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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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THE 
 
 CAMEL HUNT: 
 
 NARRATIVE OF PERSONAL ADVENTURE. 
 
 BY J. W. FABENS, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "LIFE ON THE ISTHMUS 
 
 'The Hyrcanian deserts, and the vasty wilds 
 Of wide Arabia, are as thoroughfares now. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head 
 Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar 
 To stop the foreign spirits. 1 ' 
 
 Merchant of Yenioe. 
 
 NEW EDITION, 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 GEORGE P. PUTNAM & CO., 10 PARK PLACE. 
 1853. 
 
,^ 3 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 
 
 JAMES MTJNROE AND COMPANY, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 Gtft from 
 the Estate of Miss Roth Putnam 
 Oct.6, 1 981 
 
PREFACE TO NEW EDITION. 
 
 "Camels and California," says the critic — "two words that are not 
 often used in one breath." True, and a good many others, which some- 
 how have scraped acquaintance in our day, might range themselves in 
 the same category. It is quite superfluous for me to inform the reader 
 that this is a fast age — Young America has dinned that into his ears 
 pretty effectually long since — rushing along with its unearthly steam- 
 whistle, and its eternal warning of " look out for the engine while the 
 bell rings ;" which takes it for granted that there are no illiterate or 
 deaf people to be looked after — as somebody says. 
 
 But, say you, the camel is not a fast animal, and we are going to do 
 without animals. Look at the motive powers of the day—steam, ca- 
 loric, combustion. All these, I reply, create yet further uses for the 
 camel. If you doubt it, ask the jockies how horse flesh stands the in- 
 troduction of the iron racer on the course ; and as for his being a fast 
 animal, vide whatever you can find recorded upon the subject. " When 
 you shall meet a herie (or running camel), and shall say unto his rider 
 — Salem Alek — ere he shall have answered you — Alek Salem — he will 
 be afar off and out of sight, for his fleetness is as the wind." 
 
 Still doubting, you say the camel is an animal exclusively adapted 
 to the East — he will not thrive in our land. I will reply with a quota- 
 tion from history : " The horse, the ox, the sheep, the goat, and the pig, 
 were all strangers to the new world, and were brought from Europe at 
 an early period by the first settlers." Look at the innumerable herds 
 of wild cattle that literally infest the pampas of Buenos Ayres and 
 Brazil, and the scarcely less numerous troops of horses that lead so 
 free and gallant a life on the broad savannahs of Texas and New Mexi- 
 co. "Why shouldn't we have our extensive camel parks and our opu- 
 lent caravans, adding a new and strikingly picturesque feature to the 
 magnificent landscapes of our broad South- West ? 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 Will the importation pay ? I might produce a host of opinions on 
 this subject, the very names appended to which would do away with 
 any skepticism on that point ; although, now that I come to reflect, I 
 am not sure but that these minds looked rather at the greatness and 
 glory of the enterprise, and the incalculable results which our adven- 
 turous humanity was to derive therefrom, than to its aspect as a com- 
 mercial speculation. Still, the natural deduction is that it will pay — 
 
 most decidedly. 
 - 
 
 There is a portion of our country to which Indian traditions point 
 
 as the richest in mineral resources of any on the globe. This country 
 is impenetrable by the white man, in consequence of the deserts of 
 sand which hem it in, and the savage Indian tribes which defend it. 
 " Whence," asks the author of " Eagle Pass," speaking of the recent 
 discovery of an old emerald mine in a rough and arid mountain district 
 on the borders of the Red Sea — " whence came the pure and match- 
 less emeralds that decked the brow of the Aztec Emperors? We 
 have a dream that their lost hiding-place will yet be found not far 
 from the Gila." With the assistance of the camel this country may be 
 explored and made available. 
 
 The succeeding pages will explain more fully the ideas which I 
 have ventured to entertain upon the subject. The voyage therein 
 described may have taken place, or it may belong to that dreary cata- 
 logue of glorious things, " the things that might have been." At any 
 rate, the work is not a mere jeu d' esprit There is a purpose in it, and 
 the signs of the times indicate that that purpose will yet be fully ac- 
 complished. 
 
 In permitting this new edition to go forth, I must take occasion to 
 express my thanks for the favor and kindness with which the former 
 have been received, both by the general reader and the literary critic. 
 A continuation of the narrative may be found embodied in " A Story 
 of Life on the Isthmus," recently published in "Putnam's Popular 
 
 Library." 
 
 J. W. F. 
 Salem, Mass., March 1, 1853. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 California . 
 
 1 
 
 II. 
 
 " Our Noble Selves " . 
 
 5 
 
 III. 
 
 Off .... 
 
 16 
 
 IV. 
 
 Evening on Deck 
 
 21 
 
 V. 
 
 A §TORM 
 
 . 28 
 
 VI. 
 
 Forebodings 
 
 38 
 
 VII. 
 
 Death 
 
 . 48 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Mogadore 
 
 57 
 
 IX. 
 
 Almost a Row 
 
 . 64 
 
 X. 
 
 A Journey on Camels . 
 
 76 
 
 XI. 
 
 Wed-Noon . 
 
 . 90 
 
 XII. 
 
 Glorious Dick Vinal . 
 
 107 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The Seaside *. 
 
 . 125 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Isle of Sal 
 
 136 
 
 XV. 
 
 Baron Martinez 
 
 . 144 
 
 XVI. 
 
 The Ball 
 
 157 
 
 XVII. 
 
 A Eain Squall 
 
 . 173 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Return to Mogadore . 
 
 183 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Off again . 
 
 . 190 
 
 XX. 
 
 Chagres 
 
 196 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Landing of the Camels 
 
 . 213 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CALIFORNIA. 
 
 California, thou hast much to answer for. On 
 thy youthful head hang responsibilities wide as the 
 world, and whose results are only to be vaguely 
 conjectured in the far depths of centuries to come. 
 Thou art the last, and art destined to become the 
 greatest of the empires, the best beloved, the Benja- 
 min of nations. Thou art the fulfilment of the 
 poor man's hope, the realization of the poet's dream, 
 the end foreseen by the prophet when he described 
 the westward tendency of empire's star. 
 
 Yet, for long years, didst thou sleep almost as 
 soundly as when old night brooded over the earth, 
 and none foresaw the wealth and power and mag- 
 nificence biding its time so profoundly quiet in thy 
 breast. The solitary and unfrequent mariner as 
 he guided his vessel cautiously along thy sandy 
 shores, in his wildest misgivings and proudest hope 
 1 
 
6 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 for a better time coming, never dreamed of any 
 thing like this. It was reserved for the moment 
 when thou wast fairly under fhe protection of the 
 only people upon earth, who could have made thee 
 what thou art, and what thou yet shall be, that the 
 time which cometh once to all came to thee. 
 
 Nevertheless, thou hast much to answer for. The 
 parchment which ceded these broad acres was 
 stained with blood. The history of that unpar- 
 alelled immigration, which has filled thy hillsides 
 and ravines and glistening rivers with all varieties 
 of teeming life, is wet with the tears of women and 
 tender children. Many an edifice, the altar to a 
 fortune, miraculously acquired, has been reared 
 simultaneously with the planting of a grave stone 
 a thousand leagues away, on which was recorded 
 the epitaph of a broken heart. Thou hast held up 
 a glittering bait to the baser passions of mankind, 
 and the lust for gold has gathered food and strength 
 in thy dominions. Thou hast summoned men, with 
 thy strange weird power to enforce obedience, away 
 from the tenderest relations, the holiest ties, the best 
 privileges of humanity, and well is it for thee if 
 thou hast any thing to give in exchange for all this. 
 This side of the picture is undescribed, for as yet 
 
 " We but hear 
 Of the survivors' toil in their new lands, 
 Their numbers and success, but who can number 
 The hearts which broke in silence of that parting, 
 Or after their departure ; of that malady 
 Which calls up green and native fields to view 
 From the rough deep, with such identity 
 To the poor exile's fevered eye, that he 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 6 
 
 Can scarcely be restrained from treading them, 
 That melody which, out of tones and tunes, 
 Collects such pasture for the longing sorrow 
 Of the sad mountaineer, when far away 
 From his snow canopy of cliffs and clouds, 
 That he feeds on the sweet but poisonous thought, 
 And dies." 
 
 But thou hast other things to answer for, the 
 influence of which is already felt wherever thy 
 name is heard. Thou hast breathed dignity and 
 geniality into labor. The spectacle now held up to 
 the world's gaze, on the banks pf the San Joaquin 
 and the Sacramento, is well calculated to make the 
 miserable aristocrat, proud of his ill-gotten hoard 
 of hereditary riches, to tremble in his stronghold. 
 That which was once the prey of the trickster and 
 legal gambler now yields itself generously, aye, 
 lovingly to the stout hands of patient toil. The 
 noblest circle of eastern civilization is decimated, 
 that that "far land beyond the west" may have 
 other examples of physical industry, than it has 
 been our privilege to enjoy. 
 
 Thou hast afforded another shining illustration of 
 the practical working of that eminently democratic 
 motto, " The greatest good of the greatest number." 
 Thou hast shown that common and equal interests 
 and hopes, united with the sentiment of universal 
 brotherhood, can do more than stringent laws and 
 troops and prisons. 
 
 Thou hast held out the promise of a more equal 
 diffusion of the blessings of wealth, and a more 
 substantial basis for the world's trade. Thou has 
 given a new and unexpected importance to the 
 
4 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 entire shores of the Pacific, and even hinted a 
 change in old familiar lines of commerce. 
 
 Thou art the nurse of high adventure. From 
 thy unrivalled position thou beckonest with one 
 hand to the Indies, thanks to Fulton, no longer far, 
 and with the other to the cities on the Atlantic 
 shore. Not vainly, for already Cape Horn (asking 
 pardon of Magellan) has seen the wings of ships, 
 almost as thick as albatrosses sometimes nearly 
 shut, but always steadily and unflinchingly striving 
 towards the west. Would you have information of 
 the Pacific movements, ask the oleaginous monsters 
 of the deep. 
 
 And not alone on the sea is thy thrilling influence 
 felt and responded to, though the Levant and St. 
 George's channel have their story as well as the 
 bays and rivers of our own Atlantic coast. Many a 
 quiet inland village has heard from afar the rush- 
 ing of thy eagle wings, and its peaceful inaction has 
 seemed thenceforth hateful. And in the depths of 
 the silent wilderness, and on the lonely sweep of 
 the immensity of western prairie, the bare mention 
 of thy name has kindled in the breast of solitary 
 wanderers a new fire, a beacon light, calling them 
 to come on to deeds of nobler import. 
 
 To establish a better and speedier passage to thy 
 shores, was the object of " The Camel Hunt." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 " OUR NOBLE SELVES. 1 
 
 OiNE bright cold night in the early part of the 
 month of February, 1850, when the stars twinkled 
 lustily in the sky, but could not, with all their 
 ethereal beauty, call off the longing look of the 
 wayfarer from lighted window panes, there could 
 have been seen beneath the half drawn curtain of a 
 certain dwelling house, towards the south end of 
 the city of Boston, a scene singularly suggestive. 
 The room thus brought into notice was evidently a 
 library, with books, pictures, and curious specimens 
 of natural history ranged along the walls. Its 
 peculiar aspect at that moment was derived from 
 the fact, that its floor was covered with trunks, 
 baskets, valises, carpet-bags, and various other kinds 
 of packages, strewed any where and every where in 
 admirable confusion. This hinted at a sad phase of 
 human life, the sundering of domestic ties, the 
 division or dissolution of a household. While a 
 sunny side-board, on which stood a dark mysterious 
 looking bottle enveloped cosily with tiny glasses, 
 seemed to say, that in spite of the presence of 
 1* 
 
O THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 awkward realities, an attempt at geniality was still 
 to be made. 
 
 There was but one person in the room at the 
 commencement of the evening, a young man, and 
 as that young man was myself, I shall not describe 
 him more particularly. 
 
 The street bell rang in obedience to a short 
 earnest pull. A gentleman, whom I shall call by 
 the fictitious name of Major Wallack, was an- 
 nounced. 
 
 "Well, Warrener," said he, grasping my hand, 
 " this looks like it. Jove ! to think that we are fairly 
 off at last! Do you know that I feel as if we were 
 on the eve of a march, a triumphal march, and that 
 at the end I can see our entrance into a walled city, 
 and our passage through crowded streets, with fair 
 faces at the windows of stately buildings, and deli- 
 cate white hands hurling flowers upon us. This is 
 nothing, though, to the glorious satifaction one feels 
 in carrying out a cherished idea, in being of use to 
 one's generation, in fulfilling a manly destiny." 
 
 The high souled, the eagle eyed Major, I could 
 have hugged him! There he stood upright and 
 firm with his noble face glowing with a high strung 
 enthusiasm, as fine a specimen of the race of beings, 
 to whom God gave the earth as an inheritance, as 
 ever went forth to subdue it and make it a blessed 
 boon. The Major, with his long hair wandering 
 wildly down upon his shoulders, his old Roman 
 face, and his keen eagle eye, looking through the 
 mists of difficulties and paltry annoyances which 
 had long enveloped him to the great end. I loved 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. t 
 
 and respected him, then, for his stern simplicity and 
 frugality, his indomitable perseverance, his great and 
 generous soul, incapable of any thing low or mean 
 in itself, or of suspecting its existence in others. 
 But during our long subsequent intimacy, when we 
 were as brothers, united by the bond of solitary 
 adventure, endeared to each other from having been 
 the object of common jibes and sneers, and having 
 made for ourselves common enmities, I loved and 
 respected him far more. For I had seen him during 
 long days and the slow lingering watches of the 
 night at sea, in storm and calm, and all the chang- 
 ing vicissitudes of ocean life, in foreign lands, amid 
 peril and trouble, with the blear ugly eyes of that 
 hideous demon failure looking right into his soul, 
 and afterwards in all the glad triumph of success; 
 and I could not fail to observe always the same 
 patriarchal virtues, the same child-like simplicity, 
 the delicate respect for the rights and feelings of 
 others, the intense admiration of every thing great, 
 the heart-felt loathing of every thing paltry: the 
 passionate resolve ever to protect the weak and 
 resist the oppressor; the chivalric admiration of 
 woman, the tender love of children, the unchanging, 
 unchangeable faith in the everlasting good, which 
 was the God of his unpedantic creed, the suspicion 
 of which traits, even on our first interview, had 
 made me determine to 
 
 " Grapple him to my soul with hooks of steel." 
 
 The street bell rang again, and the third member 
 of our party, Tom Eddington, was announced. I 
 
8 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 never yet was successful in a personal description, 
 and therefore shan't attempt it now. The reader 
 will become fully acquainted with Tom as we 
 progress. 
 
 " What has had you, Tom?" inquired the Major; 
 "if you had been here a few minutes before, you 
 would have heard something to your advantage." 
 
 " If any body knows any thing to my advan- 
 tage," retorted Tom, "it's more than I do myself. 
 Still, I have been blackguarded so much, that I 
 should like to hear a good thing said of me once 
 in a while, just for the novelty of it. 
 
 "Don't make yourself uneasy, Tom," said I, "we 
 were only joking, there is nobody here knows any 
 thing particularly creditable about you." 
 
 "I should like to catch them at it, that's all," 
 said Tom, clenching his fists. "But trifling aside — 
 you know that I despise it — my young friends, a 
 glass of wine, here's to the hunters of the camel." 
 
 "Our noble selves," parenthesized the Major. 
 
 Which being drank, we drew our chairs nearer to 
 the table, lighted our cigars, and sat down talking 
 cheerfully together of our plans and prospects. 
 They were visionary enough, God knows, for we 
 were neophytes in an untried sphere. Still the great 
 end which we had proposed to ourselves to accom- 
 plish, was ever standing boldly up before us, and 
 could not be winked out of sight. That end was, 
 as the most illustrious geographer of the age ex- 
 pressed it, "the introduction and domestication of 
 the camel in our western and south western territo- 
 ries," to use the words of a member of the Suffolk 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. VJ 
 
 bar, distinguished alike for his sagacity and elo- 
 quence and profound patriotism, "The importation 
 of an animal, destined to be the means of opening, 
 to the indefatigable spirit of American adventure, 
 new and boundless resources, and making available 
 to our country her finest tracts,' 7 as "our noble 
 selves' 7 viewed it, to furnish to that ceaseless flow 
 of immigration, setting to the farthest west a new, 
 safer, and more speedy means of transport, to con- 
 nect the homes of our civilization with our most 
 remote frontier, to perform our humble share, in 
 rendering yet more marked, the new era which the 
 discovery of the gold mines of California has opened 
 in the world's history. 
 
 Then the conversation took another turn, and the 
 Major inquired of Tom how every thing was at 
 home. 
 
 "Well, 77 said Tom, " we're no worse than usual. 
 Jane is firm and just as divine as ever in this 
 matter, and as for Tom, junior, he was dreaming of 
 camels when I left, for he smiled pleasantly in his 
 sleep.' 7 
 
 "Jane will be the making of you yet, 77 observed 
 the Major. "She's a noble specimen of humanity. 77 
 
 "Noble!' 7 said Tom, rising from his chair, and 
 looking us full in the face. "Gentlemen, she's an 
 angel ! There's something so glorious about the 
 manner in which she has stood up to this move- 
 ment, that has divested it, in my mind, of all its 
 madcap character, and made it really a solemn 
 thing. I tell you there has been, at times, when she 
 has discoursed of the results to be arrived at by our 
 
10 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 project, such a celestial radiance hovering about her, 
 that I do believe she might have stolen in among 
 the angels, in the highest heaven, without their ever 
 suspecting the presence of a stranger. This has 
 been so marked at times, that it has almost alarmed 
 me." 
 
 " Jane," said I, "has done something more than 
 discourse." 
 
 "She has," said Tom. "Her little fortune, which 
 I was never to know any thing about, but which 
 was destined as a nest egg for the little scoundrel 
 who calls me sire, fell into this camel movement just 
 as easy as falling off a log. Not that that was any 
 thing to boast of, though," continued he, while his 
 finely formed lip curled in a contemptuous smile, 
 "considering the proffers of assistance which poured 
 in upon us on all sides, from the heavy capitalists of 
 Boston and vicinity, as soon as it was known that 
 the Major, with his long hair, was amongst 'em." 
 
 " With a vengeance ! " growled the Major. 
 
 "Such delightful sympathy as I met with," con- 
 tinued Tom, musingly, "in the bosom of my own 
 family. Such profound admiration of my sagacity 
 and business talents, as my honored father exhibited 
 when I first developed my plans, such encouraging 
 allusions to certain former projects of mine, such as 
 supplying the south of France with ice, the annexa- 
 tion of Yucatan to the United States, and the navi- 
 gation of the river Orinoco by steam." 
 
 "My father," said I, "predicted that I would 
 soon become a candidate for the alms-house." 
 
 "My father," said Tom, "said that I would be 
 lucky if I steered clear of the State prison." 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 11 
 
 " Gentlemen," solemnly observed the Major in his 
 turn, " when I left my father's house years ago, I 
 regret to say that it was without his blessing. He 
 intended me for a pill driver, while I intended 
 myself for the disgraceful profession of literature. 
 The last words which he uttered in my presence, 
 was an allusion to the gallows." 
 
 "There is one place, however, 7 ' continued Tom, 
 taking no notice whatever of the Major's ignomini- 
 ous allusion, "which must ever be holy ground in 
 our memories, a certain brisk and brilliant little city, 
 not a thousand miles from Boston, where a liberal- 
 minded spirit of enterprise and open-hearted hospi- 
 tality is the order of the day, and where our 
 advances in this camel matter were received with 
 open arms." 
 
 "Ay," muttered the Major, "with a Judas-like 
 kiss." 
 
 "A gay delightful little place, that it is," pro- 
 ceeded Tom, rubbing his hands, while the rich devil- 
 try in his eyes sparkled like lights in a fog ; " where 
 no one speaks evil of his neighbor, and there is no 
 codfish aristocracy to frown upon nature's nobler- 
 men ; where the girls marry for love and not for 
 money ; where the young are encouraged and 
 assisted in the furtherance of laudable enterprises at 
 home; where the old are never sent away, after 
 threescore years have whitened their heads, even 
 to California to die; where genius is appreciated; 
 where wealth, the result of former unexampled 
 commercial success, isn't taken into the heart and 
 there locked up so snugly that the countenance, 
 
12 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 which should mirror forth the diviner qualities of 
 the soul, looks like the tombstone of buried treasure. 
 Where the observance of the wholesome old proverb, 
 that charity begins at home, is carried to such a 
 praiseworthy extent, that it was never known to 
 have ventured abroad, even beyond the threshold 
 of its native dwelling; where the merchants don't 
 allow their ships to load and unload at other ports, 
 and consequently don't have to mow their wharfs, 
 and make them profitable in an agricultural point of 
 view; where venerable men, in the last stages of a 
 well spent life, are busy in honorable occupations, 
 and don't spend their days in standing upon the 
 corners of the streets, discussing the merits of a 
 lady's stocking, or unveiling to the gaze of morbid 
 scandal mongers, a character that had better been 
 hidden from view. Oh, it's a sweet place, a sweet 
 place — " 
 
 "Tom," said I, "hold on where you are, the place 
 you allude to is, I presume, Sleepy Hollow, a spot 
 which with all the little imperfections which you 
 somewhat satirically attribute to it, gave birth to 
 me." 
 
 "It has been the death of enough other clever 
 fellows to off-set any little share of gratitude to 
 which it is entitled on that account," returned 
 Tom. 
 
 "To be sure," said I, "it does somewhat resemble 
 a cemetery." 
 
 "At any rate," observed Tom, "one of the last 
 directories contains the sephulchral name of Coffin 
 Pitts." 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 13 
 
 "And," continued I, " the people do look like 
 corpses 'galvanized to go' — and the home list, 
 meaning thereby those people who never give their 
 anxious mothers any trouble by being out, except at 
 night, does increase, yet still we must not be too 
 hard upon it during its slumbers." 
 
 "I don't think any dread of our satire will ever 
 give it the nightmare," observed the Major. 
 
 "By the way, Major," said Tom, "do you re- 
 member that old covey, who once hailed you on 
 'change in Sleepy Hollow, to ask for information 
 about your hair !" 
 
 " What was that?" inquired I. 
 
 "An old wretch," said the Major, "whom I had 
 never seen before, stopped me and actually seized 
 me by the button-hole." ' Sir,' said he, ' if it be 
 not an impertinent question, allow me to ask why 
 you wear such long hair?' 'Sir,' said I, 'it is an 
 impertinent question,' and so left him." 
 
 " He thought you a harem scarum sort of a chap, 
 probably," said Tom. 
 
 "Did you know Ashton, the celebrated natural- 
 ist?" inquired the Major; "well, he used to live in 
 Sleepy Hollow, but was finally driven out, having 
 been proved guilty of possessing brains. When he 
 left he made a solemn vow never to return. But 
 after the railroad was built, he did compromise with 
 his conscience by going through under ground. 
 When in the tunnel he used frequently to perpetrate 
 a horrible conundrum, which run something in this 
 wise, 'Why is Sleepy Hollow like a potatoe hill? 
 Because the best part of it is under ground.' " 
 2 
 
14 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 "That last will do, gentlemen/' said I, "but 
 before dropping the subject, allow me to observe 
 that there are many honorable exceptions to the 
 character which you thus deal out by wholesale to 
 the inhabitants of Sleepy Hollow, men who have 
 spent princely fortunes in improving and beautifying 
 their native place; and who have done this without 
 regard to the per centage it was to return as an in- 
 vestment. There are others, as I have heard, whose 
 sole business it is to hunt up cases of want and 
 destitution, and administer relief. I have now in 
 my mind's eye a distinguished gentleman, who may 
 properly be termed the great benefactor of one por- 
 tion of the old Hollow, for many years neglected 
 and poverty stricken, till he conceived the grand 
 idea of rebuilding it and restoring to its neighbor- 
 hood its ancient trade and influence, bringing in its 
 train employment and consequent comforts to many 
 a sorrowing household, and this too at a direct and 
 immediate sacrifice of his pecuniary interests. I am 
 no flatterer of the great, but such men I honor from 
 my soul ! " 
 
 "Of course," answered Tom, "just as sure as seed- 
 time and harvest follow each other in regular rota- 
 tion, just so sure is it that exceptions prove the 
 rule." 
 
 Notwithstanding the bantering tone which our 
 conversation had taken, we had little cause for jest. 
 We had experienced difficulties of a^l sorts, and had 
 succeeded in arranging our preliminary matters, only 
 because we had determined not to be disheartened, 
 pledging to each other in this cause, "our lives, our 
 fortunes, and our sacred honor." 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 15 
 
 Oar attempts at raising the necessary funds had 
 been somewhat laughable, but as a few merry 
 moments were their sole result, I shall not further 
 speak of them. Those who, like the priest and the 
 Levite, gave us a wide berth in passing, are too 
 snugly encased in an armor of self-satisfaction to be 
 reached by any shot of mine. To those who would 
 have assisted us, but lacked the means of doing so, 
 I can only say that, during our voyage, they were 
 often alluded to in our pleasant moments, and are 
 still cherished in affectionate remembrance. 
 
 Our capital at the outset consisted of the Double 
 Eagle, a clipper brig, which by some strange species 
 of good luck has fallen into my hands. The little 
 fortune of Jane Eddington, which she had con- 
 tributed from a high sense of duty, was the canal 
 through which our saucy craft was conveyed to the 
 ocean. 
 
 But we were strong in ourselves, in the respect 
 and esteem which we felt for the motives and ends 
 of each ; and particularly were we strong in the 
 presence and sympathy of our wives. In our little 
 circle without one feeling of distrust or one back- 
 ward glance, we could have defied the world and 
 met its crushing onset together, with a pitying 
 smile. 
 
 When we rose to separate for the last time in our 
 old New England haunts, the Major filled our glasses 
 again, and solerffnly proposed " The Camels." 
 
 After drinking which, we shook hands and bade 
 each other good night. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 OFF. 
 
 Off — not quite, for when we met on the wharf 
 next morning, there was a stout gentleman in a light 
 coat perambulating the quarter-deck, who was cer- 
 tainly not the captain, or either of the mates, and 
 didn't look at all like any of the crew. 
 
 We all arrived alongside at about the same hour, 
 the very respectable State street one, of ten, A. M. 
 The Major and his beautiful little wife were in the 
 van, on the very capstan of the wharf, for that 
 matter, looking profoundly down into the vessel, 
 which, as the tide receded, had gradually sunk to a 
 distance of some two or three feet from the wharf. 
 Tom Eddington and his better angel, Jane, with 
 little Tom, were perched upon a pile of boards close 
 by, taking a general survey, while my wife and I 
 hung back a little, from a sort of undefined suspicion 
 which came over me relative to the business which 
 had given us the honor of a visit from the man in 
 the light coat. 
 
 "See how he lifts his leg," sung out Tom, to a 
 finely built, joyous looking seaman, leaning over the 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 17 
 
 brig's rail, who had evidently been scraping an 
 acquaintance with Tom for a moment previous to 
 our arrival. 
 
 "I would like to lift mine a little higher/' re- 
 marked the man, and give him a Dutchman's hint 
 that his presence could be dispensed with. 
 
 Just then, Jim Wilson, our captain, better known 
 amongst his friends as " Uncle Jim," came up out 
 of the cabin. 
 
 " Holloa," says he, "come on board; there's some 
 fun left yet, I tell you. Tumble down here and let's 
 enjoy it all together." 
 
 Then we embarked. In addition to the crowd 
 already mentioned, there were my brother and a 
 friend by the name of Sohier, who came down to see 
 us off, besides a certain little responsibility of my 
 own, a mischievous little scamp, named Warren 
 Warrener, the youngest of three heirs to my estate, 
 and two young ladies from Erin's green isle, who 
 were provided especially to furnish a little additional 
 care to our worthy wives. 
 
 "This gentleman," said the captain, introducing 
 the stranger with mock solemnity, "is Mr. John 
 Cockney Bull, a backslider from the society of re- 
 formed inebriates, who has risen step by step in his 
 various professions until he has finally arrived at 
 filling the responsible office of keeper on board the 
 Double Eagle; she having been seized by the mar- 
 shal for a bill of fixings, amounting to a few hundred 
 dollars, which, it appears, has been carelessly over- 
 looked in your previous settlements." 
 
 The man in the light coat smiled pleasantly, and 
 2* 
 
18 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 very vacantly, as he bowed to us in general, and 
 observed, with an oath, that our captain's statements 
 were correct in every particular. He then resumed 
 his perambulations, still continuing to smile with per- 
 fect good humor at the fore-yard on one tack, and a 
 point in space some two rods above the taffrail on the 
 other, while the crew indulged in various little pleas- 
 antries at his expense, inquiring, among other things, 
 if he had been " to see the Indian Queen" lately. 
 Also, if he could inform them at what time the Cape 
 Ann stage went out, and occasionally observing that 
 he was ahead of the ship's reckoning, and reared and 
 pitched as if he was in the Gulf Stream or the South 
 Channel at the very least. 
 
 As we were ready to sail, this little matter was an 
 annoyance. We, however, by a direct contribution 
 raised the necessary funds, and Sohier was about 
 leaving to settle the matter, when the mate stepped 
 below to inquire if he should have the grinning land- 
 lubber arrested for theft, as he had taken two heavy 
 pulls at the cook's gin bottle since we came below, 
 or pitch him into the dock, as his imaginary gale was 
 increasing; and he showed signs of soon becoming 
 seasick. This course was declined, and Sohier de- 
 parted. 
 
 He soon returned with a discharge, the brig's fasts 
 were loosed, her topsails sheeted home, and the last 
 plank about to be drawn on board, when a chaise 
 with a sheriff inside drove furiously down the wharf. 
 A red-faced man, with a cockade on his hat, jumped 
 out, and stepping up to the good looking sailor before 
 alluded to, who was steadying the plank for the light- 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 19 
 
 coated man to come on shore, informed him that he 
 was arrested for a debt of thirty dollars. The shock 
 communicated to the sailor by this intelligence, was 
 so sudden and severe, that by an involuntary nervous 
 impulse the end of the plank was shoved from the 
 wharf, and Mr. John Cockney Bull precipitated into 
 the muddy waters of the dock. This raised an 
 admiring shout of laughter from a group of Irish- 
 men on the wharf, while the man of many liquors 
 floundered ludicrously in an element with which he 
 was by no means familiar. 
 
 The brig was now fairly under weigh, and moving 
 steadily through the water at the rate of three or 
 four knots. I began to think it was the captain's 
 intention to leave the good looking sailor, whose 
 name I afterwards learned was Bill Smith, to the 
 tender mercies of the sheriff and his gang. But 
 when I happened to look back, I observed certain 
 pantomimics going on between Tom and the man, 
 which consisted in Tom's applying the forefinger of 
 his right hand to the right side of his nose perpen- 
 dicularly, and throwing out his tongue rather sud- 
 denly, which was answered by the man's hauling 
 down the lower lid of his left eye to a fearful extent, 
 evidently meaning to ask us if we saw any thing 
 green there. Then, with the rapidity of a pistol's 
 flash, he untwined himself from the sheriff's em- 
 brace, and by a graceful gymnastic evolution laid 
 that respectable officer flat on his back, and without 
 a word of adieu sprang into the water, where he be- 
 stowed one parting kick upon the carcass of the now 
 sobered cockney, and dashed out vigorously for the 
 
20 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 brig. When he climbed up the vessel's side, now 
 going bravely through the element with her top-gal- 
 lant sails set, a shout of wild delight, like those which 
 of old awake the echoes of Tipperary and Gurtna- 
 mora, arose from the assembled sons of Erin on the 
 wharf. After it died away, one of the party stepped 
 forward and sung out at the top of his lungs, " Avast 
 there a bit, and shure if ye can tell us the name of 
 the owners of yer saucy craft, arent we all sworn 
 to go and do a day's work for 'em, frae, gratis, for 
 nothing." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EVENING ON DECK. 
 
 There is a peculiar sensation usually experienced 
 when one feels the first motion of a ship as she starts 
 out on a long ocean journey. It is almost always 
 solemn, often sad. As he leaves terra fir ma, with all 
 its comforts and conveniences, and turns his gaze 
 seaward to the vast solitude of waters which can 
 yield him nothing but a means of transport, and 
 knows that for many days and nights he is to be in 
 silent communion with its solitary turbulence, or its 
 profound repose, he feels awed and half longs for 
 another look at the green trees and hills and busy 
 dwelling-places of the shore below the horizon. But 
 our case was an exception. 
 
 When we knew that we were fairly off, that all our 
 annoyances were behind us, dwindled to the merest 
 point, that nothing could keep us back from the pur- 
 suit of our darling project, we felt a gushing sense of 
 joy and freedom indescribable in words. I remember 
 well how jocosely we pitied the homeward bound 
 vessels going into the bay, laden with the cotton of 
 New Orleans, or the riches of the East, for our 
 
22 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 adventure was still before us, teeming with rich 
 promises. The only unpleasant moment of that 
 day, was, when Sohier and my brother left us to 
 return to town, which they did with the pilot off 
 Deer Island. 
 
 The day drifted away dreamily and swiftly, for 
 the delicious relief we experienced on being free 
 from the harassing cares of our outfit, brought with 
 it the most delightful and soothing emotions. It 
 was so pleasant to sit together on the quarter-deck, 
 watching the knowing looking little craft as she 
 hung on the wind with such an easy, steady, con- 
 fiding air, and stood bravely out towards the deep 
 sea ; to gaze from her trim hull, her clean decks and 
 cream colored bulwarks, with two red port-holes of 
 a side, and every rope coiled systematically in its 
 place, to her graceful spars and sails, that carved 
 out circles in the blue sky, and seemed to woo the 
 winds; so cheerful to look upon the gallant seamen, 
 with countenances unlike enough to those we see 
 on State street, going silently, but not sadly, about 
 their work, tightening a rope here, and covering an 
 exposed spot there, and preparing the little vessel 
 with as much thoughtful foresight as a mother 
 would a son, for its encounter with the elements. 
 Our captain, too, was a character to study in a 
 quiet lazy sort of way, sauntering so lordlike on 
 the weather quarter, and casting every now and 
 then such an extremely sapient look at the sky and 
 clouds, and to the windward horizon afar, as if he 
 and the clerk of the weather had not only met 
 before, but were intimate acquaintances. Then 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 23 
 
 there was another part of the scene which was very- 
 interesting, and had a comic cast withal. That was 
 the galley and vicinity, including the hen-coop, pig- 
 stye, and cow-shed. In the centre of this rural 
 spot was an unquestionable Ethiopian, somewhat 
 advanced in life, but with all the good-natured 
 rolicking characteristics of his country fresh upon 
 him. Bless his old ebony countenance, how it 
 used to glisten and beam with satisfaction, as he 
 sweltered over his fire during the hot days of the 
 voyage, in preparing " the best of fare, 'sidering 
 what he had to do with," as he chucklingly termed 
 his excellent dishes. So the day went pleasantly 
 by, the many novelties about us eliciting occasion- 
 ally an idle remark, but when looking and talking 
 bore the remotest resemblance to work, and the 
 faintest signs of fatigue were visible, we just shut 
 our eyes, and were content to snuff up the fresh sea 
 breeze, abandoning ourselves to the most exquisite of 
 reveries. 
 
 When evening came we assembled again on the 
 quarter-deck. It was a fine clear night. The sky 
 was thickly studded with stars, above the fleecy 
 clouds were drifting seaward, and we, with all our 
 snowy toggery set, followed like a white cloud 
 below. 
 
 "See," said the major, suddenly, "there's a 
 light away off here abreast of us. Where can that 
 be?" 
 
 "Cape Cod Highlands," answered the captain, 
 pausing a moment in his rounds. 
 
 "Can it be possible," asked Jane, with a very 
 
24 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 common simplicity, "that people live so far out to 
 sea ? " 
 
 "We are not such an extraordinary distance," 
 said the captain. "I think we have sailed some 
 forty miles from Boston." 
 
 " God be praised for those forty miles at any 
 rate!" ejaculated the major, fervently. 
 
 " They must be a lively set of boys," said Tom, 
 " who reside on the cape, and the business of 
 wrecking, which I understand they follow to con- 
 siderable extent, must be highly convivial." 
 
 The captain was about to correct Tom's under- 
 standing with regard to the pursuits of the cape 
 boys, when Jane interrupted him. 
 
 "What a glorious idea is that of the light-house. 
 How calm and steady old Cape Cod shines, and to 
 think that it is never missing at its post night after 
 night, answering the radiance of the stars, and often 
 outwatching them, or flinging back its own glimmer 
 like a ray of sunlight through the storm, to cheer or 
 to warn, but always for good ! " 
 
 "It is truly so," said the major, "and calmly 
 as we regard it, there may be some at this very 
 moment looking at it with eyes dim with joyful 
 tears, some who see it after years of absence, and 
 forget, in its bright presence, the storms which 
 threatened to engulf them off the Horn, or the 
 sickness which unmanned them in a foreign land; 
 they look upon it as one of the great eyes of their 
 country, looking out for them over the deep, and 
 brightening at their return." 
 
 "Ay," said the captain, "you are right enough 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 25 
 
 there; many a poor fellow has seen the night when 
 he would have bartered a kingdom, for a good 
 squint at the Highland light, not such a very 
 brilliant affair in itself after all, and yet has gone to 
 the bottom without a murmur." 
 
 " Because," continued the major, following up the 
 captain's remarks, "he died in the breach. He was 
 fulfilling a destiny, such as the highest must admire. 
 A sailor who dies at sea, in the pursuit of honest 
 enterprise, ought not to whimper like a cowardly 
 landlubber between the sheets, for his last act is in 
 accordance with the intentions of the Almighty, 
 when he made man, and bade him i work out his 
 own salvation.' " 
 
 " A curious interpretation of a very orthodox 
 passage," observed Tom. 
 
 "My belief is," said the major, "that an idler 
 loses all claim to a share in the kingdom of heaven. 
 While there is so much remains to be done in this 
 planet, the man who does nothing for the common 
 good, is worse than a sneak, he is a criminal." 
 
