Life And Adventures Of Peter Wilkins, Vol. I. (of II.) Read online

  CHAPTER VII.

  The author escapes with Glanlepze a native--Their hardships in travel--Plunder of a cottage--His fears--Adventure with a crocodile--Passage of a river--Adventure with a lioness and whelps--Arrive at Glanlepzis house--The trial of Glanlepze's wife's constancy--The tender meeting of her and her husband--The author's reflections thereupon.

  Having now set out with all possible speed, we seemed to each other asjoyful as we could; though it cannot be supposed we had no fears in ourminds the first part of our journey, for we had many; but as our wayadvanced our fears subsided; and having, with scarce any delay, pushedforwards for the first twenty-four hours, nature then began to have twovery pressing demands upon us, food and rest; but as one of them wasabsolutely out of our power to comply with, she contented herselfwith the other till we should be better able to supply her, and gave afarther time till the next day.

  The next morning found us very empty and sharp-set, though a very soundnight's rest had contributed its utmost to refresh us. But what addedmuch to our discomfort was, that though our whole subsistence must comefrom fruits, there was not a tree to be found at a less distance thantwelve leagues, in the open rocky country we were then in; but a gooddraught of excellent water we met with did us extraordinary service, andsent us with much better courage to the woods, though they were quiteout of the way of our route: there, by divers kinds of fruits, which,though my companion knew very well, I was quite a stranger to, wesatisfied our hunger for the present, and took a moderate supply foranother opportunity. This retarded our journey very much, for in so hardtravel every pound weighed six before night.

  I cannot say this journey, though bad enough, would have been sodiscouraging, but for the trouble of fetching our provisions so far; andthen, if we meant not to lose half the next day in the same manner, wemust double load ourselves, and delay our progress by that means; but westill went on, and in about eight days got quite clear of Angola.

  On the eighth day, my companion, whose name was Glanlepze, told me wewere very near the confines of Congo, but there was one little villagestill in Angola by which we must pass within half a league; and if Iwould agree to it, he would go see what might be got here to supplyourselves with. I told him I was in an unknown world, and would followwherever he should lead me; but asked him if he was not afraid of thepeople, as he was not of that country. He told me as there had been warsbetween them and his country for assisting their neighbours of Congo,he was not concerned for any mischief he should do them, or they him."But," says he, "you have a knife in your pocket, and with that we willcut two stout clubs, and then follow me and fear nothing."

  We soon cut our clubs, and marching on, in the midst of some smallshrubs and a few scattering trees, we saw a little hovel, larger indeed,but worse contrived, than an English hog-stye, to which we boldlyadvanced; and Glanlepze entering first, saluted an old man who was lyingon a parcel of rushes. The man attempted to run away, but Glanlepzestopped him, and we tied his hands and feet He then set up such ahideous howl, that had not Glanlepze threatened to murder him, andprepared to do it, he would have raised the whole village upon us;but we quieted him, and rummaging to find provision, which was all wewanted, we by good luck spied best part of a goat hanging up behind alarge mat at the farther end of the room. By this time in comes a womanwith two children, very small. This was the old man's daughter, of aboutfive-and-twenty. Glanlepze bound her also, and laid her by the old man;but the two children we suffered to lie untied. We then examined her,who told us the old man was her father, and that her husband, havingkilled a goat that morning, was gone to carry part of it to his sister;that they had little or no corn; and finding we wanted victuals, shetold us there was an earthen pot we might boil some of the goat in if wepleased.

  Having now seen all that was to be had, we were going to make up ourbundle, when a muletto very gently put his head into the doorway: himGlanlepze immediately seized; and bidding me fetch the great mat and thegoat's flesh, he in the meantime put a long rope he found there aboutthe beast's neck, and laying the mat upon him, we packed up the goat'sflesh and a little corn in a calabash-shell; and then turning up the matround about, skewered it together, and over all we tied the earthen pot;Glanlepze crying out at everything we loaded, "It is no hurt to plunderan enemy!" and so we marched off.

