The Adventures of Captain Mago

"What monster have we here?" cried Hannibal, equally astonished.

"Heavens!" exclaimed Bichri; "how many arrows would it take to slay such a brute as that?"

"It must be the Behemoth, of which we have heard so much," said Chamai, gazing in amazement.

I explained to them that the animal which had so much excited their wonder was an elephant; that the great teeth projecting from its jaws were ivory; and that the rope-like appendage to its head, which it wielded so adroitly, was its trunk.

"What a line a herd of those creatures would make on a field of battle!" said Hannibal, his thoughts turning as usual to military tactics; "I cannot imagine how any infantry could hold their ground against them; the only thing would be to open their ranks, let the brutes pass through, and then attack them from behind."

"You are not the first soldier, Hannibal," I answered, "who has had the same idea. Some of these animals have already been tamed, and trained to carry on their backs a tower full of archers. They are brought from the banks of the Upper Bagradas, and from the forests in the borders of Tritonis, a lake in the interior of Libya."

Besides the elephant, we saw a hippopotamus, or river horse, and a couple of rhinoceroses, with their big horns. The whole of these were a portion of the tribute (consisting of ivory, tame elephants, and other animals), which had been imposed by the sacred suffect upon the subjugated Libyans on the Bagradas, and which happened now to be on its transit to the Bozrah.

A well-known voice, harsh and sonorous, at this instant caught my ear, and turning round, I saw Jonah towering head and shoulders above the crowd, and encircled by a group of my sailors, all in roars of laughter.

"Now, at last," the trumpeter was saying, "I am where I wanted to be! Now I am in the land of strange beasts! This is the first animal I ever saw in my life with two tails, one behind and one at the end of his nose! I wonder how many onions it would take to season the carcase of such a brute as that! I wonder, too, how long it would take a fellow to eat it!"

Leaving the sailors to their diversions, we bent our steps towards the market, where red-skinned Libyans, with aquiline noses and long plaited hair, were being offered for sale. Entering a tent where provisions of all kinds were sold, I ordered some refreshments for myself and my party, and a Syrian slave, who was serving instead of the owner, brought us two guinea-fowls, some stewed beans and onions, some olives, bread, and very fair Helbon wine. Hannibal seated himself near the stove to feast his eyes upon the wheat-and-honey cakes that were being fried upon the top.

We had not long been in the refreshment-booth before Himilco and Gisgo made their appearance; they were followed by a dancing-girl and three other girls, one playing the flute, and two the tambourine. The dancing-girl was one of the western Moors; she had a copper-coloured complexion, and her hair twisted in coils like so many serpents; her nails and eyebrows were dyed red; her face was tattooed with three parallel stripes in regular Mahouârin fashion; and on her wrists and ankles she wore rattles that clanked again as she moved. The flute-player was a native of Barbary, with a fair skin and light hair, parted over a high, narrow forehead. Both girls were dressed alike in gay skirts, open as high as the knees; in their hair they had bodkins, of which the heads were grotesque figures; their necklaces and girdles were of glass and enamel; and their earrings were great crosses. The tambourine-players were inconceivably ugly; one of them appeared to belong to the Rasennæ, and the other had her face so daubed with red and blue paint, and made such hideous grimaces, that it was idle to speculate upon her nationality.

Himilco was in high spirits; he came up to me and said that he and Gisgo had been spending the morning in going from tavern to tavern, and that they had engaged the orchestra, which we now saw, to accompany them for the day wherever they went, and to entertain them while they regaled themselves.

"Poor girls!" said Abigail; "are they obliged to perform for all the sailors alike?"

"No, indeed," I replied; "they take good care never to perform unless they are well paid, and I suppose there is not much hardship in that."

The Libyan had now commenced her performance. We stayed for a few minutes watching her contortions, and then left the tent.

The first person we met in the square was Hamilcar, carrying a monkey.

"Hamilcar with a monkey!" cried Hannibal. "Where did you get it? The very thing I want myself. I want to teach it to fight."

"I should like to have a monkey," said Hanno; "I would teach it to dance."

Bichri said he was sure he could make it learn the use of the bow; and Chamai declared it would be capital fun to teach it to make grimaces, and to mimic the mighty Jonah.

On all hands it was agreed that we must have a monkey on board the Ashtoreth.

Hamilcar told them that they would have to go down towards the trade-harbour, through the square where the rich merchant Hamoun resides; and at the corner of the street which leads to the temple of Moloch they would find a dealer who had a whole cargo to dispose of.

"You will have a choice there," he said; "there are apes of all sorts, all sizes, and all colours. You may have them brown, or red, or grey, or black, or green; with tails or without tails; with long hair, short hair, or no hair; wild or tame; only ask for what you want, and you will be sure to get it."

On our way down towards the trade-harbour we met Aminocles, quite drunk. He was being dragged along by a couple of sailors, singing at the top of their voices. He had learnt only too soon what was the use, or abuse, of the silver shekels.

We had no trouble in finding the monkey-dealer's, and Hanno, who had taken it upon himself to select the most intelligent monkey he could see, chose one which appeared to meet with general approval.