 "Come in lemons and be squeezed," parenthesized 
 Tom. 
 
 "And," pursued the major, "he is for the same 
 reason entitled to a larger portion of the bliss yet in 
 store for humanity, who denies himself like the 
 sailor, so many comforts and luxuries, and goes 
 bravely forth to meet the elements, and make them 
 subservient to the wants of his brethren." 
 
 "But these people who live here," said Jane, 
 coming back to the starting point in the conversa- 
 3 
 
26 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 tion, " must be a different style of folk altogether, 
 from those we meet in the city." 
 
 "Of course they are," said Tom, "they wear 
 tremendous boots, call codfish cape turkeys, are 
 visited semi-annually by a writing-master with long 
 hair, sport a pony express, which travels through 
 the sand at the rate of seven miles in four hours, go 
 to meeting regularly every Sunday morning, and 
 spread their nets for fish in the afternoon." 
 
 "Tom, you are too bad," said Jane, with a 
 reproving smile. 
 
 "I only know what I have heard," answered that 
 gay young gentleman. "I was told that a young 
 minister once exchanged with the Provincetown 
 preacher, and after the forenoon's service, stated 
 that he should preach again in the afternoon, at the 
 same place, service to commence at half past two 
 o'clock. This announcement caused no little con- 
 fusion among the congregation, who looked from 
 one to another more in sorrow than in anger. An 
 explanation was needed, and at last a voice was 
 heard to call on 'Skipper Gurry ' to explain. The 
 cry was echoed on all sides, ' Yes, skipper, you tell 
 him/ accompanied by exclamations from the ladies 
 of, 'poor fellow, and so young.' When 'silence, 
 like a poultice, came,' an old gentleman rose and 
 said; 'Sir, you're a stranger, and we have heard 
 what you had to say this morning, but it has been 
 thought best for me to inform you, that you needn't 
 trouble yourself to come down here this afternoon 
 to preach, as we're all going over to Truro to help 
 the neighbors spread fish.' " 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 27 
 
 "Tom is so fond of anecdotes,'' apologized Jane, 
 "that he never inquires into the correctness of 
 them." 
 
 " And Jane is so misty and ethereal," retorted 
 Tom, "that I expect to see her translated to heaven 
 one of these days, as Enoch was, balloon fashion." 
 
 So different were the humors of this strange 
 couple, and yet they loved each other as only the 
 true and large hearted know how to love. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 A STORM. 
 
 The first three days of our voyage were pleasant, 
 but towards evening of the fourth, a threatening 
 aspect appeared in the northwest. Cloud upon 
 cloud seemed gathering there, and uniting their 
 colors and strength, till the intensity of blue deep- 
 ened almost into black. There they lay piled when 
 the sun went down, refusing sternly to be gilded 
 by his parting rays, and evidently awaiting the 
 shadows of night, to let loose their pent-up fury. 
 
 "There's a Jack nor 5 wester coming," said the 
 captain, as we took our seats at the supper table, 
 " that'll give our sticks a trial. " 
 
 "Aye," observed the mate, with eyes intent upon 
 his cup of strong black tea, " it looks wicked." 
 
 " Our passengers already begin to look a little 
 blue about the gills," continued the captain, pleas- 
 antly, "but we are hardly in the Gulf as yet; 
 to-morrow, if we have good luck, and we happen to 
 catch an old-fashioned nor' wester at the same time, 
 there'll be plenty of room at table, and fat pork and 
 molasses will go a begging." 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 29 
 
 "I should like, of all things," said Tom, "a real 
 screaming gale. I left my accounts in rather an 
 unsettled state, and should be glad of an opportunity 
 to cast them up here." 
 
 We began to experience the premonitory symp- 
 toms of a storm. The wind had lulled for a 
 moment, and the swell was increasing, which, 
 mingling with the current, and running crosswise to 
 it, caused a very unpleasant motion in our little 
 craft. There was a certain gloom and dampness 
 in the atmosphere, which forebode something, we 
 hardly knew what, and would have had a very 
 depressing effect on our spirits, but for an incident, 
 laughable enough under the melancholy circum- 
 stances in which we were placed. 
 
 We had for steward a mulatto boy, son of a 
 colored preacher, who, we learned to our consterna- 
 tion, after we were fairly under weigh, had never 
 been to sea before. This young man, the son of 
 pious parents, had received such an exclusively 
 excellent moral education, that he was totally 
 unfit for the practical duties of life, and was con- 
 tinually suffering his imagination to lead off into 
 the regions of nowhere, when he was expressly 
 wanted to attend to the duties for which he shipped, 
 in the very tangible locality of the Double Eagle. 
 
 In the business of setting the table, he was pecu- 
 liarly unfortunate, and the ironical manner in which 
 the captain was pleased to correct him, only served 
 to complete the ordinary confusion of his ideas, and 
 put him in a state of the most ludicrous bewilder- 
 ment. On this evening the prospect of a gale had 
 3* 
 
30 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 somewhat alarmed him, and he went through the 
 motions, as if his heart was fin the highlands," 
 or any where but where it should have been. 
 
 When the captain was about to carve the "salt 
 horse," as he termed it, it appeared that the carv- 
 ing knife was missing. " Here, steward," said he, 
 " take away this carving knife; we can master a 
 tender animal like this with our fingers." 
 
 The steward looked vacantly at the table, but 
 seeing no carving knife to remove, waited further 
 orders. 
 
 " Thunder and Mars ! " roared the captain, " why 
 don't you bring along the carving knife, and wake 
 up?" 
 
 "Aye, aye sir, pretty directly," was Stephen's 
 stereotyped answer. 
 
 By several similar orders the table was at last 
 covered, and after Stephen had at the special request 
 of the captain taken a survey thereof through the 
 spy-glass, and seen nothing wanting but salt, he 
 was allowed to go ; and Bridget coming in at that 
 time with a pitcher full of bilge-water, which she 
 got from the pump, as she stated, created by her 
 mistake such feelings of droll disgust, that the cler- 
 gyman's son, with all his weaknesses, was for a 
 moment forgotten. 
 
 For a moment only. A single sip of the tea 
 showed it to be of most extraordinary strength, as 
 if the boy had taken counsel of his fears, and seeing 
 the approach of a dirty night, had resolved that the 
 officers should be awake and watching. It was in- 
 deed strong without a parallel. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 31 
 
 "Dish water again!'' mattered the captain, as 
 he sung out for " steward," 
 
 "Oh, don't be too hard with the poor crature," 
 interposed Miss Bridget, " for shure I knowed he 
 had a failing for bringing down wake tay, and it's a 
 very large handful that I put in meself." 
 
 "Steward! " again roared out the captain. 
 
 "Was it you called," asked the boy, presenting 
 himself. 
 
 "Steward," said the captain, eyeing him sternly, 
 " this is the third time that you have forgotten the 
 tea, and given us nothing but hot water for supper. 
 If it occurs again, look out ! " 
 
 The boy turned several shades whiter, and almost 
 held his breath in astonishment at the accusation. 
 His knees fairly shook under him, as he lifted up 
 his hands and answered solemnly, — 
 
 "Captain, I knowed as how you liked it strong, 
 and so help me God, Davy Jones' locker or not, I 
 put in a heaping quart." 
 
 The idea of three pints of tea to about three 
 quarts of water, was so very excellent, that we all 
 drank of the mixture without a murmur. All symp- 
 toms of qualmishness immediately vanished, and 
 the cheerful effects of the beverage were soon visible 
 in the extreme gaiety which followed. Old jokes, 
 long forgotten, were dragged from their dormitories, 
 and recracked with a gusto undreamed of in their 
 original career. The Major was decidedly rich in 
 ranger reminiscences, while Tom and I discussed 
 college scrapes, and the ladies of our party with be- 
 coming modesty went back to their school days. For 
 
32 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 all that our conversation and demeanor showed, we 
 might have been in the extensive kitchen of some 
 old farm-house toasting our shins before a glorious 
 old fashioned wood-fire, to the music of hissing cider 
 and cracking nuts ; instead of under the deck of a 
 frail bark, in the depth of winter, on the northern 
 edge of the Gulf, and a wicked nor'wester already- 
 muttering in the distance. The captain, too, unbent 
 somewhat from his usual severity, and made an- 
 other call for the steward, whom he complimented 
 jocosely on the excellence of his tea, assuring him 
 that he freely forgave him for his lack of experience. 
 Which condescension was rather doggedly received 
 by Stephen, who was evidently very foggy as to its 
 import. 
 
 The gale soon commenced in good earnest. The 
 creaking timbers, and straining spars — and now 
 and then a thump from a huge sea breaking against 
 our sides — told us that our little vessel was bravely 
 breasting the elements. With the exception of Tom 
 we all retired to our berths; though, thanks to the 
 steward's tea, sleep was out of the question. The lit- 
 tle ones alone slept soundly during that war of winds, 
 occasionally aroused by a heavier lurch than ordi- 
 nary, and immediately relapsing into their quondam 
 state of repose. Tom, attired in a complete suit of 
 pilot cloth, with a most unmistakable sou'wester 
 on his head, announced his intention of standing 
 watch. 
 
 "Take good care of the cow, Tom," said one. 
 " See that there's no foul play in the hen-coop/' 
 said another. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 33 
 
 " Don't forget to call us," observed the major, "if 
 the cook wants a reef in his stove pipe." 
 
 " Mind and don't get asleep, Tom," cautioned the 
 captain, "and no smoking abaft the bobstay." 
 
 Tom was not long on deck. He soon returned, 
 drenched through. On being asked how the brig 
 headed, he honestly averred that he did not know, 
 but that she seemed in as great a fix as the man 
 who was knocked into the middle of next week 
 and looked both ways for Sunday. Tom then fol- 
 lowed the example of all the rest, and turned in. 
 
 "Hilloa," said the major, pointing to the staircase, 
 " here's a living proof of the truth of the assertion 
 made by William Shakspeare, that "there be land 
 rats and water rats," for surely this is one of the 
 latter. 
 
 It was the mate, enveloped in an entire suit of 
 rubber cloth, looking as the last man must have done 
 who got into the ark. 
 
 Tom inquired if it sprinkled, but the mate, intent 
 upon his duty, proceeded steadily to the state rooms 
 of the second officer, and having first proposed an 
 interrogatory in no whispered tones, as to whether 
 life was extinct in his body, called out grimly, 
 "shorten sail." 
 
 This laconic order has .never at any other time 
 been heard by me without being accompanied by 
 some shadowy forebodings of evil. It is no cheerful 
 sight to see a poor fellow, just snugly ensconced 
 within his blanket after a weary watch on deck, and 
 fairly embraced in the arms of the " sweet restorer," 
 dreaming perchance soothingly of his hearth-side 
 
34 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 and its happy faces, roused suddenly to face the 
 chilling blast, and do combat with the roaring ele- 
 ments on a frail spar high in air; to know that he is 
 to be wet to the skin, and scarcely reclothed ere the 
 same stern summons may call him forth again, or to 
 take the sailor's too frequent lot expressed in their 
 peculiar terms, "to turn in wet and turn out smok- 
 ing." This has always seemed to me one of the 
 hard things of life; but now the spirit of strong tea 
 was careering madly in our veins, and all this too 
 furnished food for our carousal. 
 
 As the gallant fellow went somewhat sleepily but 
 unflinchingly about his task of dressing, and crept 
 up the cabin stairs to answer the requisitions of the 
 howling tempest, and show the wind-god that we 
 were ready to meet him even in his maddest revel, 
 I am sorry to say, that unfeeling allusions were made 
 to umbrellas, india rubber over-shoes, and the like; 
 and Tom went so far as to hint that if working 
 nights was the rule on board of that ship, he should 
 trouble somebody to pass his hat, and go on shore 
 forthwith. 
 
 Our spirits never flagged, and what was strangest 
 of all, none of us were sick. Reminiscences of the 
 past flitted drolly before us, and the fun we extracted 
 from every thing about us made that otherwise fear- 
 ful night pass swiftly by. It is now more than a 
 twelvemonth since. Our little party is scattered far 
 and wide, and one sleeps calmly and forever in the 
 bosom of the sea ; but I can recall every incident of 
 that strange scene as vividly as if it were now re- 
 acting before me. It was one of those rare moments 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 35 
 
 of existence when the corporeal frame is in complete 
 subjection to the spirit, which goes revelling through 
 time and space, acknowledging no law but its own 
 wild will ; when nothing is so sacred but that we 
 may approach and commune with it, nothing so high 
 and hallowed in man's esteem, but that, if we see it 
 to be false and worthless in itself, we may tear the 
 veil from its ghastly or putrid form, and exult 
 laughingly in the act. 
 
 And it was not only of the past that we spoke. 
 The " Jerusalem of our early days " claimed not all 
 our thoughts and conversation. Did we not, from 
 the very nature of our enterprise, belong to the 
 Future? Were we not an outguard of that gallant 
 army already far on its unwavering march to the 
 Pacific shores? Had not the same wild spirit of 
 chivalry animated us, which had sent so many 
 thousands out before, to do battle on a foreign shore 
 for the dear ones left behind, and win for their pos- 
 terity a name and honor among men ? Aye, were 
 we not rather all crusaders — and was not this last 
 crusade the noblest according to the spirit of the 
 age? Is not gold a god, and were we not bound to 
 rescue it from the miserable Indians and Kanakas 
 who from time immemorial have guarded its holy 
 sepulchre? 
 
 As we lay there, unmindful of the dangers which 
 encompassed us, we thanked God again, as we had 
 often before done in the solitude of our own musings, 
 for California, his last most acceptable gift to man. It 
 was glorious to think that the glittering metal, which 
 heretofore, in the hands of the cunning, had pos- 
 
36 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 sessed power even sufficient to blind the eyes of the 
 beholder, and confuse his notions of good and evil, 
 was there to be found in such masses, that from 
 its familiarity should spring contempt; to think that 
 a new era was indeed dawning upon the world, 
 that the dust of the earth should no longer drive 
 from the threshold all that was best and purest, pur- 
 chasing for its possessor forbidden joys ; that the love 
 of it should cease to absorb the life-blood of the soul, 
 leaving 
 
 " the heart nncheered and void, 
 The spirit uncultivated as a wilderness ; " 
 
 to think that our children should have another 
 standard of greatness presented to them, than that 
 of hoarded wealth ; that such things as truth, honor, 
 genius, and brotherly love, might come to be re- 
 garded as of some import, and that the multiplica- 
 tion table might cease to be, forever and forever, 
 
 " Their creed, their pater noster, and their decalogue. " 
 
 The idea was so delightful, that as we discussed it 
 we became almost delirious with joy. 
 
 It was very pleasant, too, to think that in the last 
 days of the reign of money, the tables were to be 
 turned, and the old changers to be driven, panic- 
 stricken, from the temple of their Most High ; that 
 the sturdy, brave-hearted fellows who sundered 
 every other tie because the galling chain of monop- 
 olized wealth was eating into their soul, were one 
 day to take up their homeward tramp, and to meet 
 their old masters face to face, on their own ground, 
 and beat them by long odds. And then we were to 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 37 
 
 help in our humble way these heroes more speedily 
 on their westward march, till they reached at length 
 the far-famed Sacramento, from whose sunny banks 
 they would laugh back a gay defiance to their quon- 
 dam oppressors. The thought was really quite con- 
 vivial. 
 
 Hawthorne has said, "It is not good to cherish a 
 solitary ambition." In our little community we 
 conducted things so much on the " mutual admira- 
 tion" system, that we were in danger of becoming 
 the supremest of egotists, or, as Tom expressed it, of 
 believing ourselves to be " no small beer." Certain 
 it is, that we looked with a sanguine eye upon our 
 enterprise and its probable results, and would have 
 thanked nobody for comparing us to 
 
 " Earth's first kings, the Argo's gallant sailors, 
 Heroes in history, and gods in song." 
 
 We finally grew tired of laying still, and a propo- 
 sition to go on deck was immediately acceded to, 
 with uproarious applause. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FOREBODINQS. 
 
 Where shall the lover of "the fierce, beautiful, 
 and free," find any thing comparable with a storm 
 at sea. Excuse the rhyme, indulgent reader, which 
 I am ready to take oath was unintentional, and I 
 will spare you the benefit of a rhapsody with which 
 you were on the point of being treated. 
 
 We clambered up the cabin stairs, without much 
 regard to precedence. Our costume, for the nonce, 
 would have completely satisfied any admirer of the 
 picturesque. The major was terrific in the second- 
 hand splendor of a defunct Mexican ranchero. 
 Tom had added a red woollen comforter to his bodily 
 attire, which he wore in the form of a sash, with 
 several short pipes and a rusty hatchet stuck therein, 
 while his head gear consisted of a high Dutch cap, 
 with a large pea-green tassel appended to the top. 
 I distinctly remember having a great deal of trouble 
 in hauling on a pair of Cape Cod boots, belonging 
 to the second mate, and losing my balance in a 
 severe lurch of the vessel, which sent me with a 
 tremendous shock agaist the clumsy carcass of the 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 39 
 
 steward, who, in his tarn, passed himself along to 
 the mate's state-room, and brought up there all 
 standing, after having brought down, with a fatal 
 crash, sundry boxes of the occupant's indelible 
 ink, his private adventure. A red steeple-chase 
 jacket, with sad-colored velvet pants, once admired 
 on the course at West Cambridge, and a glazed 
 skullcap, completed my attire. As for the ladies, 
 they were singularly happy in their metamorphosis, 
 habiting themselves in the first garments which 
 came to hand, promising protection from the ele- 
 ments, and these being such feminine articles as 
 monkey-peas, Tom and Jerries, oil-cloth jackets, 
 and every form and shape of tarpaulins, the tout 
 ensemble of the group may be easily imagined. 
 I forgot to mention in my account of the major's 
 costume, that his boots were ornamented with a 
 huge pair of Spanish spurs, and his cap being mis- 
 placed and no sombrero at hand, he had, in the 
 hurry of the moment, crowned himself with an 
 ancient white silk bonnet, belonging to his worthy 
 lady. 
 
 But the fierce grandeur and wild solemnity of the 
 scene, which broke suddenly upon our vision, as we 
 crept from out of the companion-way, I shall never 
 forget. The rain had ceased, though still battalions 
 of dark frowning clouds were visible, hurrying to 
 and fro in different parts of the heavens. The moon 
 was nearly full, and occasionally sailed out in a 
 beautiful blue patch of sky, like a fair queen gazing 
 pitifully over her jarring and tempestuous domain. 
 The mad, roaring, tumbling sea, was lit up by her 
 
40 
 
 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 glance, and as the wind in its fierceness lifted the 
 spray from the climbing billows, and bore it shiv- 
 ering through our naked masts, it almost seemed 
 that we could see the blast. The wind had shifted 
 to the northeast, and showed no signs of abating. 
 All our canvass was snugly furled except the main- 
 topsail, which they told me was " close reefed," and 
 which, united with the action of the helm, kept the 
 vessel looking steadily to windward. If I felt then, 
 in every fibre of my system, a profound sense of our 
 own insignificance, aye nothingness, surrounded as 
 we were by those mountain billows, either one of 
 which seemed capable of taking us down at a 
 swallow, and closing over our grave without adding 
 another sigh to the mournful rushing of the winds, 
 I must also say, that I felt a corresponding admira- 
 tion of that tact which so guided our vessel as to 
 enable her to look these billows calmly and steadily 
 in the face, and feel them fall baffled and powerless 
 at her side. 
 
 The captain was leaning heavily on the weather 
 quarter-rail, watching alternately the clouds, the 
 sea, and our taper sticks. Bill Smith, the handsome 
 sailor, was lounging idly at the wheel, chewing his 
 weed, and looking as self-possessed as if yarn- 
 spinning in front of his old landlord's house at the 
 North End. 
 
 " You seem to be taking it easy, captain," said 
 Tom, saluting him with a jerk upon the green tassel. 
 
 " Why, yes," said the captain; "you know the 
 story, I suppose, of the boy who returned from his 
 first voyage, and was asked by his grandmother, 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 41 
 
 what was the easiest part of the business; * Laying 
 to,' says he. ' Well then,' said she, ' the next time 
 you go I shall pray that you may lay to all the 
 voyage.' " 
 
 " I never felt till now," said Jane, " the full force 
 and beauty of Byron's apostrophe to the ocean." 
 
 " You never looked, probably, quite so much* like 
 a sailor before," observed Tom, alluding, perhaps, to 
 her oil-cloth jacket and hard-looking Captain Cuttle 
 sort of tarpaulin, which she wore. 
 
 "I can now understand that glorious outbreak, 
 commencing — 
 
 ' There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,' 
 
 and can see truth as well as the highest poetry in the 
 somewhat heretofore paradoxical allusion to 'music 
 in its roar.' " 
 
 "Roaring music," I ventured to observe, "is 
 nothing very unusual ; when I was at Cambridge, 
 we were favored with specimens every summer 
 evening in the college yard." 
 
 " Those magnificent stanzas about old ocean," 
 continued Jane, " were an appropriate finale to that 
 soul -inspiring poem. Would to God that he had 
 never written more, rather than have left all that he 
 since wrote to the world. His genius was not his 
 master, but his passions, and these made that godlike 
 talent of his cut such droll and ridiculous capers, 
 that no sane mind could ever envy such a constitu- 
 tion. It seems to me, though I never thought of 
 it before, that he has not inaptly described the 
 power of his temperament, over what might be 
 4# 
 
42 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 termed himself, in his figure of the power of ocean 
 over man, 
 
 c Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies, 
 
 And dashest him again to earth — there let him lay.' " 
 
 " And there," observed the major, clinching the 
 matter, " as long as truth and faith and honor and 
 a love of genuine poetry exists, he will lay — " 
 
 "Eggs?" queried Tom, curtly, but I fear not 
 originally. 
 
 Somebody observed to the major, that he did not 
 seem to be an admirer of Byron. 
 
 " Admirer ! " returned the martial wearer of ran- 
 chero finery and Washington street handicraft, 'I 
 hate him, I despise him; the only feeling with which 
 the mention of his name ever inspires me, is one of 
 contempt and loathing. I hate him because he has 
 degraded the name of poet by pretending to the 
 honor. All the best ideas which figure in his works, 
 he stole from his contemporaries, the mawkish senti- 
 mentality and beastly degradation which he displays, 
 are original. Carlyle has said, that l He who would 
 write epic poetry, must make his whole life an 
 epic poem,' and the rule holds good with regard to 
 all poetry. Now if any body can tell me of any 
 thing pure, modest, self-denying, or heroic, in ihe 
 career of Byron, why he is welcome to my hat! " 
 
 "Your bonnet," parenthesized Tom. 
 
 "Shelley was a man of many failings," con- 
 tinued the major, " but he was a poet. He didn't get 
 tipsy and abuse the world for recommending him to 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 43 
 
 keep away from gin shops. There seemed to be a 
 struggle always going on in the depths of his soul 
 for something better, though he hardly knew what. 
 If he, too, warred with the world, he was far from 
 being supremely satisfied with himself. But when 
 a brighter mood was on him, and a glimpse of that 
 heaven, for which he had so long and often vainly 
 wept, was revealed for a moment to his enraptured 
 gaze, with what a shout of wild delight did he soar, 
 like a young eagle regardless of the clouds, and 
 aiming only for the blue ether far beyond. Shelley 
 was often sad, but seldom savage, and sadness is 
 one great element of poetry. If Byron has seemed 
 to describe himself in a measure, in his stanzas to 
 the ocean, may we not also from Shelley's lines to the 
 moon, get some insight into his unquiet character 
 
 1 Art thou pale for weariness 
 Of climbing heaven, and gazing on the earth, 
 
 Wandering companionless 
 Among the stars that have a different birth, 
 And ever changing like a joyless eye, 
 That finds no object worthy of its constancy.' " 
 
 " All this," said Tom, "is very fine, and reminds 
 me of my college days, and how we used to son- 
 netize the moon coming back from Boston after the 
 theatre and oysters, but you mustn't feel offended, 
 major, if I should say that you are perfectly bewitch- 
 ing in that exquisite costume of yours, holding on to 
 the belaying pin, and dancing so gracefully to keep 
 yourself on your pegs. What a pity that some of 
 your friends, the capitalists of Boston, couldn't see 
 you now, and listen to your eloquence in behalf of 
 
44 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 Shelley, and hear your feeling recital of his outbreak 
 to the moon." 
 
 A low suppressed whistle from the sailor at the 
 wheel, drew off our attention from the scurrilous 
 Tom. 
 
 "Any tobacco?" inquired he in a very loud 
 whisper, which was just heard above the roar of 
 winds. 
 
 " Here's a piece," said my wife, pulling out a 
 large quid from her pea-jacket pocket. 
 u Knife?" was a second inquiry. 
 " Here's one," said the major's wife, untying a 
 piece of twine, which bound a huge jackuife to a 
 button-hole of the rough Tom and Jerry, hi which 
 her frail form was enveloped. 
 
 " This is decidedly patriarchal, and worthy of 
 Brook Farm," observed Tom, drawing a well filled 
 pipe from his sash, "and as you all seem to be 
 enjoying yourselves after a fashion, why I'll follow 
 suit and have a smoke." 
 
 As Tom turned off to light his pipe by the binnacle 
 lamp, his wife followed him aft, holding on by the 
 weather monkey-rail. Oh God, what a sudden, 
 chilling, fearful story, went hissing to my heart, as 
 the lamplight fell upon her countenance. What 
 was it there, that made my limbs tremble and refuse 
 me support? What was it, more terrible than the 
 dreadful storm raging above and around us, that 
 overcame me, and almost flattened me to the deck 
 with superstitious dread? Had the solemn, awful 
 truth been hidden from us in sunshine, to strike 
 home with ten thousand times more power at mid- 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 45 
 
 night, during that raging tempest? In the unnatural 
 beauty of that countenance, and the sparkle of those 
 eyes, I read, as in a book, that one of our party 
 would soon be with us in the flesh no more. 
 
 Who has not experienced, at some period of his 
 existence, a sensation as if a thunderbolt hung sus- 
 pended above his head, and that a breath might 
 cause its fatal fall ? Who has never felt a terrible 
 reaction of spirits, that left nothing in the future to 
 desire? Who has never been suddenly possessed 
 with the knowledge, in the midst of gaiety and 
 unbridled enjoyment, that a certain point could not 
 be passed, and that to reach it would be woe 
 unutterable? 
 
 I staggered up to where the major stood beside his 
 wife, watching the mountain billows. As they fell 
 you could look far into their depths, and in the 
 moonlight it was easy to imagine strange forms 
 there. The major's wife, who had a peculiar gift, 
 which, as we had often remarked, seemed like 
 second sight, was describing, in graphic language 
 to her husband, what she saw beneath the sea. Her 
 disclosures had evidently been pleasant, up to that 
 moment, as a tranquil smile rested upon the features 
 of each. But when I stood beside them, all at once 
 her expression changed to that of dread. Her face 
 became white with awe, as she described, down, 
 down at the bottom, in the hollow of a coral reef, a 
 corpse in a snowy shroud, and the next instant fell 
 fainting in the major's arms, as she feebly told that 
 in its countenance she had recognised the features of 
 Jane. 
 
46 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 They were just descending below the companion- 
 way, and I was assisting my wife towards the same 
 quarter, when a loud shout from the captain, calling 
 us to "hold on," arrested our course. The wind 
 had suddenly shifted back to the northwest, and by 
 its effect on our scanty canvass, had caused the 
 vessel to fall off into the trough of the sea. A huge 
 and wicked looking roller was bearing directly down 
 upon us, and seemed ruthlessly bent on our destruc- 
 tion. We clutched at whatever was nearest, and 
 held our breath as it broke sweeping over us, 
 drenching and almost stunning us with its roar, and 
 carrying with it in its retreat loose spars, buckets, 
 and several other incumbrances of the deck. A 
 piercing shriek from Jane made me cold with terror, 
 and for a moment I thought that my worst fore- 
 bodings were at once realized, and that the monster 
 billow had borne her off in its embrace. She was 
 standing, however, in the same place as before, 
 and calling upon Tom, whom she missed from the 
 deck. 
 
 u All right," sung out a voice about half way up 
 the main shrouds, " you observe that I knew what 
 was coming, and took the precaution of lashing 
 myself here, and it was lucky that I did so, or that 
 rascally sea would have put my pipe out." 
 
 The vessel was again brought to the wind, but 
 we were no longer in the mood to enjoy the scene. 
 We were very cold, and had a decided need of dry 
 clothes. The deck was in a very undesirable state 
 of confusion. The pigs, hens, and cow, were all 
 adrift, and made a barn-yard clatter, that at another 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 47 
 
 moment would have amused us by its droll contre- 
 temps. 
 
 1 saw the ladies safe down stairs, and then fol- 
 lowed them, leaving Tom smoking in the rigging. 
 
 Oh, if our forebodings were to prove true, what 
 a golden thread would be unwoven out of his gay 
 fanciful existence, and what a wretched blank 
 would life thenceforth be to him ! 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 DEATH. 
 
 Towards morning I fell into a sort of half dozing 
 state, in which my dreams were strangely mingled 
 with a kind of misty consciousness of things around 
 me. Faces, years since, beneath the sod, came and 
 peered at me as I lay there, tantalizing me by their 
 lifelike, gleeful aspect, into a vague doubt of my 
 own identity. Forms that I never had seen, and 
 shall never see again, came apparently out of the 
 ship's timbers, and flitted before me, perplexing me 
 in a vain endeavor to recollect when and where I 
 had met those familiar features. Strange places, 
 and well known places, passed by like a panorama, 
 and frequently two or three different and far apart 
 spots, were united and mystically mixed up together 
 in such a way, that no surprise was felt on my part. 
 In the midst of such grotesque sights and emotions, 
 I was every now and then aware, that a furious gale 
 was raging not far from my dormitory, and that 
 certain lively members of our party were a little 
 silent all at once. There was, too, an idea that 
 returned to me at regular intervals, the idea that is 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 49 
 
 common as the air or running water, that comes 
 always with all melancholy adjuncts, the solemn idea 
 of death ; and in singular conjunction with it came 
 painful sounds from Jane's state-room, which told 
 me that she was very sick, and this distressful noise 
 seemed to give strength and encouragement to the 
 sad idea, which fed upon it. Had I been fairly 
 awake, I should have known it proceeded only from 
 seasickness, and that no fatal results were to be 
 apprehended therefrom. 
 
 I also remember, just after the cold dawn of day, 
 the appearance of the dubious steward in the cabin, 
 making some preliminary arrangements for his great 
 business of the day — setting the table. He, poor 
 fellow, was evidently seasick, and staggered about 
 like an uncertain ghost. The captain came down 
 and cautioned him against putting on the rack, as 
 the breakfast things were of no account whatever, 
 and it was of no consequence if every thing did get 
 smashed. The unfortunate Stephen interpreted this 
 command literally, and in a few seconds the din of 
 breaking crockery fell upon our ears, accompanied 
 by a left-handed blessing from the captain, and an 
 idiotic howling from the steward, that was decidedly 
 the worst thing yet. 
 
 At noon, when the captain and officers came 
 below to dinner, the former made a gay but futile 
 attempt to "bring us out," by saying that the vessel 
 was off before the wind, scudding under reefed 
 foresail, and that the sea was going down fast, 
 but there was not a solitary resurrection in conse- 
 quence. 
 
 5 
 
50 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 It was not until four o'clock in the afternoon, that 
 the pioneer ventured forth into the main cabin, the 
 redoubtable major, with pale face and tangled hair. 
 With the dogged determination of an inveterate, he 
 proceeded, as straight as his tottering limbs would 
 carry him, to the steward's pantry, where he took 
 from the teapot a pretty stiff " hair of the dog that 
 bit him," and seemed greatly refreshed thereby. 
 
 Tom followed, and I not choosing to be left alone, 
 in the enjoyment of inglorious ease, crept out "like 
 snail unwillingly." 
 
 The steward produced some cold curried fowl, a 
 bottle of otard, and sea biscuit, by the aid of which 
 we comforted our inner man, and felt better. 
 
 The storm was nearly over. About sundown the 
 reefs were shaken out, and our saucy bark again 
 bounded lightly over the waves, leaving the dreary 
 gulf behind us. The night opened finely, and the 
 sea soon became comparatively smooth. More can- 
 vass was spread, and the wind being quarterly, 
 every thing told, till we got on the eleven knot order 
 of travelling again, which the captain said was not 
 slow. The ladies were recovering from their sea- 
 sickness, and the children were already well. In 
 fact, as Tom Noddy used to say, u things began to 
 wear a brighter aspect." 
 
 The next day was very pleasant, and we were 
 all on deck again — all but Jane, whose stateroom 
 was now a sick chamber. There was a milder 
 atmosphere about us, that was very soothing to our 
 harassed spirits and weary frames, as if the first 
 faint breath of a tropic clime had drifted unawares 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 51 
 
 to a drearier confine, but there was also that brood- 
 ing in onr hearts, from which coldness irradiated as 
 a centre, more than sufficient to counteract the 
 sunshine of a world. 
 
 I would gladly pass over the history of the few 
 succeeding days, for I have no heart to describe 
 their melancholy events. Every thing that unre- 
 mitting care and cunning remedies could do, was 
 done to no purpose. An insidious disease, whose 
 name and nature we could not even suspect, was 
 swiftly gaining a certain hold, and we felt that Jane 
 must die. After her seasickness left her, her frame 
 seemed wearied out, as if it had long been wasting 
 away, and waited but this last struggle for its final 
 overthrow. Her soul was calm and happy and 
 serene as ever. It seemed as if she was dying of 
 too much spiritual life, as if " the sword was wear- 
 ing through the scabbard." Poor Tom groped about 
 like a man in a dream, comforting himself solitarily 
 with the hope that his dear wife would soon be well 
 again, and never allowing himself to look forward 
 to the possible end. 
 
 It is an old story, that "the good die young," but 
 we can never reconcile ourselves to a belief in its 
 unvarying truth. We have learned from childhood, 
 and perhaps know by instinct, that "like answereth 
 unto like," and that those who have in their nature 
 more of heaven than of earth, soon go to their home 
 beyond the stars. But still we are always cheating 
 ourselves into the conviction, that the exception to 
 the rule will be found in our relations of life. To 
 think that she who was so pure, so modest and 
 
52 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 unselfish, and had contributed so essentially to our 
 enterprise, might be taken from us, was like blotting 
 out its very soul, and the mere contemplation of it 
 made us feel as if the "star which led us on " was 
 hidden by a threatening cloud. We had not yet 
 begun to study the solemn lesson which her death 
 was to teach. 
 
 But the day came at last. It was a bright sun- 
 shiny day, and as warm as our early summer. 
 There was a gentle air stirring from the southwest, 
 which kept us moving, but so steadily that we felt 
 no motion below deck. They had brought Jane 
 from her state-room to the main cabin, where she 
 reclined, propped up by pillows, in a Canton chair. 
 The cabin windows were up, and the mild breeze 
 drawing through caused a delicious coolness. She 
 was unchanged, except that she was paler and 
 thinner than ever, and that her soul shone more 
 vividly through its more transparent dwelling. 
 
 It is of no import to this narrative how she died; 
 how we stood about her couch watching the lamp 
 of life, as it flickered and finally went out. We 
 could not weep as we looked upon her, seemingly 
 about to fall asleep, the very ideal of sublime resig- 
 nation. If we reflected, with a pang of self-reproach, 
 that we had been instrumental in bringing her away 
 from the home circle, she was so well fitted to adorn 
 and beautify, to die in the solitude of ocean, all the 
 sting was gone when our prophetic imagination led 
 us to behold the glory and beatitude of her endless 
 future. It seemed hard that one so young and full 
 of life and hope and happiness should die, but oh, 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 53 
 
 the unspeakable blessedness of the thought, that 
 death for her was but a translation to a place among 
 the shining ones, who "summer high in bliss upon 
 the hills of God." 
 
 "I had always thought," said she, looking at us 
 so affectionately, while a half playful smile flitted 
 over her paling features, " to have been buried in 
 the old family tomb in the graveyard on the com- 
 mon, near which children play in summer, and 
 where you and I, Tom, used sometimes to walk on 
 Sunday evenings. But it's no matter if one way- 
 ward child is wanting in that decaying household. 
 She was enough unlike the others in her life, and in 
 her death it is, perhaps, fit that she should be 
 separated from them. Only I do not wish for you 
 to think of me as lying cold and solitary ever so far 
 down in the depths of the dark sea, but as being, 
 where I hope soon to be, among the happy spirits 
 whom God loves." 
 
 She spoke but little more, for she was growing 
 very feeble. 
 
 Tom sat upon the transum by her side, holding 
 her hand, and often imprinting passionate kisses on 
 her brow. He did not weep, and it was evident that 
 he had not begun to realize the dreadful truth. 
 Little Tom's sobs were painful enough. But all 
 could not keep her back one moment from her 
 journey's end. Her last faintly uttered words were 
 of the satisfaction which she experienced in dying, 
 as she did thus far in the realization of a long 
 cherished scheme, and of love and comfort to Tom, 
 and maternal solicitude for her darling boy. When 
 
 5* 
 
04 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 she had done whispering, the stillness was intense. 
 The breeze seemed awe-struck and had ceased to 
 breathe. In our thoughts we followed her triumphal 
 progress to the very gates of her new abode, and 
 when the stern command was heard from the deck 
 of "Square the yards," it came to our understand- 
 ings so abrupt and suddenly, that it impressed us as 
 a voice from a lower world, calling us back from 
 spiritual wanderings — Jane was dead ! 
 
 It is little matter how we buried her the next day 
 in the still ocean, while every member of our ship's 
 company stood by, and some rough faces were wet 
 with tears to which they were little used, as I read 
 aloud the burial service ; how bright and serene was 
 the day, without a cloud in the clear depths of the 
 sky, or a ripple on the sea; or how the waters 
 closed so tranquilly about her, that had never em- 
 braced a pearl more precious, and how one stood 
 there, and would have given his life for the tears 
 which could not flow, and had sought till now in vain 
 for the meaning of this blow, which had nearly 
 crushed him too. 
 
