three attempts made by the enemy to burn them. Just at this +time came the welcome news that three vessels had arrived at Villa Rica, +with two hundred men on board well provided with arms and ammunition, +and with seventy or eighty horses, and the new comers soon made their +way to Tezcuco, for the roads to the port were now safe and open. + +In April 1521, Cortes started once more to scour the country with a +large force, passing quite round the great lakes, and exploring the +mountain regions to the south of them. Here he came upon Aztec forces +intrenched in strong towns, often built like eagles' nests upon some +rocky height, so that to take them was a work of great difficulty and +danger. Once he found himself before a city which it was absolutely +necessary to subdue, but he was separated from it by a cleft in the +solid rock of no great width, but going sheer down thousands of feet. +The bridges which generally crossed it had been broken down at the +approach of the Spaniards, and as they stood there, unable to advance, +the enemy's archers as usual kept up a steady fire, to which they were +unavoidably exposed. The general sent a party to seek a passage lower +down, but they met with no success until they came to a spot where two +large trees, growing one on either side of the ravine, interlaced their +branches overhead, and by this unsteady and perilous bridge one of the +Tlascalans ventured to cross. His example was soon followed, and one by +one about thirty Spaniards and some more of the natives crawled across, +swinging dizzily above the abyss. Three lost their hold and fell, but +the rest alighted in safety on the other side and attacked the Aztecs, +who were as much amazed at their sudden appearance as if they had +dropped from the clouds. Presently a temporary bridge was contrived by +which the remainder of the force managed to cross also, and before long +the town was taken, and the trembling caciques appeared before Cortes, +throwing the blame of their resistance upon the Mexicans, and promising +submission for the future. + +The general then continued his march across the eastern shoulder of the +mountain, descending finally upon Xochimilco, which was built partly +upon the lake like Mexico itself, and was approached by causeways, +which, however, were of no great length. It was in the first attack upon +this town that Cortes was as nearly as possible taken prisoner by the +Aztecs. He had thrown himself into the thick of the fight with his usual +bravery, and was trying to resist an unexpected rush of the enemy, when +his horse stumbled and fell, he himself received a severe blow upon the +head before he could rise, and was seized and dragged off in triumph by +several Indians. At this moment a Tlascalan saw his danger and sprang +furiously upon his captors, trying to tear him from their grasp. Two +Spaniards also rushed to the rescue, and between them the Aztecs were +forced to quit their hold of the general, who lost no time in regaining +his saddle, and laying about him with his good sword as vigorously as +before. After a terrible struggle the enemy was driven out, and Cortes +took possession of the city. As it was not yet dusk he ascended the +principal teocalli to reconnoitre the surrounding country, and there +beheld a sight which could but cause him grave anxiety. The lake was +covered with rapidly approaching canoes full of warriors, while inland +Indian squadrons were marching up in dense columns. Xochimilco was but +four leagues from the capital, and at the first tidings of the arrival +of the Spaniards, Guatemozin had mustered a strong force and marched to +its relief. Cortes made all possible preparations for the defence of his +quarters, but not until the next day did the Mexicans attack him, and +then the battle raged long and with varying success; but in the end +Spanish discipline prevailed, and the natives were routed with such +dreadful slaughter that they made no further attempt to renew the +conflict. The city yielded a rich hoard of plunder, being well stored +with gold and feather-work, and many other articles of use or luxury, so +that when the general mustered his men upon the neighbouring plain +before resuming his march, many of them came staggering under the weight +of their spoil. This caused him much uneasiness, since their way would +be through a hostile country; but seeing that the soldiers were +determined to keep what they had so hardly won, he contented himself +with ordering the baggage to be placed in the centre guarded by part of +the cavalry, and having disposed the rest to the best advantage, they +once more set forth, at the last moment setting fire to the wooden +buildings of Xochimilco, which blazed furiously, the glare upon the +water telling far and wide the fate that had befallen it. Resting here +and there, and engaging in many skirmishes with the Aztecs who followed +them up, furious at the sight of the plunder which was being carried +away by the invaders, the army presently completed the circuit of the +lakes, and reached Tezcuco, to be greeted with the news that the ships +were fully rigged and the canal completed, so that there was no longer +any reason to delay their operations against Mexico. + +It was a triumphant moment when the vessels were launched, and reached +the lake in good order. Cortes saw to their being properly armed and +manned, and then reviewed the rest of his forces, and summoned his +native allies to furnish their promised levies at once. + +The general's plan of action against Mexico was to send Sandoval with +one division to take possession of Iztapalapan at the southern end of +the lake, while Alvarado and Olid were to secure Tlacopan and +Chapoltepec upon its western shore, and at the latter place destroy the +aqueduct, and so cut off the supply of fresh water from Mexico. This +they did successfully, and in several days of fierce fighting breach +after breach was carried, and the Spaniards penetrated the city as far +as the great teocalli, driving the natives before them, while the +Tlascalans in the rear filled up the gaps