Chap. XIII The Continuation of the Captive’s History
I.
“Ye happy shades, whose deeds renown’d
”Have freed you from encumb’ring clay;
“From this low scene, where woes abound,
”Ascending to eternal day.
II.
“With glorious zeal your bosoms glow’d,
”Your bodies brav’d excessive toil:
“Your blood with that of Pagans flow’d,
”To drench the hostile, barren soil.
III.
“Your lives, but not your courage, fail’d;
”Death seal’d your just, victorious claim;
“Enjoy, still honour’d and bewail’d,
”Immortal happiness and fame.“
‘These are the very words which I remember,’ said the captive. ‘And if my memory does not fail me,’ replied the gentleman, ‘the other upon the fort is this.
I.
“Lo! from yon ruins on the desart plain,
”Oppress’d with numbers, in th’ unequal fight,
“Three thousand souls of Christian warriors slain,
”To happier regions, wing’d their joyous flight.
II.
“Yet not before in vain they had essay’d
”The force and vigour of their dauntless arms;
“Till wearied and reduc’d, though undismay’d,
”They welcom’d death, encompass’d with alarms.
III.
“On Afric’s coast, as records tell,
”The scene of past and present woes,
“More valiant bodies never fell,
”More spotless spirits never rose.“
The songs were not disliked; and the captive rejoicing at the good fortune of his comrade, proceeded thus in his narration.
‘The goleta and forts being taken, the Turks ordered the first to be dismantled, the other being quite demolished before it was surrendered; and that this might be done with the less trouble, and greater dispatch, it was undermined in three parts, but they could by no means blow up the old walls, which seemed to be the weakest part, while that which was executed by Fratin, was destroyed with great facility. In short, the victorious fleet returned in triumph to Constantinople, where, in a few months, happened the death of my master Uchali, who went by the name of Uchali Fartax, which, in the language of that country, signifies the Scabby Renegado; for such he actually was, and it is a custom among the Turks, to bestow epithets upon people, derived either from some defect or virtue inherent in them: this method they practise, because they have but four families distinguished by particular names, and these are descended from the house of Ottoman; so that the rest, as I have observed, adopt some appellation, either from the blemishes of the body, or the virtues of the mind. This leper, therefore, tugged at the oar, during fourteen years, as slave to the Grand Signior; and when he was turned of thirty-four, apostatized, out of resentment against a Turk, who struck him at the oar; renouncing his religion, that he might be able to revenge the affront. Such was his gallantry and conduct, that without practising those vile steps and methods by which the sultan’s favourites are raised, he was promoted to the throne of Algiers, and afterwards created general at sea, which is the third post in the empire. He was a native of Calabria, a man of good morals, and behaved with great humanity to his slaves, who, to the number of three thousand, were at his death, in consequence of his last will, divided between his renegadoes and the Grand Signior, who is also coheir with the children of all his deceased subjects. I fell to the share of a Venetian, who had been a common sailor when he was taken; and Uchali had such an affection for him, that he enjoyed the greatest share of his favour, and became the most cruel renegado that ever was known. This man, whose name was Azanaga, acquired great riches, and even succeeded to the crown of Algiers, to which place I accompanied him from Constantinople, with some degree of satisfaction, at the thoughts of being so near my own country; not that I intended to send home an account of my unhappy fate, but to see if fortune would not prove more favourable at Algiers than at Constantinople, where I had laid a thousand schemes for my escape, without having an opportunity of putting one of them in execution; but I was in hope of finding at Algiers some other more effectual means of obtaining that which I so ardently desired: for the hope of gaining my liberty never forsook my breast; on the contrary, when all my pains, efforts, and expectations, miscarried, far from abandoning myself to despair, I endeavoured to find out some new expedient, which though ever so frail and unsubstantial, served to support my spirits, and flatter my imagination. Thus I made shift to live within a house or prison, called a bath, in which the Turks confine the Christian captives, whether belonging to the king, or private persons, or of that class which they call magazine-slaves; these are the captives of the council, who serve the state in publick works, and other kinds of day-labour; and find great difficulty in obtaining their freedom, because they belong to the community, and have no particular master with whom they can treat concerning their ransom, even though they can command money for the purpose.