 But that evening, when the pleasant trade wind 
 had reached us, and, with the aid of all her canvass, 
 the brig was going steadily at a brisk rate through 
 the water, and all that remained in this world of 
 what was once Jane, was then down in the deep 
 sea, miles behind us, as I went down into the cabin 
 for a moment, I iuvoluntarily became the witness of 
 a scene which I may be pardoned for alluding to. 
 
 The door of the stateroom which she had lately 
 occupied was open, and looking in, I saw Tom with 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 55 
 
 his face buried in the pillow so often pressed by her. 
 His whole frame shook with agitation, the fountain 
 of his tears was at length unloosed, and he wept 
 like a child. I, who had seen him so often in his 
 careless merry moods, could not but pause to look 
 once upon him in his heart-breaking sorrow. In a 
 moment he raised his head, and folded his hands 
 together, looking upward. My own tears gathered 
 fast, as I gazed upon his face so full of earnest 
 suppliance, But when he spoke I was chained to 
 the spot, for it seemed as if he saw his Maker bend- 
 ing over him to hear and answer. He thanked God 
 first for his great goodness in having given to him, 
 for a companion in his youth, a spirit so pure and 
 lovely, and besought strength to feel always that 
 she was now in her proper sphere, among the 
 happiest on high. And it seemed to me that his 
 terrible bereavement had not been fruitless, when he 
 prayed, oh, how earnestly, that she, who was now 
 a happy angel, might still be permitted to watch 
 over and to guide him as before ; and that wherever 
 he might be in all his mortal existence, the recollec- 
 tion of what she was on earth, and the conscious- 
 ness he felt of her position in heaven, might be 
 ever with him in all temptation, and keep him from 
 every thing that could make him unworthy of their 
 final reunion. It was the outpouring of a soul, that 
 had for the first time, with the strange gift vouch- 
 safed to mortal sorrow, looked deep into the possi- 
 bilities of his being, and thrown his hope upon Him 
 who is not unmindful of the raven's cry. 
 
 I crept back to the deck again. It was a clear 
 
56 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 beautiful night. "See," said my wife, as I took a 
 seat beside her on the companion-way, " what a 
 multitude of stars, and how bright. A foolish fancy 
 just came over me, suggested probably by a song of 
 my childhood, that they were angel's eyes glittering 
 with delight, in welcome to a kindred spirit." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 M0GAD0RE. 
 
 After the melancholy events recorded in the last 
 chapter, nothing further occurred during our out- 
 ward passage, worthy of special notice. Our enter- 
 prise had assumed a new and sublime importance in 
 our eyes, for a sacrifice had been made upon its 
 altar, of all that was most prized and lovely in our 
 possession. There was no longer in our minds a 
 possibility of failure. If the whole earth had risen 
 up in battle against us, there was one in heaven 
 who would pray still for our success, and if the 
 spirits in that freed and limitless abode, have any 
 sympathy with heroism and deeds valiant in unself- 
 ishness, were we not sure of the silent breathings of 
 their aid ? 
 
 The natural elasticity of Tom's temperament had 
 overcome in a degree his first terrible depression, 
 and at times he was, to a superficial eye, as light- 
 some and fanciful as ever. 
 
 The morning of our thirty-seventh day at sea was 
 decidedly a pleasant one. I was awakened at an 
 early hour by a cry of "Land ho!" and was not 
 long in presenting myself on the quarter-deck. 
 
58 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 "The coast of Morocco," observed the captain, 
 pointing to a long low dark slip of ground clearly- 
 defined against the water's edge, behind which some 
 hazy looking mountains towered heavily to the sky. 
 The first rays of the sun were just peeping over 
 these far off hills, which I knew to be some of the 
 ridges of world-famed Atlas. I was in advance of 
 the rest of our party, and had a moment's leisure to 
 look about me. 
 
 How small and frail seemed our vessel, compared 
 with the immensity of the ocean we had sailed over, 
 and the vast, unknown, and dusky greatness of the 
 continent before us. I could not help remarking 
 with a feeling akin to surprise, that the day's work 
 was going on as usual. The men had just finished 
 washing decks, and with their coarse brooms were 
 brushing the stray drops towards the scuppers, very 
 unconcernedly. Bill Smith was at the wheel, where 
 it seemed to me he had been stationed during at 
 least three quarters of the passage, probably be- 
 cause I had always noticed him when there, looking 
 round as usual, but oftener seaward than landward, 
 also very unconcernedly. 
 
 The sun was now bursting out in glorious reful- 
 gence from a gorgeous mass of clouds hanging about 
 those eastern hills, enveloping his radiance as with 
 voluptuous drapery. Overhead,- a more beautiful, 
 unsullied blue was never seen, even in the far 
 spiritual depths of a maiden's eye, than then shone 
 lovingly upon us. The grosser element that spar- 
 kled beneath and around, and rippled so carelessly 
 against our vessel's side, had lost all its stern and 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 59 
 
 dread magnificence, all its silent, solitary grandeur, 
 for there was its compeer, the dark green shore re- 
 posing tranquilly at its side. There it lay as it had 
 done since the flood, saying evermore to the waters — 
 "Thus far shalt thou come and no farther." 
 
 "Ah, the ebony coast," observed Tom, appearing 
 suddenly from the companion-way, and looking 
 from the shadow of his hand towards the shore. 
 "Little Tom was alway fond of niggers, and he 
 won't see any body else probably, for some time to 
 come." 
 
 The Major next appeared, accompanied by the 
 ladies and children, and looking out on the wrong 
 side of the vessel, where of course there was nothing 
 to be seen but water and clouds, observed fiercely 
 that it was "Morocco sure enough." 
 
 "If you are looking for land," suggested Tom 
 correctively, " you will be more successful in your 
 glance on the other side of the ship." 
 
 The wind was westerly, and we fanned along the 
 coast, growing every moment more distinct and 
 landlike as the sun rose and we drew near. 
 
 Early in the forenoon we entered through the 
 northern passage between the island, which makes 
 a natural breakwater, and the main land, and an- 
 chored in the harbor of Mogadore. 
 
 What a strange sensation is that which one expe- 
 riences just previous to landing in a strange country. 
 There is a feeling of timorous uncertainty as to what 
 may be our reception, and whether on the whole, we 
 shall come away unharmed, which mingles with and 
 checks our feelings of curiosity, and does much to 
 
60 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 modify our pleasant anticipations. It is something 
 similar to that the boy feels on leaving school. His 
 merry sports, his youthful friendships, his little tem- 
 porary troubles which gave to these the greater zest, 
 are all over, and he stands face to face with the real- 
 ities of a hard world. The mantle of romance which 
 his boyish imagination had thrown over this untried 
 scene is withdrawn, and he sees, for the first time, 
 the dangers, sorrows, and misfortunes with which it 
 fairly teems. He wonders if the world needs him, 
 and is ready to receive him, and if he on his part is 
 ready for the world. The dingy old school-room, 
 where the hours lagged so wearily, is now his gar- 
 den of Eden, and Time, the remorseless power which 
 has driven him out. But to go back, would be as im- 
 possible as if a sword of fire literally waved over the 
 threshold. His great satisfaction is that he has 
 improved his time of preparation, and fortified him- 
 self to the utmost for the conflict which he cannot 
 avoid. There is another time when this same emo- 
 tion will be felt with a more sublime effect, when 
 the objects that we love are growing faint and dim ; 
 
 " When unto dying eyes — 
 Slowly the casement grows a glimmering square ; " 
 
 and the tremendous truth comes home that in a few 
 more moments, all the glorious mysteries of the 
 unknown world will be revealed to us face to face; 
 and the awfully thrilling question asked, which, if 
 we can answer to our inward satisfaction, is better 
 than every thing else — "Oh man, what hast thou 
 done in thy long years of life?" 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 61 
 
 After dinner we sat on the quarter-deck in expec- 
 tation of some boat from the shore. The city with 
 its white-washed walls, and its numerous mosques 
 towering above them, made a pleasant appearance 
 from the water. The angle towards us seemed to 
 be a sort of battery, on which several pieces were 
 mounted. The island in our rear was also well 
 fortified. There were no other square-rigged vessels 
 in the harbor, but several fore and aft schooners, 
 luggers, and other small craft. 
 
 We were conversing in that listless, straggling 
 manner, which preoccupation of the mind always 
 produces, half sorry at the idea of so soon quitting 
 our little craft, half dreading a further acquaintance 
 with the silent city before us, as yet unhallowed by a 
 single pleasant recollection, unendeared by the pres- 
 ence of a single friend, when of a sudden the Major 
 exclaimed, pointing in a southeasterly direction from 
 the city, — 
 
 " There they are ! " 
 
 We all looked in the direction indicated. About 
 a quarter of a mile distant from where we lay, there 
 was a sandy beach, bordered by a fringe of scrubby 
 bushes, beyond which was a gentle rising ground. 
 Here was a large inclosure, of which the walls must 
 have been some twenty feet high, with a square 
 tower at each angle. A train of camels, amounting 
 to nearly a hundred I should think, were filing 
 round the furthest point, coming to browse on the 
 scanty herbage. 
 
 How we all pricked up at the sight. If we had 
 been born and bred camel drivers, and shut up or 
 6 
 
62 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 exiled for years, we could not have felt a greater joy 
 at being suddenly permitted a sight of our old fa- 
 vorites. The country was no longer a strange one. 
 Here were individuals with whom we were well 
 acquainted. It was evident we had got to the right 
 place. Here were the camels at home. We had 
 before seen the animal in menageries in our own 
 country, sleek, bloated, indolent from excess of fat, 
 but how different were these easy loitering gentry, 
 the genuine unsophisticated Simons taking their 
 afternoon lunch at ease down on the seashore. 
 
 The spyglass was at once put into active service. 
 These sad-colored, hump-backed, long-sided animals 
 were to our eyes more beautiful than cherubs. The 
 ladies were unanimously in favor of taking the 
 boat at once and pulling over to the beach where 
 the camels were grazing, that we might see the 
 " pretty creatures" nearer; but this proposition was 
 declined as not being very safe to carry out. 
 
 At about two o'clock a boat came off from the 
 city. It was manned by a Moor who steered, and 
 four Ethiopian oarsmen. In the stern sheets were 
 two other Moors. They all wore the white turban, 
 and blue or red blankets or haiks. The two Moors 
 not belonging to the boat's crew came on board. 
 One of them proved to be an interpreter, and intro- 
 duced the other as a revenue officer. He also re- 
 quested us to go on shore, without delay, as the 
 bashaw or local governor desired to see us and know 
 our business. 
 
 We accordingly dressed ourselves for the occasion. 
 The major became formidable in a complete suit of 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 63 
 
 ranger regimentals, Tom elegant as a private "citizen 
 of credit and renown;" while 1 attired myself in a 
 costume which had formerly served me on state occa- 
 sions when consul at in South America. A con- 
 sultation with the interpreter resulted in favor of our 
 families going with us. The captain took the ship pa- 
 pers, and we our several passports and commissions, 
 not forgetting, of course, our grand official letter to 
 the emperor from the American secretary of state. 
 
 The two boats pushed off at about the same time. 
 Bill Smith, who was one of our oarsmen, made an 
 ineffectual effort to get some information out of the 
 black oarsmen of the rival boat, as to what fun was 
 going on ashore. Our captain, too, proved himself a 
 genuine Yankee, by putting to the interpreter the 
 stereotyped question of Yankee captains just landing 
 in a foreign country, " Whether he knew any good 
 place in town where he could get washing done." 
 
 An interpreter, like a physician, should either be 
 trusted implicitly or discarded altogether. Ours had 
 very coolly taken possession of us, and we seemed 
 governed by his directions. Yet I was not quite 
 satisfied with him. He was an active little fellow, 
 with a not unhandsome face, but he had a habit of 
 watching you as if prying for secrets, which I did 
 not like. In his turn he did not seem to relish being 
 scrutinized, but let his eyes fall whenever they en- 
 countered mine. I mentioned the result of my ob- 
 servations to my wife, who had remarked the same 
 propensities. " He seems to me," said she, " like a 
 mixture of a negro and an Irishman, and I don't 
 like either." His name was favorable to this under- 
 standing of him. It was Yolo Snazem. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ALMOST A ROW. 
 
 We landed at the great gate opening into the for- 
 tress from the water side. There was a large crowd 
 assembled to see us land, composed of Moors, Jews, 
 and Ethiopians, a motley group. 
 
 We passed directly through the outer town or 
 fortress, and entered the main city by a second mas- 
 sive gateway. These gates, we were told, were 
 closed at eight o'clock in the evening, and we must 
 be out previously if we did not wish to remain in 
 the city all night. 
 
 I was agreeably disappointed in the first appear- 
 ance of things inside the walls. The city had a 
 much newer and cleaner look than I expected. The 
 streets are strait, but narrow. The buildings are 
 erected, mostly, in the old Spanish style, and of two, 
 and in some cases three stories. They are built of 
 stone and plaster, which gives them a substantial as- 
 pect, and are for the most part kept clean and bright 
 with whitewash. The mosques are, some of them, 
 splendid specimens of architecture, and their high 
 minarets with flat roofs, and a balustrade running 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 65 
 
 round them where the priests officiate in lieu of bells, 
 calling the inhabitants " to prayer," render them ex- 
 ceedingly imposing. The square where the market 
 is held, was quite a gay spot, surrounded by small 
 Jew shops or stalls, where every kind of desirable 
 comfort or luxury was exposed for sale. 
 
 The streets were full of people — Jews, Moors, 
 Ethiopians, and here and there a lean, long-limbed, 
 swarthy Arab of the desert, half naked, glancing 
 furtively from side to side, and shrinking away from 
 the too close proximity of the strong shut-up houses, 
 as if he felt a restraint upon his limbs in those nar- 
 row streets, and already longed again for the bound- 
 less sweep of his sultry sands. There was a plenty 
 of old women and children who cheered after us as 
 we passed, but we saw no young women, unless, 
 indeed, those fat waddling creatures were they, 
 whom we noticed entering the paved court-yard of 
 the mosques, and drawing aside as we passed a little 
 more of the drapery which enveloped their faces, 
 than was usual or necessary for the performance of 
 the habitual ablution before prayers. 
 
 Animals of all sorts were passing to and fro in the 
 streets. There were camels and splendid Arab 
 steeds, asses, mules, and oxen, some with riders, 
 others coming in from the different gateways, lead- 
 ing to the country, laden with jars and skins of 
 water, and packs of fruits and vegetables, and others 
 going back empty. We saw nothing of the gloom 
 usually attributed to Moorish cities, and little of the 
 dilapidation spoken of as their characteristic feature. 
 Neither did we observe in the countenances of the 
 6* 
 
66 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 people any signs of the cruelty, treachery, and in- 
 hospitality we had been led to expect. In the bright 
 sunshine of that pleasant afternoon the place was 
 certainly as gay, and the people seemed as cheerful 
 and happy, as is customary in freer and better lands. 
 
 We found the town residence of the governor shut 
 out from the rest of the place by walls, similar to 
 those inclosing the city. We entered a paved court, 
 kept scrupulously clean, and were directed to one of 
 the many small buildings, of two stories in height, 
 which dotted the inclosure. There were several 
 fountains playing in the yard, and numerous flower- 
 pots containing plants of rare beauty and worth, 
 were placed just within reach of the falling drops. 
 A few tamarind trees were the only other sign of 
 vegetation visible. This was the business office of 
 the governor, and the several buildings were the 
 offices of his secretaries and other local authorities. 
 
 We passed through a stuccoed archway, into a 
 paved hall ; here were attendants who beckoned us 
 up a broad flight of stone steps, and who also beck- 
 oned our interpreter, who was leading the way, to 
 remain where he was, a proceeding I was by no 
 means sorry to behold. Arriving at the head of the 
 staircase, we were received by other attendants in 
 the red cap of the government uniform, who led us 
 through a short, wide passage to the doors opening 
 into the governor's office. One of these preceded us 
 into the room, and leading us up to the governor, 
 who was seated at the farther end, introduced us as 
 the American party. Mats of exquisite fineness 
 were produced, and we were politely motioned by 
 the bashaw to be seated. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 67 
 
 The apartment in which we found ourselves was 
 of an oblong shape, and singularly plain and devoid 
 of furniture. The only article which we should class 
 under that head being a long, mahogany table, with 
 a dark marble top, covered with books and papers, 
 and two mahogany lounges, with scarlet velvet trim- 
 mings on either side. The walls were decorated with 
 paintings, representing battles and feats of horseman- 
 ship. The great distinguishing feature of the room 
 was mats, which were the most beautiful and bril- 
 liant I have ever seen. The bashaw himself was 
 seated on a superb one of crimson and gold, with a 
 cushion at his side of the same materials, on which 
 he reclined his arm when writing. His dress was a 
 buff-colored haick, with a close-fitting scarlet jacket, 
 embroidered with gold, inside. A small writing-desk 
 was placed on the floor beside him. There was but 
 one attendant with him when we entered, who was 
 probably a menial, and remained standing. 
 
 The bashaw was a man of venerable age, rather 
 under the common size, very dark, but with regular 
 features, an intelligent eye, and a remarkably be- 
 nevolent expression. His reception of us put us at 
 ease at once. Seeing that we made an awkward 
 affair of squatting on the mats, he politely requested 
 us to remain standing, if we preferred it, or to sit in 
 such posture as was most comfortable to us. 
 
 The major then presented our letter from the 
 American secretary. He read it with attention, and 
 laying it down beside him with the remark, that it 
 was worthy of serious consideration, inquired if we 
 had passports. The major produced his Texas 
 
68 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 Ranger commission ; Tom, who was deficient in this 
 respect, slipped his hand slyly round to the cap- 
 tain's pocket, and pulled out the ship's register; the 
 captain luckily had also his crew list, with his own 
 name at the head, and I was provided with my old 
 consular commission. These papers were quite sat- 
 isfactory, though I thought I detected rather a know- 
 ing look in the old bashaw, as his eye glanced at 
 them, and Tom bowed in acknowledgment of the 
 name of Mr. Double Eagle. 
 
 The major inquired what would be the probable 
 effect of our prayer for permission to export camels 
 from the empire. 
 
 "It is difficult for me at present," answered the 
 governor, ''to pass an opinion; I think well of the 
 enterprise, however. Indeed, I have often wondered 
 that a nation like yours, making so extensive a use of 
 the horse, mule, and ox, should not have availed itself 
 of the aid of the camel in long and perilous routes." 
 
 "It has been doubted," observed the major, 
 "whether they would thrive on our soil and cli- 
 mate." 
 
 "The camel is an animal adapted to every soil 
 and every climate. Indeed, we have within the do- 
 minions of the emperor, all grades of climate, and 
 every species of soil, and in no one part can the camel 
 be said to thrive better than in another. But he is 
 our wealth, an important portion of our population. 
 Liberal as is Muley Abderrhaman in his commercial 
 ideas, I am strongly inclined to doubt whether he will 
 consent to the introduction of a business which may 
 eventually cripple our internal commerce, and make 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 69 
 
 us more dependent on outside communication than 
 we have hitherto been. The emperor, however, is 
 fond of money-making. That portion of your letter 
 which alludes to the lucrative advantages to be de- 
 rived by this empire in the course of the traffic, may 
 not be without its effect. The document shall be 
 sent to Morocco without delay, and a speedy action 
 prayed for. It may, however, be weeks, even months, 
 before we have a final decision. In the meantime 
 have patience, for I will do what I can." 
 
 He then questioned us somewhat of the affairs of 
 our country, and particularly of California, in which 
 state he seemed to take a particular interest. Before 
 dismissing us he gave to each one a bow of scarlet 
 ribbon to be worn on the cap or bonnet, which would 
 be a sign to his subjects that we were in his favor, 
 and any harm done to us would be visited by his 
 especial displeasure. 
 
 " These ladies," said he, bowing with an air of 
 gallantry that would have done no discredit to an 
 European prince, while he handed the ribbons to our 
 wives, "must be careful to veil their beautiful faces, 
 if they would avoid coming to harm." 
 
 Having put a private mark upon our papers, he 
 handed them back to us, and we were again in- 
 trusted to the charge of the attendant who had intro- 
 duced us. 
 
 On descending to the hall we found a table spread 
 with milk, bread and fruits, which attention, we 
 were told, was a mark of respect and affection on 
 the part of the bashaw. We partook of these re- 
 freshments, and then sallied forth again into the 
 street, highly pleased with our visit. 
 
70' THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 We strolled along, making our observations on the 
 place and people, till we came to the eastern gate, 
 leading out into the plain. The prospect beyond 
 was solemn and dreary. A vast ocean of sand lay 
 stretched before us to the horizon, ruffled in some 
 places into small hillocks, like waves, but generally 
 smooth as a summer's sea. A few parties of horse- 
 men and camels were visible, looking like dark, fly- 
 ing dots on this broad field. 
 
 We visited two or three of the vegetable gardens, 
 which abound in the suburbs of the town, examin- 
 ing the great varieties of produce there growing. At 
 one of these a young Moor came in on a heirie 
 or swift running camel. The animal had evidently 
 been hard pushed, for it lay down immediately on 
 coming in, panting heavily. The young man took 
 a goat-skin from his saddle, which he said contained 
 oranges from Morocco. He informed our interpreter, 
 in answer to his inquiries, that his cousin was sick 
 in the house, and that the evening previous she had 
 asked for oranges. There were none to be had in 
 Mogadore, and he had saddled his heirie, the fastest 
 beast in the city, as he said, and gone to Morocco to 
 procure them, in proof of which he unfastened his 
 sack, gave us a handful, and then hurried into the 
 house. I half suspected, from his zeal in answering 
 his cousin's wishes, that she sustained a still more 
 tender relation to him than that of cousin. 
 
 From Mogadore to Morocco and back, within the 
 space of twenty-four hours, was certainly great 
 travelling. However, as the young man made no 
 boast of the achievement, and as our interpreter 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 71 
 
 appeared to believe the statement, we accepted it as 
 another wonderful instance of the fleetness and 
 power of endurance of the running camel. On 
 such an animal as that same heirie, I have no 
 hesitation in saying that a person familiar with 
 camel riding, could go from Independence to San 
 Francisco in twenty days. 
 
 The loose sand beneath our feet made walking 
 extremely painful to us, who had so long been 
 unaccustomed to any exercise, so we turned back 
 and entered the gates just as the sun was setting. 
 
 As we were hurrying through the streets, filled 
 with people answering the call "to prayers," which 
 now rang out clear and distinct above all the bustle 
 of the town, from a score or more of sentry-like mina- 
 rets, anxious to reach the water side before dark, our 
 progress was suddenly interrupted by a crowd of 
 people gathered before a house of rather more than 
 ordinary pretensions. There were some four or five 
 persons seated on mats in and about the arched 
 door-way. The rest were standing or squatting 
 outside. The principal actor in the group seemed to 
 be an old Jew, who stood in the midst of the latter 
 class, and had apparently been wronged out of 
 something, for he was wringing his hands and 
 moaning piteously. 
 
 "Oh, I am ruin, I am ruin, he hash taken mine 
 all, and I am a ruin man — oh dear, what shall I do, 
 what shall I do?" 
 
 At this juncture some four or five camels were 
 seen approaching, at a furious rate, from the oppo- 
 site part of the town. They were riden bare-backed, 
 
72 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 and the riders were Bill Smith and the rest of our 
 boatmen. They came on, holding fast to the long 
 hair on the hump, shouting and waving long sticks 
 of the cactus over their heads, which had served 
 them as spurs in their crazy tramp. It was easy to 
 see that they had been drinking. 
 
 " Hulloa," said Bill, dropping off of his camel 
 and mixing with the crowd, "here's fun ; boys, come 
 on!" 
 
 The Jew continued to wring his hands and 
 repeated his complaints. 
 
 "Never mind the blubbering, old Shylock," said 
 Bill, "we'll see you righted. What's gone, old 
 fellow?" 
 
 "A peautiful gold vatch and chain," said the 
 Jew, "in a rich diamond case." 
 
 "And who's got it?" asked Bill. 
 
 The Jew pointed to a bluff, stupid looking Ethi- 
 opian, who sat very coolly in the door-way smoking 
 and drinking tea. He was attired in the costume 
 of a Talb or priest, and wore about his neck the 
 identical gold watch and chain which the Jew had 
 lost. 
 
 "And is there no justice in Mogadore," inquired 
 Bill, assuming a consequential air, "to force the 
 black scoundrel to restore his stolen property?" 
 
 " Tere ish none for mine peoples," answered the 
 Jew. 
 
 "Then," said the sailor, approaching the Ethio- 
 pian, who maintained the same indifferent aspect, 
 "Judge Bill Smith will see that restitution is made 
 forthwith ; come, old padre, hand over the plunder, 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 73 
 
 or I'll put daylight through your black timbers in 
 less than no time ! " 
 
 As the learned man continued to smoke tran- 
 quilly, and took no notice of the soi-disant judge, 
 Bill removed the watch and chain from his person, 
 and handed it over to the Jew, who trembled, on 
 receiving it, more than ever. 
 
 Bill, then, flourishing his cactus club over his head, 
 called out, " Make a ring, come on, padre," and 
 placed himself in fighting attitude. 
 
 But it seemed that Bill and the padre were not 
 likely to have it all their own way, for as soon as 
 the horror, which took possession of the crowd, on 
 beholding the person of a Talb violated in this 
 unceremonious manner, had somewhat subsided, a 
 score of cimeters flashed before us, and the major, 
 Tom, and I, were obliged, in self-defence, to handle 
 our revolvers, while our sailors flourished their 
 cactus sticks about like madmen, in expectation of 
 fun. 
 
 "The first man that dares to strike, plug him in 
 the right shoulder," sung out the major; "we've got 
 charges enough to cripple 'em all." 
 
 No blood was spilt, however, for to our great 
 astonishment, just as the skirmish was about to 
 commence, the Jew walked up to where the Ethio- 
 pian was setting, and in the most cringing, fawning 
 manner, invested his person again with the watch 
 and chain. 
 
 " Fight your own battles in future," muttered the 
 major, striding off majestically with his little wife 
 7 
 
74 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 under his arm, not a little chagrined at the turn 
 matters had taken. 
 
 The man Bill shook the poor old Jew till I 
 thought he would shake him into his boots, and 
 then, shaking his fist to the Ethiopian, with the 
 air of a man who was a little uncertain as to which 
 side he was fighting on, followed us with the other 
 sailors, all five singing and shouting like demons. 
 
 We were pretty well tired with the day's adven- 
 tures, and lost no time in getting to the boat. When 
 we reached her, and were fairly seated, it was quite 
 dark. 
 
 We were on the point of pushing off, when we 
 heard a voice calling us to stop. It proved to be the 
 old Jew, who had followed us to apologize and 
 explain his conduct. 
 
 "Shentlemens," said he, holding himself steady 
 by the rail of the boat, " it vash veil meant, it vash 
 veil meant, shentlemens, you ish noble shentlemens, 
 to take te part of te despised old Jew, but vat mosht 
 be, mosht, you knows, shentlemens, tat te man vith 
 my vatch and chain ish a religious man, and mosht 
 have his own vay in all tings. 
 
 ■" Shentlemens, I have von daughter, von only 
 daughter; shentlemens, you do not know mine 
 daughter, Ruth, how peautiful she ish, and how 
 pure and precious in mine eyes; shentlemens, this 
 peastly negro hash cast hish eyes upon mine daugh- 
 ter, and vould take her to hish own house — ugh. 
 
 "Shentlemens, you understand me now, I carried 
 the vatch to excite his cupidity, knowing that he 
 vould shteal it, as I vould throw a piece of meat to 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 75 
 
 a tiger who vash coming to devours me. Veil, he 
 shtole the vatch, and I have proof, but if he comes 
 to shteal mine daughter, he vill take care that I shall 
 not have proof. But if he triesh I shall show to the 
 bashaw, who ish a good man, that he hash taken 
 mine vatch, and he vill believe that he vash going to 
 take mine daughter. 
 
 " Shentlemens, you ish noble shentlemens, vat 
 you have done vash veil meant. To-morrow, if you 
 vill pleash, you shall come to mine house in te 
 millah, and mine daughter shall shing you te shongs 
 of mine peoples." 
 
 Here was a chapter for you on the beauties of 
 avarice ! That decrepid old man, whose form was 
 growing fainter and fainter in the darkness, till it 
 finally mingled itself with the black shadow of the 
 rock beneath which he cringed, as we looked back 
 upon him from our boat, had left the home of his 
 nativity in early youth; throughout his long life 
 had been a wanderer, submitting to every species of 
 insult and injury, and in his feeble old age had 
 subjected his daughter, who was perchance beautiful 
 as the morning, and, at any rate, was to him as the 
 apple of his eye, to the possibility of indignities, for 
 which the pen has no name, and to a worse than 
 life in death, in the sensual society of a filthy negro 
 — and all for what — money. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 A JOURNEY ON CAMELS. 
 
 The next day we called upon the Jew at his 
 house, in the millah or Jews' town, which is a 
 separate inclosure within the main walls, having 
 gates which are opened and shut in conformity with 
 the regulations of the principal town. 
 
 The internal appearance of his house showed no 
 signs of that ruin, which the Jew announced the 
 day previous as having fallen upon him. It was 
 filled with every comfort and luxury which could 
 add grace or richness to the view, and there was 
 visible in evecy arrangement a certain elegance and 
 good taste, which bespoke, plainly enough, the 
 presence of gentle woman. 
 
 And here Ruth, the Jew's daughter, came and 
 sang to us the songs of her people. Here she sang, 
 the frail, beautiful daughter of a generation once the 
 favorite of heaven, accompanied by the music of the 
 harp ; such grand old melodies, deep toned and 
 solemn, as carried our souls back to those simple, 
 sublime and patriarchal days, when her long buried 
 ancestry walked the earth and held converse with the 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 77 
 
 Lord. And at times she sang a wild, lawless, rest- 
 less, plaintive air, the most mournful and heart- 
 breaking I ever heard, and in it was the stor}^ of her 
 people's homelessness — their wrongs — their sor- 
 rows—but no word of hope. It was like the out- 
 bursting of a soul that remembered the heaven it had 
 lost, but had no desire even left to revisit it. A few 
 days after, on the desert at night, when we were 
 encamped far from human habitation, I heard a 
 sound which impressed me similarly. A solitary 
 Arab passed our tent, urging his swift hierie to the 
 utmost, and as he rushed by and disappeared in the 
 trackless waste, he sent forth a howl that seemed to 
 come from the very depths of a lost spirit. All the 
 next day his image haunted me, hurrying purpose- 
 less and despairingly over the vast nothingness of 
 the desert; and when darkness covered the earth, 
 finding no confidant of his remorseful outbreaks but 
 the night wind. 
 
 We visited the Jew's house frequently during our 
 stay at Mogadore, but could never engage his 
 daughter in conversation. When pressed to con- 
 verse, she would rise abruptly and leave the room. 
 All her life and energies were bound up in music, 
 and all her songs were of her people. It seemed as 
 if the early greatness of her race, their subsequent 
 misfortunes and injuries, and their final social out- 
 lawry, had come down on the wind from periods 
 long passed, and she was the iEolian harp through 
 which they floated in majestic or mournful melodies. 
 
 We had been in Mogadore some few days when, 
 one morning Mr. Yolo Snazen], our interpreter, came 
 7* 
 
78 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 off with more than usual meaning in his counte- 
 nance. He informed us that a small caravan of fifty 
 camels was to leave on the morrow for Wed-noon, 
 the residence of an American gentleman by the name 
 of Vinal, of whom we had heard a good deal since 
 our arrival. This gentleman had a splendid town 
 establishment in Mogadore, but seldom resided there, 
 being, as we understood, an eccentric individual, 
 Avflo preferred his place at Wed-noon, where he was 
 a kind of prince, and often made excursions far into 
 the desert with the wandering Arab tribes, or cruised 
 about the coast, or to the Canaries and Cape de 
 Verde islands, in his fast sailing yacht. 
 
 We also learned from our interpreter that this 
 same Mr. Vinal was a large landed proprietor at 
 Wed-noon, that he owned whole caravans of camels, 
 and that he had great influence over the wandering 
 tribes who came there occasionally for supplies. As 
 he never gave us any personal description of him, 
 and always mentioned his name with the profound- 
 est respect, I figured him to myself as a venerable 
 man, who was spending the last remnant of his days 
 in this self exile, hoping, perhaps, to do something to 
 atone for early errors, or to wipe away the too bitter 
 recollection of some crime of his manhood. I 
 thought it probable that he was a man of science, 
 and had exhibited certain feats of skill in presence of 
 these roving Arabs, which had won their admiration 
 and esteem. 
 
 Our interpreter had often suggested to us a journey 
 to Wed-noon, for the purpose of consulting with this 
 gentleman relative to the best plan to be pursued in 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 79 
 
 the furtherance of our voyage. He had given us to 
 understand, that if Mr. Vinal should be favorably 
 disposed towards our enterprise, there was nothing 
 to prevent its immediate fulfilment; that Wed-noon 
 was out of the dominions of the emperor, and Vinal 
 could do there as he thought fit in all respects; that 
 the place possessed an excellent harbor, and that the 
 camels could be embarked there as easily as at Mog- 
 adore. On the other hand, he urged that it was 
 uncertain what would be the final decision of the 
 emperor, in our case, and that, at all events, we 
 would be delayed a long time in waiting for it. He 
 said we could make it appear to the bashaw that we 
 were going on a pleasure excursion down the coast, 
 and would let the brig follow us along shore, so that 
 in the event of our finding camel-riding too hard for 
 us, we should have the means of returning by water. 
 
 We assented to his views, with the exception of 
 the characteristic piece of deception recommended at 
 the close, which of course we utterly repudiated, and 
 decided to start the next morning, taking advantage 
 of the convoy which he had recommended. Besides 
 the possibility of his suggestion resulting favorably, 
 we were desirous of seeing the country a little in the 
 interior, of having a ride on camels, and of becoming 
 further acquainted with the eccentric and mysterious 
 Mr. Vinal, of whom we had heard so much. 
 
 The cook was ordered to boil a quantity of beef, 
 which, we were told, was considered by the de- 
 vidjis, or camel drivers, as a luxury. This, with 
 two bags containing sea-biscuit, was all the prepara- 
 tion which we thought absolutely necessary to make 
 
80 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 in the way of provisions, trusting to our companions 
 to furnish us with such other articles of food as the 
 country might afford. After dinner we visited* the 
 bashaw, acquainting him with our determination of 
 visiting Mr. Vinal at Wed-noon, which he seemed to 
 think well of, but respectfully submitted it as his 
 opinion that we should have to return to Mogadore 
 to embark our camels, adding with a smile, that we 
 would soon be able to judge for ourselves of the 
 facilities of Wed-noon as a seaport. 
 
 As soon as the gates were opened next morning, 
 our interpreter came off and informed us that the 
 camels were saddled and packed, and the train 
 awaiting us at a well just outside of the city. It 
 was probably a vague recollection of what I had 
 read in boyhood, of shipwrecked mariners and 
 Christian travellers being seized by the inhabitants 
 of the country we were to pass through, held as 
 slaves, and large sums demanded for their ransom, 
 that made me decide to take with us the coin we 
 had brought for the purchase of the camels. It was 
 in doubloons to the amount of five thousand dollars, 
 and put up in four wash-leather bags. These bags 
 I put into a pair of saddle-bags, the key of which I 
 kept in my pocket, and resolved not to lose sight or 
 feeling of them during the journey. At the earnest 
 request of the women, who, from seeing the prowess 
 of our captain on shipboard had evidently acquired, 
 a sort of floating idea, that he was invincible under 
 all circumstances, "Uncle Jim" was induced, some- 
 what against his own wishes, to accompany us, 
 leaving the brig to be taken around to Wed-noon by 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 81 
 
 the mate. Our luggage was soon ready and we set 
 off. 
 
 At a little distance from the south gate we found 
 the train awaiting us at a well, as Yolo Snazem had 
 stated. It was now about eleven o'clock, and a fine 
 clear beautiful morning, rather warm to be sure, but 
 not oppressive. The gateway was crowded with 
 camels, horses, asses, and oxen, as we passed 
 through, and the plain outside in the immediate 
 vicinity of the town, was fairly alive with these an- 
 imals and their riders and attendants. It resembled 
 very much the thronged entrance to the harbor of a 
 great commercial city, and was not unlike it in 
 reality; for these animals were the ships of that 
 country, and some of them coming from the Arab 
 douars of the desert, or the Berber fortresses in the 
 mountains, bore a freight of ostrich feathers, gold 
 dust, ivory, and leopard skins, equal in value to the 
 cargo of many a gallant argosy. On this part of the 
 plain were fragments of ruined walls or monuments, 
 erected, doubtless, in honor of some Mohammedan 
 saints, giving a certain character to a scenery which 
 otherwise, without the presence of animal life, would 
 have been dull and desolate enough. 
 
 The well at which our camels had watered, and 
 in the neighborhood of which they were now graz- 
 ing, was rather a cistern than a well. It was some 
 twenty-five feet in length, and eight to ten in width, 
 sunk perhaps five feet into the sand, and stoned and 
 plastered within. Over it, rising about six feet, was 
 a flat roof, covered with reeds and mud smoothly 
 plastered, and supported by stout poles. On this 
 
82 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 roof and on the sand beneath were stretched the 
 forms of our future travelling companions, all except 
 one who appeared to be a sentinel, sound asleep. 
 The scene reminded me of a passage in Byron's 
 dream, only the boy was wanting : 
 
 " * * * in the last he lay, 
 Reposing from the noontide sultriness, 
 Couched among fallen columns, in the shade 
 Of ruined walls that had survived the names 
 Of those who reared them ; by his sleeping side 
 Stood camels grazing, and some goodly steeds 
 Were fastened near a fountain, and a man 
 Clad in a flowing garb did watch the while, 
 While many of his tribe slumbered around ; 
 And they were canopied by the blue sky 
 So cloudless, clear, and purely beautiful, 
 That God alone was to be seen in heaven." 
 
