ASIA HITHER AND THITHER CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE WASON CHINESE COLLECTION Hither &. thither. 3 1924 023 257 029 The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023257029 FIVE GOOD NOVELS LOVE'S ARTIST By Mrs. Montagu Brigstocke THE SACRIFICE By WlLMOT Kaye DAISY THE MINX By Mary L. Pendered THE PATH OF GLORY By Paul Leland Haworth THE MODEL MILLIONAIRE By Cora Minnett LONDON: W. J. HAM-SMITH HITHER & THITHER HITHER &> THITHER BY R. BROOKS POPHAM AUTHOR OF "FINGER-POSTS TO ANIMAL LIFE" "REMINISCENCES OF MANY LANDS" "ZIGZAG RAMBLINGS" Nec Tarde Nee Timide LONDON W. J. HAM-SMITH 1912 Copyright All rights reserved Yf.XJI^^ Printed by BALLANTYNE & COMPANY LTD AT THE BALLANTYNE PRESS Tavistock Street Covent Garden London " Think naught a trifle, though it small appear , ■ Small tands the mountain, moments make the year. And trifles life" PREFATORY NOTE Having lived most of my time in this grand old city of London, I have, nevertheless, seen something of the world's doings, and here record; for the man at the desk with an idle half -hour, the fire-side traveller, or those who have seldom, if ever, left their mother-country, a few of the things seen and heard by me abroad. The old traveller has seen and heard similar things for himself. The reason of these uncertain wanderings matters little, suffice it to say, the writer in one part of his life has been led about by the implacable rein of destiny, often drifting hither and thither like a rudderless ship at the mercy of the world's fatalistic gales. Note-taking was a peculiarity of mine. I con- sidered a memo on the spot worth more than a deal of after-thought, and the following pot-pourri are maimderings from my portfolio, a mere simple, plain account of men and things — an indefinable medley if you will — but a ground- work and scaffold- ing sufficient for some interest perhaps, with the fault in the telling. In knocking about the world for a few years, one viii PREFATORY NOTE naturally tumbles up against divers and curious char- acters, both good and bad, and hears and sees many and strange things, but the worst of it is that to relate them in the present day Avithout thrilling adventure with miraculous hair-breadth escapes, renders them of little interest and barely worth the paper they are written upon. What few thrilling experiences I may have had, making the blood trip madly along the veins of excitement, I have thoroughly enjoyed — every word, aye, every letter that spells them — for there is always interest in the doubtful, and adventurous anxiety is inspiring, but I have purposely avoided these to prevent calling forth the dreaded accusation of being egotistical or recording fable. The failing of exaggeration is only too common. It is, therefore, of ordinary incidents I write, which might happen to any traveller ; for any man who knocks about the world has experiences enough to relate — funny, grotesque, and tragic, without too much personality. I have gone from the systole and diastole of throbbing cities to live practically a hermit's life on the " subways of heaven," as some one so aptly refers to the Alps ; from these cold, untrodden snow plains, with their terrible silences, migrating to a cruel, blinding heat of a sun-blasted tropical land — and all this gives matter to dwell upon. True, I have witnessed some of the stirring events of the late Boer war, and know the woes of bullock- waggoning or Cape-cart travelling and roughing it generally, but in compensation have had a little excitement in the way of crocodile hunting and PREFATORY NOTE ix shooting expeditions generally. So what with fifty- four thousand miles odd by sea at a time, including a typhoon in the East, and a thorough good knocking about in mid-winter Pacific gales, a South African dust storm, gallops on veldt and prairie, to say nothing of the risks of plague and fever-stricken districts, it is sufficient to add to one's knowledge of the world and of man generally, even if causing some discontent at the daily monotony of one's own country thereafter. As I write, all this is sufficient to recall the past, kaleidoscopic fashion, as you flit from place to place — Mauritius, Ceylon, Malta, the Malay Peninsula, Annam, the land of the almighty dollar, the Continent, and so on, connecting with each some incident or event. For a moment you are again with the laughing, well-formed, decorated ricksha boy of Durban, or in a kraal talking to the Kefihla, or head-ringed man ; or meeting the Zulu with his spear and knob- kerries and elliptical shield of hide, saluting and greeting the stranger in his extravagant phrasings : " Samwana baas, samwana, Koos baba, Koos, Koos- y-pagata ! " (Good-day master, father, chief, chief from old, mighty chief !), and other terms significant of strength and power. Now, you are among the cocoanut palms and dak bungalows, amidst men wearing pagris, and the women sdris and carrying brass thalilotas or chattees on their heads, or listening to the perpetual cawing of the Kauwa ; where would India be without her crows ? X PREFATORY NOTE During this day-dreaming, once more you jump over to mysterious China, with its four hundred million people, and last to that wonderland of the " Rising Sun," Japan, in truth so interesting to a Britisher, with people and things so different — at least it was — to those hitherto seen by him, so novel, such a rest from the excitement of the Far West. The time will soon come when she will be no longer what she is, with her increasing Anglicised customs and ways, and — in a measure, what a pity ! Can one easily forget the brilliant kimonos and obis of the laughing, giggling little Jap girls, with their knees pinioned so tightly together by their garments, giving the characteristic gait when shoo- shooing along on their gheta, or digitated tabi, or scraping the floor on their high kiriwood clogs. The musum6s, too, and geisha, with gorgeous coiffure moulded into shape with pomatum and bedecked with flowers or comb, hair-pin or fans, and lips so vividly brightened with vermilion. And the tea- houses and gardens, pagodas and temples, coloured paper lanterns, not forgetting the inevitable chi (tea) wherever you go. It was not my intention to go into these details — indeed I cannot refer to them all — but simply to explain the source and reason of the disjointed narratives in the subjoined pages. If the tendency has been to take the reader too much to the " lower depths," to paint life and its wreckage in sombre grey, it is due to the fact that the writer has often thrown off the toxin of respectabihty in order to go into unsavoury places and explore riff-raff, even PREFATORY NOTE xi inviting disaster. This is the only practical way of acquiring an insight into that curious and most mysterious of sentiments — human nature, and hence one comes across more of the tragedies than comedies of life. The nomad necessarily runs against many men in the wheel of human life, from the rim of plebeian- ism to the hub of culture — ^haze to silhouette as it were — but it is chiefly with the rim and unconsidered people of the world the following jottings are con- cerned. As already stated, this formless melange of excerpta, lacking in method and events in chrono- logical order of sequence, are scattered leaves from a wayfarer's log, taken whilst prowling about high- ways and b37ways over the world Here and There. My thanks are due to the Editor of The Gentle- woman for the courtesy in allowing the republica- tion of my article " On the Malabar Coast," and also to the editor of The Saturday Magazine for the same kindness and permission with regard to " Behind the Scenes in China," both of which appeared in these journals respectively under the nom-de-plume of " A Nomad." R. BROOKS POPHAM CONTENTS