Cosmic Ocean
The next day was calm and the sky was cloudless. They left their course and headed southwest at once, and after some time they saw in the distance the coast of Africa, which appeared to be a vast stretch of low hills with many trees on them.
This sight seemed almost to frighten Captain Blood as he turned to look back toward the island, but when they had gone three or four miles, he turned and looked again; this time it was not the African coast that he saw, but the white foam of breaking waves upon a blue sea, which stretched away as far as the eye could see.
It was only then that he felt sure they were going the right way, and so set sail for Cap Blanc; there they found a boat full of men, who told them all the news of the country. These people belonged to the kingdom of Dahomey, which lay in the center of Africa, and was very rich.
The king had just taken up his capital at Bonoua, a town where there were fine houses and gardens surrounded by fruit plantations.
He had done well by selling slaves to the slave dealers, and his gold mines gave him plenty of money to spend on luxuries such as palaces, carriages, horses, elephants, and other animals, which he had sent out to all parts of the world, even to England; he was always thinking how to make himself more powerful than all his neighbors, whom he wanted to put down.
There was no one in the country to oppose him, and as he was strong and cunning, no doubt he would soon get possession of every part of Africa that was worth taking, and rule over it as though it had been his own private property.
In spite of the great riches that these men spoke of, Captain Blood was afraid that there were too many people about the king.
He thought there must be another reason why they had left the country and come so far northwards into the Gulf of Guinea, for if the king was powerful enough to drive all his enemies away from the country, surely he would have stayed there instead of leaving it to go and live somewhere else?
It was agreed that the Englishmen should return to England, where they might be able to send off an expedition to conquer these rich countries. As soon as they arrived at their port, Captain Blood called together all the captains he met there, and said, ‘I think I may now tell you the name of my island.’
At this, some of them became alarmed and asked him what they should do because they were certain he was wrong. But others did not take any notice of them at all and thought that perhaps the captain knew what he was talking about after all. So Captain Blood went on: ‘My island is called Great Britain.
And if it were not for the fact that I am bound to keep silent concerning its location, I should say here and now, in this room, in front of all of you, that this country belongs to me; and that no one has got any right to dispute it with me!’
But nobody took the least notice of his words at first; then a little man with a long beard who was sitting by a window in a corner began to laugh. When his companions saw that he was laughing, they all laughed also, and then someone else joined them.
Captain Blood was furious at this treatment, and went straight up to this man and said, ‘You are mocking me, you impudent person! You want to see the English beaten?’
‘Not at all,’ answered the other. ‘If we do not know the exact location of your island, how can we fight against you?’
At this Captain Blood was quite ready to believe the Frenchman that he was only joking; so he said, ‘Very well, then I shall tell you all about it myself if that will satisfy you.’
He sat down in the middle of the floor and began to talk in a loud voice. First, he told about the country’s size; then he spoke about its climate and the food it produced; then about the different kinds of animals and birds that lived there; and then he mentioned the various places where the English people lived – the towns of London and Westminster, the royal palace at Windsor, and so forth.
At last, he came to the most important thing. ‘Now, you see, friends, you must understand that there is a small island close to yours, which contains a large city with beautiful churches and fine houses, and which has a king and queen reigning over it who have a son called Charles II, who is also King of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and France.
They are very fond of him and wish to see him married to a princess from a far-off country that lies in the Indian Ocean; but the princess cannot come here until she has passed a certain examination, which consists of three questions that must be answered correctly.’
‘What kind of questions?’ asked the little man with the long beard.
‘One is this: How many stars there are in the heavens above us? The second is: What is the length of a year in our world? The third is: Who is the greatest king or emperor of all time?’
The captains could hardly believe their ears when they heard how much the captain knew; but one of them said, ‘This does not prove that there is another country.’
‘No, you are mistaken. There are several other islands in the Atlantic, which lie close to you – one is called America. On this island, there are several cities full of wonderful buildings like your own country. But I have not seen either America or any other country as yet, because it would take us two hundred years to get round the whole island if we set out at once.’
At this moment the door opened and two Portuguese sailors stood there. They had been sent by the French king to ask if any of their countrymen wanted to visit his country. When the captain learned that these two were his friends, he went and sat by them, and then he told them all about what he had already said.
Then they said they would come back again, and bring some more friends with them in case the captain still refused to believe them. When the next day at dinner-time Captain Blood found a few other men standing by the doorway and staring in at him, he made up his mind to tell them also.
He went up and talked to them, and at last, they agreed that there really must be such a country as the one described and that it was impossible for anyone to know anything about it except those who had been there themselves.
