The Adventures of Captain Mago

"Ah me!" he would sigh, as each goat-skin was drained; "another gone! we shall have nothing but water with which to greet the advent of spring. Ah, yes! it is time we were back again in Phœnicia; it would do one good to see the vines on the hill-side of Berytos."

In his forebodings Himilco found a genuine sympathiser in Hannibal, who (although I should not like to say that there was one amongst us who would not be sorry for all our wine to be exhausted) was the only one who openly shared the regret of our thirsty pilot.

At length the days grew longer and brighter, and the sea, which had been almost always angry and restless, settled down into something of a calm. Our new ship was finished. We launched it on our feast of navigation, and not only did the Cymri come to assist, but in honour of the occasion their priests and priestesses stripped themselves of their clothes, and stained their bodies with blue and black paint. In the evening we had a banquet of fish, venison, barley, and some of the esculents of the country. We also finished the last drop of our wine.

"Let us drink to our prosperous return," said Himilco.

"It is much too soon to speak about that," I rejoined; "our voyage as yet is far from its end."

Every one looked at me in bewilderment; it had never occurred to them that we could be bound elsewhere than for Sidon. Chamai asked whether we were going to have a little further benefit of "the lungs of the sea."

"You are perfectly at liberty to go home," I answered him. "This new ship has been built, and I am quite prepared to let her return with her cargo and as many of you as are no longer disposed to encounter the cold and mists."

Chamai started to his feet, and said impulsively:

"Surely, captain, you did not suppose I was in earnest; you cannot believe I was thinking of leaving you. I profess I do not like this chill and dreary climate; but you may rely on this, wherever you go, I shall go also."

I gave him my hand, assuring him that I had every confidence in his fidelity, and then proceeded to explain the motive that induced me to extend my voyage. I showed them a fragment of a transparent yellow substance, which appeared to be comparable to some of the jewels of our own land. The Celt who had given it me called it amber, and told me that thirty days' sailing to the east would bring me to the shore of a large continent where it was washed up in great abundance. Here truly was a gift from Ashtoreth!

"And who knows," I continued, "whether the vast ocean which is united to the Great Sea at the Straits of Gades may not again be united to it in the east? Hitherto we have learnt nothing about the northern shores of the Black Sea, and who can tell whether we shall not be able to return to Sidon by way of Caria and Chittim?"

The familiar sound of these names rekindled the courage of my people, who one and all avowed their intention of accompanying me eastwards to the amber-coast.

"Yes," said Himilco, "although the wine is all gone."

Our new vessel (which was called the Adonibal, after the naval suffect at Utica) was well freighted with our cargo of tin; like the other ships, she took in a good supply of water and a quantity of dry salted meat, as well as some grain and some of the sour native fruits.

After bidding farewell to the kindly-disposed Cymri, who had contributed so much to our comfort during our long sojourn among them, we put out to sea. The islanders accompanied us for some distance in their canoes, but we soon outstripped them and left them out of sight as we doubled the western extremity of Prydhayn.

Six days' rough sailing brought us to the eastern extremity of the island; thence steering due east I came to a low flat coast, along which I continued to advance very cautiously. This took us a week, at the end of which we found ourselves in a wide estuary, on the far side of which the coast resumed its northerly direction. In spite of the violent wind and angry sea I persisted in following the coast for yet five days more, seeking a passage towards the east, holding no communication with the natives, although the glow of the fires inland demonstrated that the country was inhabited. But at last the state of our provisions and the continuance of rough weather compelled us to abandon all hope of discovering a passage, even if one existed, which probably after all was not the case, and we turned back, meeting on our way four large Cymrian canoes coming back from the continent, where their crews had been collecting amber. They assured us we should find unlimited quantities on the eastern shore, and I was preparing to proceed thitherwards when we were enveloped in a fog so dense, that we were forced to lay to. We sent some boats out to reconnoitre; these had some difficulty in getting to the shore, but considerably more in getting back again to the ships, although I had lighted a number of torches and lamps as beacons.

When the fog lifted a little we made our way very gradually until we came to what looked like land. This was the amber country.

"Since there is nothing to be found at sea," I said, "let us disembark."

But disembarkment was no easy matter. We had entered, without knowing it, into what seemed to be the estuary of a river; but we were literally imbedded in mire, and it was next to impossible to define the boundary between the muddy water and the slimy shore; in the gloomy atmosphere, earth, air, sky, seemed all to be blended into one. After four or five hours' toil the Ashtoreth was moored in a small creek, and the other vessels were drawn up on what was the nearest approach to dry land that the sodden sands afforded. It took the rest of the day to dig a trench round the ships, and to make a kind of encampment for ourselves; the fog again became extremely dense, and the gloomy day yielded only to a gloomier night.