PAGE Prefatory Note vii Behind the Scenes in China i Hong Kong. Sixty Natives Buried Alive. An Opium Den ig On the Malabar Coast 37 The Sea hath its Worries. " Billy.'' " Come back ! Come back ! " 47 A Few of God's Creatures ' Every-Time " gg On the Horns of a Dilemma 143 On the Turbulent Sea of Jealousy 153 A By-path 167 A Strange Delusion 303 AVTAY FROM LiFE'S TuRMOIL Z33 Idle Gossip and Random Recollections 259 BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHINA It was my third visit to Shanghai, or more correctly speaking, " Shung-hai," about the time of the sub- sidence of the Boxer rebellion. On landing from the ship I was immediately struck with an unaccustomed attitude on the part of the coolies working on the quay — a discontented air, with something of defiance in it, which I had not hitherto noticed in the crushed and sweated native. They were working lackadaisically, in a sort of " don't care, don't intend to work too hard " manner, and their usual energy was noticeably want- ing. The characteristic grunting and groaning was unusually feeble, and especially the tongue-clicks and sing-song which rhythm their steps in a dog- trot together in their struggling efforts to be moving forward with their heavy weights supported at both ends of their bamboos. The jinricksha boy, too, was inclined to be independent and insolent, and, indeed, a couple of them absolutely refused to take the captain and myself to the Astor House, the well-known hotel not very far distant. 2 HITHER AND THITHER The air of the coolies, indeed of the Chinamen generally, was of none too friendly an attitude towards the " foreign debbel." The Boxers had wanted to " out " the European, and their organisation was formed to rid them- selves of the foreign intruder by main force, and the feeling at the time of which I speak seemed pretty general. The Imperial troops sent to quell the rebellious ones preferred to fire blank cartridges into the crowd of fanatics, and inwardly were in favour of the movement of this powerful secret society. We know a Chinaman is essentially a man of secret societies, and if a crowd once takes it into its head to wreak vengeance on the object of its griev- ance, that innate madness of mob-violence, outrage, and excited feelings knows no bounds. I was therefore warned not to enter, just now, in these troublous times, the old and walled-in native city of Shanghai, which was neither under British nor other protection. Not a European would be seen ; indeed, few ever take the trouble or have the inclination to go there. The old Shanghai is not spoken of, it is a goal which " moderns " seldom aspire to. It takes one back too much to the olden days ; takes one from the present-time Shanghai, with its native quarters, to the city of several centuries ago. Hotels, lounges, billiard tables there are none, and so it has no call for the bulk of Europeans ! No one knows much about it, and hence no one goes much. The unsavouriness of it has no charm, BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHINA 3 or it is too insignificant a place even for the globe scorcher. Old Shanghai is therefore forgotten. Tales were dinned into my ears of ship's appren- tices and others having ventured in and never being heard of after ; advice was also given to deter me from the apparently foolhardy and indiscreet idea of an intended visit. This counsel and information was probably sound enough in a way, especially at the moment of acute animosity of the Chinaman against the troublesome foreigner — and devil. They had, however, the effect of making me want to go there all the more, and, athirst for novelty, I concluded the yarns I had heard were either ex- aggerated or those who had come to an untimely end had either acted very foolishly or behaved generally in an offensive manner. I heard later that one or two of these cases were authentic although they had happened a few years back. For nine months had I sailed and been in constant touch with seventy-five Chinese as sailormen, had often been the only European on local steamers, surrounded by a motley crew of almond-eyed, raw- potato yellow-skins. I had been on the high seas in a cannon-bedecked, square-sterned junk with sails of bamboo matting, and navigated up creeks where pirates were still supposed to lurk — and probably do to a certain extent exist, in a modernised way, this very day. A night in an opium den had known me also, simply for the sake of experiencing 4 HITHER AND THITHER the sight. So altogether I was hardly a " tender- foot," and not easily alarmed at the hearsay evidence of possibilities if I entered the walled-in city just now, and even encouraged by the prospects of some " fun " or adventure (for which I was always ready, and laid myself open), I made up my mind to chance the odds. As a companion I could not get, I proposed to go alone. No one seemed to " hang on " to it kindly. A ship's comprador was good enough to send one of his tally-clerks to show me the way. In 'rickshas we went. The latter gentleman, the tally-clerk, did not, however, take kindly to the job of showing me round the inside of the city, so I was forced to go alone. His arguments were, perhaps, logical enough after all : " Makee look see : Chinama' belong welly bad piecee man — you sabbee," and as he himself was a Chinaman it struck me as being distinctly funny. In reference to his accompanying me inside the city, he remarked briefly and to the point : " No can do ! " He explained, were he to enter, they might think he was helping me to spy around for no good purpose, and he would be known as not one of themselves by his distinctive dress and calling. It would doubtless lead him into trouble and add to my risk. Going alone I should be less noticed in the dense throng, and if I hid my watch-chain and removed a ring from my finger, which he told me to do, it would be all right. I did not, therefore, pooh-pooh the tally-clerk's BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHINA 5 remarks, as I had just witnessed the restless sph-it reigning in Shanghai itself, and in the native colony, unsullied by the tread of a European foot, a greater hatred than ever might probably exist. But I entered the dread city, anyhow, with a feeling I might, possibly, be literally " shanghaied," trusting only to the heathen deity of chance. As regards the aforesaid prospect of " fun," that proved to be rather sickening ; and as for the adventures, they didn't come off. I saw, never- theless, what I wanted to see, and on occasion felt a wee bit uneasy in mind, * * # So in I go. This city seemed stranger to me perhaps than it would have done under ordinary circumstances, and more terrible. Immediately the surging mob caught a glimpse of me they stopped and stared as though I was some hell-ascended spirit or certainly a " foreign devil." Some seemed dumbfounded at the apparition. Others jabbered in their peculiar " wah-ing " voices, and a few seemed inclined to block my path and even jostle me a bit, but I was determined not to lose my temper, and it answered. The streets were simply packed with humans — a maelstrom of moving Chinese — hot and feverish in their daily toil, bustling and jostling each other. An astonished crowd soon followed in my wake. I had to plough my way through this city, throb- bing with myriads of yellow-faced, bald-headed. 