  I own I had greater apprehensions from this adventure than from anythingbefore. "For," says I, "if the woman's husband returns soon, or if sheor her father can release themselves, they will raise the whole villageupon us, and we are undone." But Glanlepze laughed at me, saying we hadnot an hour's walk out of the Angola dominions, and that the king ofCongo was at war with them in helping the king of Loango, whose subjecthimself was; and that the Angolans durst not be seen out of theirbounds on that side the kingdom; for there was a much larger villageof Congovians in our way, who would certainly rise and destroy them, ifthey came in any numbers amongst them; and though the war being carriedon near the sea, the borders were quiet, yet, upon the least stir, thewhole country would be in arms, whilst we might retire through the woodsvery safely.

  Well, we marched on as fast as we could all the remainder of that daytill moonlight, close by the skirt of a long wood, that we might takeshelter therein, if there should be occasion $ and my eyes were the bestpart of the way behind me; but neither hearing nor seeing anything toannoy us, and finding by the declivity of the ground we should soonbe in some plain or bottom, and have a chance of water for us all, andpasture for our muletto, which was now become one of us, we would nothalt till we found a bottom to the hill, which in half an hour more wecame to, and in some minutes after to a rivulet of fine clear water,where we resolved to spend the night. Here we fastened our mulettoby his cord to a stake in the ground; but perceiving him not tohave sufficient range to fill his belly in before morning, we, underGlanlepze's direction, cut several long slips from the mat, and soakingthem well in water, twisted them into a very strong cord, of sufficientlength for the purpose. And now, having each of us brought a bundleof dry fallen sticks from the wood with us, and gathered two or threeflints as we came along, we struck fire on my knife upon some rottenwood, and boiled a good piece of our goat's flesh; and having made sucha meal as we had neither of us made for many months before, we laid usdown and slept heartily till morning.

  As soon as day broke we packed up our goods, and filling our calabashwith water, we loaded our muletto, and got forward very pleasantly thatday and several others following, and had tolerable lodgings.

  About noon, one day, travelling with great glee, we met an adventurewhich very much daunted me, and had almost put a stop to my hopes ofever getting where I intended. We came to a great river whose name Ihave now forgot, near a league over, but full, and especially aboutthe shores, of large trees that had fallen from the mountains and beenrolled down with the floods, and lodged there in a shocking manner. Thisriver, Glanlepze told me, we must pass: for my part, I shrunk at thesight of it, and told him if he could get over, I would not desire toprevent his meeting with his family; but as for my share, I had rathertake my chance in the woods on this side than plunge myself into sucha stream only for the sake of drowning. "Oh!" says Glanlepze, "then youcan't swim?"--"No," says I; "there's my misfortune."--"Well," says thekind Glanlepze, "be of good heart; I'll have you over." He then bade mego cut an armful of the tallest of the reeds that grew there near theshore, whilst he pulled up another where he then was, and bring them tohim. The side of the river sloped for a good way with an easy descent,so that it was very shallow where the reeds grew, and they stood veryclose together upon a large compass of ground. I had no sooner enteredthe reeds a few yards, to cut some of the longest, but (being aboutknee-deep in the water and mud, and every step raising my feet very highto keep them clear of the roots, which were matted together) I thoughtI had trod upon a trunk of one of the trees, of which, as I said, therewas such plenty thereabouts; and raising my other foot to get that alsoupon the tree, as I fancied it, I found it move along wit
h me; uponwhich I roared out, when Glanlepze, who was not far from me, imaginingwhat was the matter, cried out, "Leap off, and run to shore to theright!" I knew not yet what was the case, but did what I was bid, andgained the shore. Looking back, I perceived the reeds shake andrustle all the way to the shore, by degrees after me. I was terriblyfrightened, and ran to Glanlepze, who then told me the danger I hadescaped, and that what I took for a tree was certainly a large alligatoror crocodile.