Bichri, who with twenty men had started on a foraging expedition, returned shivering with cold; he brought some good faggots, which, though they were damp, were very resinous, and burnt well. We lighted as many fires as we could, and heedless of the volumes of smoke which they emitted, we crouched closely around them as we cooked our supper.

Chamai, who had wrapped himself tightly in his mantle, was the first to break the depressing silence.

"Frightful, odious country!" he exclaimed, "can human creatures exist in such a desolation as this? It is a place for monsters, not for men!"

"It would just suit old Jonah, then," said Hannibal, with a sigh; "it would cheer us up, too, if Hanno were here to entertain us with a sprinkling of his wit."

"I do not think we need have much fear on their account," I said; "by this time, I should hope, they are pacing the sunny streets of Sidon, or enjoying the fragrant heights of Libanus."

"Yes; I daresay," Himilco assented; "and no doubt they have plenty of good wine to drink; wine, rich as nectar, from Helbon, Byblos, and Sarepta!"

"There now, enough of that," cried Hannibal; "cease your talking, or you will be making me as much a wine-bibber as yourself."

"Call me a wine-bibber?" groaned Hannibal, holding up a goblet of turbid water; "do you think this is the kind of stuff to get tipsy on?"

The dull mist grew more and more chilling, and every one appeared quite benumbed. Gebal was wrapped up in folds of woollen cloth, which Bichri had provided for him, but was almost too paralysed to make a grimace. We crouched down still closer to our fires, and obtained what unrefreshing sleep we could.

The morning dawned, grey, and almost as gloomy as ever, without one streak of sunlight. Red with anger was Chamai as he exclaimed impatiently:

"I suppose the sun does not shine in these cursed regions!"

"Oh yes!" replied Gisgo, "he does come now and then, but he finds everything so confoundedly ugly, that he is glad to get back again to the Great Sea, and to his own dear Phœnicia."

Aminocles once again became subject to his nervous fancies; he was sure that we must have entered Hades, and implored us to lose no time in offering a sacrifice to propitiate the gods of the lower world. Naturally enough we ridiculed his fears, but it cannot be denied that the influence of the climate is most depressing, and conducing to hypochondria.

I urged upon my companions the importance of our seeking communication if possible with the natives, and as soon as we had taken our morning meal we arranged to set out and explore the river. Bichri and twenty men went forward as an advanced guard; I followed with Hannibal and the main body of the fighting force; Hamilcar, with about thirty more, brought up the rear. Hasdrubal and fifty men were told off to keep guard over the ships and encampment during our absence. Just as he was setting out Bichri remarked that he wished he had Jonah with his trumpet to attract the attention of the inhabitants, but I bade him not to indulge just then in unavailing regrets.

After wading through such desperate quagmires that we could hardly determine whether we were going by land or by water, we arrived at some forests consisting of black firs, and some other trees that were remarkable for their slimness and scanty grey foliage. The soil everywhere was marshy, and often broken by large pools. Although we did not come across a human being, we observed many vestiges which showed that the place was by no means untrodden by the foot of man. In four places we passed some ruined reed-huts, surrounded by piles of ashes, numbers of shells, and some gnawed bones that bore the marks of fire. But if men were wanting, animals abounded. At every turn we noticed prints, large and small, of cloven hoofs, betokening that we were traversing the haunt both of bullocks and deer, some of the impressions being obviously those of very enormous creatures. Bichri, who followed one of the tracks for some distance into the wood, remarked that branches had been broken off the trees by the animals' horns at so great a height from the ground, that he was convinced it had been done by a beast several hands taller than the largest horse. On our way back to the camp we saw two deer of a smaller species; Gisgo recognised them as the same he had seen in the country of the Celts, who call them renns or reindeer; they took to flight immediately they caught sight of us, a circumstance that convinced me that the inhabitants were accustomed to hunt them; Bichri and Dionysos, however, not only contrived to get within bowshot of them, but brought them both down, a great boon to us all, as we were in much need of fresh meat. The renns were about the size of a donkey; they had very slender legs, large hoofs, thick grey hair, a white spot upon their breasts, and large branching horns.

Next day I sent Hamilcar with two boats to cruise along the coast, and taking nearly all the rest of my people and thirty archers with me, went myself to make a more thorough exploration of the country. We were met by a herd of wild bulls. We attacked them as vigorously as we could, but at the first touch of our arrows the brutes charged down upon us so furiously that we were obliged to take refuge behind the trees. One poor soldier who could not succeed in getting out of the way was trampled under the animals' feet, and another was tossed into the air so violently that his back was broken by the fall. Three of the bullocks were killed, and after being cut in pieces, their flesh was conveyed to the camp.