6 HITHER AND THITHER shaven men, like a ship labouring against a head wind. It was a city of ants ; all were busy. The odour of the naked, sweating yellow-backs you not only smelt but rubbed shoulders with in the crowd, added to the discomfort — in a veritable oven — this piping summer's day. White ducks were too hot to wear, and a light topee a burden on one's head. The streets — narrow passages, or rather alleys — are only a few feet wide, and the stench in them — the characteristic fumes of such a place — is multi- plied tenfold, and craves of the heavens above for outlet at the projecting eaves of the almost touching houses on opposite sides of the causeway. All refuse and water from the houses are thrown indiscrimin- ately into the dark and sunless lanes, so the fowls and ducks and rats have enough to eat, drink, live upon and — smell ! Light and the sun's rays can barely penetrate the narrow ways — a condition harmful to the inhabi- tants and beneficial to the growth of germs of disease lurking in the darkness. No small wonder, then, or surprise either, at getting wedged in the crowd with small-pox, which seemed pretty rife, staring you in the face. A Chinaman can stand much that would positively kill an Englishman ; he is made differently ; climate and heat and stench and vile, putrid food he thrives on, where we should die of cholera, typhoid, or ptomaine poisoning. Look at the stinking fish he eats — it might upset him were it fresh perhaps ! Stay ; I err ! He does sometimes eat fresh fish, for I saw them being cut up alive ; as for pickled BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHINA 7 eggs, twenty-five years old or more, that is a great luxury, being like a bottle of good old crusted port to us. In puzzlement as to some animal stretched out on a board with the skin turned inside out and pulled over the head, I discovered it was a cat. It gave a convulsive movement, showing it was not quite dead. The paws had been chopped off, and the muzzle with its teeth, to ensure safety to the operator who skinned it, alive ! before proceeding to cook it. The Chinaman is a born gambler, and you see him here — gambling for all he is worth at Fan'tan or other games — calmly, serenely, placidly. He will gamble from cock-crow to sundown. He smokes opium, and to excess. You see him smoking, you smell him smoking ; you see him in ecstasy and you observe him narcotised. One raw-boned, big-jawed, sinister-looking rascal, with the treacherous look of the inbred criminal in him — the incarnation of wickedness, weighty with evil design — continually followed me about in a manner I did not appreciate. He was bent on having " kumshaw " for my intrusion into his domains. To have given him any would have been very unwise for more than one obvious reason. I did not like the look of this elephantine man at all ; he was fearful, powerful, and determined in expres- sion, and seemed as though he could organise and lead a crowd and raise that inborn feeling of mob- violence natural to his countrymen. Had there been a kingdom in China of all the picked rogues and 8 HITHER AND THITHER vagabonds, this one would surely have been claimed master of them all. He spoke to any and every one on the way — probably suggesting my immediate expulsion from the city, I thought, and was con- tinually talking or growling abusively in a low muttering tone at my side. I stopped to look at the mysterious cryptic signs hanging outside the open shops, which are devoid of either doors or windows. The big-jawed celestial with the terrible look stopped with me — still muttering. Pausing to look into the various shops of all trades, my huge companion paused too, not interested in the making of red-paper lamps as I was, or in the rice-paper pictures or lacquer work examined by me in turn, or in the shops with idols in them, but with his diabolical slit eyes rigidly fixed upon me, was a horrid nightmare wheresoever I went in my tour round the city. I wished he would leave me. I told him to " maskee ! " That had no effect. I even asked him what the dickens he wanted, in good plain English, and, after his unintelligible, gruif reply, told him to go — not to heaven, I can assure you — but he didn't go ! " If you are frightened of the shadow of the man behind — don't let him overtake you," is a Chinese proverb, but I could not put it into practice in those narrow, crowded thoroughfares. I meandered on, taking note of the greasy, flattened ducks hanging up in the food shops to catch all the dust and dirt and filth and bacteria BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHINA 9 before being sold. I saw a cooked animal un- commonly like a dog ; indeed I learned it was one of the chow species. At one corner of a causeway was a man with a live fowl fixed in a wooden support to keep it immovable, and he was quietly plucking out its feathers. As each one was torn from its quivering body the unhappy, tortured bird would struggle, as far as its imprisonment would allow, open its beak and give vent to a squeak of pain — a sight pitiful to witness. But it is not my intention to enter into details of things seen in this particular street of horrors — too unpleasant to dwell upon, and many, unwritable. In one street, a yellow-faced man was shaving the head and brow of another with sallow counten- ance, and in the immediate vicinity an operation of cleaning out ears and scraping eyeballs was being performed by a doctor in large goggles, the patient not evincing the slightest pain at the pro- ceeding, but absolutely expressionless and quiet. A halt is made at the shop containing coffins, which to a European were peculiar — tree trunk in shape and heavy in design. They are particularly huge and roomy on account of the amount of clothing put on the corpse. Some had only a rough finish, others were varnished or lacquered over red or black to improve the colour and prevent decay. My big companion who froze on to me from the start was still by my side ; he stuck to me like glue, whether in the murk of the city or in the more open spaces. 10 HITHER AND THITHER I passed two men bracketed together in a double " cangue," and one was a " woopeen," i.e., his queue had been cut off for punishment, and he was sub- jected to much jeering from the passers-by. A " cangue " is a form of pillory consisting of a square, weighty, wooden collar, three or four feet in width, and hinged. When locked round the neck it prevents the wearer putting his hands up to his mouth to feed himself ; nor can he lie down. Upon the cangue is written the nature of the prisoner's offence. On arriving at the "joss-house," or temple, one has to pass through a dark passage to get into the presence of the deity, Mr. Joss. The idolatrous Chinee comes to the shrine when- ever inclination seizes him. The priest of the temple strikes a gong to arouse the joss from his slumbers and make him pay attention. A lamp burns in front of the idol. The devotee places a few cents in a receptacle as an offering, lights a joss-stick and puts it in a small porcelain cup filled with sand, and as the incense arises he kneels down and makes his supplication before this huge, hideous, grinning idol at the back of the altar. The real occult joss is behind the partition ; the one seen is the intervention joss, but the kind of deity he was I could not gather. My unwished- for companion was seething like a boiling cauldron in his heathenish soul, disapproving of my seek- ing favour with the joss probably, but I took no notice. Proceeding on my way I came across a savage BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHINA ii debate between a few Chinese, ending in a fight. Some poor beggar was in trouble and was being bambooed and lugged along by his queue. The victor was suddenly seized by his own queue from behind by an onlooker. Some one else seized this last aggressor by his pigtail, for daring to inter- fere with justice, and in a twinkling the whole street had joined in the fray, every one seizing everybody else's " towchang." The infuriated mass roared profanities. I got jostled and elbowed in this sordid causeway. The pulling at the various queues was appalling. A tugger was being tugged at, and I expected every