‘In these baths, as I have already said, some private persons lodge their slaves, especially when their ransom is agreed upon; and there they remain secure, and at their ease, until it arrives. Neither do the king’s captives, who are to be ransomed, go out to work with the rest of the crew, except when the money is delayed; and then, that they may be induced to write with more importunity, they are sent out with the rest to cut wood, an office of no small mortification and toil. As they knew I had been a captain, I in vain assured them, that I had neither interest nor money; they put me into the number of those who were to be ransomed, loading me with a chain, rather to denote my condition than to secure my person; so that I spent my time in that bath, among a great many cavaliers and people of fashion, who were thus marked and designed for ransom; and though we were sometimes, nay, almost always exposed to hunger and nakedness, nothing gave us so much pain, as to hear and see, upon every occasion, the new and unheard of cruelties which my master exercised upon the Christians. He was every day hanging one, impaling another, maiming a third, upon such slight occasions, frequently without any cause assigned, that the Turks themselves owned he acted thus out of mere wantonness or barbarity, as being naturally of a savage disposition, and an inveterate enemy to the whole human race. The person who used the greatest freedom with him was a Spanish soldier, called such-a-one de Saavedra; who, though he did many things which those people will not soon forget, in attempting to regain his liberty, he never gave him one blow, nor ordered him once to be chastised, nor even chid him with one hasty word; and yet the least of all his pranks was sufficient, as we thought, to bring him to the stake: nay, he himself was more than once afraid of being impaled alive. If time would permit, I could here recount some of that soldier’s actions, which perhaps, might entertain and surprize you more than the relation of my own story.
‘But to return to the thread of my narration: just over the yard of our prison were the windows of a rich and principal Moor; but, according to the custom of the country, they were rather like peep-holes than windows, and even these covered with very thick and close lattices. One day I chanced to be on the terrace of our gaol, with three of my companions, passing the time in trying which of us could leap farthest in our shackles, the rest of the Christians being gone out to work; I casually lifted up my eyes, and perceived a cane with a handkerchief tied to it, held out at these little openings I have mentioned, and waving to and fro, as if by way of signal for some of us to go and catch it. This object was no sooner observed, than one of my companions ran hastily to the place that was directly under it, to see if the cane would be dropped, or what would be the consequence; but when he arrived it was pulled up, and moved from one side to another, as if a man should signify his dissent from any proposal, by shaking his head: when the Christian returned, the cane was lowered again, with the same motion as at first, upon which another of our company tried the experiment, but succeeded no better than the first; a third went, and miscarried like the other two. Observing their disappointment, I was resolved to try my fortune also; accordingly, I had no sooner placed myself under the cane than it was dropped, and fell down within the bath, just at my feet. I snatched it up immediately, and untied the handkerchief, in which I found a knot containing ten zianiys, which are pieces of bad gold, current among the Moors, each of them valued at ten rials of our money. It would be superfluous to say that I rejoiced at this windfall: indeed, my joy was equal to my surprize; for I could not conceive from whence that present could come, especially to me, the circumstance of the cane’s being refused to every other person plainly shewing that the favour was intended for me. I pocketed this lucky sum, broke the cane, returned to the terrace, and looked at the window, through which appeared a very white hand, that opened the lattice, and hastily shut it again: from this circumstance we understood, or at least imagined, that we owed the present to some lady who lived in that house; and, in token of thanks, made our obeisance in the Moorish manner, by bowing the head, bending the body, and crossing the hands upon the breast. Soon after this ceremony, a small cross made of cane, was held out at the window, and immediately withdrawn: a signal which confirmed us in the opinion that we were befriended by some Christian woman, who lived as a slave in that house; but this supposition was changed, when we reflected upon the whiteness of the hand, and the bracelets which we had perceived; and then we concluded that she must be one of those Christian renegades whom their masters frequently take to wife; and even think themselves fortunate in having such an opportunity; for they esteem them much more than the women of their own nation. But all our conjectures were wide of the truth.