After supper, while some of the officers were playing dice, Captain Blood said, ‘I don’t feel easy, sirs. It is always better for a sailor to go ashore whenever he gets a chance, and see something of the country in which he lives. That is why I have brought some more good fellows with me, in case you are not satisfied.’
When the rest of the company heard this they began to complain bitterly. ‘You are only doing this on purpose,’ they said. ‘There are too many of you. You want to make sport of us.’
‘I am only trying to amuse my friends,’ Captain Blood answered. ‘You see, you all look alike to me when you stand together in one group. So now I’m going to send one of you in after me. If any of you want to follow us, you may take as many men as you like.’
Captain Blood led off a Portuguese man, whose name was Manuel da Silva; and when he reached the door he turned around and shouted, ‘Don’t come with me, gentlemen, unless you’re sure you can beat me!’
They all laughed heartily, and one of them said, ‘It’ll be no use beating this fellow. He’s an old salt himself. Why don’t you go with him yourself, Captain Blood?’
‘Because, gentlemen, I haven’t got my sea chest with me. You see, I’ve spent nearly all my money getting acquainted with you.’
Then they sent for a boat with oars, and the three captains rowed to shore. After a short walk, they came upon a large village. In every street along the way they saw houses of stone with high peaked roofs, and in front of them hung big pots with fruit in them.
All the inhabitants they met in the streets were naked, but each one had a red hat with a broad brim and a necklace of colored beads. There were women everywhere, sitting in groups on low stools; and when Captain Blood stopped to speak to them they smiled shyly, and looked down.
They did not stay long, however, because the men were thirsty, and the Portuguese captain said he would buy some wine from a little shop. A small boy carried their purchases to the boat, and then the captain rowed back to the ship. The two captains took off their hats as soon as they entered her saloon.
‘Where is everybody?’ said the first lieutenant. ‘We were expecting some of our comrades here.’
‘There aren’t any aboard now, sir,’ answered Captain Blood, ‘because I’ve sent six of our best men ashore to bring you home some souvenirs. You see, they are very keen on having some trinkets made for themselves.’
The first lieutenant looked rather angry at this explanation, but Captain Blood went on quickly: ‘Besides, I should like to see the rest of you again before I leave; and I thought you might want to know what we have seen on the shore.’
He told the story all over again; and when he finished, a number of the men began to talk excitedly, wondering whether there really was such a country as the one described by Captain Blood.
‘But, Captain Blood, why didn’t you bring more men with you? I don’t believe it. I think there must be some mistake here.’
‘No, there isn’t, Mr. Trelawny; there isn’t,’ Captain Blood said. ‘I know you won’t believe it until I show you the place myself.’
‘Show me where?’
‘Yes, I will; and you can bring the captain of the ship to see it with me. We’ll both go ashore in a boat together.’
‘Very well, then,’ said Captain Blood. ‘You wait here and keep the ship under the weight as near land as you can manage. I shall send one of my men in after me.’
And he gave orders that the boat should be ready at once so that it could start as soon as Captain Blood was safely ashore. As soon as he left his cabin he sent a message through the hatchway to the quartermaster’s mate who was watching the starboard guns. ‘Tell him to get out the other gun carriage.’
He ran down the companion ladder and found a sailor coming up from the hold with a heavy wooden carriage.
‘Now, then,’ he said, as soon as he reached the deck, ‘you know what to do if there is a fight or a fire.’ And then he ran to the stern and called to the man standing aft beside the helm, ‘Mr Brown! Mr Brown!’
A young seaman in a red cap came hurrying forward.
‘Here, Brown!’ cried Captain Blood. ‘Get that carriage loaded with powder and shot, and be quick about it. I shall send you ashore with Mr Da Silva.’
The man in the red cap hurried below again with the gun carriage; and when he came up again he said, ‘I’ve got the carriage loaded with powder and shot, sir.’
‘That’s very good,’ said Captain Blood. ‘Now run aft and tell Mr. Da Silva to come down to the boat alongside. I’ve sent for him.’
‘Yes, sir.’ And the seaman disappeared.
Captain Blood waited till he heard the man’s footsteps die away on the main deck and then said to his officers, ‘I am going ashore in a boat. If we are fired upon it will be very likely that Mr. Da Silva will also be wounded. So let us take him off by the boat just as quickly as possible.’
‘Very well, Captain Blood,’ said the first lieutenant. ‘And may I say that if we have a fight and you are wounded—’
‘Well, don’t worry about it, Tom,’ interrupted Captain Blood. ‘If I get wounded, I can easily walk back to the ship without your help.’
The End