moment to see scalp torn from skull. Tails got hopelessly entangled in the fight and no one knew t'other from which ! His own might be between some one's legs, viciously wrenched at, round another man's neck, or his own, nearly throttling him, but all held on with bulldog tenacity. My hideous friend joined in. Now was my time to slip him. I went cautiously away into another street, but the huge celestial was there, too. It was a case of a cat with a mouse. The impromptu fight was short and sharp, and turgid faces paled again and swearing tongues ceased their strange babel. It was the most abrupt ending to anything I have ever seen. No apologies were offered or shak- ing of hands, and each one continued on his way just as though nothing had happened to mar his progress. In the open space in front of the prison a large, 12 HITHER AND THITHER square slab of stone was pointed out to me as the place of execution. The victim kneels down on that slab with his hands tied behind his back, waiting to receive the fatal blow of the executioner's sword. There was a recent stain of blood upon it, not important enough evidently for any one to wash it away. The crowd assemble to watch the feat of sword- manship, but the general disturbance of these un- emotional people at the event is trifling and of short duration. Turning from the prison entrance I happened upon a grim and ghastly sight. In another form of cangue, or an instrument of punishment, was a man apparently dead. This wooden cage is a form of capital punishment in China, in which the criminal is suspended by his head and hanged as slowly as possible in this hellish form of torture. The horizontal board at the top of the cage has a hole in it just large enough to encompass the neck when shut to. The feet are barely allowed to touch the ground, and the hands are usually tied behind the body — or, any- how, quite useless. When the strain of being on tip-toe can no longer be endured, the victim is left thus suspended by his head in the sweltering sun, open to public gaze, gradually to die of semi- strangulation, starvation, exhaustion, and sjni- cope. The wretched man is put in this position for all to see him, possibly as a deterrent to evil- doing. The sight must be common enough appar- BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHINA 13 ently, for the passers-by seemed not to bother their heads about his sufferings ; they would stop and just have a glance at him, read his offence written on one of the uprights of the cage, and after a brief comment pass along, no doubt dismissing the subject quickly from their minds. He is even smiled upon, spoken to, not in words of sympathy, but, as it seemed, more in sarcastic jeering and taunting. Some jocund wag probably asks him if he is thirsty and could do with a drink of " shamsu," or if a smoke of opium would help him to enjoy the pleasantness of his present situation ! Not one will help him to regain his liberty or sit by him in these cruel moments of anguish, much less wet his parched lips, or give a word of love and sympathy in his pain. He may live for one, two, three days and nights, or even longer, such is a Chinaman's tenacity to life under these terrible ordeals. He lingers on through the day when the sun is fierce upon his head, his mouth is parched and he is in a kind of low, muttering delirium — but he can be roused from his torpor. He is still there when the night comes and all is quiet. The cool air re- vives him somewhat, and he thinks and thinks con- fused thoughts as his brain gets more and more suffused with blood. And yet, knowing what is before him when his fate is sealed, he goes to his death with true Oriental resignation, without a struggle for liberty, possibly without fear. He sees familiar faces — men he has worked with, passing along, as he might have been doing this very day himself. How happy are they, he must 14 HITHER AND THITHER think, free from this fiendish torture, and as time passes how he longs for the end to come. Poor, miserable, helpless sinner ! Whatever your crime, you do not deserve this demoniacal penalty as payment. On approaching this particular man in the pyra- midal crate who appeared already dead, I neared the cage to look well at him. He was alive, and evidently heard me coming. Slowly and wearily, he opened his bloodshot eyes, giving me quite a start. His ghastly yellow-white and haggard features, blood-encrusted teeth, blue, gorged lips slightly apart to get in air, and a tongue black as ink save for some dust arising from the passing traffic, and a little stream of blood trickling slowly down his chin, were a horror and a nightmare to gaze upon. After glancing at me with his eyeballs of fire, he stared vacantly at the blood-stained slab just in front of him. He might linger on yet for a good long while. All sorts of ideas crossed my mind in my madness at the sight. I had a revolver too, of heavy calibre, hidden beneath my clothes — it would not be murder ! And yet people outside would say it was not my " pidgin " to interfere, and they would have to tooth-comb that city if ever they wished to find me, for surely I should not have got out any more. So I hurried away from the scene like a coward. The appalling and sickening sight had dismayed me, and yet there was a fascination, and I was forced to return to that horrible spectacle, clinging to hope that the victim had expired. BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHINA 15 The tiny, venous stream of bloocj was still trick- ling down his chin and clotting on the board beneath his head. Sick-brained, he looked languishing. I reluctantly left him again, however, in his anguish and purgatorial suffering, with his life's blood slowly — too slowly — ebbing from his miserable, cold and clammy, sweating frame. Still accompanied by my big-jawed companion, I went on to a kind of grotto. Not that I saw much, as it was so dark. On ringing a bell, a mmnmified, yet active old man, a mere bag of bones in a parchment-like skin, appeared and opened the locked gates. He had a large bunch of keys hanging by his side. A few Chinamen from the streets entered with me, and by the aid of the flickering light we passed from chamber to chamber, the old man unlocking and again locking the com- partments as he went along. I was now particularly on the alert for treachery, locked in as I was in a dark, oblong cellar. It might have been handy to get me there for the sake of any goods upon my body, and the tales I had heard and scorned were now revived in my mind. Had the big celestial not been present I should not have considered the position at all perilous, and have been quite at my ease. I there- fore fingered my revolver the while, intending to sell my life dearly if necessary. It was foolish to feel imeasy, no doubt, especially as I had been in some tight corners ere this, but I must confess I did somewhat. However, in my revolver I found i6 HITHER AND THITHER comfort ; it was my " Netsuke," I felt, my " anting- anting" (lucky emblem of the Philippines). We passed through the narrow, underground chambers, dark as the very night, but I was too much on the qui vive for foul play to examine the interiors, and took particular care as each compartment was unlocked to politely make way for a Chinaman to enter before me. I did not intend they should suddenly slam the door to, catching me like a rat in a trap. I kept my eye on the big chap, but — suddenly something happened. What ? All I can say is the little train halted, talked excitedly to- gether, and against each other, bickering and gesticu- lating wildly. Of the cause I was in doubts. There was a big row on anyhow, and all of a moment. The action I took was probably the best. My hitherto hidden revolver was withdrawn from its holster, and I