 Our arrival was the signal for arousing the sleep- 
 ers, who at once proceeded to get their camels in 
 order for a start. Our interpreter pointed ours out 
 to us, with the remark that they were easy-going 
 beasts, and he had no doubt that we should enjoy 
 the ride finely. They were four in number, saddled 
 with the ungainly Moorish appliances which, if they 
 are as uncomfortable to the animal as to the rider, 
 afford the best evidence yet of his patience and 
 long suffering. I shall not attempt, by a minute de- 
 scription, to convey to the indulgent reader an idea of 
 the physique of these abominable contrivances, for 
 although I might be successful in this, I am certain 
 that an idea of their morale could not be conveyed 
 in words. They were, however, firmly fastened 
 with girths and cruppers, and their white cotton 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 83 
 
 awning falling over the extremity of the poles, to 
 which the camel's hide, forming the seat of this 
 kind of saddle, is attached, gave them rather an in- 
 viting appearance from the outside. This awning 
 is stretched on stout twigs rising from the extremi- 
 ties of the saddle or basket platform, and meeting in 
 the centre at a height of about four feet. Our plat- 
 forms might have been four feet square; rather snug 
 accommodations, one would think, for two grown 
 people. But two of our camels were to carry three 
 each, no extra provision having been made for our 
 two children. Any complaints, however, that we 
 might had in contemplation, were nipped in the bud 
 by Mr. Snazem, who told us that these saddles were 
 the latest improvement, and decidedly superior to 
 any thing before known in the country. The driver, 
 by this "late improvement," had a kind of box seat 
 in front of the hump, where he sat with his legs 
 crossed, resting his feet on the camel's neck. 
 
 The devidjis came to assist and packed our lug- 
 gage snugly, I taking care to have the money-bags 
 stowed within reach of my legs, that I might occa- 
 sionally satisfy myself as to their whereabouts. We 
 then entered our tents, rather than vaulted into 
 our saddles, and at a kind of cluck from one of the 
 drivers, our well-trained animals rose steadily and 
 quietly, placing us at a height of nearly nine feet 
 from the ground. At another cluck, they proceeded 
 with a long swimming stride, on their sandy track. 
 We drew back our awnings and looked from one to 
 another, in delight, for we were in great spirits. 
 
 We were travelling in Indian file. The camel di- 
 
84 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 rectly in front of the one occupied by my wife, little 
 Warren, and I, was ridden by Captain Wilson, Tom, 
 and young Tom. The next one behind us bore the 
 major and his wife. In the rear was a gaunt, bony, 
 high-actioned camel, freighted with the two Irish 
 girls, who soon gave evidence of the comfortable 
 qualities of their animal and appliances, by mani- 
 festing symptoms similar to those attending sea- 
 sickness. 
 
 We went on our way, keeping near the beach, 
 passing on our right, at the distance of about a couple 
 of miles from the city, a plastered stone wall, with a 
 front of over two hundred feet, back of which were 
 four distinct roofs covered with green tile, gently 
 sloping upward to a point in the centre. Our inter- 
 preter informed us that this place belonged to Muley 
 Abderrhaman, emperor of Morocco, and was his resi- 
 dence during his occasional visits to the seaboard. 
 
 We shortly after came into a forest of argan trees, 
 loaded with their yellow fruit. In the midst of this 
 wilderness, we sometimes passed an inclosure of 
 thorn bushes, within which we heard the bark 
 of the African dog, but saw no person. We again 
 crossed a short barren strip of sand with a few hil- 
 locks, visible in the distance on the seaward side of 
 us ; and passing next the dry bed of a river, we 
 came upon a mountainous country, which promised 
 views more varied and romantic than we had yet 
 seen. After going through a narrow passage in the 
 nearest hill, we entered a valley of great beauty; 
 on either side of us were towering mountains, and 
 at their base were rows of vegetable gardens, with 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 85 
 
 houses thinly scattered amongst them similar to 
 those in the vicinity of Mogadore. These were 
 abundantly watered by streams from the hill sides, 
 and contained many varieties of vegetables in full 
 ripeness. On leaving this delightful spot, which 
 must have been some five or six miles in length, we 
 came again into the region of sand. Here the plain 
 extended to the ocean, of which we had a fine view, 
 not many miles distant. It was now nearly sun- 
 down, and to our great joy our drivers proposed 
 encamping for the night. They chose a gently rising 
 ground, in the vicinity of which were some bushes 
 of the sullen thorn and prickly pear, on which the 
 camels browse mostly in these regions, and unpack- 
 ing their tents, proceeded to pitch them and make 
 arrangements for supper. I was told that we en- 
 camped here in preference to remaining in the valley, 
 for the purpose of allowing the camels to graze at 
 large, which they are prohibited from doing in culti- 
 vated tracts. 
 
 We had good reason for being tired, for unused as 
 we were to this kind of travelling, we had, never- 
 theless, made a distance of about fifty miles since 
 we set out. 
 
 While things were being made cosy, we sent into 
 the valley for vegetables and chickens, and with 
 what we brought with us made a very tolerable sup- 
 per. The water, from being carried all day in goat- 
 skins, was rather warm, and had a flavor which I did 
 not quite like. We had, however, plenty of camels' 
 milk, which has not a bad taste and is considered 
 highly nutritious. 
 8 
 
86 
 
 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 We retired to rest soon after supper. Separate 
 tents had been provided for those of us who had 
 families, and wearied as we were with our hard 
 day's journey, the coarse mats on which we lay, 
 were as grateful to us*as downy beds, and I believe 
 that we all slept soundly till morning. 
 
 We were awakened before sunrise by the men 
 who went out to milk the camels, which is always 
 done late in the evening and early in the morning, 
 when the night winds have sufficiently cooled the 
 bags. After this operation our companions all came 
 forth, and having gone through the motions of 
 washing with sand for lack of water, prostrated 
 themselves upon the plain with their faces towards 
 the east, repeating at the same time passages of the 
 Koran. This being done we made a frugal breakfast 
 of bread and camels' milk, struck our tents, repacked 
 our animals, and were again ready for a start. 
 
 The sand plain where we encamped was bounded 
 by a stream of several rods in width, which we 
 forded and then began to ascend the mountain 
 ridge beyond it. After clambering a rocky, precipi- 
 tous ascent to a height of more than twelve hundred 
 feet, we came to a level tract of cultivated ground 
 nearly a league in extent. Our way down on the 
 south side led through a sombre narrow passage in 
 the mountains, in many places over loose sharp rocks, 
 and had our camels not been remarkably sure-footed, 
 I should have trembled more than once at the dis- 
 mal and dangerous prospect. In some places we 
 travelled on the edge of an abrupt descent of several 
 hundred feet, where the path was only of sufficient 
 width to admit of one camel passing at a time, and 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 87 
 
 where a false step would have hurled us to destruc- 
 tion. The jerking, jolting gait of our animals over 
 this uneven ground was very painful. The road, 
 however, grew rather worse than better, and we 
 continued over this rocky, hilly tract till about eleven 
 o'clock in the forenoon, when, to our great relief, we 
 entered the walled town of Agadeer. Having ar- 
 ranged with our companions to meet again at one 
 o'clock at the south gate, we left them and proceeded 
 to the house of a friend of our interpreter's, where 
 we partook of a generous repast. 
 
 We were not more than half rested when we were 
 ordered again into our saddles, being told that it was 
 the intention of our party to reach a river some fifty 
 miles distant by nightfall. On leaving the town of 
 Agadeer, we descended the mountain still further till 
 we came to a broad level tract of sand, which ex- 
 tended before us as far as the eye could reach. Our 
 interpreter informed us that this was an arm of the 
 great Zahara. Up to the time of our arrival at Ag- , 
 adeer, we had no lack of company. Caravans of 
 camels, droves of oxen, asses and sheep, and com- 
 panies of horsemen, numbering in some cases several 
 hundred, were constantly encountered. We were 
 seldom out of sight of houses, gardens, or tents, and 
 never but when our view was shut in by the moun- 
 tain sides, — but now we saw before us nothing but a 
 barren, lifeless sweep, without a tree or plant or sign 
 of animal life on the whole of it. Our camels were 
 here allowed a few minutes to gather wind and 
 browse upon the prickly shrubs growing upon its 
 margin, and then, in obedience to a well-known shout 
 
88 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 of the devidjis, launched forth upon this trackless 
 main, and the soil being favorable to fast travelling, 
 set out into a brisk jolting trot. 
 
 Ha! the Desert! — the solitary land, the waste 
 place of the whole wide earth — Zahara, — type of 
 whatever is lonely and desolate, we were on thy broad 
 bosom, with thy merciless sands about us. How we 
 went floating over thee, huge, swift, shadowy and 
 noiseless, like a sad colored cloud that had settled 
 earthward, and was borne onward by the wind. 
 What to us were the petty things of life, its hopes 
 and hungerings, u its weary round of toil and pleas- 
 ure," — we were free of them all. The polished 
 denizen of towns may turn his back upon thee, and 
 prate wisely of thy hardships and dangers, seeing 
 no beauty and sublimity in thy majestic face, no 
 freedom in thy boundless sweep. And, thou too, 
 wild rover of the plains, that mightest teach thy 
 defamers a lesson of fearlessness and self-denial, 
 and many another simple virtue, let the sluggard 
 and the coward writhe and shrink, whenever thy 
 shadow falls upon their palsied souls, and level 
 at thee the rifle of their abuse, looking only with 
 staring eyeballs at thy one great vice as if they 
 never planned or plotted how they could best legally 
 prey upon each other ! And what, if at times stung 
 with a sense of thine own deprivations, and scenting 
 from afar the banquet in which thy fellows are in- 
 dulging, thine appetite becomes aroused, and thou 
 bearest down upon the defenceless, taking from them 
 their best and dearest? Comes not thus the eagle 
 from his eyrie, and is he not called the noblest of 
 birds ? 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 89 
 
 In the course of the afternoon we saw a troop of 
 ostriches and several gazelles, all travelling east- 
 ward, — animals frequently seen upon the desert, 
 where their fleetness enables them to pass from one 
 oasis to another. 
 
 About an hour before sundown a wind-squall 
 passing over us, and raising a perfect storm of sand, 
 gave us an opportunity of beholding the beautiful 
 adaptation of the camel to the regions in which he is 
 found. Seeing its approach, our drivers drew their 
 haicks over their heads, and ordered us to close our 
 awnings tightly. The camel on which I was riding 
 raised his neck perpendicularly to remove his head 
 as far as possible above the flying sand, and letting 
 his heavy eyebrows fall over his half-shut eyes, and 
 shading his nostrils in a similar manner, kept on 
 his way as silently but steadily as in the mildest 
 weather. What a soothing reflection, that He who 
 sendeth rain alike upon the just and the unjust 
 and who gave the faithful mountain dog to the 
 crag-leaping Svvitzer, and the swift reindeer to the 
 snow-begirt Laplander, gave also the camel to the 
 wandering Ishmaelite. 
 
 The squall was soon over. We now passed sev- 
 eral large sand drifts, some of them apparently 
 twenty feet in height, and a little after sundown, 
 reached the river, called in the language of the 
 country, El-wad-sta. It was a stream of consider- 
 able importance — fifteen or twenty rods in width, 
 and composed of delicious water. Here we en- 
 camped, having travelled nearly eighty miles since 
 morning. A short distance above us was a cluster 
 
90 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 of Arab tents ; one of our men immediately started 
 off in that direction on a kind of exploring expe- 
 dition, and returned with a piece of camel's flesh, 
 which after being broiled formed no unimportant 
 item of our supper. We again retired early and 
 slept soundly. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 WED-N00N. 
 
 The next morning, after milking the camels, filling 
 onr water-bags, and going through their devotions, 
 our devidjis gave the signal for another start. 
 
 We left the arm of the desert behind us, and came 
 again into a fertile and cultivated country, chequered 
 with immense forests of argan trees. It was called 
 the land of the Shilluh, an independent race, al- 
 though the Emperor of Morocco holds a nominal 
 dominion over them. During the day we passed 
 several small villages, situated for the most part on 
 the banks of inferior streams, some of them making 
 pretensions to a mud-wall, which was, however, 
 open in spots, and of little use for any purpose of 
 protection. Along the banks of these streams were 
 gardens, and in some quarters were wide fields of 
 barley. Besides the vast tracts of the argan, we 
 often encountered the olive, fig, date, pomegranate, 
 orange and pal in trees, and saw grazing on all sides, 
 large herds of camels, horses, asses, sheep, goats, and 
 other horned cattle. In this country there are many 
 Jews who keep depots of European merchandise, 
 
92 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 which they sell for money, or barter away for honey, 
 wax, hides, oil, ivory, and dried dates. At one of 
 these places we dined. The dog of a Jew had 
 French soup, meats and fish, hermetically sealed in 
 tin, which, with some dry old port, made us a good 
 dinner, and on that occasion we dispensed with salt 
 beef and camel's flesh. For the whole day we had 
 not lost sight of the ridges of Atlas looming up 
 grandly on our left, with the sunshine falling coldly 
 on their snow-capped summits. At nightfall we 
 pitched our tents again on the frontier of a small 
 sand-patch, having made our best day's work yet by 
 travelling over ninety miles. 
 
 Notwithstanding our long ride, we were, strange 
 as it may seem, not so tired as on the previous even- 
 ings. Our road had been smoother, and we had 
 learned to accommodate ourselves somewhat to the 
 camel's jerking pace. After supper we spread our 
 mats outside of the row of tents, and reclining on 
 them, lit our cigars, prepared to take a little quiet 
 comfort and enjoy the beauty of the scene. The 
 small moon was but a little above the horizon, shed- 
 ding a faint glimmer upon our recumbent forms, and 
 lighting dimly the many strange and picturesque 
 objects with which we were surrounded. 
 
 It was here that we were favored with another 
 striking illustration of the wonderful gift of second 
 sight possessed by Mrs. Wallack. We were reclin- 
 ing, as I have said, outside of the tents, when during 
 a pause in the conversation, we heard the major's 
 wife calling out in a low timorous tone, 
 
 " Charles, Charles, take my hand ; sit by me ; oh, 
 I am afraid." 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 93 
 
 " There is nothing to he afraid of here," said the 
 major, tenderly taking her hand as she requested, 
 " we are all by you ; tell me, what do you see?" 
 
 For a moment she made no answer. She was 
 reclining like the rest of us, but her form was mo- 
 tionless, her eyes were directed towards the sand, 
 a few paces distant, and but for their being half 
 open, her whole appearance would have been that 
 of a person asleep. 
 
 Another shade of terror came over her face, and 
 she again murmured, " Charles, where are you? — 
 hold me tight — oh the waves are breaking in upon 
 us." 
 
 Then becoming more calm, she continued, still 
 speaking in a low hesitating tone, " Ah yes, I see you 
 now, for there is a vivid flash of lightning which 
 seems to last. You are all here ; this is you, 
 Charles, and there is Tom; and yes, there is Mr. 
 Warrener and his wife; but where are we — how 
 came we here? " 
 
 " What further do you see?" inquired the major. 
 
 "We are on a dreary, dismal rock," she answered 
 feebly;" in the middle of the ocean; but no, there 
 is land only so far away that we can just see it when 
 it lightens. And the sea is foaming and boiling 
 all around us. It is very dark, and it rains hard, 
 and the waves are gaining on us. We shall be lost, 
 oh we shall be lost ! " 
 
 And she again relapsed into her mood of terror. 
 Soon her face brightened and she murmured with 
 a pleasant smile, " But here is a bird, a beau- 
 tiful white bird, circling about us. It has come to 
 
94 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 help us I know, it looks so good — I am not afraid 
 now." 
 
 Again her mood changed suddenly, and the old 
 look came back as she gasped out in accents of 
 alarm, " The bird is leaving us; it has gone now, 
 and we are alone; oh, we shall be lost, we shall be 
 lost!" 
 
 And then after the lapse of a few minutes, came a 
 final burst of sunshine over her tranquillized features, 
 as she faltered in heartfelt notes of gratitude and 
 delight, "The beautiful white bird is coming back, 
 yes it is coming back, and we shall be saved; and 
 there is a man following it who has come out of the 
 water — it has saved him and it will save us. Oh, we 
 shall be saved, saved ; " and with a pleasant smile 
 upon her face, she fell off into profound slumber. 
 
 Some one observed that this mood of mind was 
 probably the result of severe bodily fatigue, and as no 
 other solution of the enigma was offered, we accepted 
 this for the present, and retiring within our respect- 
 ive tents, were soon, if my case was not exceptional, 
 in a state of profound repose. 
 
 The fresh dewy breeze of the morning, the spirited 
 exercise of striking and packing our tents, shook off 
 any cob-weby remains of sadness, which Mrs. Wal- 
 laces revelations of the preceding evening might 
 have left lingering about us. Before the sun was an 
 hour high we were off on our last day's journey to- 
 wards Wed-noon, now at a distance of some fifty 
 miles. Early in the forenoon we passed a narrow 
 defile leading through the Atlas mountains, and then 
 came into the valley on the west, in which are situated 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 95 
 
 many of the principal towns of South Barbary. 
 The country now began to present an appearance of 
 great interest and beauty. Immense fields of wheat, 
 barley, and Indian corn, were visible on every side, 
 gardens of vegetables in luxuriant bearing, and plant- 
 ations of date, fig, pomegranate, orange, lemon, al- 
 mond, olive, and argan trees, gave a cheerful and 
 refreshing aspect to the scenery, while the numerous 
 houses, and small walled towns, dotting the entire 
 valley with their crowd of inhabitants clustering like 
 bees about the doors and gateways, and surrounded 
 as they mostly were with herds of the domestic 
 animals, gave it a character at once lifelike and pa- 
 triarchal. We were informed that these little com- 
 munities considered themselves entirely free and 
 independent — that they had each a special govern- 
 ment of their own — headed by a chief of their own 
 choice; but that in case of attack from an outside 
 force, all united for the general defence, and in the 
 event of any crime of magnitude being committed, 
 the suspected party was sent to Wed-noon for trial. 
 The cattle which we saw grazing so freely at large, 
 were at night driven within the inclosure of the walls 
 to protect them from the predatory attacks of their 
 little scrupulous neighbors. 
 
 Towards eleven o'clock, " the sun being over the 
 foreyard," as our captain figuratively remarked, we 
 entered the little town of Akkadia, where we had a 
 lunch of dried fruit, bread and camels' milk. 
 
 Here, strange to say, we missed our interpreter. 
 He had been with us in the morning, for 1 recol- 
 lected well his assisting to pack the camels. What 
 
96 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 could have become of him ? We had none of us 
 been altogether pleased with him. Still we had 
 never quarrelled, and could imagine no reason for his 
 leaving us in this unhandsome manner. 
 
 As we passed out by the southern gateway, we saw 
 at a short distance in advance of us, a long train of 
 camels numbering, 1 should think, some two hundred. 
 They were also travelling southward, but we, bearing 
 the lighter weight, speedily overtook them. Their 
 freight consisted of Guinea cloth, gums, dried dates, 
 argan oil, ostrich feathers, ivory, and gold dust. In 
 addition to their half dozen attendants walking 
 alongside, all dressed in uniform, and distinguished 
 by a strip of blue cotton wrapped about the lower 
 part of their white turbans and dropping on the left 
 side nearly to the hip, was a person in more elegant 
 attire, riding on the foremost camel of the train. 
 Over his dress of a wanderer he wore a flowing robe 
 of camels' hair, curiously embroidered with blue and 
 scarlet. He was furthermore attired in red morocco 
 leggins fastened to a pair of Moorish slippers, and 
 broad belts of the same color and material, crossing 
 at the breast and back. From these were suspended 
 a brass mounted powder-horn of extra dimensions, 
 and a brightly burnished cimeter. On the left side 
 of his saddle was fastened a long French musket, 
 elegantly decorated with silver bands. Around his 
 waist he wore a broad sash of blue silk, and another 
 was twined about his turban, and hung down upon 
 his left side in a similar manner to the cotton head- 
 gear of the attendants. 
 
 But notwithstanding, his dress was studiously that 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 97 
 
 of a native of the country in which we were travel- 
 ling, and his bushy, black beard and sun burnt face 
 would have done no disgrace to an Arab or a Moor, 
 there was in his countenance a certain broad, 
 honest, and good natured expression which plainly 
 bespoke an Anglo-saxon origin. I at once concluded 
 that this could be no other than Mr. Vinal. Yet I was 
 but half satisfied with this understanding, for there 
 was a dashiness in his costume which I did not quite 
 like, and besides I looked in vain for that sense of 
 power and dignity which I had always associated in 
 my mind with the person of Vinal. These observa- 
 tions I had an opportunity of making, as he wheeled 
 his camel out of the train and turning his head 
 towards us, courteously awaited our approach. 
 
 It happened that the camel on which I was 
 riding, was the foremost of our party. On approach- 
 ing this fanciful and mysterious character, he bade 
 us good morning, and inquired if we were going to 
 Wed-noon. I returned his salutation and replied to 
 his question in the affirmative. He then with a not 
 ungraceful gesture of his hand to those in the rear, 
 wheeled his animal about again, and we jogged on 
 side by side. I had now an opportunity of observing 
 him closer, and could not help remarking, at times, a 
 blank and unsettled expression of the eye, as if a 
 light had suddenly gone out within, and which was 
 too evidently the sign of a feeble if not disordered 
 mind. This perplexed me a little, and I resolved to 
 settle at once the question of his identity. 
 
 M Are you Mr. Vinal 1 " said I, more abruptly than 
 true politeness would have dictated. 
 9 
 
98 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 "I, Mr. Vinal!" exclaimed he in a tone expres- 
 sive of the horror which he felt, that any one should 
 have conceived an idea so monstrous — "Am I 
 Prince Albert, or the Great Mogul ? Do I look like 
 either of them ?" 
 
 Surely he was not the former, and as for the 
 latter, I knew nothing of his personal appearance, 
 and indeed had but a very uncertain idea of his 
 existence, and was consequently unable to return a 
 satisfactory answer. 
 
 "But you are strangers/' continued our new 
 friend, after a moment, softening down in consid- 
 eration of our non-acquaintance with the country 
 and its inhabitants, "and don't know Mr. Vinal ; 
 otherwise, I should not have to inform you that he 
 is a man as much superior to other men, at least, all 
 other men that ever I happened to fall in with, as 
 day is better than night ! " 
 
 I could not help smiling at the man's earnest 
 admiration of Mr. Vinal, which nevertheless seemed 
 to come from his heart. Whether he had subtlety 
 enough to guess at my thoughts, I know not, but he 
 continued as if in explanation of his last remark — 
 
 "And good reason have I for saying so, too. For 
 twenty-three years I was a slave on the desert, when 
 God in his mercy sent this disguised angel — for if 
 he is n't that, I don't know what he is — to my relief. 
 He paid my ransom money, and sent me back to 
 London, my native place — John Mullay, of London, 
 at your service, sir — making me believe all the time 
 that he was merely an agent for a British society, 
 whose business it was to hunt out and ransom 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 99 
 
 Christian slaves in Barbary; for he can't stand 
 thanks, no how, Mr. Vinal can't. He's a queer man 
 that way. Tell him just what he is, and, good gra- 
 cious, you can wring him like a wet sheet ! 
 
 " But I soon found him out, shy as he was, for 
 when I arrived in London, and could track neither 
 hide nor hair of my old relatives and cronies, I began 
 to inquire for the ' Society for ransoming Christian 
 slaves in Barbary.' Some winked and said that 
 benevolent young virgin had not yet 'come out' in 
 fashionable life, but doubtless would as soon as some 
 rich old earl or dowager could be found to act as 
 chaperon. Others shook their heads, and contented 
 themselves with touching their foreheads in a know- 
 ing way that was meant to imply that my brain was 
 either weak, or wandering. At length I was directed 
 to a gentleman who was a member of Parliament, 
 and was said to know all about the philanthropic 
 societies of the day. I found him at home, living in 
 a perfect palace, too, he was. Well, I told him my 
 business, and his face brightened so much, as I related 
 to him some of my hardships, that I began to think 
 he was going to help me and felt glad in advance. 
 1 Sir,' said he, when I had done talking, 'it is a 
 good idea, and shall be attended to. I will bring it 
 forward forthwith. Society for the ransom of Chris- 
 tian slaves in Barbary, it is grand ; it leaves Wilber- 
 force and Clarkson quite in the shade. My dear sir, 
 I am very grateful to you for proposing this. I 
 can never repay you.' I stopped him as he was 
 proceeding in this style, by asking him if he could 
 let me have the small matter of half a pound to 
 assist in procuring me some present necessaries. 
 
100 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 "'As to that,' he answered, c the society is not 
 yet formed, and if it were, I am not sure that it 
 would come within its province to assist those 
 already ransomed. But all this, sir, shall receive 
 due consideration.' And so he was waving me off 
 with his hand, when I told him that my next move 
 would be back to South Barbary, where 1 knew a 
 man that I would rather be slave to than stand in 
 his shoes, member of parliament though he was. 
 He touched his forehead as others had done, and 
 motioning to a servant to show me out, in which 
 was also implied a command to kick me out, in case 
 1 showed any reluctance about going, resumed his 
 writing. This was my last attempt to get any 
 help at home." 
 
 Our new friend had much to tell us about the 
 country we were in, himself, and Mr. Vinal. He 
 was then, as he informed us, on his return from a 
 trading expedition to Soudan, of course in the em- 
 ploy of Vinal, but that the night previous, when on 
 the desert, through an error in his calculation, not 
 thinking himself so far to the northward, he had run 
 by Wed-noon, and striking to the westward, had 
 this morning fallen in with Akkadia. He also told 
 us that Vinal had many other trading caravans, and 
 had his friends and allies among all the roving tribes; 
 that he had ransomed many other slaves besides 
 himself, and that now, as he had that morning learnt 
 at Akkadia, his yacht, the Bold Runner, was absent 
 to the island of Madeira, where she had gone with a 
 crew of shipwrecked mariners whom he, Vinal, had 
 lately discovered in a dreadful state of destitution, 
 near the seashore. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 101 
 
 His opinion was that we had done wisely in com- 
 ing down to consult with Mr. Vinal, relative to our 
 expedition. " Because," said he, "he is the man to 
 furnish the camels, for he has over twelve hundred 
 here at Wed-noon, and if any permission of the 
 emperor or any thing of that kind is wanting, he has 
 only to go to him and ask, to have it granted at 
 once. But have you brought money with you to pay 
 for your camels? " 
 
 "Certainly we have," said I indignantly, "do you 
 suppose we are out here on a fool's errand ? " 
 
 "That makes it bad again," continued he mus- 
 ingly, "for you must know that Mr. Vinal don't 
 somehow like taking money from a friend, and he 
 don't seem to like money itself either, very well, and 
 Lord help us, he's got millions. Now that is what 
 I call one of the strangest things about the man, for 
 generally you know, the more a man has the more 
 he wants. But ah, there's no understanding him — 
 there's Wed-noon." 
 
 A turn in the road had brought us suddenly in 
 view of Wed-noon, now at a distance of a few miles. 
 It is situated on rising ground, and with its nume- 
 rous houses and gardens makes rather a pleasant 
 appearance on approaching it. We found it to be 
 very similar to the other villages we had passed in 
 point of fortifications, for although it had a high 
 wall encompassing it, yet this presented such a 
 dilapidated appearance in some places, that it was 
 evident a determined body of men would not be 
 long stayed by this impediment. Many of the larger 
 
 houses were inclosed within walls of more solid 
 9 # 
 
102 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 pretensions, covered upon the top by thorn bushes. 
 The gardens and cattle parks were likewise pro- 
 tected in the same way. 
 
 Just before entering the town, our new friend filed 
 off with his caravan towards the camel park of Mr. 
 Vinal, adjoining which was his warehouse. The 
 houses being built irregularly, without any regard 
 to streets, we might have had some difficulty in 
 finding Vinal's, had not our devidjis known him. 
 They pointed out to us his residence near the en- 
 trance, a two-story dwelling house built in the form 
 of a hollow square, the lower part being constructed 
 of mud and stones stuccoed, and the second story of 
 wood, painted a light straw color, with ash colored 
 Venetian blinds. The walls inclosing this structure 
 were freshly whitewashed, and the place had an air 
 of great comfort and cleanliness without making 
 pretensions to style. Our companions here left us, 
 and we rode up to introduce ourselves. 
 
 On entering the high gateway we found ourselves 
 in a paved court, checkered with tamarind and 
 palm trees. It was a much larger inclosure than 
 we had at first supposed — containing, in fact, nearly 
 an acre. The house also proved to be of great 
 dimensions, but was so exquisitely proportioned, and 
 beautifully neat, as at first sight to look small. On 
 one side of the court was a long low building which 
 we took to be a hen-coop, from seeing a number of 
 Guinea fowls in the neighborhood. There was a 
 cistern near the gateway with a tamarind tree shad- 
 ing it, and an Arab tent pitched picturesquely along- 
 side. A gazelle which had been drinking there, 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 103 
 
 fled timidly to the house as we entered, leaving its 
 attendant and the one having charge of the guinea 
 fowls, both in the blue and white head-gear of 
 Vinal's retainers, to receive us if so disposed. 
 
 We had no chance however to observe their move- 
 ments, for at the same instant a young man with a 
 fresh and remarkably boyish face came out of the 
 house and almost bounded along the yard to meet 
 us. He was plainly dressed in coat and pantaloons 
 of brown linen, with a black ribbon about his neck, 
 and wore upon his head a Panama hat. He was a 
 little above the medium height, slender and graceful, 
 but with a certain squareness and finish about his 
 joints, suggestive of strength and agility. He could 
 not have been more than twenty-five years of age, 
 perhaps less. What I particularly noticed about him 
 at first, was a desire to laugh, which he seemed to 
 restrain with difficulty. I think this must have been 
 owing to our puzzled looks as much as to our bedrag- 
 gled appearance, for we certainly had not expected 
 to find a young gentleman at Mr. Vinal's. 
 
 "Ladies and gentlemen/' said he, shaking us cor- 
 dially by the hand, "this is joyful. I can't conceive 
 where you have come from, but you are as welcome 
 as if you had dropped down from heaven ! v 
 
 He gave the Arab sign to the camels, who instantly 
 knelt down, and we dismounted. At the sight of 
 the children he was yet more pleased. Taking one 
 in his arms and another by the hand, he led the way 
 into the house. "Come," said he, "we'll go up 
 stairs and lie down a while and take some refresh- 
 ment, while the baths are being got ready. There 
 are hammocks enough for us all." 
 
104 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 " Mr. Vinal is away from home, I presume," re- 
 marked the major. 
 
 " No, sir," observed the young man laughing, 
 "not while I am here." 
 
 " Why," said the major's wife, " I thought you 
 certainly could be no nearer relation to him than his 
 son." 
 
 This pleased Vinal most of any thing yet, and he 
 laughed again in a perfect overflow of good nature, 
 as he replied, 
 
 " I am really sorry, ladies and gentlemen, that 
 when you were expecting to meet a venerable 
 father, a sage of the desert or some such romantic 
 character, you should fall in with such a very plain 
 specimen of a boy as I must own to being. But al- 
 though I might plead guilty to being the son of Mr. 
 Vinal, yet there is none of my name in this country 
 that I am aware of. So you will please to consider 
 me for the future, not as Mr. Vinal, but as Dick 
 Vinal, which is my name, nothing more or less, 
 and in that manner I like to be styled by my 
 friends." 
 
 While the major was giving him an idea of our 
 expedition, I had an opportunity to study his physi- 
 ognomy still further. His face, as I said before, was 
 boyish, but this was owing partly to his clear florid 
 complexion and smoothly shaven beard, and was 
 only remarkable when the simplicity of his heart had 
 control of it. Now as he listened to the major it was 
 expressive of the dignity of the staidest manhood. 
 His hair was of a brown color, cut short and inclined 
 to curl. His high, broad forehead projected slightly 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 105 
 
 over his full blue eyes. His nose was small and 
 straight, and his mouth, with the under jaw advanc- 
 ing a very little, and closing in lines of wonderful 
 beauty, gave a perfection to his lineaments which 
 left nothing to desire. It was a face in which was a 
 strange mixture of boyish simplicity, with energy, 
 perseverance and indomitable will, but with a vivid 
 good heartedness playing like sunlight over the 
 whole. When you looked upon his firm set mouth, 
 with determination in every princely line, he seemed 
 to be defying all the powers of earth and air to 
 thwart his schemes; but over his brow and from his 
 eyes the sentiment of his soul was also gleaming, — 
 "Thou shalt do no wrong." And when he turned 
 those eyes full upon you, so that you had to meet 
 them, they seemed to say — " Come, be my friend 
 and I will be thine, and no harm shall come to either 
 of us ; " and they flung this challenge out exultingly, 
 as if they would add in the full consciousness of the 
 spirit — " For I am strong — strong — strong ! " 
 
 When the major came to that part of his narrative, 
 in which Wed -noon had been pictured to us as a 
 seaport, Vinal indulged in a hearty laugh, and in- 
 deed we afterwards found out that we were thirty 
 miles from the coast. 
 
 " And so you want camels," remarked he, at the 
 close, "Oh, it's excellent, and I've got such lots of 
 them! I shall pick out a hundred of the best, and 
 send them up to Mogadore, whenever you get ready 
 for them. I am now going down to my park to look 
 after that rascal of a John Mullay, and see that he 
 don't work too hard in the sun. You must amuse 
 
106 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 yourselves as you can ; we dine at five. To-day 
 Bel Cassim, the sheik of Wed-noon, and his cousin 
 Sidi Ben Hamet, a sort of prime minister, dine with 
 me. Good fellows, but rather taciturn, so we shall 
 have to depend on ourselves to keep conversation 
 from flagging. Till then good by." 
 
 And taking down a little switch cane which hung 
 against the wall, and lighting a genuine havana, 
 Vinal sauntered forth, looking for all the world like 
 a young West India planter on a stroll about his 
 estate. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 GLORIOUS DICK VINAL, 
 
 We were sitting at table after dinner discussing 
 some excellent old claret. I had always had an 
 impression that there was a passage in the Koran 
 prohibiting true believers from indulging in wine, but 
 on seeing the conduct of Bel Cassim and Sidi Ben 
 Hamet, on that occasion, I was convinced of my 
 mistake. 
 
 "Well, gentlemen," said Vinal, "you have seen 
 Wed-noon. What do you think of it as a seaport?" 
 
 "The scoundrel!" muttered the major between 
 his teeth. 
 
 " That Snazem is a cunning rascal," continued 
 Vinal ; " however, I ought not to find fault with him, 
 at any rate, since he has been the means of intro- 
 ducing such agreeable company into my house. Do 
 you know that I am a little disappointed in you, 
 coming as you do from a part of our country which 
 I have no particular reasons for liking?" 
 
 "We are from New England, Sir," said Tom, 
 thinking that he was laboring under some mistake. 
 
 "So am I," answered Dick, "but I would advise 
 
108 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 you not to boast of that about here, as the only idea 
 of New England, which the great majority of people 
 in this country have, is associated with the vilest of 
 all bad liquors — rum. I have no objection to good 
 wine, and I believe it to be far better for the general 
 health of mankind than the favorite American beve- 
 rages of tea and coffee ; but this New England fire- 
 water is without doubt the greatest curse which the 
 mischief-seeking ingenuity of man ever devised. 
 When I was a merchant in that country, I could 
 never sufficiently admire the beautiful consistency of 
 certain philanthropists, who sent missionaries to the 
 heathen in the ship's cabin, and fire-arms and fire- 
 water in her hold. I suppose these individuals had 
 skipped in their daily readings that portion of the 
 Bible where the Lord's prayer is fdund, and sent this 
 merchandise to try the nascent strength of the young 
 converts in resisting temptation." 
 
 u One of the best things," observed Tom, "which 
 I know of in this line, is what happened not many 
 years since in a certain orthodox church, in one of 
 New England's staidest towns. The congregation 
 were decidedly ultra on all the isms of the day, and 
 particularly strait-laced on the temperance question. 
 Some how or other, of course nobody in particular 
 was responsible for it, the cellar of the church was 
 let to a liquor dealer, who stored therein certain 
 merchandise, which caused an alcoholic odor to per- 
 vade the house. One Sunday, just before the hour 
 of afternoon service, a wag, whose olfactories were 
 a little tickled by the said odor, perpetrated this epi- 
 gram, which he pasted on the inner door, where the 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 109 
 
 congregation might have a chance of reading it on 
 entering — 
 
 " There be spirits above 
 And spirits below, 
 Spirits of love 
 
 And spirits of woe ; 
 But the spirits above are the spirits divine, 
 And the spirits below are the spirits of wine." 
 
 "Quite characteristic," said Dick; "and now 
 allow me to ask you how you expect to find your 
 brig again, since it's pretty certain that she'll never 
 find Wed-noon?" 
 
 "Is there no settlement or harbor on the coast?" 
 inquired Captain Wilson. "I had no chart of the 
 place, but supposed there must be some show of a 
 town, about here." 
 
 "None at all," replied Vinal, "and the only thing 
 for us to do is to go in search of the brig. She is 
 probably by this time pretty tired of looking for you. 
 I propose, then, that we start to-morrow morning 
 early for the seaside. There are high rocky cliffs 
 all along shore, which command a fine view of the 
 ocean. If the brig is within twenty miles we shall 
 see her. I will take with me a large American flag 
 which I have here, and we will hoist it there as a 
 signal for the vessel to come in, if she should prove 
 to be in the neighborhood. We will then order her 
 back to Mogadore, and I will send up a train of 
 camels to meet her, as we have already agreed on." 
 
 We were pretty tired with our three days' tramp, 
 and would gladly have rested for a little while. But 
 as Vinal had kindly offered to assist us, we could 
 
 10 
 
110 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 not certainly object to looking after our own property. 
 It was agreed that the captain and I should accom- 
 pany him to the seaside, leaving the major and 
 Tom to take care of the women and children, and 
 that we should start at daybreak on the morrow. 
 