‘From this day forward, our whole entertainment was to gaze at the window, as the north in which the star of the cane had appeared; but full fifteen days elapsed, before we had another glimpse either of that or the hand, or indeed of any other signal; and during this interval, though we endeavoured by all the means in our power to learn who lived in that house, and whether or not there was a Christian renegado in it, we never could get any other information, but that it belonged to a rich Moor of great note, called Agimorato, who had been alcaide of Pata, an office of great honour among that people; but, when we least expected another shower of zianiys, the cane reappeared all of a sudden, with another handkerchief, and a larger knot than before, and this occurrence happened as formerly, when none but ourselves were in the bath: we made the usual experiment, each of my three companions, going towards it as at first without success, until I approached, and then it was immediately dropped. I untied the knot, within which I found forty crowns in Spanish gold, and a paper written in Arabian characters, with a large cross at the head of the page. I kissed the sacred sign, put up the money, returned to the terrace, where we made our obeisance; the hand appearing again, I made signs that I should read the letter, and then the window was shut. We were equally pleased and perplexed at this event, for none of us understood Arabick; and although our impatience to know the contents of the paper was very great, the difficulty of finding an interpreter was still greater. At length I determined to trust a renegade a native of Murcia, who had professed himself my friend, and given me such pledges of his fidelity, as obliged him to keep any secret I should think proper to impart: for those renegades who intend to return to Christendom, usually carry about with them certificates signed by the principal captives, attesting in the most ample form they can devise, that such a renegade is an honest man, who hath always been obliging to the Christians, and is desirous of making his escape with the first opportunity. Some there are who procure these testimonials with a good intention, others use them occasionally, as the instruments of their craft: for, going to rob and plunder on the Christian coasts, if they should chance to be shipwrecked or taken, they produce their certificates, and observe that these papers will shew the real design of their coming on a cruize with Turks, which was no other than to take the first occasion of returning to their native country; by these means they escape the first fury of resentment, and are reconciled to the church, without suffering the least damage; but when they see their opportunity, they return to Barbary, and re-assume their former way of life; whereas those who procure recommendations with a good design, make use of them accordingly, and remain in peace among the Christians. Such a renegado was this friend, who had obtained certificates from all my companions, conceived in the strongest terms of confidence and applause; for which, had he been detected, the Moors would have burned him alive. I knew that he could both speak and write the Arabian tongue; but, before I would disclose the whole affair, I desired him to read that paper which I had found by chance in a corner of my cabbin. He opened it accordingly, and having pored and perused it a good while, muttering between his teeth, I asked if he understood the contents. He answered in the affirmative, bidding me, if I chose to have the literal meaning, furnish him with pen and ink, that he might translate it the more exactly. I accordingly accommodated him with what he desired; and when he had made an end of the translation at his own leisure, he said, “This that I have written in Spanish is the literal meaning of that Moorish paper; and you are to take notice, that wheresoever you meet with the words Lela Marien, they signify our Lady the Blessed Virgin.”
‘The paper contained these words—“When I was a child, my father had a woman slave, who in my own language taught me the Christian worship, and told me divers things of Lela Marien. This Christian died, and I am sure her soul did not go to the fire, but to Ala; for I saw her twice after her death, and she advised me to go to the land of the Christians, where I should see Lela Marien, by whom I was beloved. I know not which way to go; many Christians I have seen from this window, but not one who seems so much a gentleman as yourself. I am very beautiful and young, and have a great deal of money in my possession. If thou canst find out any method of carrying me to thy country, thou shalt there be my husband, if thou art so inclined; but, if that be contrary to thy inclination, I shall not be uneasy, for Lela Marien will provide me with a spouse. I write this with my own hand; let nobody read it, but such as you can trust. Beware of the Moors, for they are altogether deceitful; therefore I am very much concerned, for I would not have it disclosed to any person whatever; because, if it should come to my father’s ears, he would instantly cause me to be sunk in a well, and covered with stones. I will fasten a thread to the cane, to which thou mayest tie thine answer; and if thou hast not a proper person to write for thee in Arabick, let me know by signs; for Lela Marien will help me to understand them. May she and Ala preserve thee, by means of this cross, which I often kiss, according to the direction of my deceased slave!”
‘You may easily conceive, gentlemen, whether or not we were surprized and rejoiced at the contents of this paper. Indeed, the symptoms of joy and admiration appeared so plain in our behaviour, that the renegado suspected it was not found by accident, but actually written and addressed to one of our company. He accordingly intreated us to tell him if his conjecture was true, protesting that we might safely trust to his fidelity, and assuring us, if we would favour him with our confidence, he would venture his life in procuring our freedom. So saying, he pulled from his bosom a crucifix of metal, and with many tears, swore by the God represented under the form of that image, in whom he, though a wretched sinner, fully and faithfully believed, that he would be trusty and secret in every thing we should please to communicate; for he firmly believed, and as it were prognosticated, that by means of her who had written the paper, we should all obtain liberty, and he accomplish that which he had so much at heart, namely, his re-admission into the bosom of his holy mother church, from which he, through his ignorance and guilt, had been like a rotten member, divided and cut off. This declaration he made with so many tears and signs of repentance, that we unanimously agreed to intrust him with the affair, and accordingly gave him an account of every thing that had happened, without suppressing one circumstance; and shewed him the window at which the cane appeared: so that from thence he had took, his mark of the house, resolving to inform himself, with great care and caution, of the name and quality of those who lived in it. Meanwhile, we were all of opinion, that there was a necessity for answering the billet; and there being a person present, who could perform that office, the renegado that instant wrote in Arabick what I dictated, which was literally as I shall now repeat, for of all the material circumstances of that affair, not one hath escaped my memory, which will retain them all to my last breath. In short, this was the answer which I sent to the beautiful Moor.