growled out in an authoritative voice for them to procede apace. The wording they did not understand, but it was the attitude which took effect. To my astonishment the row was quelled in an instant, and they went on obediently, though sullenly, under the threatening cover of my power- ful weapon. Glad enough was I to get out into the clear, bright air and the heat of good old Sol again. Coming out from the grotto, I was shown the kind of " Yamen " of the place. The mandarin gave me an informal audience. He was not a number one button-and-feather man- BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHINA 17 darin by any means, nor had he a stork or pheasant on his robes. His grandiloquent name I could not catch. At first I could not gather whether this imperturb- able man was vexed or pleased at my visit, for he " wah-ed " continually, so I offered the worthy magnate a cigarette which he accepted and smoked, and I tea'd with him A la Chinoise. He understood all I said, and spoke more of a Japanese " pie "- English than the usual Chinese pidgin. The air of ennui and boredom he continually wore on his expressionless face disappeared for a moment when I referred to the never-to-be-forgotten sight of the poor wretch in the " cage " with the little drops of blood running down his chin. Then, the man of the willow-pattern country " wah-ed " and smiled — a sickly fiendish smile. On leaving the presence of this good gentleman we shook hands with ourselves, Chinese fashion, and chin-chined and kowtowed to each other most lowly. The big-jawed Chinese Apollo had thawed, and immediately left me on my going to the mandarin. For particular reasons of his own ! he did not want to show up before him, for I dare be sworn he was a " wrong-'un." So I got out of the grotto all right, and got out of the city regardless of the tales I had heard, none the worse for my prolonged visit except that the horrible vision haunted me of the man in the wooden pillory, with the trickling stream of blood flowing down his jaw and dropped chin. The tally-clerk was still staying for me outside. i8 HITHER AND THITHER after a nine-hour's wait, so I gave him a decent " kumshaw " for his long vigil and loyalty, or maybe his curiosity to see if the hated " foreign devil " ever came out any more. * * * That the fiendish torture of the " Cage " could take place so near the treaty port of Shanghai, and as recently as the time mentioned, is known, perhaps, to a very few. HONG KONG Gliding through the Ly-ee-Moon Pass the Peak of Hong Kong shows up, and as our ship is swinging round at anchor, swarms of sampans come about the ship and several yellow folk are soon aboard. Chinese junks and lighters are sailing rapidly to- wards us to unload some of the cargo, and it is ctrrious to note the antiquated guns on board the junks, some having as many as four or five. The junk people, like the sampan people, are a folk peculiar to themselves, always living on their boats. They are born on their boats, live all their lives on their boats, and die on their boats. The women work as hard as the men. The guns are supposed to be for protection against pirates, and it is surmised more for show, for if fired they would probably burst and the enemy would score ! Some pirates, by the way, were executed as recently as 1891, at Kaw-lung, commonly called Kowloon, a little colony, inhabited by Europeans, on the mainland, and even now, in this century, a steam-launch was boarded in the night, steamed round to the back islands, ransacked and sent adrift. This was the work of 19 20 HITHER AND THITHER Chinamen who, now and again, even in the present day, plunder junks with valuables aboard. There are some thirty-three thousand sampan folk living in their little hooded boats at Hong Kong, and both sampans and junks, as well as the lighters, have the carved and painted eyes so prominently marked on the bows, for " No eye, how can see to go ? " says the Chinaman, and steering without this indispensable aid would indeed be disastrous. The mouth of the Canton river is opposite Hong Kong, and local steamers run to Canton, to and fro. On first landing at Hong Kong the stranger particularly notices the innumerable coolies on the Praya, grunting and groaning under the heavy weights supported by a bamboo pole on the shoulder; it may be bales of hemp, boxes of tea, or the hundred and one other freight of a ship's cargo. On they toil, like ants, with their continual tongue-clicks which rhythm with their struggling efforts to be moving forwards. Untiring coolies ! There is little rest for the coolie, unless it be at Christmas, when he combines the pleasure of letting off fire-crackers and taking a little more sham-shiu than he ought. Roughly, there are two hundred and twenty-one thousand poverty-stricken Chinese here, hence it is not surprising a large number of coolies are obtainable to toil and struggle at the ship's side under the inevitable bamboo-cane of the policeman, who applies it freely for any insubordina- tion j their wage, too, is of the smallest. Poor HONG KONG 21 coolie ! It must be so, however, as he has his faults and vices. This is first landing at Hong Kong. Walk down the main road. Queen's Road, and the scene of poverty disappears. You find the wealthy Chinaman meditating his profits and adding to his income. He owns many of the larger estab- lishments and shops in the road, or has large go- downs or warehouses along the quay. There is a lot of bad money in Hong Kong. After going there once or twice, you become sharper and do not suffer from it quite so much. These bad coins are made for a good purpose ! i.e., to put into coffins of deceased persons in order to make them happy and contented with their wealth, but, unfortunately, this spurious money gets into the general currency. Passing along towards the native quarters, big- spectacled jewellers chasing gold ornaments or melt- ing metal with their blow-pipes are seen diligently at work. Barbers, with their short square razors, are shaving heads and eye-brows, or are probing and cleaning out ears. We see the idolatrous Chinee and his joss-house, and in the shrines stands a cup of tea and a bowl of rice or other food, in case the Joss should feel himgry or desire a drink ! The great shrine, as a rule, has an altar, upon which a huge and hideous idol is seen, particularly ugly in the old city of Shanghai and other temples in Foo-Chow and else- where. The image represents a man who has lived in the past, and owing to his recognised knowledge, 22 HITHER AND THITHER bravery, or wisdom, is there to make intercession with the real Joss for the devotees. The real Joss is screened from public gaze. The devotees come to it, not to a congregational service, but when time and inclination suggest. The first process is to bang away at a gong, in order to ensure the attention of the Joss, similar to the ringing of a large bell at some of the Japanese temples. Then they kneel down and make their petitions. The various religions of the Chinaman take won- drous forms. We know the Mohammedan attends worship several times daily, and goes through an outward expression of his sincerity by posturing, but the Chinaman prays more than any man. He has, however, to lighten this burden ; so Buddhist prayers are inscribed on paper, and by burning or releasing these in the air, the same pur- pose is answered as though they had been said. This method is certainly less laborious than the prayer-wheel of other lands, and has the advan- tage of variety, as thousands of supplications are written out, so no one can accuse " John " of vain repetition. These prayers can be bought from the prayer- shops, and in enough variety to satisfy the most fastidious. Taking the Chinaman's character : He appears to abide more or less by the