 Just as we had made this arrangement, my wife 
 came in with a look of alarm in her countenance, 
 and bearing in her hands the saddlebags which, as 
 I have before said, contained our money. 
 
 " The gold is gone," said she, bringing them to the 
 table, "and the bags are filled with rocks instead." 
 
 She then showed us how a piece of leather had 
 been smoothly cut out of the side of each one, and 
 dexterously reinserted after the exchange had been 
 made. 
 
 "It is that villain Snazem who has done this," 
 said Vinal, promptly. "I know the way of those 
 thievish vagabonds well. All the mysteries of his 
 conduct are now fully explained." 
 
 I now remembered that I had given him the bags 
 to pack in with the saddle of my camel, but the 
 scoundrel must have practised this art before, as he 
 had possession of them but a minute. 
 
 Here was a pretty dilemma for us. Our vessel on 
 a wild goose chase we knew not where, our money 
 gone, and ourselves the guests of a semi-barbarian 
 prince. If ever three poor fellows felt supremely 
 foolish, we did so at that moment. In my confusion 
 of ideas I half suspected that Vinal might take us 
 for impostors, and disbelieve our story of the money, 
 and our still more ridiculous one of the brig in quest 
 of Wed-noon. But on venturing to look up at him, 
 all my apprehensions immediately vanished. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. Ill 
 
 There was a bright beam of happiness playing 
 over his fine face, which I seem to see now. If, 
 as Solomon tells us, "A merry heart maketh a 
 cheerful countenance," his must have been fairly 
 overflowing with gladness. Observing, however, 
 our bewildered and chopfallen countenances, his 
 own changed, and leaning back in his chair he burst 
 into a laugh, merry and free-hearted as that of a 
 boy just let loose from school. 
 
 " Well done," said he; "a pretty set of Yankees 
 you are, to be taken in in this style by a beggarly 
 Moor. Why, you seem to believe everybody as 
 honest and trustworthy as yourselves. What do 
 you propose to do now?" 
 
 "Is there no way of recovering this money and 
 bringing the rascal to justice?" inquired the major. 
 " Suppose we were to make it known to the gov- 
 ernor of Mogadore, and write to " — 
 
 "None," interrupted Vinal ; "he is by this time 
 far enough away in the trackless sands of the desert, 
 or snugly hidden in some of the fastnesses of Atlas. 
 I may indeed one day get hold of him, through some 
 of my faithful Arabs, but the money I fear is gone 
 forever. The poor wretch is to be pitied, any way," 
 continued he, while a shade of touching commisera- 
 tion stole over his expressive face, "though he is 
 probably so constituted that he will never feel any 
 of the pangs of remorse. He belongs to a family 
 who doubtless think it a kind of virtue to rob a 
 Christian. But, after all, what a mean thing is 
 remorse, compared with the never-ceasing loss of 
 that eternal satisfaction one feels in the remembrance 
 of a good and generous deed" — 
 
112 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 "Our voyage is up," said the major, sadly — 
 "and yet I don't feel so bad at this as that these 
 scurvy recurrences make one lose all faith in the 
 good of his fellow-men." 
 
 "Not so fast," replied Vinal; "don't judge the 
 world by its exceptions; and as for your expedition 
 being terminated, don't delude yourself with any 
 such idea — not a bit of it. You shall have your 
 camels, as many as your vessel will carry, and any 
 further funds yon may need in the pursuance of your 
 plans, and reimburse me when convenient. Stop, 
 no thanks, I am only doing what you would be glad 
 to do if in my position, and as the privilege happens 
 to be mine, I don't see but I derive the greatest ad- 
 vantage from the arrangement." 
 
 I thought the major would have stepped across 
 the table to embrace him. 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen," continued Vinal, "you 
 look upon me with an air that seems to say I am a 
 strange man. Perhaps I am. At all events I am a 
 very happy one, and that I believe is something 
 strange, for I have either read, heard or dreamt that 
 few people have ever made a similar confession. 
 Perhaps you would like to know how I came out 
 here, enjoying myself in this outre fashion, asso- 
 ciating with blacks, Moors and Arabs, being as well 
 acquainted in Gambia as I am at Morocco or Tom- 
 buctoo, having the descendants of Ishmael for my 
 nearest friends and neighbors, and Zahara, which 
 other white men dread, for my promenade ground. 
 The story is a short one. 
 
 ' ; My parents died while I was quite a child, leaving 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 113 
 
 me to be brought up by my uncle. My father left 
 a large amount of property, which I, being an only 
 child, was to come into possession of on reaching the 
 years of maturity. My uncle was a merchant, a 
 very respectable man in his way, not rich, but of 
 good standing in the world, a church member, and, 
 like every body else, looked up "to by his inferiors on 
 'change. Like my father, he had but one child — a 
 daughter. 
 
 "Of course I was sent to Cambridge. I had no 
 particular fondness for study, and was soon tired of 
 the stupid life which I led there. But I knew that 
 it was of no use remonstrating with my uncle on the 
 subject, for it was considered very respectable to be 
 going through the motions of a student at old Har- 
 vard. So at the close of my sophomore year I ran 
 off and went whaling. This life proved to be rather 
 a hard one; still it was far preferable to the musty 
 existence which I had led among the book-crammed 
 halls of Cambridge. 
 
 " I was absent three years. On my return, I found 
 myself, like Byron, suddenly .become famous, for I 
 had come into possession of my property. My 
 uncle consulted with me about business, and my aunt 
 was particularly gracious. My cousin, only a few 
 years my junior, had grown into an elegant young 
 woman; she received me with cordiality, but, I 
 thought, had become a little shyer of me than of 
 old. I was invited to dinner parties, musical par- 
 ties, wedding parties, and all sorts of parties, and. 
 was well received every where. For a few months 
 I enjoyed this finely, believing every body and every 
 
 10* 
 
114 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 thing which I saw about me to be true, thereby 
 showing how exceedingly verdant I was at the time. 
 
 "When I found out my mistake, I became dis- 
 gusted with this kind of society. So leaving 
 manoeuvring mammas and calculating daughters to 
 try their net-work on some other 'nice young man,' 
 I betook myself to business. I took an office on 
 'the street,' which being interpreted, means State 
 street, not deciding on any regular, legitimate sort of 
 business, but resolved to go into any thing which 
 might turn up. I had a kind of Quixotic notion of 
 bringing forward deserving people, and of re-estab- 
 lishing the unfortunate in trade. I was also par- 
 ticularly inclined to take hold of any thing new, and 
 was very kindly disposed towards foreigners out of 
 employ. This latter trait, at the end of a few 
 weeks, had caused an introduction of seven clerks 
 into my office, and I could have transacted business 
 in as many different languages, if I had had any 
 business to transact. 
 
 u My uncle objected to the course I was taking, as 
 being sure to terminate in my ruin. He advised me 
 to 'go into gunny bags or flour.' 1 saw nothing 
 very inviting in gunny bags that should make me 
 desire to 'go into' them; and as for speculating in 
 flour, I had conscientious scruples which forbade it, 
 so I stuck to my own course. 
 
 "You may be sure that as soon as my peculiar 
 views were known, 1 had no lack of occupation. 
 Propositions for business poured in on all sides. Not 
 to weary you with details, 1 will just say that I was 
 unsuccessful in every thing which I undertook, so far 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 115 
 
 as pecuniary gain constitutes success. All the per- 
 sons with whom I had any business connection 
 defrauded me, or at all events I was a loser by 
 them. My uncle, however, never seemed to see that 
 there was any thing wrong on their part, but attrib- 
 uted my misfortunes solely to a want of shrewdness 
 on my own. In one case I recollect he insisted upon 
 my following up a man who owed me a small 
 balance of a few hundred dollars, which he said I 
 would recover by perseverance. 'No, 7 said I, 
 morbidly, 'everybody else has profited at my ex- 
 pense; I shall feel better not to have this solitary 
 exception. 7 
 
 "Some of my operations, in spite of their ruinous 
 results, were rather comic than otherwise, in the 
 circumstances attending them. 
 
 "There was an old ex-stager, Ruggles by name, 
 who used to drive a coach from Boston to Salem, 
 and with whom, in my younger days, I had often 
 been over the road. Well, he came to me, and 
 wanted to be established in a kind of chop-house, 
 which he proposed to call the Tom Jefferson. He 
 threatened, if I didn't help him in this, to feign deaf, 
 and allow himself to be run over by the first loco- 
 motive which came in his way, so that the invention 
 which did not tolerate his profession might also do 
 away with himself. I set him up and lost the whole 
 of my investment. 
 
 "I took a large number of shares in a new ice 
 company. This I was sure would turn out some- 
 thing. We got in a fine stock of ice, and it proved 
 to be a good year for selling it. One day, about the 
 
116 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 time when I was expecting a dividend, the manager 
 of the concern came to my office, and informed me 
 that a certain railroad which was to have been built, 
 running by our pond, had not been constructed, and 
 that our ice would not be worth the expense of 
 bringing it to market. 'In consequence of which,' 
 added he, waggishly, 'the whole thing is to be 
 abandoned, and we are all to meet at the ice office 
 this evening, where we are to have a monster mint 
 julep, mixed in a barrel; and as ice has sucked us 
 in, we are to retaliate by sucking in ice. Each of 
 the proprietors is to be furnished with a straw at the 
 expense of the company — not an inappropriate pro- 
 vision, as many of them, to tell the truth, were 
 never any thing better than men of straw.' 
 
 "On one occasion a tall serious looking gentleman, 
 attired in a seedy suit of black, with a white neck- 
 cloth, called to see me, and handed me a card on 
 which was written, 'J. Smythe, D. D.' I invited the 
 reverend doctor into my private room, where I joined 
 him as soon as previous business permitted. 
 
 " ( Sir,' said he to me on entering, 'I have come 
 to solicit your aid in a very special case.' 
 
 " Here he paused, and seemed embarrassed. I, 
 thinking to help him out, suggested 'Foreign Mis- 
 sions ?' 
 
 " 'Ah, no ! ' he replied sadly, 'I am not a doctor 
 of divinity, as your manner towards me seems to 
 imply, but a Disappointed Dentist. There are 
 twenty-seven of us, sir, in the city — all D. D.'s — 
 and we have united together on the mutual principle, 
 to keep the mutual pot a boiling, sir, under the style 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 117 
 
 of the 'Short Association.' By our bye-laws each 
 member is bound to contribute his gross earnings to 
 the general fund, and all expenses are paid there- 
 from. But I have reasons for believing that these 
 laws are not religiously observed. One member 
 has been recently suspected of having taken a plate 
 of soup furtively at Parker's, on a rainy day, when 
 the mutual pot was rather empty. Another was 
 actually seen eating a piece of pie in the market- 
 house ; and two, no longer ago than yesterday, re- 
 fused to allow their breath to be smelt of on coming 
 in, — a proceeding authorized by our bye-laws, — 
 leaving us to infer thereby, that they had been in- 
 dulging in ale, or other expensive drinks. 7 
 
 " 1 could hardly help laughing at the fellow's grav- 
 ity while narrating this pitiful story; but I managed 
 to ask him what assistance he wanted. 
 
 "He replied that he had made a calculation, and 
 that there were no less than one hundred and thirty 
 thousand teeth in the city, which needed arranging. 
 ' Now,' said he, ' if some kind friend will assist 
 me, and I can get my proportion of this business, I 
 shall leave the mutual club, and shall do very well 
 by myself.' 
 
 "1 advised him to go a-whaling, and advanced 
 him the funds necessary for his outfit. 
 
 " His remark about the number of unsound teeth in 
 the city amused me not a little. Another illustration 
 of the old proverb, that 'Out of the fullness of the 
 heart the mouth speaketh,' occurred in the case of a 
 simple young fellow whom I established in the magic 
 lantern business. He was exhibiting for the first 
 
118 
 
 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 time in a country town, where the attendance was 
 not large. At length the door opened and two en- 
 tered at once. The poor fellow's joy was so great 
 that he could not contain himself, and he exclaimed 
 in a loud tone, ' Here comes two more ninepences ! ' 
 The boys caught up the saying, and whenever the 
 door was opened afterwards, would cry out from one 
 end of the hall to the other, ' Here comes another 
 ninepence ! ' 
 
 " When I lookback upon this period, and think of 
 the grotesque characters and queer vicissitudes with 
 which I then became acquainted, I am inclined to 
 dwell with a half smile at times at their very odd- 
 ness. And yet, such mirth has something bitter in 
 it at the best, for these people were most of them 
 in some way or other at variance with the world, 
 and far from being either happy or contented. 
 
 " Well, as I was saying, every thing went wrong 
 with me in business. Even when I bought vessels 
 and sent them to places where others were making 
 money, it turned out that just as I entered upon it, 
 the trade was sure to be overdone, and I was just in 
 season for the death. So at the end of twelve 
 months, after having lost one half of my property, 
 I decided to retire from business, for I never could 
 quite make up my mind to ' go into gunny bags.' 
 
 " During my continuance in trade I acquired much 
 worldly wisdom, among which was one precept, 
 which I believe is handed down from father to son 
 in every strictly mercantile family — ' Never trust a 
 man for his countenance, his sentiments, or his prin- 
 ciples, however good they may each and all be; but 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 119 
 
 if you would know his true worth go to the banks, 
 the insurance and rail-road offices, the registry of 
 deeds and the custom-house.' 
 
 " Tired of the outer world, and distrustful of society, 
 I now shut myself up in the house for months to- 
 gether. Being young, buoyant and full-blooded, I 
 became neither morose nor melancholy, but stayed 
 at home simply because there was nothing inviting 
 to me out of doors. 
 
 " Up to this time my uncle and aunt had looked 
 upon me as a suitable person for a husband of their 
 daughter. My fortune was still large, and through 
 the sagacity of my uncle, was invested in such a 
 way, that my income was sufficient to support 
 a family in princely style. But as we on our part 
 manifested no intention, but a decided disinclination 
 towards seconding their views, a middle-aged wid- 
 ower was allowed by them to try his fortune in 
 gaining her affections. He was a smooth-faced, oily- 
 tongued, civil, smiling individual, rather under the 
 common height, but of more than ordinary rotun- 
 dity, and reputed to be very rich. There were other 
 rumors about him not much to his credit. The 
 poor girl was ordered to try and love him. Had she 
 been unengaged, he could not but have been dis- 
 tasteful to her. But as it was, he must have been 
 positively hateful, for I knew that her heart was far 
 enough away, wandering among the islands of the 
 South Pacific, with a black -eyed boy who had left 
 his own with her in exchange, and 1 knew, too, that 
 her beautiful image was the light of his solitary 
 night-watch, and his better angel by day, keeping 
 
120 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 him pure and stainless amid the temptations of 
 foreign lands ; and, I vowed to myself, tha»t for his 
 sake as well as for hers, this infernal bargain never 
 should be consummated ! 
 
 "One bright Sunday morning, this interesting suitor 
 for a second wife made his appearance at the house 
 just before the hour of going to church. My cousin 
 was m the drawing-room, dressed to go out, and I 
 was also there, sitting by a window reading, when 
 he came in. Clara started at the sight of him as 
 if she had seen an adder. As he came towards her, 
 she seated herself and commenced drawing off her 
 gloves. He changed color, and, in a husky voice, 
 inquired if she was not going to church? She made 
 no reply, and I saw that she was ready to burst into 
 tears. He evidently had not seen me, for he went 
 immediately to where she was sitting, and muttering 
 1 Child ! ? seized her hand rudely, and endeavored to 
 draw it beneath his arm. But he had no time to 
 complete his purpose, for the blood rushed to my tem- 
 ples as I sat casting sidelong glances towards him, 
 and I sprang at him like an infuriated madman. \ Vil- 
 lain ! ; said I, while I grasped him by his elegant 
 neckcloth, ' is this the fruit of that forbearance 
 which has permitted your disgraceful presence in 
 this house?' and dragging him to the street door, 
 I pitched him out headlong upon the pavement." 
 
 "Good!" shouted the major, striking the table 
 with his fist; and indeed there was not a face around 
 the board which did not exhibit a smile of approba- 
 tion and delight, — as for Bel Cassim and Sidi Ben 
 Hamet, who had been nearly asleep a moment pre- 
 
The camel hunt. 121 
 
 vious, and of course understood not a word of what 
 was being said, they fairly laughed outright. 
 
 " After this occurrence," resumed Vinal, "I was, 
 of course, in disgrace with the elderly members of 
 the family, for the man whose nose rumor said I had 
 broken had great influence on 'change. But my 
 cousin's roguish glances of heartfelt gratitude, were 
 more than an offset for any little coolness elsewhere. 
 
 "A few days after, however, the black-eyed boy 
 came home, and as he had been successful in his ad- 
 ventures, and furthermore appeared like an excellent 
 young man, he was accepted on all sides as the 
 suitor of Clara, and all went well again. His pres- 
 ence in our limited household was as cheerful and 
 invigorating as a gust of warm fresh sek breeze from 
 the far Pacific would have been, and it revived 
 within me my old taste for wandering. Here, 
 thought I, I am a sluggard and dissatisfied, — in 
 another quarter of the globe I may be both useful 
 and happy. And I went forth again among my 
 fellow-men, and began to look about me for a des- 
 tination. 
 
 "What finally decided me to come here was singu- 
 lar enough in itself. I had been one evening wan- 
 dering about the lighted streets, with my cloak 
 wrapped tightly round me, most of the time buried 
 in reverie. At that period I went out more in the 
 evening than during the day, from a kind of unwil- 
 lingness which I still felt to meet my fellow-citizens 
 face to face in too glaring a reality. The gaslights 
 seemed to soften their unseemly peculiarities, and 
 bring out in better contrast whatever excellencies 
 11 
 
122 THE CAMEL HUNT.* 
 
 they possessed. There was much less traffic than by 
 sunlight. Of the people whom I met and passed, 
 some spoke rapturously of music, and were perhaps 
 on their way to a concert ; others discussed the 
 drama, and were going to or returning from the 
 theatre. Occasionally some quieter looking party 
 hurried hastily along, anxious lest they should be 
 too late for the prayer-meeting; or returning home, 
 showed by their footsteps the yearning desire which 
 they felt for a glimpse of their sleeping babes. But 
 the most pleasing sight of all was, when a young 
 couple passed slowly along the pavement, talking 
 low and tenderly of love. To me, dreamer as I then 
 was, it seemed like a period when the heart, mind 
 and soul which all day long had been held in sub- 
 jection to the corporeal frame, busy with its petty 
 wants and grovelling cares, were free, and came 
 forth to bask in a congenial atmosphere. 
 
 " Well, one evening, as I was saying, I had been 
 strolling about merely to while away the hours, 
 when I came to a brilliantly lighted entry-way, 
 through which several people were passing. I in- 
 quired what was going on above, and was told that 
 a distinguished gentleman was addressing the people 
 on the subject of slavery. I have not much sym- 
 pathy with this class of reformers, although I know 
 many of them to be pure and high-minded men, still 
 something prompted me to go in. The first sentence 
 which the speaker uttered after my entrance decided 
 my future course. He had evidently been speaking 
 of the hard lot of the slave, surrounded though he 
 may be in some cases with all the necessaries and 
 comforts of life. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 123 
 
 " c I would rather,' continued he, in a fine burst of 
 eloquence, ' be a wandering Arab of the desert, — a 
 son of Ishmael, my hand against every man, and 
 every man's hand against me, — homeless, houseless, 
 wifeless, and childless if you will ; but free, free as 
 the wind which raises the scorching sands about 
 him, and may help to make his grave, — free as the 
 summer cloud which drifts above him ? but cannot 
 stop to yield one drop of water to his parching 
 palate.' 
 
 " I left the hall, and as I went home I said to my- 
 self, ' Civilization has become distasteful to me, I 
 will go among the Arabs.' 
 
 " The next day found me busy in preparing for my 
 departure. I arranged with my uncle to draw for 
 my money whenever I might want it; for, like 
 iEneas of old, I was going forth in quest of a home. 
 I took passage in a vessel from Boston bound to Gib- 
 raltar. Thence I came to Mogadore, from which 
 place I drifted hither. And here I am, ladies and 
 gentlemen, as you see me, at home, happy as the 
 soaring skylark, singing as he soars, and free as the 
 breeze of heaven ! When I look back upon my 
 previous life, it seems like a clouded dream compared 
 with my present real, fresh and careering existence ! 
 
 " But I am presuming on your good nature, partic- 
 ularly as I know that you are just off of a hard 
 three days' journey. And the snores of Bel and Sidi 
 Ben are doubtless intended as a gentle hint to us 
 that we are expected in the land of Nod." 
 
 I took no further heed of the conversation, what- 
 ever it might have been. The light of Vinal's 
 
124 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 character was shining in upon me, reflecting back 
 upon his form, and mantling it, as it were, with a 
 simple, spiritual majesty, exceedingly interesting to 
 behold. He seemed the personification of an idea 
 which had often haunted me, but which I had never 
 before seen carried out in actual life, of turning 
 away from wrong, either real or imaginary, letting 
 it alone, and so rising superior to it. Here was a 
 man who had been treated with hypocrisy, ingrati- 
 tude or neglect, in a society where he had a right to 
 expect better things, but who had not become soured 
 or been made revengeful thereby. Disappointed in 
 his best hopes, and dissatisfied in the experience of 
 his own land, he had turned his face away, all in 
 sorrow, nothing in anger, and made for himself, amid 
 far different scenes, a sphere of usefulness, a happi- 
 ness and a home. I would gladly have heard him 
 tell of the noble and self-sacrificing deeds which 
 made his life so fresh and gladsome, but it was not 
 in his nature to speak of these things unasked. He 
 was content to thank God for a happiness which he 
 daily felt, without stopping to consider that it was 
 the spontaneous overflowing of a soul full of good- 
 ness and heroism. 
 
 " What do you think of our host?" said I to the 
 major, as we followed a domestic to our respective 
 rooms for the night. 
 
 " Glorious Dick Vinal ? " inquired he. 
 
 "Glorious Dick Vinal!" said I. 
 
 " Glorious Dick Vinal ! " echoed Tom. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE SEASIDE. 
 
 The next morning while breakfast was being 
 prepared, we all took a stroll down to Vinal's park, 
 situated in the valley a short distance from the town, 
 but nearer the mountains on the north. From these 
 mountains flow many streams which are led off into 
 the gardens in the suburbs of the town, and into 
 the great cisterns in the cattle inclosures. In Vinal's 
 park were over a thousand camels, all apparently 
 well and in good keeping, thanks to the superintend- 
 ing care of Mr. John Mullay, of London. We met 
 this gentleman on his morning round, taking a bird's- 
 eye survey of things, and he gave me a particularly 
 triumphant look with his u Good morning," as much 
 as to say, " Well, now, you have seen him for your- 
 self — was I too earnest in my admiration — eh?" 
 
 There was one small, dark brown heirie in the 
 herd, a particularly malicious looking animal, which 
 took Tom's fancy amazingly. Vinal observing this, 
 insisted on his receiving it as a present, asking in 
 exchange a promise that it should be well treated, 
 " for," added he, "you will find him as gentle and 
 swift as he is wild and malicious looking." 
 11* 
 
126 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 While our host drew off for a moment, to say a 
 few words to Mr. Mullay, we occupied the time in 
 ascending to the roof, constructed above one of the 
 great reservoirs within the inclosure, whence we 
 had a fine view of the park with its mass of animal 
 life. 
 
 There is something singularly grand and impressive 
 to the contemplative mind, in one of these same 
 camel-parks. We see there an immense assemblage 
 of the most patient, docile, useful, and I may add, 
 sagacious and intelligent animals known to man. 
 Look at that group just in from a long desert march, 
 see how gracefully they bend their curved necks, 
 and how lovingly, towards their drivers, who are 
 relieving them of their packs : and what glances 
 of kindest affection speak out from under their 
 drooping eyelids, as they draw into their weary stom- 
 achs whole gallons of the purest water. Or turn 
 your attention to another quarter, towards that cara- 
 van nearly ready for a start. Listen to those cries, 
 plaintive but not angry, which are intended as a 
 remonstrance against a further addition to a load al- 
 ready heavy. See the look of gratitude which 
 acknowledges the consideration of their masters in 
 giving heed to their protest. And now, as they go 
 out through the wide gateway, no whip or spur or 
 bitter words excite them; — the riders know too well 
 the delicate disposition of the creatures they rather 
 accompany than lead, — but encouraged by songs 
 and cheerful or playful coaxings, they begin and 
 continue their much enduring voyage. Here are 
 others reposing for a day or two, peacefully enjoying 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 127 
 
 a long Sabbath. With what solemn deliberation 
 they munch their bit of oil-cake or handful of beans, 
 or nip off the foliage from the thorn bushes at their 
 side. "Time enough," they seem to say; " when 
 we are wanted we shall be on hand. 75 Those who 
 call these precious animals stiff, clumsy, or ungrace- 
 ful, see them only with a superficial eye. To us, 
 who regard them more thoroughly, their very form 
 presents such a display of Almighty science, in the 
 exquisite adaption of the means to the end, that even 
 the hump becomes a feature of beauty, and the long, 
 slender, many-jointed leg, terminating in the broad 
 splay foot is neither unwieldy or inelegant. And 
 what adds most of all to their own peculiar majesty, 
 and the respect and affection which we feel towards 
 them, is the consciousness that we may count on 
 them in the hour of hardship and peril, that they 
 will not only bear us safely where we would other- 
 wise perish, and be also our ships of trade to far 
 countries, but that when we are faint even unto 
 death, and the old earth is barren, and the fields of 
 heaven are parched and dry, — like a nursing mother 
 to the child she loves, they will yield up their 
 own sustenance, so that we may not die. 
 
 On our return to the house we found an Arab, 
 whom Vinal had sent to the seacoast on the evening 
 previous, to get fish for breakfast. He told us there 
 was a sail in the offing, and as we made no doubt of 
 its being the Double Eagle, we all agreed to go down 
 to the coast after breakfast, and return to Mogadore 
 with the vessel. Vinal was to go with us, leaving 
 Mr. John Mullay to drive the camels up by land. 
 
128 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 "I should think," said the major to our host, as 
 we sat at table, " that you would find the camel a 
 very interesting subject to study and take care of." 
 
 " He is indeed," remarked Vinal. "With more 
 propriety than the dog or the horse, the camel may 
 be called the friend of man. In this light he is pre- 
 sented to us in the first records of antiquity. When 
 a wife was sought for Isaac, the old servant of Abra- 
 ham fixed upon a regard for camels as an appropri- 
 ate mark by which he would not fail to recognize 
 the maiden whom the Lord had destined for the 
 favorite child of his master. And how beautifully 
 did the gentle Rebecca answer to the test — 'And 
 when she had done giving him drink, she said, I 
 will draw water for thy camels also, until they have 
 done drinking.' 
 
 " ' And she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the 
 trough and ran again unto the well to draw water, 
 and drew for all his camels.' 
 
 "When Jacob was returning home and wished to 
 meet his brother Esau on friendly terms, he sent 
 him, among other presents, thirty milch camels with 
 their colts. And when Joseph was cast into the pit 
 by his wicked brethren, we read that 'They lifted up 
 their eyes and looked, and behold a company of 
 Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels 
 bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh, going to 
 carry it down to Egypt.' In those days as well as 
 now it appears that the Ishmaelite and camel were 
 inseparable. Doubtless, one of the greatest of Job's 
 afflictions was when the Chaldeans fell upon his 
 camels and carried off three thousand ; but in his 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 129 
 
 latter days, when the Lord blessed Job more than in 
 the beginning, he became the happy proprietor of six 
 thousand." 
 
 " Are there any accounts of the camel in a wild 
 state?" inquired the major. 
 
 "None that can be relied upon," replied Vinal ; 
 " the Arabs indeed tell of seeing camels afar in the 
 mountains, which they have pursued, and never 
 been able to overtake, that there they wander free, 
 and are of a different species from the camel of the 
 plain. But I have no reason for believing these 
 stories. I will tell you of a curious optical illusion 
 which once occurred to me, and which has had, 
 perhaps, a good deal to do with shaking my faith in 
 the wild camel. I was travelling in the Berber 
 country, back of Morocco, when one morning, as 
 we were at breakfast, the Arabs called out ' wild 
 camels ! ' I looked in the direction pointed out, and 
 there was apparently a long train of camels winding 
 round the base of one of the Atlas ridges, and reach- 
 ing for miles into the ravine beyond, where they 
 seemed congregated in such immense numbers as to 
 present to the eye nothing but a confused ash-colored 
 mass. I mounted my heirie, the same that you saw 
 this morning in the park, and dashed off to have a 
 nearer inspection. A brisk breeze sprang up, and 
 the whole train started off like mad, leaping and 
 careering like a herd of wild buffaloes, climbing 
 upon each other, expanding in size, and absolutely 
 alarming me by their crazy contortions. Pretty soon 
 they commenced their gambols in the air, for I could 
 distinctly see the bare brown rocks beneath them. 
 
130 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 The increasing wind, however, dispelled the illusion, 
 and I found that I had been in chase of the morning 
 mist. But pray tell me, where do you intend to 
 take your camels on leaving Mogadore? I had 
 thought that, in your country, steam was supplant- 
 ing every other means of conveyance, even on the 
 route to California." 
 
 " We intend to land at Port Lavacca, in Texas,' 5 
 said the major, "move up the Neuces valley to 
 about the parallel of Presidio Rio Grande, thence to 
 Paso del Norte, then cross the Rio Grande, and pro- 
 ceed by the valley of the Gila to San Diego — a 
 distance of about thirteen hundred miles. We 
 believe, taking every thing into account, that this 
 will prove the shortest and best route to California." 
 
 " Probably it will," returned Vinal; "but it 
 seems to me, — although, of course, at this distance, 
 with my non-acquaintance with the subject, I am ill 
 qualified to express an opinion — that, as the atten- 
 tion of the people appears now to be directed al- 
 most exclusively towards the Isthmus, it might be 
 better to proceed to Chagres, and put the camels 
 on the land part of that route. Their superiority 
 over the horse and mule would thus be clearly 
 made evident to vast numbers, and immediate suc- 
 cess would be the result. In all new enterprises, 
 success in the first movement is every thing, as it 
 gives a confidence which a thousand later failures 
 cannot destroy." 
 
 This advice was certainly not in accordance with 
 our own views, but if Vinal had recommended us to 
 take our camels to the wall of China, I believe we 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 131 
 
 should have done so. It was consequently decided, 
 without further discussion, that we should go to 
 Chagres. 
 
 After breakfast the camels were brought round, 
 and we set off down the valley. I noticed that the 
 inhabitants were very respectful in their salutations 
 to Vinal, and made a remark to that effect. 
 
 "Well," said he, "I don't know why it is, except 
 that I have always sought to do them good rather 
 than harm. I was never afraid of them, and that 
 may do something towards making them respect 
 me. Besides, I am the first white man of fortune 
 who has ever come to reside amongst them, and that 
 flatters them, I suppose." 
 I saw that he was not aware of his real power. 
 As we approached the beach, the soil changed, 
 becoming more clayey in spots, and was every where 
 baked hard, with sharp flinty stones intermixed. 
 After a ride of nearly three hours, we came in sight 
 of the sea. We were on a kind of chalky cliff, 
 which terminated abruptly on the seaside, in a 
 precipice of several hundred feet. At the base of 
 this cliff we heard the, rollers breaking in thunder 
 tones. As far as we could see, on either side, the 
 coast presented the same inhospitable aspect. We 
 saw the sail very distinctly, to which the Arab had 
 alluded in the morning, now at a distance from the 
 shore of some four or five miles. It was not the 
 Double Eagle, but a topsail schooner, standing to 
 the southward. Nevertheless we erected our flag- 
 staff in a spot which Vinal had previously arranged 
 for the purpose, and hoisted our flag — in hopes that 
 
132 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 the strange vessel might come in, and, at least, give 
 us some news of ours. Oar hopes in this respect 
 were gratified, for she tacked ship on seeing our 
 signal, and stood in for the shore. 
 
 It was now high noon, and the sun was very hot. 
 Vinal, who was well acquainted with thex^oast, told 
 us of a little bay in the rocks, just to the southward 
 of where we were, with a nice sandy beach, where 
 we could sit under the shade of the cliffs and await 
 the coming of the schooner's boat, as it was the only 
 point where she could land. We found a natural 
 descent in the rocks leading to this place, which 
 proved to be a delightful spot. Here we had lunch, 
 from a sack of good things put up at Vinal's, and 
 with the sea, like an old friend, beside us, soothing 
 us with the gentle music of its ripples, and at times 
 awakening within us deeper emotions, when we 
 listened to the crashing of its heavy organ tones, is 
 it any wonder that the moments passed swiftly by? 
 
 What is there about the ocean, the calm, lovely, 
 terrible ocean, that makes us yearn towards it thus, 
 and keep for it ever a place in our hearts 1 In the 
 far inland, in the dungeon of a prison-house, or 
 within the narrow walls of a sick room, if we have 
 ever seen or heard it before in our lives, we shall 
 see again its throbbing bosom, and hear its solemn 
 reverberations along the shore. All people, of all 
 times, have felt this something in the depths of their 
 soul — answering 1o something profounder in the 
 great deep of waters — whether it be the first 
 disciples, by the shores of the lesser sea of Gallilee, 
 or England's poet, gazing on its blackened fury 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 133 
 
 amid the blue Symplegades, or the lone Indian, 
 with the first faint roar of a mighty ocean breaking 
 on his ear, as he strays wonderingly downward 
 towards the west, 
 
 " in the continuous woods 
 Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound, 
 Save his own dashings " — 
 
 words still poetic, and descriptive of what was once 
 the fact, — or the weary and heart-sick child of 
 cities, coming to the sea, and lying down by its 
 side as tranquilly as if it were a great mother, into 
 whose sympathetic bosom he could pour all his sor- 
 row and weariness. Philosophers have sought its 
 shores, hoping its presence might breathe into their 
 musings more pleasant veins, and great men have 
 desired that their last sleep might be within the 
 sound of its surgings. 
 
 " By the sea's margin, on the watery strand, 
 Thy monument, Themistocles, shall stand." 
 
 Can it be possible that there is concealed within 
 its depths, a life, massive, solemn, eternal, yet 
 having some sympathy with our own? Why else 
 did Achilles seek its shores to bewail the loss of his 
 friend Patroclus ; or the tender Andromache go 
 pacing its sandy barrier, with tears and lamenta- 
 tions for her absent Hector? Why else did the 
 great-hearted Kit North say of Childe Harold — 
 
 u The image of the wanderer may well be asso- 
 ciated, for a time, with the rock of Calpe, the 
 shattered temples of Athens, or the gigantic frag- 
 ments of Rome ; but when we wish to think of this 
 dark personification as of a thing which is, where 
 
 12 
 
134 TtfE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 can we so well imagine him to have his daily haunt, 
 as by the roaring of the waves ?" 
 
 In our own day we read of a sick child, who was 
 carried to the seaside, and there, during his chilly 
 rides, he looked upon the waves, and thought he 
 heard sweet voices in their murmurings, calling him 
 away to a brighter and better land. And it is also re- 
 corded of a certain "willin'," but taciturn individual, 
 in a more humble sphere of life, that, being upon his 
 death-bed, his spirits rose and his life quickened 
 with the rising of the waters; but when the turn 
 came, he too fell back, and " Barkis went out with 
 the tide." 
 
 In this cool, shady, delightful spot, lazily con- 
 versing, and still more lazily musing, we forgot the 
 hours, and were quite taken by surprise when the 
 schooner's boat hove in sight round a clump of 
 rocks to the northward. 
 
 A short, bluff man, with a brandy-and-water 
 style of countenance, leaped on shore, and, inform- 
 ing us that he was Smith, of the English schooner 
 Success, inquired "What was the trade?" We 
 asked him, in return, if he had fallen in with the 
 Double Eagle. 
 
 "That 1 have," said he, "and she's as safe 
 as a thief in a mill, in charge of Her Britannic 
 Majesty's frigate, the Undaunted, seized on suspi- 
 cion of being engaged in the slave trade." 
 
 " When did you speak her ? " 
 
 "Yesterday, about noon, going through the water 
 like a witch, bound to Isle of Sal Cape de Verds." 
 
 Tom here came forward to ' surrender himself,' as 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 135 
 
 he said, as being the unintentional cause of all this 
 trouble; he having still the vessel's register, which 
 he had playfully purloined from the Captain, on the 
 occasion of our first visit to the Bashaw, in his 
 pocket ! 
 
 " And where are you bound, captain?" 
 
 "Well, you see, I'm just on a trading voyage 
 down the coast, and not bound anywhere in particu- 
 lar. Now, I wouldn't mind going to Sal myself, if 
 you'd make it an object." 
 
 " What will you take us all over for?" 
 
 "Lucre?" inquired he. 
 
 "Lucre," said the major, with great dignity. 
 
 "Well, seein' as 'taint a barter trade, say fifty 
 pound." 
 
 "Agreed" — and right glad were we with this 
 prospect of getting out of the scrape. 
 
 Vinal assured us that he was acquainted with the 
 officers of the Undaunted, and that we should have 
 no difficulty in recovering our vessel, if we were 
 fortunate enough to fall in with her again. Our 
 captain and the major were not for letting them off, 
 however, on the mere delivery of the brig, and 
 Uncle Jim was even fixed in a resolve to make a 
 national affair of it. We then shook hands with 
 Vinal, thanking him again and again for his kind- 
 ness, and receiving from him a promise to meet 
 us on our return to Mogadore, we embarked. On 
 looking back from the schooner's deck, we saw him 
 and his attendants strike the flag-staff, and move off 
 with the camels on their way back to Wed-noon. 
 Before sundown the chalky cliff was invisible. We 
 were "once more upon the waters." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ISLE OF SAL. 
 
 We were certainly in a novel position as adven- 
 turers, and a somewhat unpleasant one withal. 
 Japhet in search of his Father, Keeper in search of 
 his Master, and Coelebs in search of a Wife, were 
 mere children at play, compared with us. We had 
 lost every thing on which the success of our project 
 depended. The link which connected us with our 
 own country, and all dear to us in the past, and 
 promised to unite us to what we most hoped for in 
 the future, was suddenly cut off. We were in the 
 most perplexing and paradoxical situation imagin- 
 able — voyagers by sea without a vessel. 
 