  My blood ran chill within me at hearing the name of such a dangerouscreature; but he had no sooner told me what it was, than out camethe most hideous monster I had ever seen. Glanlepze ran to secure themuletto; and then taking the cord which had fastened him, and tying itto each end of a broken arm of a tree that lay on the shore, he marchedup to the crocodile without the least dismay, and beginning near thetail, with one leg on one side, and the other on the other side, hestraddled over him, still mending his pace as the beast crept forward,till he came to his fore-feet; then throwing the great log before hismouth, he, by the cord in his hand, bobbed it against the creature'snose, till he gaped wide enough to have taken in the muletto; then ofa sudden, jerking the wood between his jaws with all his force by thecord, he gagged the beast, with his jaws wide open up to his throat, sothat he could neither make use of his teeth nor shut his mouth; he thenthrew one, end of the cord upon the ground, just before the creature'sunder-jaw, which, as he by degrees crept along over it, came out behindhis fore-legs on the contrary side; and serving the other end of it inthe same manner, he took up those ends and tied them over the creature'sback, just within his forelegs, which kept the gag firm in his mouth;and then calling out to me (for I stood at a good distance), "Peter,"says he, "bring me your knife!" I trembled at going so near, for thecrocodile was turning his head this way and that very uneasy, andwanting to get to the river again, but yet I carried it, keeping asmuch behind him as I could, still eyeing him which way he moved, and atlength tossed my knife so near that Glanlepze could reach it; and he,just keeping behind the beast's forefeet, and leaning forward, firstdarted the knife into one eye, and then into the other; and immediatelyleaping from his back, came running to me. "So, Peter," says he, "I havedone the business."--"Aye! business enough, I think," says I, "and morethan I would have done to have been king of Congo."--"Why, Peter," sayshe, "there is nothing but a man may compass by resolution, if he takesboth ends of a thing in his view at once, and fairly deliberates on bothsides what may be given and taken from end to end. What you have seenme perform is only from a thorough notion I have of this beast and ofmyself, how far each of us hath power to act and counteract upon theother, and duly applying the means. But,", says he, "this talk will notcarry us across the river; come, here are the reeds I have pulled up,which I believe will be sufficient without any more, for I wouldnot overload the muletto."--"Why," says I, "is the muletto to carrythem?"--"No, they are to carry you," says he.--"I can never ride uponthese," says I.--"Hush!" says he, "I'll not lose you, never fear. Come,cut me a good tough stick, the length of these reeds."--"Well," says I,"this is all conjuration; but I don't see a step towards my getting overthe river yet, unless I am to ride the muletto upon these reeds, andguide myself with the stick."

  "I must own, Peter," says he, "you have a bright guess." So taking anarmful of the reeds, and laying them on the ground, "Now, Peter," sayshe, "lay that stick upon those reeds and tie them tight at both ends."I did so. "Now, Peter," says he, "lay yourself down upon them." I thenlaying myself on my back, lengthwise, upon the reeds, Glanlepze laughedheartily at me, and turning me about, brought my breast upon the reedsat the height of my arm-pits; and then taking a handful of the reeds hehad reserved by themselves, he laid them on my back, tying them to thebundle close at my shoulders, and again at the ends. "Now, Peter," sayshe, "stand up;" which I did, but it was full as much as I could do. Ithen seeing Glanlepze laughing at the figure I cut, desired him to beserious, and not put me upon losing my life for a joke; for I could notthink what he would do next with me. He bid me never fear; and lookingmore soberly, ordered me to walk to the river, and so stand just withinthe bank till he came; then leading the muletto to me, he tied me toher, about a yard from the tail, and taking the cord in his hand, ledthe muletto and me into the water. We had not gone far before my guidebegan to swim, then the muletto and I were presently chin-deep, and Iexpected nothing but drowning every moment: however, having gone so far,I was ashamed to cry out; when getting out of my depth, and my reedscoming to their bearing, up I mounted, and was carried on with allthe ease imaginable; my conductor guiding us between the trees sodexterously, that not one accident happened to either of us all the way,and we arrived safe on the opposite shore.