law so far as Europeans are concerned, but in his own quarters every possible kind of illegal outrage, to our think- ing, is practically carried on. The late G. W. Steevens, who succumbed to HONG KONG 23 enteric in that pestilent town of Ladysmith during the Boer war, says of the Chinaman : " As for the other debaucheries of the Chinee, they had better be left untold. He practises all that have names and many that have not." Other authentic accounts depict him as deceitful or artful and cruel, while his genius for fraud and treachery amounts to a high art. True, he is a peculiar and interesting study, with a civilisation so different to our own, and a life so strange and mysterious ; it lends to us fascination. Had the Emperor Kwang Su, who was really a prisoner in the imperial city of Pekin, had power, possibly the Reform party would have made some way in China, but he was dispossessed of all authority by his aunt, the Dowager Empress, Tsu Tsi, who pulled, for private reasons of her own, all the political strings, and she still preferred to walk in untrodden ways. So the Chinese are still groping along, and not catching up to the enlightenment of the West.* For the Chinese undoubtedly have qualities which should place them among the highest of nations. The full name of the Dowager Empress, by the way, was Tsu-tsi Toanyu Kangi Chaoyu Chuangcheng Shokung Chinhien Chung-sih. Other customs strikingly evident to a new- comer are seen in the foot-binding, stiU going on except in certain areas, and the long finger-nail with its protector, signs of social distinction. The coolie woman, in her blue and black tunic and * At this moment these views must be somewhat modified. 24 HITHER AND THITHER trousers, has not the " lily foot " or long nail. The better class women are not much seen in public. It is the wish of a Chinaman to have male issue, partly on account of expense, and partly to carry on the rites of ancestral worship which the male alone can do. Infanticide is undoubtedly carried on to a fairly large extent. In China, woman is inferior to man. From the accepted axiom, the source of all bad is from the female in Nature, Yin, and not from Yang the male, from whom good alone is derived. In domestic life men and women do not eat together. At a wedding the guests are expected to bring presents ; at a funeral, the mourning colour is blue. At a dinner the menu is peculiar, and chop-sticks are used. A great delicacy is the " Bird's nest." The nest is served in soup, and is like sago, com- posed as it is of a glutinous marine weed which the swallow-like bird eats and then disgorges. Frogs, only the legs, form part of the diet, and besides curry and rice, fins of sharks, and bamboo shoots dressed with a hot sauce and macaroni, help to swell the list of a number of unlcnown dishes. An oath is taken by cutting off a fowl's head — " swearing by the rooster head." In giving a present, the recipient returns half ; this custom is not expected from a European. Christmas is a holiday, but the chief is New Year's day. Their New Year does not necessarily coin- cide with ours, for they count by lunar months. Similarly, in reckoning age. A child just born starts HONG KONG 25 at one year old, and when twelve months have elapsed it is called two years old. On my first visit to Hong Kong plague was very rife in the native quarters. In order to prevent interference from the medical authorities, they dimip down those dead of the disease away any- where from their home, so that the whereabouts of the infected area is lost to inquiry, thus preventing any steps being taken officially. Far away along the quay is a favourite dumping-ground, or the body is taken from one street and put into another during the dead of night, or perhaps thrown into the water. The clue of identification is thus lost. No informa- tion is gleaned from the Chinamen themselves even if they know from whence the deceased is taken. Coming through the native quarters late one night when all was quiet, I came across what appeared to be a dead body in a dark recess. I examined the corpse to make sure if he were ill or dead, or whether murdered, but a companion overtaking me hurried me off, suggesting it was a case of plague. He knew more about it than I did. We told the Sikh policeman on duty in the town of our find, and later inquiries corroborated the surmise. Referring to that Sikh policeman, the self -same gaunt and well-known figure, standing so erect, conspicuous in his uniform, and large crimson turban, was one day missing from his post in the street. He had been fatally stabbed in the back whilst trying to quell a riotous disturbance single- handed. These polite salaaming Sikhs, so full of courage 26 HITHER AND THITHER and power over the crowds they so thoroughly under- stand, are invaluable among the masses of natives. The before-mentioned Peak of Hong Kong is three thousand feet above the sea level, reached by a steep-grade railway which goes as far as the Peak Hotel, the rest of this steep journey is done by sedan-chair. A curious optical illusion in coming down in the train is the appearance of the houses below toppling over on one side. Hong Kong seen from a ship at night, when lit up is very picturesque ; the town nestles below the hills on which scattered hghts peep out like brilliant stars. * * * The " Happy Valley " is the European burial place. From the history of many of the deceased who had come to an untimely or even tragic ending, the name is somewhat incongruous. The brother of the second steward of the ship I came out here on, was one example. He got wrecked in a typhoon coming through the Ly-ee-Moon Pass, and swam ashore with the money and valuables he managed to secure before the ship sank. Re-entering the water to help a passenger in distress, he was drowned and his body later washed ashore. The Chinamen got hold of it, and stole his possessions, going so far as to cut a finger off to obtain a ring. He now lies in the " Happy Valley." A gentleman in a high position out in Hong Kong, and who speaks the Chinese language as well as any European is capable of doing, gives the information, that some words have half a dozen different mean- ings, distinguished only by the tone put upon HONG KONG 27 them. These high and low notes it is that cause the singing rhythm so noticeable. Thus, having so many words of a similar sound, they make use of varying inflexions of the voice to distinguish them. These are called " tones." In Cantonese there are eight tones, four in a high and four in a low key, and separated from each other by two or more full musical notes. In writing, an inverted comma signifies the letters to be aspirated, and it is these aspirations that give the language that peculiar sing-song sound. Simply to read words without the proper amount of bass, baritone, soprano, and falsetto notes, vari- ously intermingled, would be totally unintelh- gible to the Chinaman. Pidgin English is the medimn, as a rule, between the Chinese and English. " John " cannot, however, say our " r " ; he sub- stitutes an " 1 " ; glow for grow, he says. For " v's " he puts in " w's " — very is welly — and " h " is altogether omitted — tank and tink. Loom, t'ere, lice (rice), 'elpee, thlough, t'ing, are examples of his vocabulary. Pidgin English requires some practice, for certain expressions are understood, and no others ; " You makee go," and " Makee look see " ; " You no sabbee w'at belong inside," and so on. One of the funniest things imaginable, is to hear a Jap and a Chinaman in conversation, falling back as a go-between on " English as she is spoke ! " as neither knows the other's native language. I once overheard such a discourse : " John's " vocabulary soared to pidgin English, and the Jap spoke pie- English, a different substitute, so