"And now what are we to call it?" said Hannibal, who liked everything to have a name.

"Don't you think," said Hanno, "that it has a very striking resemblance to old Gebal, the judge at Sidon? Look at it now. Isn't it like him when he rolls his eyes and scratches his poll, just before giving sentence?"

"Exactly!" said Hannibal, "the very facsimile! and Judge Gebal he shall be called!"

We now made our way with our new purchase down to the quay, whence a small boat carried us across the trade-harbour to the opposite island, on which are built the handsome residences of the more wealthy inhabitants of the city; for during the last ten years many of the merchants have amassed considerable fortunes, and abandoning sea-life, have settled down in homes replete with luxury. We walked to the extremity of the island, and after leaving the two women at the noble bath-room at the top of the wall above the small basin in which the pleasure-boats of the rich inhabitants are kept, we betook ourselves to the men's baths, and enjoyed the refreshment of a wash and a shave. Rejoined by the women, we rowed across to the nearest point of the Cothôn, and paid a visit to the signal-tower; thence we went on foot to the magnificent gardens that lie between the citadel and the lower town. Here I showed my party the temple of Achmon, and took them to see the public fountains, the constant resort of both sexes for lounging and gossip.

Night coming on, we returned to the Ashtoreth, on which the lamps were already lighted. Going on board, I found the slave of the man who had entertained me during my former visit to Utica waiting for me with an invitation from his master to dine with him next day, and I sent a message that we should be pleased to avail ourselves of his hospitality. During our day's absence my cook had prepared a sumptuous repast, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

The trumpets now sounded the signal for calling in the sailors. They came dropping in two or three at a time, all more or less tipsy, and some of them inclined to be noisy; but so strong was their habit of submission to discipline, that no sooner had they stepped on board than they relapsed into their wonted silence, and retired quietly to their berths. Himilco was among the last to return, and to his credit I feel bound to record that he was quite able to walk across the deck without any assistance from his friend Gisgo.

CHAPTER XII

I CONSULT THE ORACLE

I made it my first business on the following morning to go to the great market-place, near the trade-harbour and the temple of Achmon. It is surrounded by lofty houses upon an arcade, under which are the retail shops of the tradespeople, their warehouses being in courts at the back. In these shops every variety of Libyan merchandise was exhibited for sale. There were hides, dressed and undressed; stones prepared for engraving; Numidian copper; lion-skins from Mount Atlas; thongs of hippopotamus-hide from Lake Tritonis; elephants' tusks from the Macar; corn from Zeugis and Byzatium, and wool from the land of the Garamantines. I spent a considerable time in making purchases of ivory, and procured a good supply at a very fair price; and later in the day went with Hannibal and Hamilcar to fulfil the engagement I had made on the previous night. Hanno and Chamai preferred escorting Chryseis and Abigail about the city; and Bichri went for an evening's diversion with Gisgo, Hasdrubal, and Himilco.

Barca, our host, one of the richest shipowners in the colony, had prepared us an elegant entertainment in a handsome tent pitched upon the terrace of his house. As soon as the meal was ended, wine was brought in, and musicians and dancing-girls performed for our amusement; and one of Barca's slaves, an old Libyan, who was well versed in the songs and traditions of his people, repeated his tales about the mystery and wonders of their origin.

According to his account, there had formerly, south of Libya, been an extensive sea, which received the water of several rivers, and to the south of which again lay the land of the negroes, who had faces like monkeys. This sea was the original Lake Tritonis, or Pallas, and the chain of lakes, at the foot of the Atlas Mountains, extending from the vicinity of Gades to Karth,[35 - Karth, the town; later Cirtha, the actual Constantine.] in Byzatium (now known to us as the Tritons), are either marshes formed by the overflow of two great rivers from the south, whose waters have been diverted by Mount Atlas, or, when salt, are probably the remains of the same great sea. There are then, he represented, two mountainous ridges, the more southernly of which outpours its streams as far as the Tritonis and Mount Atlas, and the other sends its rivers, the Macar and the Bagradas, into our own Great Sea. Further west, issuing also from Mount Atlas, are other important rivers, which lose themselves in the sands. These, however, long centuries back, had an outlet into the inland branch of the great Atlantic Ocean, which, at that remote period, was the southern boundary of Libya, and extending eastwards towards the confines of Egypt, ultimately joined the Syrtes. Libya was thus a great peninsula, connected with the mainland only by a narrow isthmus, now the Straits of Gades, and enclosed on every other coast by water; on the north and east by the Syrtes, by which it was separated from Egypt; on the south by the inland sea that covered the present sandy desert; and on the west by the ocean itself.

But as time went on great changes were evolved. His face beaming with intelligence as he spoke, the old man told of mighty convulsions of the earth, and how they changed the isthmus of Gades into a strait, and how the waters were swept back by the shock, so that the whole flood of the ocean rushed through to the Great Sea, and the Great Sea receded and yielded to the upheaving of the land.

I listened with increasing interest. I knew already how the sea could overwhelm the land. I was also aware how the Siculians maintain that long ages back a neck of solid land had joined their country to the continent of the Vitalians. Many times, too, I had heard amongst Phœnicians how a deluge had detached the isle of Chittim from the mainland. And now I was hearing the wondrous tale of how the sea had retreated from the south of Libya.