  We had now got into a very low, close, swampy country, and our goat'sflesh began to be very stale through the heat, not only of the sun, butthe muletto's back: however, we pleased ourselves we should have onemore meal of it before it was too bad to eat; so, having travelled aboutthree miles from the river, we took up our lodging on a little rising,and tied our muletto in a valley about half a furlong below us, where hemade as good a meal in his way as we did in ours.

  We had but just supped, and were sauntering about to find the easiestspot to sleep on, when we heard a rustling and a grumbling noise in asmall thicket just on our right, which seeming to approach nearer andnearer, Glanlepze roused himself, and was on his legs just time enoughto see a lioness and a small whelp which accompanied her, within thirtyyards of us, making towards us, as we afterwards guessed, for the sakeof our goat's flesh, which now smelt very strong. Glanlepze whipped onthe contrary side of the fire to that where the goat's flesh lay, andfell to kicking the fire about at a great rate, which being made of drywood, caused innumerable sparks to fly about us; but the beasts stillapproaching in a couchant manner, and seizing the ribs of the goatand other bones (for we had only cut the flesh off), and grumbling andcracking them like rotten twigs, Glanlepze snatched up a fire-brand,flaming, in each hand, and made towards them; which sight so terrifiedthe creatures that they fled with great precipitation to the thicketagain.

  Glanlepze was a little uneasy at the thoughts of quitting so good alodging as we had found, but yet held it best to move farther; for asthe lions had left the bones behind them, we must expect another visitif we stayed there, and could hope for no rest; and, above all, we mightpossibly lose our muletto; so we removed our quarters two miles farther,where we slept with great tranquillity.

  Reflections on the nature of mankind have often astonished me. I toldyou at first my thoughts concerning prayer in my journey to Bristol, andof the benefit I received from it, and how fully I was convinced ofthe necessity of it; which one would think was a sufficient motive to areasonable creature to be constant in it; and yet, it is too true that,notwithstanding the difficulties I had laboured under, and hardships Ihad undergone, and the danger of starving at sea or being murdered forfood by my fellows, when there was as urgent a necessity of beggingDivine assistance as can be conceived, I never once thought of it, norof the Object of it, nor returned thanks for my being delivered, tillthe lioness had just left me; and then I felt near the same force urgingme to return thanks for my escape, as I had impelling me to prayerbefore; and I think I did so with great sincerity.

  I shall not trouble you with a relation of the common accidents of ourjourney, which lasted two months and better, nor with the differentmethods we used to get subsistence, but shall at once conduct you toQuamis; only mentioning that we were sometimes obliged to go about, andwere once stopped by a cut that my guide and companion received by aragged stone in his foot, which growing very bad, almost deprived me ofthe hopes of his life; but by rest and constant sucking and licking it,which was the only remedy we had to apply, except green leaves chewed,that I laid to it by his direction, to supple and cool it, he soon beganto be able to ride upon the muletto, and sometimes to walk a little.