what with the 28 HITHER AND THITHER Chinaman's double " e's " and quaint wording, which is not very understandable to the pie-English- speaking Jap, and vice versa, the information con- veyed of an important business transaction was very little. After an excited harangue, which led to much indignation on either side on account of the other's ignorance ! it ended in a very wrathful part- ing, each thinking the other a fool, and thus giving the listeners a hearty laugh at the expense of the irate linguists. SIXTY NATIVES BURIED ALIVE Before being in Hong Kong very long, we heard that two high and very old houses had suddenly collapsed, burying the inmates. We hurried to the scene, which was at the lower end of Queen Street, up a narrow thoroughfare in the Chinese quarters. The street was still enveloped in the dry, white, choking, plague-infected dust, from the fall of the old decayed buildings which had toppled over so suddenly and crashed down into a heap of ruins. Chinamen had already assembled in some numbers up the narrow street. When the smoking clouds of dust had settled a bit, there was a chance to see what had happened. The Chinamen stood about pondering. There was no alarm or anxiety ; they were not beneath the fallen ruins, so why get excited ? Phlegmatic beings ! Hundreds of these inert people were standing there, gaping and looking on placidly, some barely HONG KONG 29 thinking. A few, certainly, appeared as if wonder- ing at the whole thing. Wondering at what, though ? Wondering how those who were buried there alive some fifteen minutes ago were faring, but only as a thoughtless child would wonder in its simplicity. No attempt at rescue was made anyway ! Two adjoining houses — their support being taken away — looked as though a miracle alone could pre- vent them from immediately crashing down also. This did interest those directly under the danger. A sea-captain and myself were among those interested ! For a fearful death seemed looming over us. We could not get away. The crowd had accumu- lated in overwhelming numbers. We were wedged in. Each end of the street men had assembled in thousands, anxious to get up the street — to see ! From the masses we concluded the whole of the aforesaid 221,000 poverty-stricken Chinamen, to say nothing of 33,000 sampan folk, must surely have rushed there ! and the houses were still leaning over us. We now saw the stupidity at having hurried so precipitately to the scene of the disaster, and being caught in the crowd whilst they were accumulating in such overwhelming numbers, barri- cading us in so immovably ; but the compelling force of this dangerous occasion urged us with migh t and main to struggle away to a place of safety. After this prolonged delay, the authorities sent up and performed the miracle of preventing the hair- poised toppling-over houses from crashing down, set coolies to work, and then only did the exhumation 30 HITHER AND THITHER take place, deliberately and slowly. Yes ! slowly ; you cannot hurry a Chinaman. The heat was intense, and the atmosphere vitiated. Chinese streets have a characteristic odour of their own, as the bazaars of India have. All were per- spiring, and the Europeans suffered most. Upon the removal of some of the wreckage, a dead body or two was got out. As time went on, another body, and still another — all past recovery — were brought to view, and laid side by side in the hot sizzling sun to bake ; those crushed forms, encrusted with blood-stained dust, put out in the sweltering heat of the day ! Dead Chinamen. Fifty-nine dead China folk evenly placed side by side, and left to be gazed upon. Better to remove all together thought the workers ; it would save trouble even though the first recoveries were there for a week. What did it matter ? They were but Chinamen ! Some but asphyxiated ; others crushed beyond recognition, as flat as the roasted duck seen hanging up in the shops for sale. A big sight for the curious ; fifty-nine blood- stained, dust-covered human beings to be poked about and individually examined, and perhaps — well, they would not have much on them, or at any rate for long, by what we saw. Five days had elapsed, and the work of removing the debris was still going on, when a man was dragged out from beneath a few large beams, and was — alive ! HONG KONG 31 Doubtless, this survivor had sustained little or no injury during the fall — another miracle — and was entombed in such a manner as to be able to get a free supply of air. He had the distinction of being the only survivor. He appeared none the worse for his terrible experience — neither excited nor happy apparently — but hungry, and the local papers told of the large amount of rice he managed to put away, and how, in a few hour's time, after his release, he was engaged at his usual vocation as though nothing had happened. Such is Chinese nature exemplified. AN OPIUM DEN An opium den is not an over-desirable place to venture into during the dead of night, and especially at the moment, when Chinese feeling towards the European was none too amicable, but those who wish to see have a little to chance. Opium dens are invariably in the heart of the native quarters, and have to be nuzzled out, and the Chinese do not take kindly to the intrusion of the " foreign devil." It would be easy to get rid of any unwelcome visitor. Detection would be remote, but two " inquisitives," myself and another, regardless of risk, ventured in one. The only reason I can see why the Chinaman goes to the den at all is, for the purpose of getting thor- oughly narcotised. It is certainly not for companion- ship ; that is pretty evident, for dead silence 32 HITHER AND THITHER prevails. It is not for the opium alone ; that they can obtain outside. There are dense clouds of tobacco smoke in addition to the fumes of opium, and the atmosphere is sufficient to overpower any one unaccustomed to the intoxicating drug. My friend and self had, however, seen a good deal of the practice of opium- smoking, and inhaled the full fumes, in the fo'c's'le of a ship carrying a large complement of Chinese as sailormen. My colleague, knowing the whereabouts of such a den of iniquity, and myself, chancing the result of an awkward intrusion, entered. Surviving the shock of the sudden hubbub and the evident surprise our appearance produced on the numberless smokers, we threaded our way between the men to a vacant place. I think many would have fled, but courage is gained when two are together, and men in riotously good health fear little. From the complete silence, many voices murmured in a low, soft, prolonged note, and intoned their peculiar " wah ! wah ! " in a menacing manner, enough to shake even an iron nerve. We knew what to expect, and were not taken so aback, but appeared accustomed to the scene, and looked little about at first. It was a picture of the under-world ! Most were lying down, enjoying the dreamland and lovely thoughts induced by the opium — swearing mentally, by the rooster's head perhaps, to avenge a wrong, or seeing an enemy horribly mutilated and HONG KONG 33 tortured. Revenge is a characteristic noticeable to any one much with a Chinaman. It is not enough to know he is punished ; he hkes to see him being punished. From opium the imaginations are wonderfully and pleasantly excited, although soimd reasoning and judgment are dulled in the later stages before complete narcosis. The murmuring and " wah "-ing ceased after a while, and silence reigned again. One man fixed his eyes stolidly upon us from the moment we entered to the time we left, disturbing our peace of mind somewhat. The bulk certainly did not look up — they couldn't — they were past it, intoxicated from the fumes of that enticing drug. Some lay laziily doing nothing, you could hardly tell if