 Supposing the wind were to die away, or come 
 out ahead, what a dilemma ! For in all proba- 
 bility the Undaunted would not remain long at the 
 Isle of Sal; or at any rate, the Double Eagle would 
 be dispatched to England in charge of a prize-mas- 
 ter, or, what would be as bad for us, St. Helena. 
 Then we should be in a nice position in that far 
 land, and at home how supremely ridiculous would 
 we appear ! And the camels, — Zahara, and the Bar- 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 137 
 
 bary States, would never be any the poorer for all 
 the specimens of that useful animal, that we would 
 ever deprive them of. The major positively scowled 
 as these thoughts passed through his mind, and the 
 rest of us were by no means sociably disposed. 
 
 We were half inclined to berate Tom soundly for 
 his reckless folly in carrying off the vessel's register, 
 but he seemed so sorry for the offence that we could 
 not do it. After all his disposition was so childlike 
 and cheerful, that we easily forgave follies which 
 seemed only the natural result of light-heartedness. 
 
 The wind 'however continued favorable, and we 
 had plenty of it for the whole passage, and all our 
 discomforts were at once forgotten, when on the fifth 
 day we made the Lion's Head, a high bluff forming 
 the southwest confine of Martinez Bay, in Salt Island. 
 At about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, with a fresh 
 northeaster, we rounded this point and came in 
 sight of some half dozen vessels at anchor in the 
 bay, among which, to our most grateful delight, we 
 were not long in recognizing the Double Eagle. Our 
 anxiety had been so intense, that when it was thus 
 pleasantly relieved, our joy was proportionably 
 great, and all future possible annoyances seemed 
 unworthy even of a thought. Tom was not only 
 completely reinstated in our good graces, but we 
 rather liked him the better for having furnished us 
 this little episode in the camel hunt. 
 
 We remarked that all the shipping were decorated 
 with flags, and that the low white houses and flag- 
 staffs ranged along the sandy beach were also rich 
 in this particular. The people on shore too, as well 
 12* 
 
138 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 as we could distinguish at a distance, seemed to be 
 sauntering rather listlessly about. The captain sug- 
 gested that it was some " confounded Saint's day," 
 and that of course no work was to be done while it 
 lasted. 
 
 We were heading direct for our recovered vessel, 
 but I ventured to observe that perhaps we should 
 do better to go on shore first and learn something of 
 the nature of the case from our consul. This prop- 
 osition met with no favor whatever, and we soon 
 had the exquisite pleasure of being boated alongside 
 of our own little beauty, and scrambling uncere- 
 moniously to her deck. We found her in possession 
 of a strong force. 
 
 At the gangway stood a stout, good-natured look- 
 ing Englishman, in the undress of a lieutenant or a 
 past midshipman, who welcomed us cordially, and 
 escorted us aft, where, beneath the awning, was 
 another taller but equally good looking officer, of 
 apparently a higher grade, holding a book in his 
 hand, in the reading of which we had unexpectedly 
 interrupted him. "Gentlemen," said the latter, bow- 
 ing gracefully, and introducing himself as Charles 
 Rothery, lieutenant of Her British Majesty's ship, 
 the Undaunted, " [ am glad to see you — your arri- 
 val is certainly as agreeable as it is unlooked for." 
 
 Our captain here stepped forward, and having 
 made himself known, presented us in turn to her 
 majesty's officer. 
 
 "Major Wallack, of the Texas rangers." 
 
 "Mr. Tom Eddington," 
 
 "Second corporal of the Pizerinctum Guards," 
 added Tom. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 139 
 
 " Mr. Joseph Warrener, the last named owner of 
 the American brig Double Eagle, seized, it appears, 
 piratically, by a vessel purporting to be the British 
 ship Un — un — ; what may I call her name, sir?" 
 bowing with much solemnity. 
 
 "Undaunted," replied the officer, smiling at the 
 brusquerie of our captain; "I see we were in error, 
 and we shall make the proper apologies as soon as 
 we can have an understanding. Gentlemen," contin- 
 ued he, turning to us with a bow and smile that was 
 peculiarly winning; "please to feel assured of my 
 sincere regret at this occurrence; my friend Comp- 
 ton and I are perfectly convinced that we are in the 
 wrong, and hesitate not in saying that you will soon 
 explain some trifling irregularity in the documents 
 of this vessel, to our entire satisfaction. In the 
 mean time," turning again to the captain, "may I 
 beg of you to consider us as your guests?" 
 
 I looked at the major, he was perfectly bewil- 
 dered. Rothery had knocked the savagery com- 
 pletely out of him. The first tones of his voice had 
 somehow struck a sympathetic cord in the major's 
 bosom, and it was of no use to keep on that sternness 
 of feature. They were old friends at the moment. 
 
 Neither could the captain withstand him. His 
 determination to make " a national affair of it," was 
 the most obsolete of things. "Blast it, lieutenant," 
 said he, as he grasped Rothery's hand with hearty 
 good will, "you do the thing up slick. I wish there 
 were a few more of the sanae sort in the service. 
 But come, this is dry work. Let's have a plank 
 athwart the binnacle here, and try some lunch. 
 Steward, bring on the fixings." 
 
140 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 The steward was not forthcoming, and I now 
 remembered seeing him forward amongst the crew 
 when we came on board, and remarking a very 
 comically frightened look which he wore. The 
 board however was arranged by the cook, and sub- 
 stantially covered with cold ham, sardines, bread 
 and cheese, brandy and beer — to which the captain 
 shortly added a couple bottles of champagne. 
 
 A pleasanter social hour I never passed, and two 
 finer specimens of "good fellows," than Compton 
 and Rothery, I cannot call to mind in the circle of 
 my acquaintance. 
 
 Tom, it was evident, piqued himself not a little 
 on having been the means of introducing us into 
 such pleasant society, and soon found an opportunity 
 of alluding to it, in connection with the trick which 
 he had played off on "old Ebony." 
 
 " That explains the matter of the register excel- 
 lently well," observed Rothery, "but there is still a 
 slight mystery about the other papers of the ship. 
 Nothing could be found giving any light upon her 
 voyage but the log-book. 
 
 " Why," replied the captain, "all my papers were 
 certainly in my chest, and the key was also there. 
 There would have been no impropriety in showing 
 you those documents in the absence of a register, 
 and on board a craft so particularly saucy in the cut 
 of her jib." 
 
 " Your first officer looked every where, but with- 
 out success." 
 
 " There is indeed a mystery here," said the cap- 
 tain, " which is worth solving. I must look into it. 
 Steward ! " 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 141 
 
 Still no steward appeared. 
 
 "Your steward/' observed Compton, cc rather 
 favored our suspicions, and even alluded to himself 
 as a sort of decoy." 
 
 "I'll decoy him," muttered the captain, "but not 
 now, not quite yet." 
 
 " Then all your water casks," continued Compton, 
 " your ropes and braces for slinging the camels on 
 board, your lumber for stalls which by the way was 
 the strongest evidence against you, the last slaver 
 which was seized, having been fitted in a very sim- 
 ilar way, owing to a philanthropic notion which 
 the respectable gentlemen in this business have, that 
 it pays to bring the poor devils up to air by turns. 
 This, united with the fact of your first officer's being 
 a foreigner, and having no ' protection,' as you term 
 it, seemed to warrant a temporary detention of your 
 vessel." 
 
 "We will consider it settled in that way," said 
 the captain, " and now allow me to ask what is the 
 meaning of this display of flags, since it seems our 
 arrival was unexpected?" 
 
 "Another thing to be explained. To-day is the 
 anniversary of Baron Martinez' birth. The baron, 
 be it known, is the great man of this island, owning, 
 in fact, the whole of it; and to-night he gives a 
 grand ball. The Queen of Gambia is to be present. 
 We shall see that your invitations come off in due 
 style this afternoon. The baron will be delighted 
 to have the addition of a few more uniforms to the 
 attractions of his house." 
 
 "And when do you sail?" asked the captain. 
 
142 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 " To-morrow morning, for Mogadore. At least 
 that was oar intention, in order to be back early with 
 the brig and give her owners a chance to reclaim 
 her. I see no reason for changing our determina- 
 tion, unless, indeed, you propose remaining here a 
 few days, in which case we will undertake to show 
 you some of the points of interest in the place." 
 
 "We must leave to-morrow, and as we sail 
 together, we will have a chance to try our speed." 
 
 "The Undaunted never has been beaten," re- 
 marked Rothery, drily. 
 
 "And the Double Eagle never can be beat," an- 
 swered Uncle Jim with equal brevity. 
 
 A playful bet, consisting of a dinner at Vinal's, to 
 be provided by the losing vessel was taken, and our 
 new made friends prepared to leave us. With many 
 mutual civilities they descended to their boat, taking 
 with them some dozen man-of-war's-men belonging 
 to their craft, and promising to see us at Martinez' 
 in the evening, pushed off. 
 
 As soon as they were gone, the captain went be- 
 low to look for his papers. They were not in his 
 chest. After hunting for some time, they were found 
 among some rubbish in the steward's locker. He 
 returned to the deck and sung out for the unfortu- 
 nate Stephen. 
 
 " Steward in the fore cross-trees," returned a voice 
 from the forecastle. 
 
 There he was crouched, no bad representation, 
 certainly, of a runaway slave, shaking with fear. 
 
 " Keep cool, captain," observed the major calmly, 
 coming up out of the cabin with a Kentucky rifle, 
 " I'll plug him." 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 143 
 
 "And before we could remonstrate, he had levelled 
 at the now shrieking darkey. 
 
 "Spring for dear life," shouted the major, "or by 
 the great Jupiter, I shall singe your black wool to a 
 mortal and eternal certainty ! " 
 
 The whole thing was the affair of a minute. 
 Stephen sprung with a yell just as the rifle sent forth 
 its unerring ball. The hat received what the head 
 barely missed of, and being lifted by the shock, 
 slowly fell after its owner. A shout of derision from 
 the crew accompanied the involuntary Sam Patch 
 plunge of the steward, who, as soon as he arose 
 again to the surface, struck out for the shore, dodg- 
 ing occasionally below the ripples, when the major 
 playfully pointed thitherward his empty rifle. 
 
 I know not if he reached the shore, but if so, it is 
 to be hoped that he still lives there, having taken to 
 himself a wife, and engaged in the patriarchal occu- 
 pation of rearing sons and daughters. One thing is 
 very certain, we saw him no more. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 BARON MARTINEZ. 
 
 During the afternoon we sat together under the 
 awning, cool and quiet enough after the exciting 
 events of the morning. We were anchored but a 
 short distance from the Undaunted, and could easily 
 have conversed with her officers by the aid of a 
 trumpet. She was a beautiful specimen of naval 
 architecture, and looked lordly and truly Britannic 
 among the merchantmen about her. The prospect 
 on shore was not decidedly picturesque. The island 
 is nearly one entire sand bank, with scarce vegeta- 
 tion enough in the few rocky bluffs, which exist at 
 rare intervals along its coast, to afford a scanty sub- 
 sistence to a few miserable goats, and a small 
 million of haggard lizards, evidently the only ani- 
 mals native of the soil. Rain seldom falls; years 
 even elapsing without the sign of a shower. The 
 entire produce of the island is salt, which is made by 
 the evaporation of ocean water, pumped into salinas 
 or salt-pits constructed for the purpose, all of which 
 facts we learned in the course of our afternoon walk 
 on shore. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 145 
 
 One will readily believe then, that the view of 
 such a place from the sea would be any thing but 
 inviting. From our earliest days we associate with 
 the idea of tropic scenery, all that is greenest and 
 most luxuriant in vegetation, the palm, the orange, 
 the tamarind, the mango, iutermingled with the 
 more delicate and lesser foliage of the annatto, the 
 clove, coffee and pepper trees, and the beautiful cot- 
 ton plant, to say nothing of the thousand rare species 
 of flowers of every form and shade of grace and 
 comeliness, on which we seldom bestow more than a 
 passing glance; so natural do they seem to the 
 climate and soil. And to think of a residence in a 
 burning clime which lacks all these refreshing appli- 
 ances, is rather preposterous. However, there was 
 the island — Salt Island — as bare and unpicturesque 
 as the sands of Cape Cod. A few rods from the shore 
 was a row of two-story houses, tapering to houses of 
 one-story on one side, most of them cleanlily white- 
 washed, and the larger having verandas in front. 
 There were several flags displayed from these 
 houses, among which I noticed an immense Portu- 
 guese one, from the central and largest house in the 
 group, and also the British, American, Brazilian, and 
 Spanish. Two or three straggling flag-staffs were 
 adorned in like manner with the Portuguese flag. 
 
 Towards the latter part of the afternoon, our invi- 
 tations were duly received from the eldest son of the 
 old baron, who came off in a sloop boat. He also 
 invited us to go on shore with him and take a walk 
 as far as the salinas, returning in season to take tea 
 13 
 
146 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 with his father, who occupied the large house with 
 the large flag in the centre of the settlement. 
 
 As the baron's son suggested the possibility of our 
 being upset in the rollers going on shore, we packed 
 our evening bravery in water-proof trunks, and lost 
 no time in setting out. Tom, however, preferred 
 taking the ship's boat and running the risk of a 
 capsize, as he said he should be on shore and have 
 time to dry himself twice, before we got there. He 
 did get on shore first, and he did get capsized, but he 
 did not have time to dry his clothes at all, before we 
 arrived, though he did make his wet state an excuse 
 for taking two glasses of brandy before tea. 
 
 We were landed on the natives' shoulders in a 
 highly picturesque manner, the ladies having an 
 evident desire to scream, and being prevented only 
 by the large number of people in waiting to receive 
 us. The old baron was there amongst the rest, a 
 decrepid looking old man, with a very sallow com- 
 plexion, gray hair and moustaches, and sunken, but 
 still bright eyes. He was dressed in a pair of white 
 pantaloons, very small and rather short, a long brown 
 frock coat, made, probably, in Ann street, Boston, 
 and a high-crowned, narrow-brimmed black hat. 
 His shirt, stockings, and vest, were white and spot- 
 less. He was smoking a short pipe when we landed, 
 and as he was always smoking the same whenever 
 I saw him afterwards, it may be properly introduced 
 as a part of his costume. 
 
 We were presented by Tom, who was already on 
 the best of terms with the old baron, having drunk 
 twice with him since his arrival, and then at the 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 147 
 
 suggestion of the baron's son, accompanied by the 
 Brazilian consul, a Frenchman by the name of La- 
 grange, and a Captain Jill of a Portland barque in 
 the bay, moved off towards the salt-works. I recol- 
 lect distinctly walking with the old baron, and find- 
 ing it very difficult to keep from laughing at the 
 droll attempts made by captain Jill to talk with the 
 Frenchman in his native tongue, which consisted in 
 saying "wee" to every thing the Frenchman said, 
 and then speaking bad English in a very loud tone, 
 interspersed with such ambiguous expressions as 
 "star bono," "mucho freeo," and " wooley woo 
 kickshins." 
 
 Nothing particular occurred after we got to the 
 salt-works. They were a very simple affair in them- 
 selves, being nothing more than pits cut in the sand 
 into which the salt water was poured by machinery 
 worked by hand. Along side of the pits was a pile 
 of salt big enough to load a hundred ships, according 
 to the baron's estimate. From this pile there was a 
 railroad to the beach, worked by mules, which gave 
 quite a civilized appearance to the barren waste. 
 Captain Jill and Tom were a little disappointed in 
 not finding a bar at the salt-works, but we had a 
 pleasant walk notwithstanding. 
 
 At tea we got along very well. The baron put 
 his short pipe along side of his plate, and occasion- 
 ally took it up during the repast, to have a whiff or 
 two, probably to prevent the fire from going out. 
 There was quite a party of us. The baron's pos- 
 terity was well represented by two sons and three 
 unmarried daughters. The Brazilian consul and his 
 
148 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 wife, also a daughter of the baron's, were there, and 
 there too, " in beauty like the night/' was the illus- 
 trious Queen of Gambia. 
 
 I was particularly struck with the appearance of 
 the baron's youngest daughter. In features they 
 were all three alike, having the same classic profile, 
 and languid eyes and lashes which I had remarked 
 in the baron and his eldest son. They were all 
 handsome girls, although in our northern drawing- 
 rooms, the tropic tint, which in them was strongly 
 marked, might, by some, be deemed a blemish. But 
 there was something about the youngest that was 
 singularly unique. I cannot easily describe what it 
 was. She was gay, but her thoughts did not seem 
 to linger and be satisfied with her gaiety. She was 
 very easy and graceful, and yet every movement 
 seemed somehow or other a forced one, as if she felt 
 upon her limbs certain restraints which the eye saw 
 not, as if she would be infinitely more graceful if 
 this something did not oppress her. But it was not 
 her manner that impressed me so strangely. Her 
 countenance was the most incomprehensible, per- 
 plexing, yet interesting one that I ever saw. It had 
 never two expressions alike, but changed moment- 
 arily ; and her eyes seemed as restless as the wind, 
 and to my seeming looked farther away from where 
 we sat than I believed it possible for human eyes to 
 do. Her complexion was more clear and transpar- 
 ent than her sisters', which, united with the slender 
 elegance of her form, and a peculiar manner in 
 which her jet black hair was brushed away from the 
 beautiful outline of her face, gave her an airy, fawn- 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 149 
 
 like aspect. My wife joked me a little on my close 
 observation of this island beauty, and said she was 
 just the kind of feminine mystery for a madcap ad- 
 venturer to fall in love with. She was, nevertheless, 
 ready to acknowledge that she was an interesting 
 study, but said she seemed to her more like a timid 
 bird just caged than any thing human. 
 
 After tea the ladies retired to dress, and the baron 
 having resumed his pipe, and furnished cigars for 
 the rest of us, we went out on the veranda to smoke. 
 It was a clear, beautiful night. The sky was with- 
 out a cloud, and thickly covered with stars, that 
 never twinkled more brightly. The old ocean looked 
 so placid and serene, stretching away off to the 
 dark blue horizon, with the shipping in the bay like 
 tiny specks upon its bosom, and the long yellow 
 sandy beach was so clean and inviting in the rich 
 glimmer of the young moon ! It was a picture 
 of tranquillity, that was soothing as well as imposing 
 in its grand and simple sublimity. How on such 
 evenings are our thoughts prone to wander back to 
 our friends, wherever they may be, but only because 
 we wish them to be with us. We think of them 
 with a quiet regret, that they should be away, for at 
 such times our souls seem larger and more teeming 
 with affection than usual, and we feel that we can 
 love better than ever. And it seemed to me then 
 that I had done the desolate island some wrong in 
 my first opinion of it, so, by way of atonement, I 
 observed to the old man, who was smoking by my 
 side, that the view was a delightful one, and that in 
 the quiet flow of life, amid such primitive scenes, 
 13* 
 
150 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 there must be more real happiness, than in the false 
 and fevered stir of cities. 
 
 "Humph!" said the venerable consumer of the 
 weed, and as he continued smoking for some time 
 without speaking further, I supposed it was intended 
 as a rebuke to my sentiment. 
 
 " We can bear it," he said at length, " and we do 
 bear it," — here his voice assumed a hissing sound, 
 and he almost glared at me out of his bright eyes, as 
 if angry because I had discovered his secret, — "we 
 do bear it, I say, for the sake of money." 
 
 I saw that I was in his confidence, evidently un- 
 willingly to him, and had only to utter some com- 
 monplace expressions of surprise, at the confession 
 of such a ruling principle in one situated as he was, 
 when he continued as I expected he would, — 
 
 "Yes, young man, you, doubtless, think me happy 
 in my independence. I am rich ; I have my family 
 about me, and my retainers, who would go through 
 fire and blood to serve me. What you see on this 
 island is mine — accomplished and acquired by my 
 industry and perseverance. It is a position which 
 should be an easy and happy one. But the story 
 that it keeps repeating to my mind is any thing but 
 pleasant. I cared as little for money once as you do 
 now, or any of those madcap officers of the Un- 
 daunted. I was rather a wild boy, and obstinate 
 and capricious, but not bad. When I stopped to 
 think, 1 know my thoughts were never bad ones. 
 
 "I was the second son, and my mother's favorite. 
 My father, too, liked me, and I thought was proud 
 of me for my very strong self-will. It was some- 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 151 
 
 thing like his own. I married young — at the age 
 of nineteen — against the wishes of both. That I 
 was never sorry for. My mother, when she came 
 to know my wife, loved her as a daughter, and my 
 father was never so happy as when our first child 
 called him by the affectionate name of grandpa. 
 My brother and I never interfered with each other, 
 and were always friendly. I had a sister younger 
 than myself, who loved me second only to my 
 mother, and whom I loved in return with a purer 
 intensity than I ever experienced towards any thing 
 else human. We were a happy family. 
 
 "But after I had been married about four years, my 
 mother died. I was away from home at the time, 
 travelling with my family. On my return they 
 showed me her grave; and my father, with his 
 manly eyes overflowing, told me how peacefully she 
 died, and gave me her parting message. I was still 
 happy, though a sombre shadow hung over my life 
 and prospects, when I thought that the sweet face 
 which had always a smile and a welcome for her 
 truant boy, and the breast on which my head had 
 never wearied of lying, even till manhood, was now 
 mouldering in the ground upon which I trod. But 
 1 was happy, for I knew that she was so, and I knew 
 that she never tired in her love for me to the last. 
 My father seemed to like those of us who were left 
 better than ever, and my children were never oat of 
 his fond arms. 
 
 " I was a restless fellow then, and could not remain 
 long at home. This time we were absent about a 
 year. When we returned we went first to the old 
 
152 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 mansion. There was a new face and a new order 
 of things established there. My father was married 
 again. This was bad enough. The old house could 
 never be the same to me again. I soon saw that I 
 was not to be the favorite I had been. I didn't mind 
 this either. But when I witnessed in this new love 
 of my sire's old age, a forgetfulness of his past affec- 
 tions, — when I saw him so wrapped up in his at- 
 tentions to this (to me) strange woman, that even 
 the darling prattle of my little ones failed to interest, 
 and seemed rather to annoy him, — it was as if my 
 eyes were opened for the first time in my life to the 
 miserable infirmities of our common nature. 
 
 " Again I went abroad, and again I came home to 
 find the greatest change of all,— my father was 
 dying. I was in time to receive his blessing. My 
 children were all with him, and he seemed to love 
 them as before. The film which the strange woman 
 had made creep over the eyes of my dear old parent 
 was withdrawn, and he saw and loved us as in our 
 happier days. He died like a brave old eagle in his 
 eyrie, with his young about him, and he sleeps now 
 by the side of his first, and I am sure, his only love. 
 
 " Well, what followed is worst of all. This wo- 
 man's character came to light. She was a merce- 
 nary wretch. She and my elder brother contrived to 
 keep a tight grasp of my father's property. I didn't 
 care much for this, as long as 1 had what I wanted, 
 and saw my sister well provided for. At length I 
 was refused money. Now, reared as I had been, — 
 accustomed to have every wish gratified as soon as 
 expressed, — this want was galling enough. But I 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 153 
 
 lived along for a while receiving what was given 
 me; while my brother, who had no family, launched 
 out into the wildest speculations. I was embarrassed 
 and shunned; he was opulent and courted. I never 
 received any statement of affairs from him. I 
 never dared trust myself to ask for any. I wished 
 to believe, and I do believe that there was no wrong 
 intention, and perhaps no wrong any way, for I 
 could not bear, of all differences, to have any with 
 my own blood, so mean as that of money. My 
 sister, poor little fool that she was, was completely 
 under the dominion of our stepmother, and I thought 
 that her kind, loving spirit would plead silently for 
 her rights better than all the language in the world. 
 So I never interfered. 
 
 " With my sensitive temperament this state of 
 things could not last. To practise economy was 
 a hateful task to me. My old home had become 
 more distasteful than ever. I resolved to make a 
 new one. One evening, — I was at the old house 
 for the last time, — some unpleasant conversation on 
 the subject of money had taken place between my 
 stepmother, my brother, and myself. We were none 
 of us angry, but we were decided in maintaining the 
 parts we had taken. I told them that never in the 
 future would I cross their path, — that I would go 
 away, and in new scenes would forget the past, that 
 I would act on the bitter knowledge I had acquired, 
 and one day become rich, no matter at what sacri- 
 fice. I thought at that moment, that perhaps some 
 time my brother might be differently situated from 
 what he was then, and might come to me for aid. 
 
154 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 Then would be the moment for my revenge, when, 
 from my hoards, I would pour upon him a deluge of 
 the dross which I despised. I kept this thought to 
 myself, and, without a sigh or murmur, bade them 
 farewell, not thinking that it was forever. 
 
 "It was a fine, clear winter night; I shall never 
 forget its quiet beauty, so at variance with my own 
 unrest. 1 remember well pausing for a moment in 
 the avenue of old trees which led away from my 
 father's house, and looking back. The fine old 
 building in its towered and pillared beauty never be- 
 fore wore to my eye an aspect so magnificent and 
 solemn. While I stood there a light came into my 
 sister's chamber, and I knew she had gone thither 
 to pray for me. I half resolved to turn back for her 
 sake, but it was too late. 
 
 " Well, we came here, no matter how or why. 
 Fortune has favored me ever since, so far as money 
 is a favor. You will see what the place is. It is all 
 mine, and I have ten times more value elsewhere; 
 but it is turned into a curse, and I am miserable in 
 proportion as my gains increase. I tremble to think 
 of what I am to leave to my children, and I love the 
 dust too well in my wretched dotage to part with a 
 grain unnecessarily. 
 
 " My brother failed in some mad speculations and 
 was ruined. I knew nothing of it till he had died 
 by his own hand. My sister was ruined with him ; 
 and the gold that I sent her reached Portugal after 
 she too had died, and died of want. What a mock- 
 ery then was wealth ! As mine increased, it seemed 
 like a weight pressing me to the earth. I thought 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 155 
 
 to love it for the great and generous deeds it would 
 enable me to perform, and I have come to love it for 
 itself. The time has come for my revenge, but there 
 are none left to feel it, and I have no heart to take it 
 upon strangers. 
 
 " And my sons and daughters, — they may one 
 day feel, as my father's children felt. The passion 
 for acquiring may spring up in their souls, and turn 
 to ashes every other feeling. Oh, God ! to think 
 that even the little Francesca, the child of my old 
 age, she who is now like what her mother was when 
 1 first saw her, so pure and innocent, though wild 
 and tameless as a seagull, already suffers the curse 
 unconsciously, in what she is denied. Is this sand- 
 bank a fitting home for her, who should be the 
 admired star in European saloons, and is by nature 
 qualified to take a proud place among the fairest and 
 most gifted ? But I dare not send her there, for she 
 is inexperienced and rich. So she lives here, and 
 even her riotous mirth and bounding happiness op- 
 presses me, when I sometimes think of how she will 
 change when she knows that she has been deprived 
 of all for which young hearts beat high, and which 
 woman's soul so dearly loves, — and knows that my 
 cowardice and avarice have done it ! 
 
 "There is a good deal more that I think of, but 
 never mind ; it is no time to discuss these things 
 now. Young man, what I have said keep to your- 
 self. Perhaps it may be of use to you ; but never 
 speak of it to others. For my part, I must forget 
 these things, to-night at least." 
 
 The old man and I were alone on the gallery 
 
156 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 when he finished speaking. His earnest manner had 
 kept me a patient listener. Much that he had said 
 commanded my respect, and the feeling which he 
 showed, when he alluded to his mother and sister, 
 won my love. He was much better than he gave 
 himself credit for ; on that account I have seen fit 
 to disregard his request, and introduce his story into 
 this narrative. 
 
 His remarks about his youngest daughter inter- 
 ested me exceedingly, and I began to think I had 
 some clue to her character. How strange, too, that 
 he should have likened her to a bird, as my wife 
 had done. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE BALL, 
 
 The ball-room was a large apartment, brilliantly 
 lighted, and brightly ornamented with flags, pictures, 
 and artificial flowers. Several large mirrors reflected 
 its splendors in great profusion, as well as the dash- 
 ing uniforms and belles toilettes of the assembled 
 revellers. The hall opened upon a veranda on 
 each side, beyond which was seen distinctly, on the 
 one part, the long sandy desert, reaching to the 
 horizon, and on the other, the equally placid ocean. 
 It was certainly a gay picture in its vast and simple 
 setting, creditable to the baron's family, and partic- 
 ularly creditable to the island where it was pro- 
 duced. 
 
 The officers of the Undaunted were there in 
 great force. The Frenchman was decidedly brilliant 
 in full ball costume, u a la grande mode de Paris." 
 Captain Jill was on hand, too, navigating loosely 
 about in a short-waisted blue frock coat, and an 
 immensity of well -starched shirt-collar. There was 
 a peculiarity about the captain's arrangement of his 
 hair, which was either a new fashion or a very old 
 14 
 
158 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 one; and on this ground I may be pardoned for allud- 
 ing to it. The top of his head was entirely bald, but his 
 hair grew long upon the sides, and on this occasion 
 was brushed up and twisted over the bald portion, 
 (not, however, so thoroughly but that certain bare 
 places were still visible between the streaks,) making 
 a kind of rooster-like comb in the centre, and giving 
 him the appearance of a ferocious dunghill. If this 
 arrangement possessed no other merit, it served in 
 this instance to display to fine advantage a huge 
 pair of blood-red ears. 
 
 If, among the ladies, the baron's daughters were 
 remarkable for beauty, the Queen of Gambia and 
 her sable attendants were no less conspicuous for the 
 opposite little failing. Her Majesty, however, was 
 a fat, good-natured Ethiopian, and if the circle of 
 her admirers was rather limited, it was probably 
 owing to the sultriness of the weather. She was 
 attired in white, with a gay blue and white silk 
 handkerchief twisted round her head, and a sash of 
 the same colors tied about her waist. Her orna- 
 ments were heavy, plain, and all of the intrinsic. 
 There was gold in profusion, but there were "none 
 so poor as to do it reverence." 
 
 After paying my respects to the baron and his 
 worthy lady, I shaped my course towards a corner, 
 where were the two younger daughters of the baron, 
 Compton, Rothery, Tom, and an officer of the 
 British frigate whom I had not previously seen. He 
 was a trim built fellow, with a frank, handsome 
 countenance, rather square, and set off with a pair 
 of truly British whiskers. There was a dare-deviltry 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 159 
 
 in his eye and mien, positively enchanting. Tom, who 
 knew him well, of course, having been acquainted 
 nearly ten minutes, introduced him as the "doctor." 
 
 "A trump," whispered Tom in my ear, admiring- 
 ly; " knows pork from a side of sole leather, and is 
 to sing a song at supper, ' composed expressly for the 
 occasion,' by that poetical-looking gentleman yon- 
 der." 
 
 The gentleman alluded to was a tall, thin, melan- 
 choly-looking individual, with long, straight black 
 hair, a beardless, sallow face, and a drooping, but 
 rather pleasant eye. He seemed to be taking no part 
 in the amusement of the evening, but, like Lara, 
 smiled pensively on the gay crowd. He made up 
 for this inaction, however, at supper, where he 
 entered fully into the ceremony of eating and drink- 
 ing. He was dressed, like the doctor, whose surname, 
 by the bye, was Hapgood, in the costume of a civil 
 officer in the British navy, and I was afterwards 
 presented to him as Purser Sly. 
 
 "I say, Jill," sung out Hapgood, drawing atten- 
 tion to the adventurous captain, who was laboring 
 across the room under a press of shirt-collar, 
 evidently in the conviction that the queen and her 
 row of attendants was an ugly lee shore, to be 
 clawed off from, if possible; "Jill, allow me to 
 inquire if you would n't go along easier by taking a 
 reef or two in your flying skysails?" 
 
 "I declare," observed Francesca, "you are too 
 bad, doctor. See, you have made the poor capitano 
 jump so that he has cut his ear." 
 
 "But he did it professionally," answered Tom; 
 he wanted the job of sewing it up." 
 
160 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 "I am not so clear about that/' returned Hap- 
 good; "I think he is pretty well sewed up already. 
 But hark, here comes our captain, 'old Brevity,' as 
 he is better known ; the fun '11 soon commence now. 
 Ladies and gentlemen, hold your horses ! " 
 
 A lumbering sound was heard upon the stairs, 
 as of a heavy man getting up with difficulty, and a 
 rough sailor voice warbling loudly the sweet but 
 melancholy chanson of 
 
 " Pretty Polly Parton, she was a damsel gay," 
 
 A short, thick-set, unmistakably jolly-looking 
 individual entered, in the full dress uniform of a 
 British navy captain. He marched up to the baron 
 with a certain man-of-war dignity, and premising 
 with a bow to his lady that he was "hers to com- 
 mand," slapped the venerable nobleman vigorously 
 on the shoulder, with a hearty "Well, old boy, how 
 goes it to-night; never better, eh?" He then thrust 
 his hands deep into his side-pockets, shrugged his 
 shoulders a very little, and took a bird's eye survey 
 of the company, with the air of a man on his own 
 quarter-deck. Next he ventured within the charmed 
 circle of the queen's influence. Here he was rather 
 more respectful in his obeisance. 
 
 " Upon the word of an old salt," said he, still 
 bowing, " your majesty is looking charming this 
 evening. With such allies as you and the Mosquito 
 King, Victoria may make herself as comfortable as 
 a duck in a mud-puddle." 
 
 " You ver good, capitan," answered the fair lady 
 of Gambia, "me likee English ver much ; you come 
 Gambia, capitan, me gib you present plenty." 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 161 
 
 " Brevity is the soul of wit," said the captain, 
 looking round triumphantly. " While Robert Junius 
 Brutus Julius Cassar Smilie lives, which he has 
 good reason to hope he will do till he dies, your 
 majesty may count on one old sea-dog who will bark 
 and bite, too, if it comes to that, in her defence." 
 
 " His name is plain Robert Smilie," observed 
 Rothery, in explanation, "but he is always classic 
 when at all under the influence of Bacchus. We 
 shall soon have an allusion to the Pacha of Egypt, 
 his great authority for every thing, but of whom he 
 knows nothing but the name." 
 
 The brave old captain, by this time, had spied out 
 the youngest Miss Martinez in our group, and came 
 over to join us. 
 
 "Frank," said he, giving her hand a real sailor 
 squeeze, " you saucy little witch, why did you wait 
 for me to hunt you out? You used to take forcible 
 possession, as soon as my likely countenance showed 
 itself on the tapis. But you was a little disap- 
 pointed this evening in its not proving to be somebody 
 else, eh? a certain we know who, eh, Frank?" 
 
 "You were so much occupied in paying your 
 respects to the queen, that I was unwilling to 
 interrupt you." 
 
 "Mahomed Ali is the Pacha of Egypt," said the 
 captain, by way of apology. "Discipline must be 
 observed. I respect those above me in position and 
 authority, and those beneath me have got to haul on 
 the same greased pig-tail." 
 
 " But I should have thought," said the elder Miss 
 Martinez, " that a gentleman of your well-known 
 14* 
 
162 
 
 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 gallantry would have invited her majesty to a 
 fandango." 
 
 "Oh, do. captain," persisted Frank, "it will be so 
 delightful." 
 
 The captain, nothing loth to display his agility as 
 a gay disciple of Terpsichore, returned to the queen, 
 who accepted his polite invitation with a liberal 
 display of ivory. 
 
 Before taking the floor, however, the royal dame 
 bent over and removed her shoes, and then com- 
 menced deliberately taking off her stockings. 
 
 " Heaven help us," said Hapgood, raising his 
 hands in consternation at the sight, "she's going to 
 undress." 
 
 "I have heard," said Tom, "of going it with a 
 perfect looseness, but had always supposed it to be a 
 mere figure of speech." 
 
 "Now don't feel too bad," said Frank, "it's a 
 custom of the coast always to remove the shoes and 
 stockings before dancing. They also take them off 
 when caught out in a rain, and carry them home 
 under their arms. But see, they are going to 
 begin." 
 
 "Strike up 'grog time o' day,'" called out the 
 captain, with a menacing look at the musicians; 
 and at it they went. 
 
 Reader, if you have ever seen Fanny Ellsler or 
 Taglioni, you have seen something very unlike the 
 style of dancing practised by Captain Smilie and 
 the Gambian Queen; but if you have ever seen two 
 huge tapirs coming up from a bath in some reedy 
 river, and shaking the water from their reeking 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 163 
 
 sides in unwieldy gambols, you have seen some- 
 thing similar. They kept at it while the perspira- 
 tion rolled in rivers down their cheeks, and as the 
 merriment of the spectators increased, so much the 
 more seriously did they perform their parts. They 
 seemed the very personification of the spirit of un- 
 couth fun, which for the nonce was running riot in 
 the crowd. "When the cat sleeps the mice may 
 play," says the old proverb, and while their com- 
 mander thus, like the eagle, renewed his youth, 
 the boys of the ship made merry among themselves, 
 according to their notions of amusement. 
 
 " Go it while you 're young," said one. 
 
 "Man smoking — put him out," said another. 
 
 " Somebody catch Capt. Jill," said a third, " and 
 take that brick out of his hat." 
 
 Others addressed the queen by the democratic 
 name of Sal, and kindly offered to hold her bonnet. 
 The captain was encouraged to persevere by such 
 cheering counsel as " Go it, old Brevity, never say 
 die," "Hit him again, blue jacket," "Never mind 
 the expense, have a good time while it lasts," and 
 other delicate and refined expressions of advice. 
 
 But every thing must have an end, and so did 
 this fandango. Whether it was the musicians who 
 got tired first, or not, I do not now recollect ; at any 
 rate, the music and dancing ceased, and the heroic 
 officer, not a little proud of his achievement, led the 
 perspiring "cullud pussun" to her seat. 
 