On our way back Bichri wounded a gigantic stag, which Chamai succeeded in killing by stabbing it just below the shoulder-blade. It was of a kind which Gisgo said was not often seen by the Celts, and he called it an elenn or eland. Elenns are considerably larger than horses, and as a general rule feed upon the lower branches of trees, their necks being so short and rigid that unless they can graze upon soft soil into which they can sink nearly to their knees, they cannot get their heads down sufficiently low to reach the grass; they have very formidable antlers, which do not stand high, but branch out very wide on both sides; their strength is enormous, and, unlike the rest of the deer tribe, they do not exhibit terror when attacked, but boldly front the hunter. They are consequently animals which it is by no means prudent to assail in close quarters, as we subsequently learnt by our own experience.

Hamilcar returned, bringing a fair supply of amber that he had collected along the coast.

We remained in our quarters here for more than a fortnight, spending our time in gathering amber, and subsisting upon whatever renns, elenns, or wild bulls we were able to kill.

The poor fellow who had been killed was buried where he had fallen. Over his grave was placed a stone engraved with his name and an invocation to the gods.

CHAPTER XVII

JONO, THE GOD OF THE SUOMI

After sixteen days' sojourn, finding the amber beginning to run short, and the game getting very wild, I resolved to proceed, and sailed eastwards for five days, until the lack of provisions, no less than the desire of exploring, induced me to enter the mouth of the great river we had previously seen. The aspect of the place was scarcely more inviting than where we had landed before, but we hauled up our ships, and made an encampment as near to them as we could.

On setting out next morning to explore, we had proceeded but a little way before we came upon traces proving beyond a question that human beings had been in the neighbourhood quite recently. We entered nearly a dozen of the conical huts that we came to, in one of them finding a fire still burning, and in several of the others a variety of arms and implements, consisting of weapons made of polished stone, hatchets, and some copper caldrons. Examining them with greater minuteness, we ascertained that the huts had been abandoned in great haste; not only were there fragments of partially-consumed meat and fish, but one of the litters of reeds covered with moss was still warm from being lately occupied. I felt convinced that the natives must have evacuated their tenements in alarm at our approach, and suspecting that they were still lurking about, I ordered some red cloth, some beads, some bracelets and necklaces, and other things which I thought might attract their interest, to be displayed in one of the most spacious of the huts. I next made my people retire about three hundred paces, and waited to see the result of my device.

Before long the savages returned, and seeing us stand quietly, without any apparent wish to molest them, they allowed themselves to be seen, and came nearer to us. I took Gisgo and advanced to meet them; but when he addressed them in the Celtic tongue, I found that they did not understand a word he said, but replied in a language that neither of us had ever heard before. Pointing first to a neighbouring marsh, they cried, "Suom, Suom," and then pointing to their own breasts, they said, "Suomi, Suomi," from which I conjectured that they called a marsh "suom," and that they were themselves "people of the marshes." When they showed us their stone weapons, they pointed to the north-east and said "Gothi;" and what struck me as remarkable, they used the same word when they spoke of their articles of Tibarenian bronze. I had never before heard of a people of that name, but could not help wondering whether these "Gothi" could by any possibility be Caucasians.

I had seen many savages in my time, but I had never seen savages so frightfully ugly as these; their huge heads, flat faces, small eyes, enormous mouths, sallow complexions, made up a physiognomy that was simply hideous; their short, thin legs appeared scarcely able to support their clumsy bodies. They made us understand by their gestures that their friends the "Gothi" were taller either than themselves or us.

Besides being ugly, their appearance was most sordid. None of the ornaments so frequently worn by savage tribes adorned them, but their bodies were scantily protected by fragments of skins, and their weapons, for the most part, were clumsy bludgeons, stone lances, and a kind of harpoon tipped with bone. One alone wore a necklace made of shells and pieces of uncut amber. He appeared to be a sort of chieftain, and as a token of his good-will he held out a wild bull's horn full of some yellowish fluid; I was on the point of taking the horn into my hand, when Himilco, ever ready to guzzle, raised it to his lips; but no sooner had he tasted the contents than he dashed it to the ground, and began spitting and spluttering with every expression of disgust.

"Ugh! the vile stuff!" he said, as soon as he could speak; "it's nothing in the world but beastly fish-oil! Ugh!"

We all roared with laughter; but the chief, highly offended at the way in which we received his proferred attention, assumed a threatening attitude, and in spite of my attempts to pacify him, withdrew with his followers to the woods.

Poor Himilco looked very penitent when he saw the mischief he had done.

"What a besotted idiot I am!" he exclaimed; "I declare I deserve nothing less than to be swung up to the nearest oak. But who was to know that what looked so tempting was nothing but stinking oil?"