in the dyke as well as they +could, and brought up the heavy guns. Cortes and his men now pushed +their way into the inclosure of the temple, and some of them rushed to +the top, so lately the scene of their terrible battle, and there found a +fresh image of the war-god. Tearing away the gold and jewels with which +it was bedecked, they hurled it and its attendant priests over the side +of the pyramid, and hastened down to the assistance of their comrades, +who were by this time in a most perilous position, the Aztecs having +rallied and attacked them furiously. Indeed it seemed likely to go hard +with them, for they were driven helplessly back down the great street in +utter confusion and panic; but the timely arrival of a small body of +cavalry created a diversion in their favour, and Cortes managed to turn +them once more and drive the enemy back into the enclosure with much +loss. As it was by this time evening, he retreated in good order to +Xoloc. Though this affair caused some consternation among the Mexicans, +they speedily opened the canals and built up the ramparts again, so that +when Cortes renewed the attack the whole scene had to be gone through as +before. When they had once gained the street, however, they found it +much easier to advance, the Tlascalans having on the last occasion +pulled down many of the houses on either side. This time Cortes had +determined to destroy some of the cherished buildings of the Mexicans, +and began by setting fire to his old quarters, the palace of Axayacatl, +and then the palace of Montezuma on the other side of the great square. +The sight so maddened the natives that the Spaniards had some ado to +make good their retreat, and few reached their camp that night +unwounded. The Aztec emperor for his part made frequent sallies against +the Spaniards both by land and upon the lake, sometimes with +considerable success. At first he managed to obtain supplies of food in +canoes, under cover of the darkness, but by degrees the large towns on +the mainland, seeing the Mexicans unable to defend themselves, gave in +their allegiance to the Spaniards, and then starvation began to be felt +in the unhappy city. In spite of everything, however, all offers of +terms from Cortes were steadily refused. + +At this juncture, the general was persuaded by some of his officers that +it would be well for two of the divisions to unite, and occupy the great +market-place in the heart of the town, and so at a given time they +marched along their respective causeways and entered the city. Strict +orders were given by Cortes that as they advanced every opening in the +causeways should be filled up and made secure. The attack began, and the +enemy, taken apparently by surprise, gave way and fell back; on rushed +the Spaniards by every street, eager to reach the appointed meeting +place. Only the general suspected that the enemy might be purposely +luring them on to turn upon them when they were hopelessly involved. +Taking a few men with him, he hastily proceeded to see for himself if +the way was clear should a retreat become necessary, and found, as he +had feared, that all had been too eager to be in the front to attend to +this most important duty. In the first street he traversed was a huge +gap, twelve feet wide, and at least as many deep, full of water, for it +connected two canals. A feeble attempt had been made to fill this up +with beams and rubbish, but it had been left before any good had been +done. Worse than all Cortes saw that this breach was freshly made, and +that his officers had probably rushed headlong into a snare laid by the +enemy. Before his men could do anything towards filling up the trench, +the distant sounds of the battle changed into an ever-increasing tumult, +the mingled yells and war cries, and the trampling of many feet grew +nearer, and at last, to his horror, Cortes beheld his men driven to the +edge of the fatal gulf, confused, helpless, surrounded by their foes. +The foremost files were soon hurried over the edge, some trying to swim +across, some beaten down by the struggles of their comrades, or pierced +by the darts of the Indians. In vain with outstretched hands did Cortes +try to rescue his soldiers from death, or worse still from capture; he +was soon recognised, and six of the enemy tried to seize and drag him +into a canoe. It was only after a severe struggle, in which he was +wounded in the leg, that he was rescued by his brave followers. Two were +killed in the attempt, while another was taken alive as he held the +general's horse for him to mount. In all, sixty Spaniards were captured +on this fatal day, and it was only when the rest reached their guns in +the open space before the causeway that they were able to rally and beat +back the Aztecs. The other division had fared equally ill, and were +moreover in great anxiety as to the fate of Cortes, who was reported to +have been killed. When they once more reached their quarters, Sandoval, +though badly wounded, rode into the camp of Cortes to learn the truth, +and had a long and earnest consultation with him over the disaster, and +what was next to be done. As he returned to his camp he was startled by +the sound of the great drum on the temple of the war-god, heard only +once before during the night of horror, and looking up he saw a long +file of priests and warriors, winding round the terraces of the +teocalli. As they came out upon the platform at the top he perceived, +with rage and despair, that his own countrymen were about to be +sacrificed with the usual ghastly ceremonies. The camp was near enough +to the city for the white skins of the victims and their unavailing +struggles to be distinctly seen by their comrades, who were nevertheless +powerless to help them, and their distress and fury may be imagined. + +For five days the horrible scenes went on, the Mexicans feasting, +singing, and dancing, while their priests predicted that in eight days +the war-god, appeased by these sacrifices, would overwhelm their enemies +and deliver them into their hands. These prophecies had a great effect +upon the native allies of Cortes, who withdrew from him in immense +numbers. But the general treated their superstition with cheerful +contempt, and only bargained with the deserters to remain close by and +see what would happen. When the ninth day came, and the city was still +seen to be beset on every side, they ceased to believe in the oracle, +and returned, with their anger against the Mexicans rekindled, and their +confidence in the Spaniards greatly strengthened. At this time another +vessel loaded with stores and ammunition touched at Vera Cruz, and her +cargo was seized and sent on to Cortes by the governor. With his +strength thus renewed the Spanish general resumed active operations. +This time not a step was taken in advance without securing the entire +safety of the army, once and for all, by solidly building up the dykes, +filling every canal, and pulling down every house, so that slowly and by +degrees a bare open space was made, which took in more and more of the +town, till at last the unhappy Aztecs, after many desperate sallies, +were shut into the portion of the city which lay between the northern +and western causeways. Here famine and pestilence did their awful work +unchecked. The ordinary articles of food were long exhausted, and the +wretched people ate moss, insects, grass, weeds, or the bark of trees. +They had no fresh water. The dead were unburied, the wounded lay in +misery, yet all the endeavours of Cortes to induce Guatemozin and his +chiefs to submit were useless. Though the two divisions of the army had +proceeded with their work of destruction until they could join their +forces, and seven-eighths of the city lay in ruins, though the banner of +Castile floated undisturbed from the smouldering remains of the +sanctuary on the teocalli of the war-god, still the Aztecs defied the +conquerors, and fiercely rejected their overtures of peace. + +Hundreds of famishing wretches died every day, and lay where they fell, +for there was no one to bury them. Familiarity with the spectacle made +men indifferent to it. They looked on in dumb despair waiting for their +own turn to come. There was no complaint or lamentation, but deep, +unutterable woe. In the midst of this appalling misery Guatemozin +remained calm and courageous, and as firmly resolved not to capitulate +as at the beginning of the siege. It is even said that when Cortes +persuaded a noble Aztec prisoner to bear his proposals for a treaty to +the emperor, Guatemozin instantly ordered him to be sacrificed. The +general, who had suspended hostilities for several days hoping for a +favourable answer to his message, now resolved to drive him to +submission by a general assault, and for that purpose led his men across +the dreary waste of ruins to the narrow quarter of the city into which +the wretched Mexicans had retreated. But he was met by several chiefs, +who, holding out their emaciated arms, exclaimed, 'Why do you delay so +long to put an end to our miseries? Rather kill us at once that we may +go to our god Huitzilopochtli, who waits to give us rest from our +sufferings!' + +Cortes, moved by the piteous sight, replied that he desired not their +death but their submission. 'Why does your master refuse to treat with +me,' he said, 'when in a single hour I can crush him and all his +people?' Then once more he sent to demand an interview with Guatemozin. +This time the emperor hesitated, and agreed that next day he would meet +the Spanish general. Cortes, well satisfied, withdrew his force, and +next morning presented himself at the appointed place in the great +square, where a stone platform had been spread with mats and carpets and +a banquet made ready. But after all Guatemozin, instead of coming +himself, sent his nobles. Cortes, though greatly disappointed, received +them courteously, persuading them to partake of the feast he had +prepared, and dismissing them with a supply of provisions for their +master and a renewed entreaty that he would next day come in person. But +though he waited for three hours beyond the time appointed, neither the +emperor nor his chiefs appeared, and the general heard that the Mexicans +were preparing to resist an assault. He delayed no longer, but ordering +Sandoval to support him by bringing up the ships and directing his big +guns against the houses near the water, he marched at once into the +enemy's quarters. The Mexicans set up a fierce war-cry, and with their +usual spirit sent off clouds of arrows and darts; but the struggle soon +became a hand-to-hand one; and weakened by starvation and hemmed in as +they were the unhappy Aztecs had no chance against their foes. After a +scene of indescribable horror, which appalled even the soldiers of +Cortes, used as they were to war and violence, the Spanish commander +sounded a retreat and withdrew to his quarters, leaving behind him forty +thousand corpses and a smouldering ruin. Through the long night that +followed all was silent in the Mexican quarter. There was neither light +nor movement. This last blow seemed to have utterly stunned them. They +had nothing left to hope for. In the Spanish camp, however, all was +rejoicing at the prospect of a speedy termination to the wearisome +campaign. The great object of Cortes was now to secure the person of +Guatemozin, and the next day, which was August 18, 1521, he led his +forces for the last time across the black and blasted ruin which was all +that remained of the once beautiful city. In order to give the +distressed garrison one more chance, he obtained an interview with the +principal chiefs and reasoned with them about the conduct of their +emperor. + +'Surely,' he said, 'Guatemozin will not see you all perish when he can +so easily save you.' But when he had with difficulty prevailed upon them +to urge the king to confer with him, the only answer they could bring +was that Guatemozin was ready to die where he was, but would hold no +communication with the Spanish commander. 