He went on to say that when the waters rolled away they submerged an immense number of islands, leaving the Fortunate Islands[36 - The Canaries.] (of which I shall have to speak hereafter) as the sole representatives of what had previously been a vast archipelago, that had made communication easy, even in small boats, not only with the land of the Atlantides, but with that other great country that lies still further to the west. Now, however, that Atlantis has disappeared, all intercourse has been dropped with that remote land, from which both the red and white Libyans assert that they originally came, and whence migrating eastwards they founded cities as they advanced, became the first settlers in Egypt, and spread far and wide the knowledge of their gods, which were really the Dionysus and Minerva of the Hellenes and Vitalians, and Zeus, known among us Phœnicians as Baal-Hamon. According to their own account (which is confirmed by the Hellenes), the Pelasgians, under the leadership of Melkarth-Ouso, came into Libya, but afterwards retreated to the east. Then came the great convulsion when the land was upheaved and the waters receded, and the earth subsided into its present configuration; then, too, the Sidonians, protected by their gods, began to assert their sovereignty on the sea, and sending forth ships to every region of the world, opened emporiums of commerce, discovered mines, founded cities, taught the art of writing, and disseminated knowledge of every kind.

More and more as the aged Libyan recited his ancient legends had we become rapt in attention. Hannibal sat with his eyes wide open, and from time to time gave vent to ejaculations of astonishment; and I, though less surprised, for I had already speculated very much on these matters, was nevertheless deeply impressed with the clearness with which they had been laid before us. I retired that night with my brain agitated by excitement, and dreamed that I was commanding a magnificent fleet, and that we discovered the land beyond Atlantis; and when I woke in the morning, I made a vow in my mind that no sooner should my present expedition to Tarshish be completed, than I would set out on a voyage of discovery to the west.

We had been in Utica three days when Adonibal sent me a message that he wished to speak to me. Without loss of time I presented myself at the palace, and was conducted to the apartment from which the admiral can at once overlook the city, the harbour, and the sea. To his enquiry how long it would be before I took my departure, I replied that having taken in my cargo I hoped to sail in two days.

"Here, then," he said, "are letters for the suffects of Rusadir and Gades; and I intend to give you ten seamen to supply the places of those you have lost. I am sure there ought not to be any deficiency in your numbers in the event of your coming into collision with Bodmilcar."

I was proceeding to thank him for his liberality, but he stopped me, and said that he should have to trouble me for fifty shekels that I owed him.

I professed myself quite ready to pay anything that was due, but said that I was very much amazed to learn that I was in his debt.

"It is a mere trifle," said Adonibal, in his usual facetious way; "it will not ruin you. I should not mention it at all, only you know it is a matter of principle with a true Phœnician to keep his accounts straight. The truth is, it is a little fine. Some of your men have been half-killing a couple of my Ligurians. The knaves are down in the dungeon sleeping off the effects of their drinking-bout; but just pay their fines, and I will give you an order for their release, and, if you like, you may go yourself and fetch them out."

"Ah," said I, laughing, "you wanted to show off the efficiency of your police."

I could not help asking him whether the circumstance did not remind him of the time when I was his helmsman, and he had himself come to liberate me from the prison in Chittim, where I had been locked up for smashing the skull of the grand merchant from Seir.

"You mean when I was captain of the Achmon– and a noble ship she was," said Adonibal. "Yes, to be sure – I remember it perfectly: we were both of us younger then than we are now. When I was a youngster I was always getting into scrapes as often as I went on shore with a purse-full of money; now I am only a poor hulk, dismasted and stranded here on the shore. Such is life! while we are young we entertain ourselves with breaking each other's heads, and when we are old we busy ourselves with cutting them off."

"But, seriously, how have my men been committing themselves?" I asked.

"As far as I understand the matter," replied the suffect, "they took it into their heads to play pranks with one of the priests of Dionysos; they treated him to some wine, made him perfectly tipsy, smeared his face all over with red and blue paint, and then insisted upon making him dance. Some of my Ligurian soldiers, seeing what was going on, tried to protect the priest – an interference that your men were not in the mood to allow. They had tripped up two of the soldiers, when the Admiralty-guard came to the rescue, and quietly walked off four of your drunken fellows to me. I sent them to the dungeon, but I have not had them flogged; I am generally as indulgent as possible in the case of a sailor's spree. I am an admiral now, and old in the service, but I do not forget that I was once a young pilot."

The subterranean vaults to which I now descended were very dark: most of them were used as armouries or storehouses, but a few were set apart for prisons. The turnkey opened the door of one of these, and by the light of his torch I could distinguish Bichri and three of my sailors, all looking very sheepish, and I had some difficulty in repressing my inclination to laugh. However, I assumed a serious air, gave them a severe reprimand, and sent them out with a notice that they were not to quit their ships. They did not wait for any second bidding to be off; the Admiralty dungeons are no enviable quarters, and those who find their way into them rarely leave except for the cross or the gallows.