“MY DEAR LADY!
“Mayest thou be protected by the true Ala, and that blessed Mary the real mother of God, who, because she loves thee, hath put it into thy heart to go to the land of Christians; beseech her therefore, that she will be pleased to teach thee how thou mayest obey her commands; for she is so benevolent that she will grant thy request. For my own part, and in behalf of those who are my fellow prisoners, I promise to serve thee with our whole power, even unto death. Fail not to write and give me notice of what thou shalt resolve to do; and I will always answer thy letters; for the great Ala hath favoured us with the friendship of a Christian captive, who can speak and write thy language, as thou wilt perceive by this paper; wherefore thou mayest communicate thy will and pleasure to us without fear. As to thy offer of becoming my wife, when thou shalt be safely settled in the land of the Christians, I pledge myself thine, on the faith of a good Christian; and know, that those of our religion perform their promises more punctually than the Moors. God, and his mother Mary, take my dear lady into their holy protection!”
‘This letter being written and sealed, I waited two days until the bath was empty, and then went to the usual place on the terrace, to look for the cane, which in a little time appeared. I no sooner perceived the sign, though I could not see who made it, than I held up the letter to make her understand that she should fasten a thread to the cane; but that was already done, and I tied the paper to it accordingly. In a little time our star appeared again, loaded with the white flag of peace; which being dropped, I took it up, and found, in different coins of gold and silver, to the amount of fifty crowns, which increased our satisfaction fifty-fold, and confirmed us in the hope of obtaining our freedom. That same night our renegade returned, and told us, he was informed the house was inhabited by that same Moor I have mentioned under the name of Agimorato, who was excessively rich, and had only one daughter to inherit his whole fortune; that by the current report in the city, she was the most beautiful woman in Barbary; and that many of the viceroys who went thither, had demanded her in marriage, but she would never yield her consent; he likewise understood that she had once a Christian slave, who had died some time ago; so that all these circumstances agreed with the contents of her letter. We then consulted with the renegade about the means of transporting ourselves with the Moorish lady, into Christendom; and, at length, we came to the resolution of waiting for another intimation from Zorayda, which is the name of her who now desires to be called Maria; for we plainly perceived, that by means of her, and no other, we should be enabled to surmount all the difficulties that occurred.
‘Having come to this determination, the renegado bid us give ourselves no uneasiness, for he would either procure our liberty or forfeit his own life. The bath being full of people during four days, no cane appeared all that time; at the end of which the usual solitude prevailing, we perceived it with a handkerchief so pregnant as to promise a most happy birth. I stood under it; the whole was dropped as usual, and I found in the handkerchief another paper with one hundred crowns in gold, without any mixture of other coin. The renegade being then present, we carried him to our cabbin, where we desired him to read the letter, which he interpreted in these words.
“I know not, dear Sir, how to give directions about our passage into Spain; nor hath Lela Marien told me, though I have earnestly implored her assistance. But what may be easily effected is this: I will from this window furnish you with a great quantity of money; so that you may ransom yourself and your companions; and going to the land of the Christians, purchase a bark with which you may return for the rest; and you will find me in my father’s garden, which is by the gate of Barbazon, close to the sea-side. There I shall be during the whole summer, with my father and servants; and from thence you may, in the night, carry me to the bark without fear. But remember thou shalt be my husband; otherwise I will pray to Marien to chastise thee. If thou canst depend upon no other person for purchasing the bark, ransom thyself for that purpose. I know thou wilt be more apt than any other body to return, because thou art a gentleman and a Christian. Be sure to inform thyself well about the garden. When I see thee walking where thou art at present, I shall know the bath is empty, and provide thee with more money. Ala preserve thee, my dear gentleman!”