'Go then,' replied the stern +conqueror, 'and prepare your countrymen for death. Their last moment is +come.' Still, however, he postponed the attack for several hours; but +the troops were impatient at the delay, and a rumour spread that +Guatemozin was preparing to escape by the lake. It was useless to +hesitate: the word was given, and the terrible scene that ensued +repeated the horrors of the day before. While this was going forward on +shore numbers of canoes pushed off across the lake, most of them only +to be intercepted and sunk by the Spanish ships, which beat down upon +them, firing to right and left. Some few, however, under cover of the +smoke, succeeded in getting into open water. Sandoval had given +particular orders that his captains should watch any boat that might +contain Guatemozin, and now two or three large canoes together attracted +the attention of one named Garci Holguin, who instantly gave chase, and +with a favourable wind soon overtook the fugitives, though they rowed +with the energy of despair. As his men levelled their guns at the +occupants of the boat one rose saying, 'I am Guatemozin; lead me to +Malinche; I am his prisoner. But let no harm come to my wife and +followers.' + +[Illustration] + +Holguin took them on board, and then requested that the emperor would +order the people in the other canoes to surrender. 'There is no need,' +he answered sadly, 'they will fight no longer when they see their prince +is taken.' And so it was, for when the news of his capture reached the +shore the Mexicans at once ceased to defend themselves. It seemed as if +they had only gone on so long to give their sovereign a better chance +of escape. Cortes, who had taken up his station on the flat roof of one +of the houses, now sent to command that Guatemozin should be brought +before him, and he came, escorted by Sandoval and Holguin, who each +claimed the honour of having captured him. The conqueror, who was, as +usual, accompanied by the Lady Marina, came forward with dignified +courtesy to receive his noble prisoner. The Aztec monarch broke the +silence saying, 'I have done all I could to defend myself and my people. +I am now reduced to this state. Deal with me, Malinche, as you will.' +Then laying his hand on a dagger which hung from the belt of Cortes, he +added, 'Better despatch me at once with this and rid me of life.' + +'Fear not,' answered the conqueror. 'You shall be treated with honour. +You have defended your capital like a brave warrior, and a Spaniard +knows how to respect valour even in an enemy.' He then sent for the +queen, who had remained on board the Spanish ship, and after ordering +that the royal captives should be well cared for and supplied with all +they needed, he proceeded to dispose of his troops. Olid and Alvarado +drew off their divisions to their quarters, leaving only a small guard +in the wasted suburbs of the pestilence stricken city, whilst the +general himself, with Sandoval and the prisoners, retired to a town at +the end of the southern causeway. That night a tremendous tempest arose, +such as the Spaniards had never before witnessed, shaking to its +foundations all that remained of the city of Mexico. The next day, at +the request of Guatemozin, the Mexicans were allowed to leave the +capital, and for three days a mournful train of men, women, and children +straggled feebly across the causeways, sick and wounded, wasted with +famine and misery, turning often to take one more look at the spot which +was once their pleasant home. When they were gone the conquerors took +possession of the place and purified it as speedily as possible, burying +the dead and lighting huge bonfires in the deserted streets. The +treasure of gold and jewels found in it fell far short of the +expectation of the Spaniards, the Aztecs having probably buried their +hoards or sunk them in the lake on purpose to disappoint the avarice of +their enemies. Cortes, therefore, to his eternal disgrace, caused +Guatemozin to be tortured; but fire and cord could not wring the secret +of the treasure from this illustrious prince. In later days Cortes +hanged Guatemozin, on pretence of a conspiracy. Cortes, having no +further need for his native allies, now dismissed them with presents +and flattering speeches, and they departed well pleased, loaded with the +plunder of the Mexican houses, which was despised by the Spanish +soldiers. Great was the satisfaction of the conquerors at having thus +brought the long campaign successfully to an end. Cortes celebrated the +event by a banquet as sumptuous as circumstances would permit, and the +next day, at the request of Father Olmedo, the whole army took part in a +solemn service and procession in token of their thankfulness for +victory. + +Thus, after a siege of nearly three months, in which the beleaguered +Mexicans showed a constancy and courage under their sufferings which is +unmatched in history, fell the renowned capital of the Aztecs, and with +its fall the story of the nation comes to an end. + +The Aztec empire fell by its own sin. The constant capture of men from +neighbouring states as victims for sacrifice had caused the Aztecs to be +hated; thus Cortes obtained the aid of the Tlascalans, but for which +even his courage and energy would have been of no avail. He deserted +Marina when she ceased to be useful, and gave her as a wife to one of +his followers. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[28] In 1121 Bishop Eric left Iceland for Vinland, part of America +discovered by Leif the Lucky (1000-1002). Bishop Eric was heard of no +more. Can he have reached the Aztecs, and been regarded as a god? + + + + +_ADVENTURES OF BARTHOLOMEW PORTUGUES, A PIRATE_ + + +A CERTAIN pirate, born in Portugal, and from the name of his country +called Bartholomew Portugues, was cruising from Jamaica in his boat (in +which he had only thirty men and four small guns) near the Cape de +Corrientes, in the island of Cuba. In this place he met with a great +ship bound for the Havana, well provided, with twenty great guns and +threescore and ten men, passengers and mariners. This ship he assaulted, +but found strongly defended by them that were on board. The pirate +escaping the first encounter, resolved to attack her more vigorously +than before, seeing he had sustained no great damage hitherto. This +resolution he boldly performed, renewing his assaults so often that +after a long and dangerous fight he became master of the great vessel, +having lost only ten men, and had four wounded. + +Having possessed themselves of such a ship, and the wind being contrary +for returning into Jamaica, the pirates resolved to steer towards the +Cape of St. Anthony, on the western side of the isle of Cuba, there to +repair themselves and take in fresh water, of which they had great +necessity at the time. + +Being now very near the cape above mentioned, they unexpectedly met with +three great ships that were coming from New Spain, and bound for the +Havana. By these, not being able to escape, were easily retaken both +ship and pirates. Thus they were all made prisoners through the sudden +change of fortune, and found themselves poor, oppressed, and stripped of +all the riches they had won. + +Two days after this misfortune there happened to arise a huge and +dangerous tempest, which separated the ships one from another. The great +vessel in which the pirates were arrived at Campeche, where many +considerable merchants came to salute and welcome the captain. These +knew the Portuguese pirate as one who had committed innumerable crimes +upon these coasts, not only murders and robberies, but also lamentable +burnings, which those of Campeche still preserved very fresh in their +memory. + +The next day after their arrival the magistrates of the city sent +several of their officers to demand and take into custody the prisoners +from on board the ship, with intent to punish them according to their +deserts. Yet fearing lest the captain of the pirates should escape out +of their hands on shore (as he had formerly done, being once their +prisoner in the city before), they judged it more convenient to leave +him safely guarded on board the ship for the present. In the meanwhile +they caused a gibbet to be erected, whereon to hang him the very next +day, without any other form of trial than to lead him from the ship to +the place of punishment. + +The rumour of this tragedy was presently brought to the ears of +Bartholomew Portugues, and he sought all the means he could to escape +that night. With this design he took two earthen jars, in which the +Spaniards usually carry wine from Spain to the West Indies, and he +stopped them very well, intending to use them for swimming, as those who +are unskilled in that art do a sort of pumpkins in Spain, and in other +places they use empty bladders. Having made this necessary preparation, +he waited for the night when all should be asleep, even the sentry that +guarded him. But seeing he could not escape his vigilance, he secretly +purchased a knife, and with the same gave him a stab that suddenly +deprived him of life and the possibility of making any noise. At that +instant Bartholomew Portugues committed himself to the sea, with those +two earthen jars before mentioned, and by their help and support, though +never having learned to swim, he reached the shore. Having landed, +without any delay he took refuge in the woods, where he hid himself for +three days without daring to appear, not eating any food but wild herbs. + +[Illustration] + +Those of the city failed not the next day to make diligent search for +him in the woods, where they concluded him to be. This strict search +Bartholomew Portugues watched from the hollow of a tree, wherein he lay +concealed. Seeing them return without finding what they sought for, he +adventured to sally forth towards the coast of Golfotriste, forty +leagues distant from the city of Campeche. Here he arrived within a +fortnight after his escape from the ship, in which time, as also +afterwards, he endured extreme hunger, thirst, and fear of falling again +into the hands of the Spaniards. For during all this journey he had no +provision but a small calabash with a little water: neither did he eat +anything but a few shellfish, which he found among the rocks nigh the +seashore. Besides this, he was compelled to pass some rivers, not +knowing well how to swim. Being in this distress, he found an old board +which the waves had thrown upon the shore, in which there stuck a few +great nails. These he took, and with no small labour whetted against a +stone, until he made them sharp like knives. With these, and no other +instruments, he cut down some branches of trees, which he joined +together with twigs and osiers, and as well as he could made a boat, or +rather a raft, with which he crossed over the rivers. Thus he reached +the Cape of Golfotriste, as was said before, where he happened to find a +certain vessel of pirates who wore great comrades of his own, and were +lately come from Jamaica. + +To these pirates he instantly related all his misfortunes, and asked of +them a boat and twenty men to return to Campeche and assault the ship +that was in the river, from which he had escaped fourteen days before. +They readily granted his request, and equipped him a boat with the said +number of men. With this small company he set forth for the execution of +his design, which he bravely performed eight days after he separated +from his comrades; for being arrived at the river of Campeche, with +undaunted courage he assaulted the ship before mentioned. Those that +were on board were persuaded that Bartholomew's was a boat from the land +that came to bring goods, and therefore were not on their defence. So +the pirates assaulted them without any fear of ill success, and in a +short space of time compelled the Spaniards to surrender. + +Being now masters of the ship, they immediately weighed anchor and set +sail, determining to fly from the port, lest they should be pursued by +other vessels. This they did with extreme joy, seeing themselves +possessors of such a brave ship--especially Bartholomew Portugues, their +captain, who now, by a second turn of fortune's wheel, was become rich +and powerful again, who had been so lately in that same vessel a poor +miserable