  I say we arrived at Quamis, a small place on a river of that name, whereGlanlepze had a neat dwelling, and left a wife and five children
whenhe went out to the wars. We were very near the town when the day closed;and as it is soon dark there after sunset, you could but just seeyour hand at our entrance into it We met nobody in the way, but I wentdirectly to Glanlepze's door, by his direction, and struck two or threestrokes hard against it with my stick. On this there came a woman toit stark-naked. I asked her, in her own language, if she knew oneGlanlepze. She told me, with a deep sigh, that once she did. I askedthen where he was. She said, with their ancestors, she hoped, for hewas the greatest warrior in the world; but if he was not dead, he wasin slavery. Now you must know Glanlepze had a mind to hear how his wifetook his death or slavery, and had put me upon asking these questionsbefore he discovered himself. I proceeded then to tell her I broughtsome news of Glanlepze, and was lately come from him, and by his order."And does my dear Glanlepze live!" says she, flying upon my neck, andalmost smothering me with caresses, till I begged her to forbear, or shewould strangle me, and I had a great deal more to tell her; then ringingfor a light, when she saw I was a white man she seemed in the utmostconfusion at her own nakedness; and immediately retiring, she threw acloth round her waist and came to me again. I then repeated to her thather husband was alive and well, but wanted a ransom to redeem himself,and had sent me to see what she could anyways raise for that purpose.She told me she and her children had lived very hardly ever since hewent from her, and she had nothing to sell, or make money of, but herfive children; that as this was the time for the slaving-trade, shewould see what she could raise by them, and if that would not do, shewould sell herself and send him the money, if he would let her know howto do it.

  Glanlepze, who heard every word that passed, finding so strong a proofof his wife's affection, could hold out no longer, but bursting into theroom, clasped her in his arms, crying, "No, Zulika! (for that washer name) I am free; there will be no occasion for your or my dearchildren's slavery, and rather than have purchased my freedom at thatrate, I would willingly have died a slave myself. But my own ears haveheard the tender sentiments my Zulika has for me." Then, drowned intears of joy, they embraced each other so close and so long, that Ithought it impertinent to be seen with them till their first transportswere over. So I retired without the house, till Glanlepze called me in,which was not less than full half an hour. I admired at the love andconstancy of the person I had just left behind me; and, Good Heaven,thinks I to myself, with a sigh, how happy has this our escape renderedGlanlepze and his wife! what a mutual felicity do they feel! And whatis the cause of all this? Is it that he has brought home great treasuresfrom the wars? Nothing like it; he is come naked. Is it that, havingescaped slavery and poverty, he is returned to an opulent wife,abounding with the good things of life? No such thing. What, then, canbe the cause of this excess of satisfaction, this alternate joy, thatPatty and I could not have been as happy with each other? Why, it was mypride that interposed and prevented it. But what am I like to get byit, and by all this travel and these hazards? Is this the way to makea fortune, to get an estate? No, surely the very contrary. I could not,forsooth, labour for Patty and her children where I was known; but am Iany better for labouring here where I am not known, where I have nobodyto assist me, than I could have been where I am known, and where therewould have been my friends about me, at least, if they could haveafforded no great assistance? I have been deceived, then, and havetravelled so many thousand miles, and undergone so many dangers, only toknow at last I had been happier at home; and have doubled my misery forwant of consideration--that very consideration which, impartiallytaken, would have convinced me I ought to have made the best of my badcircumstances, and to have laid hold of every commendable method ofimproving them. Did I come hither to avoid daily labour or voluntaryservitude at home? I have had it in abundance. Did I come hither toavoid poverty or contempt? Here I have met with them tenfold And now,after all, was I to return home empty and naked, as Glanlepze has done,should I meet a wife, as bare as myself, so ready to die in my embraces,and to be a slave herself, with her children, for my sake only? I fearnot.

  These and the like reflections had taken possession of me when Glanlepzecalled me in; where I found his wife, in her manner, preparing oursupper, with all that cheerfulness which gives a true lustre toinnocence.

  The bustle we made had by this time awakened the children; who,stark-naked as they were born, both boys and girls, came crawling out,black as jet, from behind a curtain at the farther end of the room,which was very long. The father as yet had only inquired after them;but upon sight of them he fell into an ecstasy, kissing one, strokinganother, dandling a third, for the eldest was scarce fourteen; butnot one of them knew him, for seven years makes a great chasm in youngmemories. The more I saw of this sport, the stronger impression Pattyand my own children made upon me. My mind had been so much employed onmy own distresses, that those dear ideas were almost effaced; but thismoving scene introduced them afresh, and imprinted them deeply on myimagination, which cherished the sweet remembrance.