 After this the dancing commenced in good ear- 
 nest — quadrille, contre dance, polka and fandango — 
 and a gay time we had of it till midnight. There 
 
164 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 was a certain freshness about the scene, an unbridled 
 spirit of enjoyment afloat, that was really delightful. 
 There was no arriere pensee, no mauvais sens, 
 to mock the glittering show. Every body seemed 
 bent on enlarging to the utmost the area of fun, and 
 certainly the very atmosphere was impregnated with 
 its spirit. I could not help contrasting this little 
 party of the islanders with some similar assemblies 
 in other and prouder lands, and you may believe 
 that the former suffered nothing from the contrast. 
 "The spoony body of young gentlemen doing the 
 attentive," immortalized in Charies O'Malley, were 
 wanting. That interesting class of young men who 
 hang about the door and discuss the amount of 
 property supposed to be possessed by the several 
 young ladies inside, were likewise absent. That 
 agreeable coterie of matrons, known under the gen- 
 eral head of manoeuvring mammas, were in a like 
 situation with Brick, in the well known case of 
 "Flour vs. Brick" — nowhere. And where was 
 that unhappy class of youthful beauties, fair to look 
 upon, but inwardly full of envy and jealousy, in 
 whose breast the sight of a more costly jewel or a 
 richer robe on the person of a rival is sufficient to 
 create a very hell of evil passions? We had none 
 of these. We were rather a motley crew, a little 
 rowdy, if you will, but at all events we attained the 
 object of our pursuit. Every body seemed to think, 
 say, and do as they pleased, and no body thought of 
 being offended at any thing at all. It was one of 
 the few frank and free moments of my life, and as 
 such I look back upon it with the sincerest pleasure. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 165 
 
 Even the poetical Mr. Sly enjoyed it in his peculiar 
 way. ''Sir," said he to me, just before we were 
 called to supper, " this is a delightful occasion. I 
 am reminded of the song of the Dancers in Yendys' 
 poem entitled the Roman. The spirit is here to- 
 night, if some outward appliances are wanting. I 
 can see no sacrilege in the quotation. 
 
 " Sing lowly, foot slowly, oh, why should we chase 
 The hoars that give heaven to this earthly embrace ; 
 To-morrow, to-morrow is dreary and lonely, 
 Then love as they love, who would live to love only ; 
 Closer yet eyes of jet — breasts fair and sweet, 
 No eyes flash like those eyes that flash as they meet. 
 Weave brightly, wear lightly the love-woven chain, — 
 Love on for to-night, if we ne'er love again : 
 Fond youths, happy maidens, we are not alone, 
 Bright steps and sweet voices keep pace with our own ; 
 Love-lorn Lusignola, the soft sighing breeze, 
 The rose with the zephyr, the wind with the trees, 
 While heaven, blushing pleasure, is full of love's notes, 
 Soft down the sweet measure the fairy world floats." 
 
 The quotation was certainly not a very appropri- 
 ate one. However, in a crowd, there is always a 
 chance for a variety of sentiments. 
 
 A little after midnight we descended to the supper- 
 room. Where the display of fish, flesh and fowl, to 
 say nothing of pastry, preserves, and fresh fruit un- 
 der which the tables fairly bent, came from, is a mys- 
 tery to me to the present moment. I presume some 
 British steamer had been there within a few days, 
 and had left many of these luxuries in ice. I am 
 sure that I did not see double, and yet it would be 
 
166 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 much easier to tell what was not there, than what 
 was. As for decanters filled with almost every 
 known kind of wine, long-necked bottles, and square 
 big-bellied bottles, with scarcely any neck at all, 
 wine-glasses of every form, size, and color — these 
 were thrust in wherever there was an opening of 
 sufficient magnitude, and would, doubtless, have 
 suggested to the mind of a temperance lecturer, no 
 less a consummation than the end of the world. 
 
 "Sly," said Hapgood beckoning to the purser, 
 " you look hungry; now just place yourself in the 
 middle of the table, and when you have eaten every 
 thing within reach on both sides, you can move, you 
 know." 
 
 " This empty decanter," observed Captain Jill 
 from the other end of the room, handing one which 
 he had just finished drinking the contents of, to a 
 slave to be filled, " was probably put on by mis- 
 take." 
 
 In the course of the toasts, one in honor of the 
 British navy called up Captain Smilie, who made 
 quite a characteristic speech. 
 
 u ' Brevity is the soul of wit,' " prefaced the cap- 
 tain. " I would rather see a man nervously brief, 
 than eloquently diffuse. Mahomed Ali is the Pacha 
 of Egypt, and Robert Junius Brutus Julius Caesar 
 Smilie is commander of her Britannic Majesty's frig- 
 ate the Undaunted. Julius Caesar is ready to obey 
 all orders of his superiors, legal or illegal, and, Julius 
 Caesar expects every body under him in authority 
 to obey all his orders, legal, illegal, or otherwise." 
 
 " The Merchant Service " brought out Captain 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 167 
 
 Jill, — "I d'no," said the venerable navigator, " as 
 I can make a speech. Fact is, I ain't much used to 
 navigating on that tack. I 'm a web footer, genuine, 
 and speaking of web-footers reminds me of a story, 
 which seeing as I can't make a speech, I'll tell you 
 on instead. 
 
 " I was born in the State of Maine. When I was 
 a boy, I went down to Kennebunk to see my uncle. 
 4 John,' said he to me one day — my Christian name 
 is John, and the boys at school used to make fun o' 
 me on that account, sayin' as how I was Jack and 
 Jill both, two indivvidooals in one, — well, my uncle 
 said, says he, 'John,' says he, 'leave off sue kin' 
 cider, and come and take a squint at my web-footed 
 pigs.' Web-footed pigs, thinks I, I guess as how he 
 don't want me a drinkin' up his cider, for I had my 
 eye teeth cut jest about that time, and could see as 
 fur through a millstone as any body, particularly 
 when there was a hole in it. And I didn't believe 
 in any such animals as web-footed pigs. However, 
 thinks I, seein' is believin'. So I jest followed him 
 round back of the old barn, and sure enough, there 
 was a litter of nine little pigs, all web-footed like 
 ducks." 
 
 Some laughed, rather incredulously to be sure, 
 others shook their heads waggishly, and said the 
 old fellow was " hard to beat." Tom gave a low 
 whistle, and requested to have the rules suspended 
 for a moment while he favored the company with a 
 story. 
 
 u I was born," said Tom, " in the old Bay State. 
 When I was a boy I went to see my uncle. He lived 
 
168 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 in the State of Arkansas, called down there ' Rack- 
 ansaw.' { Tom,' said he to me one day, 'did you 
 ever see a jointed snake?' 'No/ says I, 'what's 
 that?' 'A snake,' says he, 'put together like my 
 fishing-rod that I bought last summer in Orleans. 
 You fetch him a lick, and he unscrews, and one joint 
 goes one way, and another another, but they have an 
 understanding where to meet and come together.' 
 Thinks I, that 's a snake story. However, seein' is 
 believin'. Well, one day I was out gunning, and I 
 came across a tremendous snake coiled up in fine 
 style. He was eyeing me rather too knowingly, when 
 I fetched him over the head with the butt-end of my 
 fowling-piece. Sure enough he began to unscrew, 
 and came apart in thirty pieces. I thought I'd fol- 
 low one. After going about half a mile it stopped in a 
 bit of a clearing, and the twenty-nine other parts came 
 in from different quarters at the same time, and fitted 
 themselves together again, more neatly and quickly 
 than uncle ever begun to fix his fishing-rod." 
 
 After this of course there were no more stories. 
 
 We were enjoying ourselves finely. The old bar- 
 on's set included the ladies of our party, Compton, 
 and Rothery. They were the conservative party. 
 The royal party, comprising the major among others, 
 were in the same neighborhood. They were also a 
 quiet set. In fact the major was improving the op- 
 portunity by getting information out of the queen 
 about her own country, and the mysterious old city 
 of Tombuctoo, which she had frequently visited, 
 with a regal train of camels. The balance of us 
 were outsiders, progress people, young England, web- 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 169 
 
 footers, — any thing. It having got abroad among 
 this latter class, that Hapgood was prepared with a 
 song, loud calls for the same were heard in every 
 part of the room, and silence having been restored 
 by the spiritual rappings of Captain Smilie, the 
 doctor, in a fine, clear voice, delivered himself as 
 follows : — 
 
 HAPGOOD'S SONG. 
 
 When we left the shores of England, 
 
 In the sunny days of yore, 
 For to sail o'er distant oceans 
 
 To a far and foreign shore, 
 Oh, our hearts were sad within us, 
 
 For we thought we ne'er should find 
 Such brave and trusty hearts again, 
 
 As those we'd left behind. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Oh, every man's a fool, boys, 
 
 Who hasn't crossed the line, — 
 We've found a home in many a land, 
 
 And friends in every clime. 
 
 No doubt you all remember, 
 
 When you were young and silly, 
 Full many a stroll in New Bond Street, 
 
 And lounge in Piccadilly ; 
 You never dreamt of the Cape de Verds, 
 
 Or heard of the Isle of Sal, 
 Your geographical knowledge stopped 
 
 On " the shady side of Pall Mall." 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Oh, every man's a fool, boys, &c 
 15 
 
170 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 Britannia's a brave old lass/ 
 
 And she'll do well enough, 
 If, when all Europe goes adrift, 
 
 She'll only keep her luff; — 
 A good old mother she has been, 
 
 But yet, my luckiest day, 
 Was when I cut the apron strings, 
 
 And tore myself away. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
 Oh, every man's a fool, boys, &c. 
 
 This remarkable effusion of Parser Sly's genius 
 was received with rapturous applause. The only 
 disadvantage arising from the applause being, that 
 it was somewhat irregular, coming in occasionally 
 at the conclusion of a stanza, and effectually drown- 
 ing Hapgood's cry of chorus. Once Captain Jill 
 made an effort to get up a hip-hip hurrah, in the 
 middle of a verse, but was not successful, and being 
 a little abashed at his failure, roared out lustily, on 
 the chorus afterwards, breaking in fiercely just a 
 line behind the rest. Nevertheless, Hapgood, who 
 devoutly believed it to be the greatest song ever 
 written, sang it with excellent grace, and as every 
 one had a chance to assist, it operated precisely like 
 the children's game of Hunt the Slipper, or Ladies' 
 Toilet, and put us all in excellent humor. 
 
 When Captain Smilie rapped on the board imme- 
 diately after to call the attention of the company, a 
 proposition was made to him to mount the table. 
 But that efficient officer had weighter matters on 
 his mind. " Ladies and gentlemen, " said he sol- 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 171 
 
 emnly looking round, and evidently seeing nobody, 
 "I move that the thanks of this crowd be tendered 
 to Mr. Purser Sly, for the elegant song which he has 
 composed for the occasion, and to Dr. Hapgood, for 
 the agreeable manner in which he has sung the 
 same; and allow me to add as a matter of personal 
 opinion, that the song has merit, and one great merit 
 in particular — it was nervously brief." 
 
 Captain Jill next asked permission to tell a story, 
 which being granted, he, with a genial forgetful- 
 ness, repeated the tale of the web-footed pigs. 
 
 On our return to the dancing-room we found a 
 long table placed at one end. of the apartment, cov- 
 ered with an immense set of tea-things. 
 
 " What is the meaning of this, Frank?" inquired 
 Captain Smilie. 
 
 " We are going to have tea." 
 
 "Tea, tea," said the captain, musingly. " I don't 
 know as I understand. Tea — aye — yes. Tea 
 you said, I think." 
 
 " It is a production of China," observed Rothery. 
 
 " Oh, that indeed," pursued the captain, still mus- 
 ing, "but what do you do with it?" 
 
 "Drink it," 
 
 " Mr. Rothery," continued the captain, looking 
 him solemnly in the face, " are you going to drink 
 any, Sir ? " 
 
 Rothery replied in the affirmative. 
 
 "Then I will drink some," concluded the captain, 
 clenching his fist with an air of awful determination. 
 " Mahomed Ali is the Pacha of Egypt. Nobody 
 shall say, that Julius Caesar Smilie was ever afraid 
 to drink any thing that any body else drank." 
 
172 THE CAMEL HUNT, 
 
 But a long ringing shout outside, as if the whole 
 populace were excited by a feeling of uncontrollable 
 joy, called us to the veranda, and the tea missed 
 its market. 
 
 " Viva ! " shouted Frank, pointing to a black cloud 
 rising rapidly above the Lion's Head, and gradually 
 overspreading all that quarter of the sky; " we are 
 going to have such a glorious rain squall." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A RAIN SQUALL. 
 
 It was now nearly four o'clock, and the approach 
 of rain was the signal for a general breaking up of 
 the party. Uncle Jim went down to the beach with 
 the officers of the Undaunted, to hail for our boat. 
 
 They were all gone but our party. We were 
 standing on the veranda, watching the cloud, 
 which slowly but steadily came up from the deep, 
 darkening an entire quarter of the heavens. The 
 atmosphere was still and oppressive; a short, sharp 
 streak of lightning occasionally shot across the 
 pitchy surface of the cloud, revealing its outline more 
 distinctly, and leaving a profounder gloom behind. 
 
 Frank's spirits had been gradually rising since the 
 first squally symptom showed itself; and, now, that 
 there was the prospect of a smart gale, accompanied 
 by thunder and lightning, they fairly effervesced, and 
 she skipped restlessly from side to side, as if she only 
 needed wings to fly away, and soar, and scream, 
 and exult in the threatening war of elements. At 
 length, unable to remain quiet any longer, she pro- 
 posed to us to go over to the Lion's Head, where, 
 15* 
 
174 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 she said, we should be nearer the storm, and see and 
 feel it more in its wildness and grandeur than at 
 home, shut up in the house. 
 
 u 'Pa," said she, " has got a trunk of rubber cloth- 
 ing, and we can rig ourselves up grandly, and no 
 fear of catching cold. I always wear a rubber jacket 
 when I am out boating." 
 
 We acceded to Frank's proposition, not, however, 
 without certain misgivings that we were getting 
 ourselves into a scrape thereby. Enveloped in our 
 rubber leggins, paletots, sacks, hoods and sow' west- 
 ers, we looked more like a band of black friars going 
 forth on some deed of midnight atrocity, than a 
 party of dancers issuing from a ball-room. 
 
 We took our way to the beach, led on by Frank, 
 who knew the way in the darkness as well as by 
 broad daylight. We followed the shore aJong till 
 we came to a point of loose rocks, over which we 
 were obliged to scramble to reach the long beach 
 which connected the island with the Lion's Head. 
 This was about a quarter of a mile in length, similar 
 to the beach leading from the town of Lynn to Na- 
 hant, but more level, and less removed above the 
 surface of the sea. As we traversed this neck of 
 land we felt the wind to be rising rapidly. The 
 sky was almost entirely overcast, and it was only 
 now and then, by the aid of a vivid flash of light- 
 ning, that we were enabled to behold the path which 
 the encroaching sea made momentarily narrower. I 
 saw, that in a short time, if the wind increased, 
 as there was every probability of its doing, the sea 
 would make a complete breach over this sandy strip 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 175 
 
 of soil, and effectually prevent our return to the 
 island for some hours at least. The rain had com- 
 menced falling in big drops, pattering upon our rub- 
 ber coats like hailstones. The famous Lion's Head, 
 to which we were making our delectable journey, 
 afforded no prospect of a shelter, being nothing but a 
 bluff steep promontory of bald rocks — a charming 
 spot certainly to visit at four o'clock in the morning, 
 in a dirty rain storm, after dancing all night. I 
 must confess, that, for one, I felt particularly foolish, 
 and did not see the wit of dragging ourselves off 
 here to enjoy the storm, when we might have been 
 snugly sheltered in the baron's hospitable mansion. 
 
 But there was no help for it now. Indeed, before 
 we reached the Head an occasional roller would 
 break completely over the beach, " soaking our 
 corns," as Tom observed, and bringing to our recol- 
 lection queerly enough, Captain Jill's story of the 
 " web-footed pigs." 
 
 We clambered up the rocks with the best grace 
 possible under the circumstances, and were no sooner 
 seated, huddled together, in the forlorn hope of being 
 cosy, than the " enjoyment" commenced in good 
 earnest. The sky was of a pitchy darkness, the 
 rain fell in torrents, the wind had increased to 
 such an extent as almost to lift us bodily from our 
 seats on the rock ; and the hoarse noise of the break- 
 ers thundering against the cliffs on the windward 
 side of us, was perfectly terrific. The thunder and 
 lightning had possession of the upper air. By the 
 broad sharp flashes of the latter we saw ourselves 
 as on a desolate rock 5 with the ocean boiling and 
 
176 
 
 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 raging around us, for no trace was left of the path 
 by which we came. — all was a rolling, fretting, 
 foaming sea. And the reverberations of the former 
 resounded gloomily about the caves of our dreary 
 rock, and then rolled heavily off to leeward, dying 
 away on the far solitary waste, but leaving no inter- 
 val of silence behind. 
 
 " Isn't it grand?" exclaimed Frank gleefully 
 after the most tremendous clap yet. " How free and 
 happy one feels in such a scene, and how much 
 nearer do we seem to the great Being who speaks in 
 the thunder and rides on the whirlwind ! " 
 
 u Oh, it's quite delightful," answered Tom, shiv- 
 ering as if in an ague fit. "I think I could stay 
 here for several days without eating. How are you 
 enjoying yourself, major ? " 
 
 The major's teeth chattered audibly, but he made 
 an effort to express a hope that our rock would not 
 be overflowed. 
 
 Indeed there seemed to be some reason for fearing 
 this, for the spray from the crashing breakers be- 
 neath was already dashing at times upon our hoods 
 and capes. 
 
 Frank, however, assured us of the contrary, and 
 besides she said we could go whenever we pleased. 
 
 "Go !" uttered the major in consternation, and to 
 confess the truth, we all began to have certain vague 
 suspicions that Frank would turn out to be some- 
 thing " uncannie" who had lured us thither for our 
 destruction. Going from where we were seemed 
 likely to be attended with the same results, as "go- 
 ing " from the top of St. Paul's would be if somebody 
 should cut away the staircase. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 177 
 
 We thought of our comfortable cabin on board of 
 the Double Eagle, and our little ones sleeping tran- 
 quilly in its pleasant state-rooms! 
 
 Another flash of lightning lit up the scene, and 
 presented to view a prospect which drew off our 
 thoughts from our own situation. A long reef of 
 high, sharp, black rocks extended southerly from the 
 Lion's Head. These were usually bare, but now 
 the sea was beating over them, leaving only their 
 grim heads occasionally visible above the milky 
 foam. A small boat with a reefed leg-of-mutton sail 
 was seen trying to claw off from these rocks. There 
 was only one man on board that we could see, 
 who was tugging at his oars, cross-handed, in a des- 
 perate effort to save himself. 
 
 "The ninny! 7 ' exclaimed Frank petulantly, rising 
 suddenly from her luxurious seat, "he '11 be lost! " 
 
 The fearless girl divested herself of her cape and 
 hood, and tying her white mantilla tight beneath her 
 chin, left us before we could interpose any objection ; 
 springing from cliff to cliff in the direction of the 
 reef, with all the grace and agility of a fawn, while 
 the ends of her mantilla fluttered in the wind like 
 the wings of a bird. 
 
 * We shuddered, for we thought she must be a spirit 
 of the storm, or madly bent on self-destruction. 
 
 The next flash showed her to us again fairly 
 out upon the reef, swooping from rock to rock like a 
 wild seagull, and within a few paces of the boat, 
 now certain of destruction. 
 
 "The bird! the bird!" exclaimed the major's 
 wife, springing up and clapping her hands. "She 
 
178 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 will come back and bring the boatman, and we shall 
 all be saved." 
 
 A strange sensation thrilled through my mind as I 
 recognized in the scene about us the exact counter- 
 part of the vision which Mrs. Wallack had described 
 to us during our journey to Wed-noon in our tent 
 upon the desert. 
 
 " All's well that ends well," piously ejaculated the 
 major; " we shall see." 
 
 We were too much excited to converse further, 
 and waited eagerly for the next revelation. 
 
 The next gleam was a short one, but during its 
 continuance we saw the boat distinctly enough beat- 
 ing upon the reef, but no signs of Frank or the 
 boatman. 
 
 We now held our breath in suspense, for another 
 flash of lightning would confirm either our hopes or 
 fears. It came, lighting the heavens from horizon 
 to horizon with a glare like that of midday, and 
 there was the gallant girl, leaping from rock to rock 
 on her return, gleesome as a child at play or a bird 
 upon the wing, followed bravely by a form there was 
 no mistaking. 
 
 " Glorious Dick Vinal ! by all that 's great," 
 shouted the major, leaping to his feet and waving 
 his cap enthusiastically above his head, " all's well 
 now. With such pure spirits as Frank Martinez and 
 Dick Vinal by our side, we may safely bid defiance 
 to wicked. men, the devil and the elements ! " 
 
 They were with us in a moment. Gratitude, ad- 
 miration, love beamed in their countenances, as flash 
 succeeding flash revealed them to each other; but 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 179 
 
 their manner of expressing their feelings would have 
 thrown Captain Smilie, in his partiality for brevity, 
 into raptures. 
 
 " Frank!" 
 
 "Dick!" 
 
 And they were locked in each other's arms. 
 
 Oho ! thought I, here is one secret out at all 
 events! 
 
 " Come Dick," said Frank, extricating herself 
 from his embrace, "no nonsense, but tell us where 
 is the ' Bold Runner ; ' not lost, I hope ? " 
 
 " She is safe enough at anchor in Shark Inlet," 
 answered Dick. "I left her in charge of the men, 
 and took my skiff, thinking to get round here in 
 season to surprise you all." 
 
 " And got surprised yourself," said Frank play- 
 fully. "But never mind, the squall is over. Sup- 
 pose we go now, or 'pa will begin to be anxious 
 about us." 
 
 " Go ?" observed the major, "oh, yes, certainly. 
 I believe we are all quite ready, — but how?" 
 
 " That is easy enough," answered Frank, "follow 
 me." 
 
 She led the way and we followed, not without 
 difficulty, down a steep declivity of slippery rocks, 
 to a snug little cove on the lee side of the bluff, 
 where a surf-boat with five oars was riding snugly 
 at anchor. 
 
 "Now, then," said Frank, "you four gentlemen 
 take your oars and I will steer, and mind, no crab- 
 catching." 
 
 The storm was now fairly over, and the sun was 
 
180 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 rising. Huge massive clouds, scattered like an 
 army in retreat, were hurrying sullenly away to lee- 
 ward, leaving large clear patches of blue sky in pos- 
 session of the heavenly field. The sea, however, 
 was still running high, and breaking over the beach 
 which we had traversed a few hours before, and roll- 
 ing in upon the sandy shore of the island in huge 
 towering billows, that looked any thing but easy or 
 safe to navigate. 
 
 Frank noticed this, and as soon as we were fairly 
 clear of the rock turned our boat's head towards the 
 Undaunted, for the purpose, as she said, of getting 
 a fresh set of oarsmen, feeling sure of a capsize if 
 she trusted to our skill in rowing. I must acknowl- 
 edge that she managed our skiff with the dexterity 
 of an old salt, and soon brought us safe alongside 
 of the frigate, lying in the rough roadstead, as firm 
 and steady as if she were a slip of some old British 
 headland that had drifted out there and come to 
 anchor. 
 
 We were received by Compton, who had the 
 morning watch. He was too much accustomed to 
 Frank's adventures to manifest any surprise, when 
 we told him of the agreeable manner in which we 
 had passed the morning. Vinal he received with the 
 cordiality of an old friend, as indeed he was, and in- 
 quired for his yacht, which it appeared was a famous 
 craft along the whole coast. 
 
 On descending to the cabin we found Captain 
 Smilie up and shaving. 
 
 " Mahomed Ali is the Pacha of Egypt," cried he 
 jovially, on beholding us, " never more welcome. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 181 
 
 Vinal, my old boy, a little after the fair, eh ? — Ha, 
 ha, ha ! Wet, is it 1 — well I 'm dry. We shall have 
 brandy and coffee directly. That ? s a remedy for both 
 complaints. Now, then, Frank, how does the old 
 craft look, — any criticism this morning, eh ? " 
 
 "The main-yard wants squaring a little," said 
 Frank. 
 
 U I guess as how she means the main-brace wants 
 splicing, and not a bad idear either," said a husky 
 voice from a state-room just behind us. 
 
 " Jill," observed Compton in explanation ; " we 
 brought him off last night, a little non compos. His 
 mind has been running on web-footed pigs and 
 jointed snakes ever since." 
 
 " Aye," continued Captain Smilie, "this is his 
 first rational observation. Mr. Compton, see that 
 that main-yard is attended to, and we '11 look out for 
 the main-brace afterwards." 
 
 The invigorating old Java, the fresh pure air of 
 the morning, the exercise we had had in rowing, 
 the cheerful rays of the sun, all conspired to send a 
 warmth and geniality through our frames, and uplift 
 our flattened spirits. Captain Jill was produced with 
 a very red and swollen face, and very small eyes. 
 One side of his immense shirt-collar was completely 
 down, while the other "lifted its awful form" as 
 on the evening previous. His hair, no longer sleek 
 and smooth, waved stringily towards all points of 
 the compass. We readily believed him when he 
 stated that he was "not wery well." After a glass 
 or two of brandy, however, he revived, and sang a 
 
 16 
 
182 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 comic Dutch naval song, of which I only recollect 
 one verse. 
 
 " Better as schnaps, me gives 'em cat, 
 If tey do n't like it tey can lump it, 
 And ven tey cries, ter mees a rat, 
 
 Me hits him mit the spoken trompet." 
 
 We learned from Vinal, that when we left Wed- 
 noon, he had immediately gone up to Mogadore, 
 where he found the Bold Runner on her return, and 
 that he left at once for the Isle of Sal, where the sly 
 dog had often been before, expecting to reach there 
 in season for the ball. We expressed our fears to 
 him that the attractions of the place would detain 
 him there some time, and so cause a still further de- 
 lay in our voyage, dependent as we now were upon 
 him for aid to carry it out. 
 
 u You may be sure that I shall not leave to-day 
 or to-morrow either," said he, "but do n't be afraid; 
 when you arrive in Mogadore you will see the Bold 
 Runner safe at anchor." 
 
 It was with heartfelt regret that we returned our 
 rubber toggery to Frank with many thanks, and 
 bade her a last good-bye. Then exchanging fare- 
 well salutations with the rest of the party, we set off 
 for the Double Eagle to make preparations for our 
 departure. Frank's boat capsized in the rollers go- 
 ing on shore, and the last I saw of her she was skip- 
 ping up the beach, with Vinal in full chase, shaking 
 the water from her white dress, like a bird with 
 dripping plumes. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 RETURN TO MOGADORE. 
 
 Our voyage back to Mogadore was much retarded 
 by head winds and calms. On the thirteenth day 
 we made the land, and shortly after, a sail was 
 discerned to the southwest, which we judged to be 
 the Undaunted. As the wind was from the north- 
 ward, and we were directly to the westward of the 
 island off Mogadore, we congratulated ourselves on 
 having beaten the renowned British frigate. We 
 had soon cause, however, to cease our too confident 
 boasting, for on getting nearer to the shore we saw a 
 rakish little pilot boat schooner stealing in under 
 the land, already several miles to windward. We 
 were not wrong in supposing this to be the Bold 
 Runner. 
 
 As Vinal had predicted, on entering the harbor we 
 found his little craft quietly at anchor. A few hours 
 afterwards the Undaunted swept majestically round 
 the island, and having anchored, thundered forth a 
 salute, which sounded like the growls of the levia- 
 than, angry at being beaten. 
 
 The next morning we called upon Vinal at his 
 
184 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 residence in the fortress. It was a fine, solid, 
 spacious building, a few doors from the British 
 consulate, and was furnished in a style of splendor 
 becoming a millionaire. We inquired for Frank, 
 and were pleased to hear that she had suffered no 
 inconvenience from her morning promenade, but 
 was quite well, and had sent her respects. 
 
 We next went to the governor's, who received us 
 as kindly as formerly, and expressed his sorrow for 
 the treachery we had met with, and the loss we had 
 suffered in consequence. He also congratulated us 
 on having a friend in Mr. Vinal, who, he said, was a 
 man of great influence in the country, perhaps 
 second only to the emperor. " He is a good man," 
 continued he, and we both love and respect him. 
 He has done more towards removing our prejudices 
 against the English and Americans than all other 
 foreigners together." We were pleased to hear this 
 opinion of Vinal from the bashaw, pleased and 
 proud for our country's sake as well as for our own; 
 for since the lively interest he had manifested in our 
 enterprise, we had regarded him as "one of us." 
 The bashaw then informed, us that the desired per- 
 mission had been granted by the emperor, on the 
 payment of a small export duty, and that as soon as 
 we had selected and embarked our camels, no obsta- 
 cles would be interposed to our departure. 
 
 We afterwards called round to see our old friend, 
 the Jew. He was profuse in his demonstrations of 
 joy at our return, and I believe the old man was 
 really glad to see us. His daughter also came in, 
 and expressed her satisfaction at seeing us again. I 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 185 
 
 thought I detected a slight change in her appearance, 
 which had been wrought even during the short period 
 of our absence. She was more shrinking and timid 
 than before, and was a cast paler. I mentioned this 
 to the old man, when he accompanied us to the 
 lower door. He changed color, and said that he had 
 also observed it, but offered no explanation of the 
 cause. 
 
 The few succeeding days were spent in the selec- 
 tion and embarkation of the camels. In addition to 
 the drove which Vinal had sent up from Wed-noon, 
 a caravan of three hundred, also belonging to him, 
 had arrived at Mogadore during our absence, so that 
 we had a fine opportunity of making a good selec- 
 tion. We found, upon measuring our vessel's deck, 
 and putting up the stalls, that she would accommo- 
 date just thirty. We accordingly, with the aid of 
 Vinal, selected twenty running camels, nine milch 
 camels, besides the dark brown heirie which Vinal 
 had presented to Tom. The four Moorish attend- 
 ants whom we had engaged for the voyage, and as 
 long after as we should mutually agree upon, came 
 on board with the camels. They were recommended 
 by Vinal, and proved to be good men. 
 
 We were to sail on the next day, and this last 
 evening was to be devoted to the dinner at Vinal's, 
 which the officers of the Undaunted had lost by their 
 bet with us on the passage from Salt Island. We 
 met, as agreed upon, at five in the afternoon, and sat 
 down to a magnificent repast; but although each one 
 seemed to do his best to promote the general socia- 
 bility and cheerfulness, still it \vas rather a dull 
 16* 
 
1S6 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 affair, for there was something constantly tugging at 
 our hearts, and whispering that it was our last 
 reunion at the festive board. The wine circled 
 freely — Tom was as funny, Hapgood as sparkling, 
 and Captain Smilie as profound and philosophical as 
 ever; but it was in vain. Ties were soon to be 
 sundered, which had become pleasant and dear to 
 us, and we had no heart to rejoice over the breaking 
 of chains, whose links were all of flowers, which 
 we knew would crumble and decay, and go back to 
 dust, if severed. 
 
 It was after seven when we rose from the table, 
 and as things were still dragging rather heavily, I 
 proposed to the major a walk round to the old Jew's, 
 telling our party that we would be back in season to 
 be out before the closing of the gates. 
 
 We found the Jew and his daughter alone in their 
 splendid drawing-room. Ruth had been weeping, 
 and her eyes were still heavy. She seemed, how- 
 ever, pleased to see us. As for the old man, he was 
 more enthusiastic than ever in his reception, heaping 
 upon us all manner of entreaties to come oftener to 
 his " humble dwelling." A tear actually came to 
 his eye when we told him that we were to sail the 
 next day, and had only come to say farewell. He 
 pressed us to sit down so strongly that we were 
 forced to consent, and asked his daughter to sing us 
 a last song. 
 
 It needed only the tender melody of that almost 
 living instrument, and the touching pathos of that 
 trembling voice, to complete the sadness of our souls. 
 She sang of partings, of the estrangement of old and 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 187 
 
 early friends, of the stiflings and ceasings of affec- 
 tion, and the dread destiny of us all — to be forgot- 
 ten. I could have gone down on my knees in 
 my wretchedness, and prayed her to change the 
 strain — to let one ray of hope stream in, though 
 it should be faint and evanescent as the twinkle of a 
 star — but I had no power left me. I looked tear- 
 fully at the major, and the same spell was over him. 
 It was strange enough for us to be sitting there, 
 weeping like children at the idea of leaving a place 
 which, but a short two months before, had been to 
 us a blank ; a country, too, considered for centuries 
 back as the natural enemy of civilization ; leaving 
 this country again to return to our own, in the fur- 
 therance of a project on which we had set our 
 hearts — but so it was. 
 
 It could only have been this weird influence under 
 which we staggered, that prevented our hearing the 
 rushing of men in the court below, and the hurrying 
 of footsteps up the broad staircase. All that I 
 recollect is the sudden presence in the room where 
 we sat, of an armed body of Moors, above whom 
 towered the hated form of the burly Ethiopian talb. 
 Before we had time to move from our seats, we 
 were bound hand and foot, and effectually gagged. 
 The Jew and his daughter were seized and served 
 in the same way. When this was done, and we 
 were being carried down stairs, helpless as corpses, 
 I heard the signal given for the shutting of the gates. 
 The Ethiopian muttered something passionately, 
 which I supposed to be an oath ; but we were 
 carried out, notwithstanding. 
 
188 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 As we were borne along the street towards the 
 gates, we passed several Jews standing at the doors 
 of their houses, but they asked no questions, and 
 ventured not a word of remonstrance. 
 
 On arriving at the gates, and after the keeper had 
 turned the lock, but was hesitating to open them, 
 probably bargaining for a high price for his infidel- 
 ity, I noticed four or five men creeping stealthily 
 along on the broad top of the wall. 
 
 " Avast, there!" sung out a voice which made 
 the negro fairly shiver, for it was no other than that 
 of Bill Smith; " Avast, there, I say; what foul 
 play's agoin' on now?" 
 
 " There's the big nigger," sung out another voice, 
 "give him the iron, Bill." 
 
 At the word, a glistening harpoon descended with 
 tremendous force, striking deep into the Ethiopian's 
 thigh, who roared out with pain like a dying bull. 
 
 "Haul in, boys," shouted Bill, again; "haul 
 cheerily — here's a black fish ! " 
 
 At this moment a rush of people to the gates on 
 the outside was heard, and a sonorous voice called 
 out, fiercely, 
 
 "Mahomed Ali is the Pacha of Egypt ; down with 
 the gates, boys, and give it to the blasted scoundrels. 
 Make short work of it. Recollect, brevity is the 
 soul of wit ! " 
 
 No sooner was the order given, than the gates flew 
 back upon their hinges, laying some half dozen 
 Moors sprawling in the dust, and ripping up the 
 flesh on the side of the faithless keeper, who hap- 
 pened to be underneath. 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 189 
 
 Srnilie, Rothery, Hapgood. and Tom entered, fol- 
 lowed by eight English sailors, who seized the 
 muskets and cimeters from the terrified Moors, and 
 laid lustily about them. Those were lucky who 
 escaped without a blow or a gash. 
 
 " It is well you are going off to-morrow," observed 
 captain Smilie, while they all assisted to unbind and 
 put us on our legs again, "or I should have to place 
 a watch over you boys." 
 
 We accompanied the Jew and his daughter back 
 to their house, where a demijohn of Canary was 
 served out to the men. Captain Smilie having 
 promised the old man to call upon the bashaw, and 
 see that no harm came to him in consequence of this 
 night's proceedings, we moved off towards the water 
 side, where we found our ladies, Compton, Purser 
 Sly, and a strong guard of English sailors. Hap- 
 good remained at the Jew's house for the night, to 
 dress the negro's wound. 
 
 He reported to us the next day that he was crip- 
 pled for life, and in such a manner, too, as would, 
 for the future, pretty effectually put a stop to his 
 lustful propensities. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 OFF AGAIN. 
 
 The next day opened finely. At eight o'clock we 
 hoisted our flags, determined to go off with a brave 
 show outside, at any rate. The Undaunted, in ad- 
 dition to her British ensign and long pennant, 
 hoisted also the American flag at the fore, and the 
 Bold Runner was fairly alive with colors of all 
 nations. 
 
 After breakfast we went on shore to make our 
 farewell visits. We bade good bye to the bashaw, 
 thanking him sincerely for the assistance he had 
 rendered us ; and he, on his part, expressed a hope 
 that our voyage might turn out sufficiently profitable 
 to warrant a repetition. 
 
 Having a little time to spare, we called round 
 again upon the Jew, to inquire after his own and his 
 daughter's health. We found the old man pacing 
 to and fro in the lower hall of his house, like a 
 sentinel on duty. He informed us that his daugh- 
 ter was far from well, and kept her chamber: — as 
 for the negro, he had been removed to his own house. 
 We accordingly had to content ourselves with send- 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 191 
 
 ing up our kindest regards, and again bade the old 
 man farewell. He held us by the hand some time, 
 without speaking. At length the conflicting senti- 
 ments of his heart found utterance. 
 
 " You are going," said he, "and I shall never see 
 you again. I am an old man, and shure cannot long 
 live. And mine daughter — vat vill become of mine 
 daughter, ven ve are all gone 1 Oh, if I had mine 
 monish ready, I vould go vith you. But mine 
 monish, I cannot leave mine monish." 
 
 We made no effort to conceal the disgust which 
 this last exhibition of the ruling passion excited in 
 our breasts, and turned away. Infatuated old fool ! 
 Is not hell worse than earthly poverty ? 
 
 On our way to the water side, the major and I 
 turned a little out of our course into the street where 
 the Ethiopian lived, in order to gratify a certain ma- 
 licious pleasure which we took in getting the latest 
 report of his sufferings. 
 
 As we approached the house, a female rushed 
 wildly out, but on seeing us, stopped, and gave us a 
 look full of fiendish defiance and hatred. Her hair 
 was uncombed, and hanging in tangled masses over 
 her white shoulders and bared bosom. Her eyes 
 were bloodshot, her nose was slightly tinged with 
 red, and her mouth had that peculiarly unpleasant 
 look which I should term " hard." She was alto- 
 gether the most revolting specimen of womankind 
 that I ever saw. 
 