prisoner, and condemned to the gallows. With this plunder he +designed to do great things, for he had found in the vessel a great +quantity of rich merchandise. Thus he continued his voyage towards +Jamaica for four days. But coming nigh to the isle of Pino, on the south +side of the island of Cuba, fortune suddenly turned her back once more, +never to show him her countenance again; for a horrible storm arising at +sea caused the ship to split against the rocks, and it was totally lost, +and Bartholomew, with his companions, escaped in a canoe. + +In this manner he arrived in Jamaica, where he remained but a short +time, till he was ready to seek his fortune anew. But from that day of +disaster it was always ill-luck with him. + + + + +_THE RETURN OF THE FRENCH FREEBOOTERS_[29] + + +IN January, 1688, the daring band of French pirates who, sometimes +alone, sometimes in company with English captains, had been cruising in +the South Seas, resolved to return to St. Domingo with all the treasure +they had won from the Spaniards. But it was manifest that this return +would be a matter of great difficulty. They had not one seaworthy vessel +left in which to set out for a long voyage, and, with forces exhausted +by the frightful hardships they had gone through in the past years, they +had to pass through a country peopled by Spaniards--cowardly, indeed, +but innumerable, and only longing for revenge on the reckless crew that +had plundered so many of their rich ships and towns. Moreover, +provisions were scarce among the Spaniards themselves, and it seemed +likely that the freebooters, in their passage, would find scant +entertainment. But they were determined to risk everything, and having +prayed, and sunk their canoes that the Spaniards might make no use of +them, they set out on their journey. What followed is thus recounted by +one of their party, Raveneau de Lussan:-- + +The Spaniards, having been warned of our approach, employed every means +they could think of for our destruction, burning all the provisions +before us, setting fire to the prairies we entered, so that we and our +horses were almost stifled, and continually blocking our way with great +barricades of trees. About three hundred of them formed themselves into +a kind of escort, and morning and evening diverted us with the sound of +trumpets, but never dared to show their faces. + +A detachment of our men were always set to fire into woods and thickets, +to find out if a Spanish ambush were concealed there. On January 9 we +reached an opening in the forest where we could see a good way before +us, and therefore did not fire. But we had been looking in front for +what was really on both sides of us, for in the bushes right and left +the Spaniards were crouching, and presently they let fly on us so +suddenly that only half the guard had time to fire back, and two of our +men were killed on the spot. + +[Illustration] + +On the 10th we found another ambush, where we surprised our enemies, who +took to flight, abandoning their horses, which became our property. + +On the 11th, as we drew near Segovia, we found yet another ambuscade, +which we forced to retire, and passed into the town, ready to fight our +best--for we thought that here the Spaniards might make a great effort +to expel us. But they only discharged their muskets at us now and then +from the shelter of the pine-wood above the town, into which they had +fled. But we found nothing to eat, for they had burned all the +provisions. + +On the 13th, having left Segovia, we climbed a hill which looked like a +good place to camp, and we saw opposite us, on a mountain slope from +which only a narrow valley divided us, twelve to fifteen hundred horses, +which for some time we took for cattle pasturing there. Rejoicing in the +prospect of good cheer, we sent forty men to make sure, and when they +came back they told us that what we had taken for cattle were horses, +ready saddled, and that in the same place they had found three +intrenchments a pistol shot from each other, which, rising by degrees to +about the middle of the mountain slope, entirely barred the way which we +meant to travel the next day. These intrenchments commanded the river +which ran the length of the valley, into which it was absolutely +necessary for us to descend, there being no other way. They saw a man +who, having discovered them, threatened them with a bare cutlass. + +This grievous news was a bitter disappointment to us, especially the +loss of our supposed cows, for we were perishing with hunger. But we had +to take courage and find out how to leave this place--and without delay, +for the Spaniards, who were assembling from all the country round, would +fall upon our little troop, which must be overwhelmed, if we waited for +them. The means were not easy to find, and perhaps escape would have +seemed impossible, except to our reckless band, who had hitherto +succeeded in nearly all our exploits. But ten thousand men could not +have crossed that guarded valley without being cut off entirely, both by +reason of the number of the Spaniards and the position they occupied. + +Men alone could have gone round without crossing the valley, but we +could find no way round for the horses and baggage. For the country on +each side was nothing but a thick forest, without the trace of a path, +all precipices and ravines, and choked with a multitude of fallen trees. +And even had we found a way of escape through so many obstacles, it was +indispensable to fight the Spaniards sooner or later, if they were ever +to let us alone! + +There was only one thing to be done--to cross these woods, rocks, and +mountains, however inaccessible they seemed, and surprise our enemies, +taking advantage of the place by coming upon them from above, where they +certainly would not expect us. As to our prisoners, horses, and baggage, +since through all our march a troop of three hundred Spaniards had been +dogging our steps without daring to approach, we would leave eighty men +to guard them--enough to beat four times as many Spaniards. + +At nightfall we set