‘These were the contents and purport of the second paper; which being read in presence of us all, each proposed himself as the person to be ransomed, promising to go and return with the utmost punctuality; I likewise offered myself for that purpose. But the renegado opposed the proposal; saying, that he could by no means consent that one should be set free, before we had all obtained our liberty: because experience had taught him, how ill those who are free perform the promises they have made in their captivity; for prisoners of note had often practised the expedient of ransoming one of their number, to go to Valencia or Majorca, with money to purchase an armed bark, and return for his companions, but they never saw his face again; for having once obtained his own liberty, the dread of losing it again, by returning, blots all manner of obligations out of his remembrance. As a confirmation of the truth of what he alledged, he briefly recounted a case which had lately happened to some Christian gentlemen, attended with the strangest circumstances ever known even in these parts, where the most uncommon and surprizing events occur almost every day. In short, he told us, the most practicable and prudent scheme was, to give him the money we should receive for our ransom, with which he would purchase a bark at Algiers, under pretence of becoming merchant, and trading to Tetuan, and the other places on that coast; and that being master of the vessel, he would soon contrive the means of disengaging us from the bath, and getting us all on board; especially if the Moorish lady should perform her promise in supplying us with money sufficient to pay the ransom of our whole company; in which case, being no longer slaves, we might embark with the greatest ease and safety, even at noon-day. The greatest difficulty that occurred, was the backwardness of the Moors, to allow a renegade to purchase or command a vessel, unless it be a large cruizer for pirating; because they suspect, especially if he be a Spaniard, that his sole motive in buying a small bark, is to make his escape into Christendom; but he undertook to remedy that inconvenience, by giving a share of the bark and profits of the merchandize to a Tangarin Moor; by which means he should be master of the bark, and of consequence have it in his power to accomplish the whole affair.
‘Although, in the opinion of me and my companions, there was no better plan than that of sending to Majorca for a bark, as the Moorish lady had proposed, we durst not contradict the sentiments of the renegade, lest he, being disobliged by our acting contrary to his intention, should make a discovery of our correspondence with the fair Moor, and endanger not only our lives, but also that of Zorayda, for which we would have willingly sacrificed our own. We therefore determined to rely upon God and the renegado; and immediately wrote an answer to Zorayda, importing, that we would adhere in every thing to her advice, which was as prudent as if it had been dictated by Lela Marien; and that it depended solely upon her, either to hasten or retard the negociation; pledging my faith anew to become her spouse. In consequence of this intimation, the very next day, when the bath happened to be empty, she, at different times, by means of the cane and handkerchief, transmitted two thousand crowns in gold, with a paper signifying, that on the first Jama, which is Friday, she should set out for her father’s garden, but before her departure, supply us with more money; and desired us to inform her, if we should find that insufficient; for she would give us as much as we could desire, her father having such vast sums, that he would never be sensible of what she took, especially as all his keys were in her possession. We immediately accommodated the renegado with five hundred crowns, for the purchase of the bark; with eight hundred more I ransomed myself, depositing the money with a Valentian merchant then residing at Algiers, who bargained for my ransom with the king, and obtained my freedom, upon giving his word to pay the money on the arrival of the first ship from Valencia; for, if he had paid it immediately, the king would have suspected that the ransom had been some time at Algiers, and that the merchant had hitherto detained it for his own convenience. In short, my master was so contentious, that I durst by no means disburse the money at once. On the Thursday before the fair Zorayda removed to her father’s country house, she gave us another thousand crowns, and apprized us of her departure; intreating me, as soon as I should be ransomed, to make myself acquainted with her father’s garden, and find some opportunity of going thither to see her. I answered, in few words, that I would obey her in every thing, desiring she would fervently recommend us to Lela Marien in all those prayers which she had learned of the slave.
‘This affair being transacted, means were concerted for ransoming my three companions; lest, seeing me at liberty and themselves confined, since I had money enough to procure their freedom, they should be chagrined and tempted by the devil to do something to the prejudice of Zorayda; for, although their honour and integrity might have secured me against any such apprehension, I would not run the smallest risk, and therefore took care they should be ransomed by the same canal through which my liberty was obtained; depositing the whole sum required in the merchant’s hands, that he might with more certainty and confidence act the part of their bondsman; though we never disclosed to him our secret commerce with Zorayda, for fear of what might happen.’