 "So," said she, with a shriek and scowl of the 
 deepest malignity, " you are the fine gentlemen who 
 rescued old David's daughter from a better fate than 
 
192 
 
 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 she deserved. She, indeed — to set herself up as 
 being better than we ! But it's no use; it's her fate, 
 as it has been of many a better one, and she 
 can't get away from it. And what is there better, I 
 should like to know; eh, what — what, I say?" 
 Here the voice of the miserable creature ran up into 
 a perfect howl, as if she were defying all time and 
 the endless ages of eternity ever to breathe again 
 into her soul one gush of her girlish purity and ten- 
 derness. 
 
 "And how is the Ethiopian to-day?" inquired 
 the major, feigning a commiseration which I am 
 sure he did not feel. 
 
 " You do well to ask," she replied, with a more 
 hateful look than before, glaring at us, indeed, like 
 an angry tigress. "And you call yourselves Chris- 
 tians. You gave us a fine example of good will and 
 brotherly forbearance, in sending home here a man- 
 gled, mutilated carcass, to be a weight and burden 
 to us all, instead of the strong and lusty form that 
 had been to us a pleasure. But my curse shall 
 follow you, and it shall be none the lighter that I 
 am of your own race and blood; it shall follow you 
 wherever you go, and be my only satisfaction for- 
 ever. I hate you, and all that belongs to you ; and 
 if I were a man, one of us should answer for this." 
 
 "Come," said the major, taking my arm, "we 
 have no further time to listen to this rigmarole ; our 
 wives are expecting us at the boat." 
 
 At the word "wife" she started, and a shade of 
 horror passed over her face, which covering as well 
 as she could with her hands, she ran shrieking back 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. L l Jo 
 
 into the house, like a guilty ghost of darkness at the 
 approach of light. 
 
 Oh, Jew's daughter; from what a fate wast thou 
 rescued ! Madness is a terrible thing, yet we are 
 told that a drop of water on the brain will work it ; 
 but a foul and false heart in woman is a far more 
 terrible thing — even an everlasting madness — and 
 yet, one little sentiment of vice, cherished but for a 
 moment, is the germ thereof. 
 
 In the hurry and bustle of departure from port, 
 there is usually little time or disposition, on ship- 
 board, for sadness or regrets. Our deck was a 
 perfect mart of confusion. The camels occupied the 
 principal part of it, and as they were not quite 
 located as yet, made a greater show than they 
 needed to have done. Our Moors, too, were de- 
 cidedly in the way of the seamen, always happening 
 to be squatting on the very coil of rope that was 
 wanted for use. The quarter-deck was in no neater 
 condition. The bashaw, as a parting token of 
 affection, had sent off some sheep, goats, chickens, 
 fruit and vegetables ; and the Jew had likewise con- 
 tributed to our stores, by a present of several baskets 
 of oranges, figs and pomegranates. All these things 
 were strewed about in delectable disorder, causing 
 sundry little inconveniences to our guests, such as a 
 huge rent in the pantaloons of Captain Smilie, the 
 result of that individual's coming suddenly in con- 
 tact with the horns of a goat, and Mr. Purser Sly's 
 being precipitated headlong into a basket of fresh 
 eggs, the natural consequence of stumbling over a 
 sheep. 
 
 17 
 
194 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 At eleven o'clock a parting sentiment was pro- 
 posed by Captain Smilie — " May we live till we 
 die ; and when that eventful period is passed, may 
 we all meet in heaven." 
 
 "Amen," said Hapgood, with a nod towards our 
 side of the deck; "and as the celestial railroad, 
 which one of your countrymen started, is not now 
 in successful operation, may we go up on a rain- 
 bow." 
 
 After which they all left us, except Vinal, Hap- 
 good and Rothery, who had agreed to accompany us 
 a little way, returning in the Bold Runner. With a 
 fresh breeze off the land, we stood once more out 
 towards the broad sea, casting many a lingering look 
 at the white walls of Mogadore as we sailed by, 
 now full of interest, and wondering within ourselves 
 that we could ever have looked upon them without 
 pleasurable emotions. We were again to return to 
 the society of our little circle, with many new expe- 
 riences and fresh bonds of sympathy. If, since 
 leaving home, we had seen human nature in worse 
 phases than before, we had perhaps also seen it in 
 better. At all events, the picture of life had been 
 presented to us in stronger colors, with more marked 
 contrasts and a distincter outline than we had ever 
 noticed in the tamer tableaux of our native places. 
 It is but fair to suppose, however, that it was the 
 novelty of our situation which produced this impres- 
 sion on our minds. 
 
 Early in the afternoon, Vinal, Rothery and Hap- 
 good took a final leave of us, in order to be able to 
 beat back before dark. Vinal promised to see us 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 195 
 
 again at some future time in the States, when Frank 
 should be his wife. We kept watching their little 
 vessel till she was a mere white speck, contrasting 
 indistinctly with the dark, hazy shore — a last visible 
 relic, speaking silently but eloquently to the heart, 
 of the pleasant times we had passed, and the true 
 friends we had met, in the country we were leaving. 
 But the camels looked not back ; yet they were 
 bound to a new and untried land ; and would see 
 the waving palm trees, the green oasis, and the 
 sands of the desert — no more. 
 
CHAPTER XX, 
 
 CHAGRES. 
 
 Nothing of special interest occurred during our 
 voyage back. We were favored with fine weather, 
 and the time passed quickly away. We had some- 
 thing to do in studying the tastes and habits of our 
 camels, and in endeavoring to pick out of our Moors 
 a few words of their language. Besides, we had 
 our past adventures to talk over, as well as our 
 future prospects to discuss. 
 
 I am sorry to confess that we saw neither the sea 
 serpent, nor the Flying Dutchman, nor even a soli- 
 tary mermaid. We did, however, see a whale or 
 two, occasionally, in calm weather, the dark fin of a 
 shark, plenty of dolphins, and, after arriving on the 
 South American coast, a shoal of porpoises. We 
 spoke but one vessel, the Belle Creole, from Bordeaux, 
 bound to Martinique, and it was hard work speaking 
 her, for she mistook us at first for a pirate, and 
 crowded all sail to escape. 
 
 When the camels and the Moorish language failed 
 to interest us, we studied the Moors themselves, and 
 soon made them out to be quite characters in their 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 197 
 
 way; but now that I look back upon it, I think it 
 was a very insipid sort of way. Finally, when 
 camels, Moors, officers, crew, every thing else, in 
 fact, failed, we still had the cook to fall back upon, 
 and he was a host. Often during the mild summer 
 evenings, running down the trades, did we cluster 
 round him on the lee side of the galley, watching 
 the foam as it drifted gurgling past, or looking far 
 away over the lonely waste of waters, while his 
 honest voice kept sounding in our ears, as he 
 steadily, sleepily, dreamily narrated his simple expe- 
 riences. 
 
 At length the cheering cry of " Land, ho ! " was 
 heard. We were again in sight of the American 
 continent. The captain, knowing it to be a bold 
 shore, ran in pretty close, enabling us to feast our 
 land-sick eyes upon a magnificently mountainous 
 coast. The first land we made proved to be the 
 highlands off Porto Bello. We ran down in obe- 
 dience to a fresh northeaster, and were not long in 
 passing Mansanilla Island in Navy Bay, where we 
 saw a large steamship at anchor, and soon after 
 came in sight of three more steamships, lying off the 
 point of our destination — Chagres. 
 
 The scenery along the coast was certainly grand 
 and striking : — the bold headlands, pierced occa- 
 sionally by fearful looking ravines, pouring their 
 tribute of waters with a rushing sound into the 
 embrace of the mad waves, hurrying to receive it ; 
 the deep, rich green of the dense foliage which 
 covered these steppes, and crowded down to the 
 very water's edge, suggestive of wild beasts and 
 17* 
 
198 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 venomous reptiles beneath its dark luxuriance; an 
 occasional reef of rocks jutting out a few feet from 
 the shore, lashed and beaten by the angry breakers, 
 which seemed jealous of even so small an encroach- 
 ment on their domain, and seethed and fretted, and 
 threw up foam of livid rage. With this bold and 
 lifelike cast of scenery, we found it difficult to 
 reconcile the melancholy stories we had heard of the 
 deadly atmosphere of Chagres. Here in this hilly 
 region, washed by the Atlantic's waves and blown 
 upon by her freshest winds, we thought man must 
 rather take a new start in existence, and breathe in 
 a new and keener life. But first impressions are 
 often deceitful. 
 
 When we got abreast of the old fort of San 
 Lorenzo, where we anchored, the American side of 
 the town was distinctly visible. It was nothing 
 more or less than a sand bank, covered with shingle 
 palaces, and seemed built nearly on a level with the 
 sea. Boats were plying to and from the steamships 
 outside of us in great profusion, and on shore the 
 crowd was immense; so that the little neck of land 
 where the houses stood seemed fairly alive with 
 human beings. 
 
 I went on shore with the captain and the major in 
 the brig's boat, to see about the possibility of enter- 
 ing with the vessel at once. Before we left, how- 
 ever, several boats from the town, seeing that- we 
 had passengers, came along-side. Cadaverous look- 
 ing boatmen clambered on board, with sundry 
 inducements to our people to take passage with 
 them. * l Here's the Ring-tailed Roarer," said one ; 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. J 99 
 
 "beats all the small craft on the levee — chased a 
 streak of lightning the other day — came pretty near 
 catching it, only didn't — take you right ashore — 
 two dollars a head." "Stop your nonsense," said 
 another, bringing himself forward with somewhat of 
 a Micawber air — " Ladies and gentlemen, you may 
 consider yourselves fortunate in having an opportu- 
 nity of landing at Chagres for the first time in the 
 
 Lady Stanhope - — a boat, I may say ." " If you 
 
 want to go on shore," said a third, elbowing his way 
 a little in advance of the others, "I'm the tulip to 
 take you along ; put you right on the levee, opposite 
 the Irving House — first-rate hotel — where Jenny 
 Lind always stops when she's at Chagres." We 
 assured these facetious individuals that our passen- 
 gers had no idea of leaving the vessel until she was 
 inside. They had no time to ask any questions 
 about the camels, which they simply looked at as 
 they came on board, and again as they descended to 
 their boats, for with them time was of too much 
 importance to be wasted in the study of natural 
 history. Besides, they had seen things far more 
 astonishing in their day, and would doubtless have 
 manifested the same indifference, had our cargo con- 
 sisted of giraffes instead of camels, or specimens of 
 that fabulous animal, known in Chagres as the 
 "ring-tailed roarer." 
 
 On rounding the point where the old fort is built, 
 we found Chagres, like a fashionable modern ro- 
 mance, in two parts; the native side, consisting of a 
 few low bamboo huts, covered with palm leaves, 
 with here and there a two-story pine framed build- 
 
200 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 ing, bearing unmistakeable traces of having been 
 recently erected. The American side could boast of 
 some fifty buildings of the latter sort, among which 
 a prodigious number of hotel signs were startlingly 
 conspicuous. Most of these houses were painted 
 white or whitewashed, and some indulged in the 
 luxury of green blinds. The levee was literally 
 swarmed with boats of all varieties, from a birch 
 canoe to a first class yacht. There were also two 
 American brigs, several small coasting schooners, 
 and some three or four small specimens of steam 
 craft; but the great feature was boats, as the great 
 permanent feature of society on shore is boatmen, of 
 which class of people indeed Chagres is the par- 
 adise. 
 
 If any sensation of the picturesque or romantic 
 had been suggested by the outside appearance of 
 Chagres, it all vanished as soon as we landed. The 
 green hills around, the calm, beautiful river flowing 
 rapidly but noiselessly to the sea, the long sandy 
 beach, the groves of the cocoa-nut we had remarked 
 on approaching, the fresh afternoon sea breeze, and 
 the bright sunshine over all, were as things that had 
 never been. A glance told us too plainly that we 
 were in the midst of filth, disease, degradation, aye, 
 of vice in almost every form. As we walked up the 
 beach, surrounded by people of all lands and cos- 
 tumes, among which predominated specimens of the 
 sallow-faced, long-limbed inhabitant of our western 
 frontier, and the half naked, vagabondish looking 
 native — every other man evidently on his last 
 legs — I felt a disgust for the place, amounting 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 201 
 
 almost to horror. On our way to the American 
 consulate, a native building with thatched roof, we 
 passed more people engaged in the delectable occu- 
 pations of gambling, drinking and fighting, than I 
 have ever seen similarly employed before in the 
 whole course of my life. If this was one of the first 
 fruits of California, we had been too hasty in our 
 estimation of the boon. If this town of grog-shops 
 and gambling shanties was the extension of free- 
 dom's area, Heaven forbid that it should go any 
 further! I had before received unpleasant impres- 
 sions of men and things at first sight, but never 
 any thing so staggering as this. I afterwards came 
 to see the causes of all this more in detail, and my 
 closer examination of the people and the place, led 
 me to understand very satisfactorily certain apella- 
 tions given to it by its non-admirers, such as "a 
 new hell," and "the sink-hole of creation," 
 
 It was easy to distinguish between the outward 
 bound Californians, and the returning. The former 
 were fresher, neater looking, had clean faces and 
 considerable baggage, and were easily recognised by 
 a kind of timid, questioning look, which they mostly 
 wore. The latter were sallow, hard-featured, rich 
 in hair and beard, generally in dirty shirts, and 
 with certain unique looking patches on their outer 
 garments, done in the primitive style of needle- 
 craft known as " herring boning.' 7 Their luggage, 
 too, had grown " small by degrees and beautifully 
 less," till it was easily encompassed by a pair of 
 saddle-bags or a rusty valise. Many of them had 
 certain foreign articles in their attire, which marked 
 
202 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 them still more definitely as among the initiated, 
 such as Mexican ponchos, Chinese umbrellas and 
 Panama hats. But what cared these stern-visaged 
 gentry for outward appearance? They had, most 
 of them, a little iron-bound box, with sealed ends, 
 either in their possession or as freight on one of the 
 steam-ships in the bay, which would in due time tell 
 its story for them, chaunting golden lyrics for the 
 returning heroes. 
 
 After making a bargain with the captain of one of 
 the little steamers lying along the levee, to bring our 
 vessel in, the major and I took a stroll along the sea 
 beach, by way of getting a change of air, prepara- 
 tory to going off. It was certainly invigorating to 
 turn our backs upon the town, and let our eyes 
 roam over the vast, hazy hills that towered one 
 above another in the rear of Chagres ; or out upon 
 the deep rolling sea. We had travelled but a few 
 rods, however, before we were painfully reminded 
 of our proximity to that delectable place, by coming 
 suddenly upon a plantation of hillocks, beneath 
 which, certain slabs of wood, in one or two cases, 
 told us reposed some of the Chagres dead of the 
 past twelve months. 
 
 We were turning back, when I observed a slab 
 somewhat larger than the rest, painted white, with 
 an inscription thereon in black letters. It told the 
 passer-by that there reposed the remains of George 
 
 H , who died at Chagres on the 5th of March, 
 
 1850, of inflammatory fever, aged 25. A few 
 simple lines below stated that he had been the sole 
 support of his mother, a widow, and a family of five 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 203 
 
 young children. This announcement, of itself, told 
 a story sufficiently interesting; but on me it had a 
 
 startling effect. George H had been the friend 
 
 and playmate of my boyhood. We had sat together 
 in the same form at school, read from the same book, 
 and (I ought to blush in confessing it) I had often 
 copied hard mathematical solutions from his slate. 
 He was my senior by a few years, and initiated me 
 into all the mysteries of gunning, fishing, and the 
 sublime science of boating. He was a finely formed, 
 robust boy, and, I u^ed to think, had the handsomest, 
 manliest face I had ever seen. I was comparatively 
 weak and puny, and certainly awkward, but from 
 the first day that I went to the master's school, he 
 took me under his protection, and our friendship 
 was never interrupted till, at the age of fifteen, he 
 left school and went to sea. 
 
 He was a handsome boy enough when he left 
 school, with his fair, rosy cheeks, his broad, white 
 forehead, and his long curling hair, but when he 
 arrived home from Calcutta after an absence of 
 eleven months, and came one afternoon to our play- 
 ground, before school commenced, dressed in a new 
 suit of blue, with a darker shade upon his face, and 
 his hair cut short and curling crispily all over his 
 head, how much more manly and glorious in his 
 beauty did he seem. We involuntarily left our 
 sports at once to crowd about him. His voice was 
 deeper and richer and more musical, and as I 
 pressed to his side and drank in his every word, he 
 seemed to me like another sort of being altogether 
 from the boys around. After hearing his stories 
 
204 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 about the sea and foreign lands, J thought when we 
 got into school again, that the old room had grown 
 narrower and darker, and that the boys looked pale, 
 squeamish and sick. I couldn't study any that 
 afternoon, but kept longing for the time when I too 
 could be a sailor, and go to far off places, where 
 oranges and cocoa-nuts were as plenty as apples, or 
 sit out on the ship's bobstay of a summer afternoon, 
 and watch the porpoises playing in the spray under 
 
 the vessel's bow. And here was now George H , 
 
 or all that was left of that glorious form that I used 
 almost to worship, buried in the ground at my feet ! 
 
 But this was not all I knew the story of his 
 family, and how nobly he had toiled for them for 
 many a year ; how he had even provided his dear 
 mother with many luxuries, and had educated his 
 young brothers and sisters in the best manner his 
 native town admitted of. I wondered, half jeal- 
 ously, as I turned away to overtake the major, 
 whose privilege it had been to soothe his last mo- 
 ments, and receive his parting message to those 
 dearer to him than life. But oh, I could not bear to 
 let my mind dwell on that heart-breaking moment, 
 when the sad intelligence reached that little house- 
 hold afar, that their darling was dead, in a foreign 
 land, and they would never, never see him any 
 more. 
 
 When I had nearly reached the beach, I turned 
 round to take another look at the white slab. There 
 were two hairy, rough looking customers standing 
 before it, reading the inscription. While I looked, 
 one of them raised his arm to his forehead, (God 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 205 
 
 bless him for that!) and with his dingy sleeve 
 wiped away the gathering tear. Many a Californian 
 has lingered for a moment on his outward or home- 
 ward journey, in that melancholy spot, and read the 
 simple story which that white slab is ever telling, 
 and so had his thoughts carried back to his own 
 hearth-side which he has just left, or hopes soon to 
 revisit, and has turned away with sadder and better 
 feelings, and a new trust in the faith of his fellow- 
 men. 
 
 " Such graves as his are pilgrim shrines, 
 
 Shrines to no code or creed confined ; 
 The Delphian vales, — the Palestines, — 
 
 The Meccas of the mind." 
 
 I came up with the major in front of a bamboo 
 tenement, where a man was selling fruit and liquor. 
 He, the major, had two oranges in his hand, and 
 was strenuously endeavoring to learn the price there- 
 of. The proprietor, however, was in no hurry to 
 give the desired information, but looked haggardly 
 from one to the other of us, without reply. " Do n't 
 you understand English 1 " persisted the major. " I 
 want to buy these two oranges, how much shall I 
 give you for them ? " 
 
 Instead of answering, the man, whose skin was 
 about the color of the articles he dealt in, laid his 
 head down upon his stand, and was soon sound 
 asleep. The major dropped a quarter into his lap 
 and we left him to his repose. The next morning 
 he was dead. 
 
 On leaving the residence of this interesting gentle- 
 man, we entered a small framed building of one story 
 18 
 
206 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 and a half, the lower part of which was occupied as 
 a shop for fancy goods. While we were negotiating 
 here for some articles of toilette, we became wit- 
 nesses of a scene, which tends to show, that in point 
 of a free-and-easy, happy-go-lucky, d — 1-take-it tone 
 of society, Chagres is fairly entitled to bear the palm 
 from all new places. 
 
 We were waited upon by a tall, saucy-looking 
 young man who stood behind the counter. As we 
 were making our selections, or rather submitting to a 
 " Hobson's choice," from a very limited stock of 
 goods, I could not help remarking a savory smell 
 which came in by the back-door, so unlike was it to 
 all the other odors of Chagres. 
 
 " What is that in your back-yard," said I to the 
 young man, " which smells so refreshing?" 
 
 " Roast duck," said he, "a beauty, that our man 
 John killed this morning; fat and tender, — won't 
 you stop and dine with us ? Our table will easily 
 accommodate two more." 
 
 We thanked him for the invitation, which we 
 could not accept of. I noticed in the back part of 
 the shop a small table set for three persons, and also 
 observed hovering near it two hungry-looking spe- 
 cimens of returned Californian humanity, one of 
 whom, like Bucklaw, was whistling desperately 
 while " wearying for his dinner." 
 
 " Sorry for it," answered the young man, referring 
 to our inability to dine with him, " as the fare at the 
 hotels is decidedly of the ' ton jours pork ' order. But 
 
 here comes G , our consul, — one of the finest 
 
 fellows out of jail ; he '11 not refuse to make a fourth 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 207 
 
 with us. Hulloa, G ! " continued he, as that 
 
 gentleman entered the shop, " you must dine with 
 us to-day ; we are to have roast duck." 
 
 " Roast, duck," returned G ; " well, I do n't 
 
 mind. It's not often that such a thing happens; but 
 do you know, Fred, that I have got a duck on board 
 of my steamer here by the levee — and such a duck! 
 
 — fatting up for a grand fourth of July dinner?" 
 
 A curious look came suddenly over the counte- 
 nance of the young man. G- observed it, and 
 
 the same, curious look stole over his own, only with 
 tenfold greater intensity. 
 
 "Fred," said he solemnly, as soon as he could 
 speak, " was this a white duck ? " 
 
 "As a snow-drift," said Fred. 
 
 "Fat?" inquired G , in a faltering tone. 
 
 " As a partridge," answered Fred. 
 
 A dreadfully misgiving expression came over 
 G ? s face, as he proposed a third interrogatory 
 
 — "Tail feathers tipped with black?" 
 
 "Why, confound it man," exclaimed Fred, trying 
 hard to prevent an outburst of laughter as the truth 
 flashed across him, "you must have seen the biped 
 before." 
 
 "My poor duck!" gasped the consul, staggering 
 out of the apartment. 
 
 Another individual now entered, a tall, melancholy 
 looking man, who proved to be the proprietor of the 
 adjoining hotel. Fred, who seemed convivially dis- 
 posed, extended an invitation to dine to this gentle- 
 man also, informing him that the great feature of 
 the board was to be roast duck. 
 
208 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 "Duck," said the proprietor thoughtfully, "I was 
 not aware that there were any ducks in Chagres — 
 except, indeed, a beautiful white one, which I 
 brought down from New York with me, a duck 
 that I set as much by as if it were a human being, 
 — a knowing duck — a duck that money can't buy; 
 why, gentlemen, I respect and venerate that duck as 
 much as ever the old Romans did geese." 
 
 " Probably," remarked the saucy-looking young 
 man, "or as the natives of Siam venerate white ele- 
 phants. But I am strongly inclined to believe, 
 neighbor, that this is your duck that John killed this 
 morning in the back-yard." 
 
 " My duck dead ! " said the new comer, 
 
 catching his breath at every word. u But it cannot 
 be — was this duck a fat, white one, with tail feath- 
 ers tipped with black ? " 
 
 "The same," said the young man with a look, a 
 thousand times saucier than ever. 
 
 "Great heaven ! " exclaimed the proprietor, while 
 an expression of horror darkened over him that I 
 have rarely seen equalled. After a few moments, 
 coming to himself, he resumed in a calmer tone, 
 " But it will be some satisfaction to me to learn 
 something of his last moments. I trust that this 
 desperado John, in killing this poor inoffensive bird, 
 did not hurt him much." 
 
 "Oh, no," said Fred, "he broke his leg first by 
 flinging a stick of wood at him, then put some small 
 shot into him, and as that didn't quite finish the 
 business, wrung his neck afterwards, to put him out 
 of pain." 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 209 
 
 " My poor duck ! " shrieked the man as he rushed 
 headlong from the shop. 
 
 The major and I having completed our purchases 
 were leaving the house, when we were stopped by 
 our new acquaintance. 
 
 "Hold on a minute," said he, " General Jackson 
 is just turning out up stairs ; he has been on a lark 
 for three days. He is owner of this establishment 
 of which I am head clerk. His name is Jackson, 
 and we give him the title of general, because he tries 
 to imitate some of the manners of 'Old Hickory,' 
 to whom he pretends to be a sort of second cousin. 
 He was i tight' enough two hours ago, when we put 
 him to bed, but I suppose that the smell of roast 
 duck has brought him to. It would be a capital 
 joke if he should pretend to be the owner of the 
 bird, as two claimants have appeared already." 
 
 A fat, rubicund visage, surmounting a form every 
 way worthy of it, appeared on the ladder leading to 
 the upper story. The proboscis, which was the 
 prominent feature in this visage, seemed like that of 
 the war-horse mentioned in scripture — capable of 
 scenting things at a great distance, for it was very 
 large, very red, and very powerful looking. 
 
 "Ahem!" said the individual to whom these 
 good things belonged, on reaching the floor of the 
 lower apartment, "something nice for dinner, — eh, 
 Fred?" 
 
 " Roast duck," answered Fred. 
 
 " Not my duck?" inquired the general. 
 
 "I don't know about that," answered Fred, " but 
 it's a fine, fat duck, white, with tail feathers tipped 
 18* 
 
210 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 with black. John killed him this morning in the 
 back-yard." 
 
 " My duck, by the eternal ! " roared the general. 
 
 The major and I were near bursting with laughter, 
 and we did not stay to witness the denouement. 
 
 As our men had not assembled to pull us off, when 
 we reached the boat we went into a ticklish-looking 
 panel-house, put up on the extreme end of the beach, 
 with the sign, " American Coffee House," over the 
 door. There was a fine, stout, big-whiskered fellow 
 serving out coffee and brandy to the boatmen, on a 
 plank supported by two barrels. 
 
 We each took a cup at a dime a piece. The pro- 
 prietor of this establishment informed us that he 
 cleared about thirty dollars a day, and should do 
 better, but he had some friends in the house sick, 
 who occupied the best part of his lodging room. As 
 the building consisted of but one room, nine feet by 
 twelve, I looked around with some curiosity to see 
 how his sick lodgers were disposed of. He pointed 
 to the roof, and sure enough there were three pine 
 boards, stretched across, directly under the eaves, 
 each of which bent beneath the weight of a Chagres 
 invalid. I asked him if he was not afraid of getting 
 sick himself in such a place. "Well," said he, "I 
 suppose I shall after a while ; but I shall make 
 enough first to give me a fair start; and, then, the 
 first shake, why," continued he, snapping his fin- 
 gers towards the steamships outside, "I shall just 
 ' vamose the ranche.' " But the poor fellow never 
 lived to "vamose the ranche." He was taken with 
 Chagres fever, as I afterwards learned, during the 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 211 
 
 absence of the steamships, and died after a few days' 
 sickness. 
 
 A shower coming up at this time, it was amus- 
 ing enough to see the proprietors of a row of " hotels" 
 on the beach, bestirring themselves to get in their 
 cooking-stoves, before the rain had put out their fire, 
 matches being scarce and high ; and truly pitiable to 
 observe the fever and ague society withdrawing to 
 their shanties, from the late glad sunshine and fresh 
 breeze, with many a longing look behind ; while the 
 more healthy abandoned the roulette and monte 
 tables stationed outside, and laid about them for 
 "drinks," with an activity that was quite awful to 
 behold. 
 
 Oh, Chagres ! thou despised of all places, — thou 
 den of vagabonds — thou charnel-house, — why art 
 thou thus accursed ? Is not the same sky above thee, 
 dotted nightly by the same stars that look on fairer 
 places? Is there not one just man in thy midst to 
 save thee? Where is the stout labor that should 
 ditch and drain thy reeking, filthy soil? — where the 
 eye to plan and sketch thy broad thoroughfares and 
 stately squares — the hand to plant the palm, the 
 tamarind and the mango along thy spacious ave- 
 nues ? Where the capital, so greedy of employ else- 
 where, to build thy princely dwellings, thy quays, 
 thy warehouses ? — where the one true heart, beating 
 with love for the land of its birth or adoption, to say 
 "for thy sake, Chagres." So said I to myself as we 
 pulled back to the brig, and looked upon the shingle 
 palaces and human stir upon the sandy point. But 
 there was no echo even to reply. 
 
212 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 Arriving on board again, it appeared that Tom 
 had made a flying visit to the shore during our ab- 
 sence, and had become the proprietor of two parrots 
 and a monkey. He was giving the ladies a glowing 
 account of the place, assuring them that it resembled 
 New York very much. 
 
 " It has its fort at the entrance," said Tom, with a 
 parrot on each arm and the monkey looking over his 
 shoulder. "It has its Brooklyn, which is the native 
 side, and then it resembles New York, particularly 
 in the number and names of its hotels, as for in- 
 stance Irving House, Astor House, United States 
 Hotel, Howard Hotel ; and so on, ladies and gentle- 
 men, ad infinitum" 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 LANDING OF THE CAMELS. 
 
 The next morning the little steamer "Orus" came 
 off and took us into port. We laid plank from the 
 deck to the levee, and walked our camels ashore 
 without difficulty. There was, of course, a crowd 
 on the beach, attracted by the novelty of the affair; 
 but there was little enthusiasm manifested. The 
 majority seemed busily engaged in discussing the 
 probabilities of the importation as a paying concern. 
 
 A tall, long, flaxen-haired genius from New 
 Hampshire, dressed in a blue coat with brass but- 
 tons, and yellow pantaloons, who was trading with 
 a native for a straw hat, created a diversion in our 
 favor. 
 
 " Constantinople ! " said he, with a roar of laugh- 
 ter, bending himself up, and holding tight to his 
 knees. " Ef you ain't some ! Fellar citizens, here's 
 a natyve 'ud rather hev two dimes than a quarter; 
 blowed ef he'd n't. Ef he ain't a case for Barnum, 
 there's no gingerbread ! " 
 
 We watched the process of landing with no little 
 anxiety, although there was no danger attending it. 
 
214 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 When our Moors had led the last camel to the shore, 
 we breathed more freely, and in the fullness of our 
 hearts we could have cheered long and loudly; but 
 in the midst of such a dignified body of "fellar citi- 
 zens," we had no idea of doing any thing so unbe- 
 coming. They all came out in good order — the 
 camels of course. They were a little swollen about 
 the ancles and knee-joints, and had a certain heavi- 
 ness in the eyes often noticed in animals after long 
 continuance without exercise. Our Moors assured 
 us that they would soon correct those symptoms, and 
 that two or three days' moderate exercise along the 
 beach would restore them to their wonted beauty 
 and vigor. We had learned on the day previous, 
 from the consul, that there was a clearing about a 
 mile and a half distant from the point, near a fresh- 
 water river which there emptied into the sea. He 
 described it as a suitable place to encamp, being high 
 and dry, with excellent water close at hand, and 
 sufficiently far removed from the stench of the town. 
 So we saddled our beasts, in the most approved 
 style of Moorish camel-craft, and, with stately steps 
 and slow, our little caravan moved grandly out of 
 Chagres. 
 
 We passed along the soft sand of the beach single 
 file, the redoubtable major leading the van, with the 
 air of a conqueror taking possession of a captured do- 
 main ; the rest of us sprinkled along the line, among 
 the pack camels, or any where, that we happened to 
 fall in ; and Tom, on his favorite little brown heirie, a 
 perfect menagerie of parrots, bill-birds and monkeys, 
 bringing up the rear. The fresh ocean breeze, and 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 215 
 
 the feeling of the soft moving sand under their feet, 
 had an inspiriting effect upon our camels, who set 
 out into a swinging pace, that soon left the unwashed 
 and unterrified of Chagres far behind us. 
 
 Here, kind reader, we must part for the present. 
 One portion of the enterprise which we proposed to 
 ourselves at the outset, is accomplished, at any rate. 
 It is true that we have not succeeded fully in all the 
 details of our plan, and what mortal ever did? 
 Still, we have done much, we have taken the first 
 step, we have laid the corner-stone in a new and 
 heretofore untried business. The great northern 
 route to California, over the plains, is still trodden 
 by the lingering foot of the mule, horse or ox, and 
 the majestic stride of the camel is yet to supersede 
 them. The southern route through Texas and New 
 Mexico, by the valley of the Gila, is as yet no more 
 frequented, or comfortably passed over, for our own 
 efforts in its behalf. The Great Desert still collects 
 its tribute of decaying bones, and the broad central 
 plateau, lying between the Gila and the Colorado of 
 the west, teeming, doubtless, with undreamt of 
 mineral wealth, is unexplored. Minesota, Nebraska, 
 the wearisome trail of the traders from Independence 
 to Santa Fe, and all our distant, far-stretching and 
 unfrequented mail routes, demand in vain, so far, 
 for the aid which we have perhaps somewhat pre- 
 maturely promised by the camel enterprise. But 
 there is no time like the present to atone for the 
 short-comings of the past. All that we have pro- 
 posed will be done, and much more — not by our 
 little band of pioneers, but by many united in the 
 
216 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 same cause. The camel will yet be domesticated 
 and bred in our western states and territories, as 
 the ox, the mule and the horse now are, and will 
 doubtless do more towards extending the outskirts of 
 our civilization than all other appliances to boot. 
 
 Here then, I repeat, this portion of my narrative 
 terminates. We have seen the camels safe on our 
 own side of the great pond. I would be glad, 
 reader, to have you accompany us in our journey 
 across the Isthmus, (for you may be sure that we 
 remained not long at Chagres,) to take you by the 
 button-hole, and keep you listening, if you will, to 
 our adventures up to the time when the turrets of 
 Panama's old churches, and the broad bosom of the 
 Pacific burst upon our view — aye, to the moment 
 when we entered the old walled city, and the major's 
 first prophetic vision of the end was fully realized. 
 It may be that the best part of our adventures is yet 
 to come. But all this seems properly to belong to 
 another volume. Our enterprise, from the moment 
 of leaving Chagres, assumed an entirely new char- 
 acter. We formed many new associates, and lived 
 in the midst of a train of circumstances, and a class 
 of people entirely distinct and different from any 
 thing that we had previously encountered. It 
 may be that, at some future period, if I can find 
 the time and inclination, I will beg your attention to 
 this journey, promising you, in my description of 
 " Life on the Isthmus," a narrative, to say the least, 
 no less interesting than the present. 
 
 11 And now, farewell — a word that must be, and has been, 
 A sound that makes us linger." 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 217 
 
 Yet stay — let us take one last look together at 
 the picture which is now risen before me, fresh and 
 distinct as an affair of to-day. 
 
 The time is sunset — " the hour of better angels." 
 In the foreground is the sandy beach, with the 
 weary waves that have travelled ever so far for an 
 embrace of the old shore, tumbling heavily upon its 
 yielding breast, and gurgling back with a deep 
 drawn sigh of satisfied desire. Beyond rises in a 
 gentle slope, a green lawn, as smooth and velvety as 
 you would expect to find on an English nobleman's 
 estate. And those two old trees, that look so much 
 like the old English elm, only of more gigantic 
 proportions — how they stand half way up the lawn 
 like sentinels placed there by nature, centuries ago ; 
 now with drooping heads, reclining towards each 
 other, and intermingling their more extended limbs 
 as if for mutual support ! Beneath and in the rear 
 of these old trees are Arab tents, and men of dusky 
 faces in strange and flowing garbs, as well as others 
 in more familiar guise, with fair women among 
 them, are there ; and there, too, straying with noise- 
 less footfall on the velvet soil, or reclining at ease 
 and snuffing in the salt-laden breeze from the sea, 
 are camels grazing. The background is heavy, 
 sombre and indistinct, with dark, brown, hazy 
 mountains, which serve to bring out in more strik-* 
 ing relief the tableaux in the centre. On the right is 
 a river coming from the mountains, and hurrying to 
 the sea with a musical tramp. Afar on the left is 
 Chagres, half hid in its hollow, and looking almost 
 inviting in the distance. But let us return to the 
 
 19 
 
218 THE CAMEL HUNT. 
 
 picture beneath the old elms, and look at it again ere 
 it fades away forever. It is probably the first scene 
 of the kind ever witnessed on this continent. What 
 calmness and oriental a quietude there is about it! 
 What a simplicity worthy of the patriarchs ! 
 
 And of those recumbent forms, stretched comfort- 
 ably upon the green sward, with the air of men who 
 seem to say that 
 
 " Something attempted — something done, 
 Has earned a night's repose," 
 
 what thick-coming fancies are filling the busy 
 brain? Are their minds occupied with the past, 
 returning grateful thanks to Him who has guided 
 and protected them in their perilous voyage, and 
 brought them safely to the end, and been pleased 
 to crown their efforts with so much success? Or 
 look they forward, speculating inwardly on the dim 
 possibilities of an unfathomable future? Or go their 
 thoughts away to their home and friends afar, whom 
 for so many long months they have not seen or heard 
 from ? Something of all this. And other thoughts 
 are theirs at times, not sad or sorrowful, but just 
 tinged with the faintest shade of melancholy, when 
 there come over them recollections of those whom 
 they have met since the beginning of their voyage, 
 and recognized as friends — those who have kept 
 them from learning the hard experience of " stran- 
 gers in a strange land" — in whose presence they 
 have felt it a pleasure and a privilege to be — and 
 whom they may never see again ; — of the venera- 
 ble Baron in his solitary isle; of brave Captain 
 
THE CAMEL HUNT. 219 
 
 Smilie and the absorbing Jill; of Rothery, Compton, 
 Hapgood and Purser Sly; of the kind old Bashaw, 
 and glorious Dick Vinal; of Ruth, the Jew's daugh- 
 ter, piling up sweet sounds and hiding herself 
 beneath them ; of Frank Martinez, rioting in excess 
 of beauty; and of another — once the life and light 
 of that little party — now dead and buried far down 
 among the coral reefs of an ocean sepulchre. 
 
 THE END. 
 

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