out, leaving our eighty men, with orders to the +sentinels to fire and beat the retreat and the diane at the usual times, +to make the three hundred Spaniards who lurked near us think that we had +not left the camp. If we were successful we would send back messengers +with the good news, but if, an hour after the firing ended, none of us +returned, they were to escape how they could. + +All being arranged, we prayed in a low voice, not to be heard by the +Spaniards, and set out by the moonlight, two hundred men of us, through +this country of rocks, woods, and frightful precipices, where we went +leaping and climbing, our feet seeming to be much less use to us than +our hands and knees. + +On the 14th, at the break of day, when we had already gained a great +height, and were climbing on in profound silence, with the Spanish +intrenchments to our left, we saw a sentry party, which, thanks to the +fog--always thick in this country till ten o'clock in the morning--did +not discover us. When it had passed we went straight to the place where +we had seen it, and we found that there was really a road there. This, +when we had halted half an hour to take breath, we followed, guided by +the voices of the Spaniards, who were at matins. But we had only gone a +few steps when we found two sentinels, very far advanced, on whom we +were forced to fire, which warned the Spaniards, who dreamed of nothing +less than our coming upon them from above, since they only expected us +from below. So those who guarded the intrenchment--about five hundred +men--being taken at a disadvantage when they thought they had all the +advantage on their side, were so terribly frightened that, when we fell +upon them all at once, they vanished from the place in an instant, and +escaped into the thick fog. + +This unexpected assault so utterly upset their plans that the men in the +second intrenchment all passed into the lowest one, where they prepared +to defend themselves. We fought them a whole hour, under cover of the +first intrenchment, which we had taken, and which commanded them, being +higher up the mountain side. But as they would not yield we fancied our +shots must have missed, since the fog hindered us from seeing our foes +distinctly, so, resolved to waste no more powder, we went down, and fell +right on the spot whence they had been firing. Then we assailed them +furiously, and at sight of our weapons close upon them--which hitherto +the fog had concealed--they left everything, and fled into the road +below the intrenchments. Here they fell into their own trap; for, +thinking it was the only road we could possibly come by, they had cut +down trees and blocked it up, and their way being stopped, we could fire +upon them from their intrenchment without once missing aim. + +At last, seeing the river in the ravine running down with blood, and +tired of pursuing the fugitives, we spared the few remaining Spaniards. +After we had chanted the 'Te Deum,' sixty of us went to tell those left +in the camp of the victory which Heaven had vouchsafed to us. We found +them on the point of giving battle to the three hundred Spaniards, who +had already (on finding out their weakness) sent a message to them by an +officer to tell them that it was hopeless for them to expect to cross +the valley, and to offer terms of peace. To which our men replied that +were there as many Spaniards as the blades of grass in the prairie they +would not be afraid, but would pass through in spite of them, and go +where they liked! + +The officer, being just dismissed with this message when we arrived, +shrugged his shoulders with astonishment when he saw us safe back again, +and mounted on the horses of his comrades of the intrenchments. He rode +off with the news to his troop, whom we presently fired upon, to rid +them altogether from their desire to follow in our wake. Unfortunately +for them they had not time to mount their horses, so after a brief +conflict, in which a great number of them fell, we let the rest go, +though we kept their horses. Then, with our baggage, we joined those of +our men who had stayed to guard the intrenchments. In both these combats +we had only two men slain and four wounded. + +Continuing our journey, we passed one more Spanish intrenchment, where, +since the news of our victory had gone before us, we found no +resistance. At last, on the sixteenth day of our march, we reached the +river which we had been seeking eagerly, by whose means we meant to gain +the sea into which it flowed. + +At once we entered the woods which are on its banks, and everyone set to +work in good earnest to cut down trees, in order to construct +_piperies_, with which to descend the river. The reader may perhaps +imagine that these piperies were some kind of comfortable boat to carry +us pleasantly along the stream, but they were anything but this. We +joined together four or five trunks of a kind of tree with light +floating wood, merely stripping off their bark, and binding them, +instead of cord, with a climbing plant growing in those forests, and +embracing the trees like ivy, and when these structures, each large +enough to hold two men (and in appearance something like huge wicker +baskets) were completed, vessels and crew were ready. + +[Illustration] + +The safest plan was to stand upright in them, armed with long poles to +push them off from the rocks, against which the fierce current every +moment threatened to dash them. As it was, they sank two or three feet +deep in the water, so that we were nearly always immersed up to our +waists. + +This river rises in the mountains of Segovia, and falls into the sea at +Cape Gracia a Dios, after having flowed for a long distance, with +frightful rapidity, among an infinite number of huge rocks, and between +the most terrible precipices imaginable. We had to pass more than a +hundred cataracts great and small, and there were three which the most +daring of us could not look at without turning giddy with fear, when we +saw and heard the water plunging from such a height into those horrible +gulfs. Everything was so fearful that only those who have experienced +it can imagine it; as for me, though I shall all my life have my memory +full of pictures of the perils of that voyage, it would be impossible +for me to give any idea of it which would not be far below the reality. + +We let ourselves go with the current, so rapid that often, in spite of +our resistance, it bore us into foaming whirlpools, where we were +engulfed with our pieces of wood. But happily before the greatest +cataracts, and also just beyond them, there was a basin of calm water, +which made it possible for us to gain the bank, drawing our piperies +after us. Then, taking out of them whatever valuables we had there, we +descended with these, leaping from rock to rock till we had reached the +foot of the cataract. Then one of us would return and throw the +piperies, which we had left behind, down into the flood--and we below +caught them as they descended. Sometimes, indeed, we failed to catch +them, and had to make new ones. + +When we first set out we voyaged all together, that in case of accident +we might come to each other's aid. But in three days, being out of all +danger of the Spaniards, we began to travel separately, since a piperie +dashed against the rocks had often been prevented from freeing itself by +other piperies which the current hurled against it. It was arranged for +those who descended first, when they came to an especially dangerous +rapid, to hoist a little flag at the end of a stick, not to warn those +behind of the cataract, since they could hear it nearly a league away, +but to mark the side on which they ought to land. This plan saved a +number of lives, nevertheless many others were lost. + +The bananas which we found on the river bank were almost our only +nourishment, and saved us from dying of hunger; for, though there was +plenty of game, our powder and weapons were all wet and spoiled, so that +we could not hunt. + +Some days after we had begun to descend the river, as we were travelling +separate, several freebooters who had lost all their spoils in gambling +were guilty of most cruel treachery. Having gone in advance, these +villains concealed themselves behind some rocks commanding the river, in +front of which we all had to pass, and as everyone was looking after +himself, and we descended unsuspiciously, at some distance from each +other--for the reasons already given--they had time to fix upon and to +massacre five Englishmen, who possessed greater shares of booty than the +rest of us. They were completely plundered by these assassins, and my +companion and I found their dead bodies on the shore. At night, when we +were encamped on the river bank, I reported what we had seen, and the +story was confirmed both by the absence of the dead Englishmen and of +their murderers, who dared not come back to us, and whom we never saw +again. + +On the 20th of February we found the river much wider, and there were no +more cataracts. When we had descended some leagues further it was very +fine, and the current was gentle, and seeing that the worst of our +perils were over, we dispersed into bands of forty each to make canoes, +in which we might safely complete our voyage down the river. + +On the 1st of March, by dint of great diligence, having finished four +canoes, a hundred and twenty of us embarked, leaving the others, whose +canoes were still incomplete, to follow. + +On the 9th we reached the mouth of the river in safety, and lived there +among the mulattos and negroes who inhabit the coast, till an English +boat, touching there, took on board fifty of us, of whom I was one. On +the 6th of April, without any other accident, we arrived at our +destination, St. Domingo. + + + PRINTED BY + SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE + LONDON + +FOOTNOTE: + +[29] 'The return of the French Freebooters from the South Sea, by the +mainland, in 1688.' Written by Sieur Raveneau de Lussan, one of the +party, taken from his _Journal du voyage fait a la Mer du Sud avec les +filibustiers de l'Amerique en 1684 et annees suivantes_. Paris. 1689. + + + + +Just published. Crown 8vo. price 7_s._ 6_d._ + +With 546 Illustrations, including 18 Coloured Plates. + +THE OUTDOOR WORLD + +OR + +_THE YOUNG COLLECTOR'S HANDBOOK._ + +By W. FURNEAUX, F.R.G.S. + +CONTENTS. + +PART I.--ANIMAL LIFE. + + CHAP. + + I. Ponds and Streams. + + II. Insects and Insect Hunting. + + III. The Sea-shore. + + IV. Snails and Slugs. + + V. Spiders, Centipedes, and Millepedes. + + VI. Reptiles and Reptile Hunting. + + VII. British Birds. + + VIII. British Mammals. + + +PART II.--THE VEGETABLE WORLD. + + IX. Sea-weeds. + + X. Fungi. + + XI. Mosses. + + XII. Ferns. + + XIII. Wild Flowers. + + XIV. Grasses. + + XV. Our Forest Trees. + + +PART III.--THE MINERAL WORLD. + + XVI. Minerals and Fossils. + + + + London: LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. + New York: 15 East 16th Street. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors corrected. + +The illustration that was originally on page 271 was moved to 269 so +that it would not interrupt the flow of a paragraph. This was also done +with the plate originally on page 277. It is now on page 274. + +Many and varied were the hyphenations in this text due to the different +stories. Examples are: battlefield and battle-field, and bodyguard and +body-guard. These variations were retained. + +Page 156, although the original does have "Ireland", possibly "Iceland" +was meant (within sight of Ireland) + +Page 159, "Cortes" changed to "Cortes" (first took Cortes) + +Page 237, "slik" changed to "silk" (silk--of rich and) + +Page 248, "miles" changed to "feet" (seven thousand feet above) + +Page 261, "sacrified" changed to "sacrificed" (reserved to be +sacrificed) + +Page 266, "Atzec" changed to "Aztec" (dismay of the Aztec) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRUE STORY BOOK*** + + +******* This file should be named 27602.txt or 27602.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/6/0/27602 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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