they were asleep or not. Many were busy with the fiddling process necessary for a renewed whiff, but the bulk were comatose ! The usual appliances were brought to us, for which we nodded our thanks, though not intending to use them, but it looked better, and stopped inquisitive glances to see why we had come there, except the one man who had " fixed "us. He did nothing else but stare, not even smoke. We lit our cigarettes rather than do nothing or appear too curious as to our surroundings. Now the silence — an uncomfortable, profound silence, except for some sonorous breathing here and there — was suddenly broken by eight or nine fresh comers noisily scuttling down the flight of steps to this underground cellar ; their clamorous voices telling of much hilarity, and, on entering, a few showed 34 HITHER AND THITHER marked signs of an overdose of sham-shiu, for they were very drunk. On seeing us, with stunned surprise, they steered over between the sleeping men to where we were, and after some vehement utterances, of which we took no notice, pretending to be half asleep, they settled down for their own gratification. The staring man was watching it all. The opium soon took effect on these new arrivals, and quiet prevailed again. What a truly weird scene ! A Chinese Elysian abode. Strange, indeed, with those fiend-like, yellow beings lying about here and there ; the peculiar stifling odour, the oppressive silence, and the dim light of the single lantern of coloured paper, all adding effect to this hades of human degradation, and, yet, there were vibrations of powerful imagina- tion going on in many a brain. Those who lost consciousness and were asleep in the land of phantasms, by the swift course of time would soon awake to realise the horrors of their material sur- roundings ; their dislocated lives would be kindled back to stern reality for a while — wrecks that they were, dazed, haggard, weak, and ill-looking — and they would struggle through the day until the night hours came again for a repetition of their fearful debauchery. The fine links in the chain of their custom to pay an occasional visit to this little hell become too all-powerful to be snapped by these chronic inveterates, to their detriment, so they return nightly for their fancied visions. It is astonishing the amount of trouble expended HONG KONG 35 to pf epare the fragrant whiff for this momentary smoke. To induce intoxication many of these short smokes are needed. It is a fiddhng process. Half an hour to an hour is required for a seasoned smoker to obtain the ecstasy of narcosis, but the tranquil delight of a single smoke is of a few seconds duration at the very most. In an opium den the object evidently is to obtain the full extent of the drug's action. The majority here attained that object, and the rest were trying hard to. The modus operandi of a smoke is as follows : Each man has his jar of opium, a little lamp, and a pipe. A small quantity of the viscous, treacly opium is taken up on a kind of bodkin and held in the flame of the lamp. It is turned round and round by the operator with every care and attention, until sufficiently solid to form a firm glutinous mass. This small ball, about the size of a split pea, is put into the pipe, the opening of which is so minute as to require time, patience, and care to get it in ; this filling process complete, the pipe is held over the lamp and the opium lit. Three or four inhalations are then taken, and out comes a perfect cloud of the fragrant smoke ; then, that smoke over. Invariably a cigarette is after- wards lit up, particularly in the first few smokes of the evening, and is inhaled as a typical cigarette smoker would do. When another opium smoke is wanted, the niggling process has to be gone through again to load the pipe, then fresh ecstasy, and so it goes on ; when smoking to excess, the breathing 36 HITHER AND THITHER becomes slower and slower, and the debauchee appears almost like a dead thing. After our lengthy stop, and satisfying our curiosity, we crept out of the place and left the opium-bemused Chinamen to dream their seductive dreams. Upon all the effect was thoroughly marked, bar one man — the staring man — and he, for some reason or other, watched us religiously and continually, slowly turn- ing his head to mark our exit, like a cat placidly watching a passing dog. Glad enough were we to get outside and drink in the fresh air, my friend suffering somewhat from so prolonged a visit in such a hot and vitiated atmosphere. ON THE MALABAR COAST India ! the land of opposites ; opulent, yet poverty- stricken, India, Palaces and dens, things so adverse to each other, so contrary, so profoundly opposite — but this is India, unrivalled in the world. Cold words fail to express the grandeur and incongruity of it all. There is no term for India in the native vernacular, any more than the Chinese have a name for their country as a whole. To them India is but the aggre- gative grouping of divers peoples brought under one control of the British flag. We think of India as a land of dreamy languor, with a dark-hued people of shades as varied as the districts of which it is composed, with creeds many and languages still more multiple, jabbered in their overcrowded bazars. We picture them as dark, brown, or bronze, bare-legged and petticoated, naked but loin clothed, or a turbaned folk, with the wealthy Parsee among them, and flying cavalry regiments with bright kummerbunds and pugarees floating in the wind. Bejewelled women too, with their phulcharis (native shawls) of vivid colours, forming moA^ing 37- 38 HITHER AND THITHER panoramas in the streets, dazzling pictures of flame and fire. This is so. We hear about architecture and peerless antiquities, castes, gods, temples, and tombs ; plague and pesti- lence, leprosy and elephantiasis — all interwoven with historical events. Thuggee and Suttee, tales so stirring with episode, romance, and thrilling interest ; the Towers of Silence, with naked-necked funereal- looking vultures waiting grimly for a dead body to be placed for them to appease their appetites. The Burning Ghats and Hindoo theology — all adding to the mystery and enchantment of this wondrous land, savouring of ancient splendour, pomp, and magnifi- cence ; superb j'et mean, grand and paltry all in one, with traditions unsurpassed. We all know this. Commerce tells us of the restless trading centre of Bombay, and the wealth and riches of Madras. History enlightens us on Lahore of the Punjab, and the great road from Delhi to Kabul, the Hindustani centre of Benares ; Lucknow, with its imperishable history of the defence of '57, and much else. But of the Malabar Coast of India we hear so very little. Let us go there. Work up the coast of the State of Travancore. You visit Calicut, to which calico owes its name : and Vasco Da Gama, the notorious navigator who made the first voyage to India via the Cape, touched here as his introductory port. Telhcherry has its English club for the few resi- dents, who can be counted on the fingers, and a native courthouse where one can listen to much per- jury in their trials. Here, too^^is a dak bungalow for ON THE MAtABAR COAST 39 the weaJy traveller to rest in on his journey, for rail- ways there are none. But the most interesting of all places on the Malabar Coast is Cochin, and the practically unknown recess of Kottyam in the vicinity. Cochin likely enough remains now as then, some half score years ago ; little visited, little heard of, except to the few traders putting in there, but never- theless interesting for more than one reason. We arrive there. The steamer is compelled to lay a couple of miles out from the shore, as there is no harbour ; for that matter there is no anything, no horses, no Europeans — nothing. It is the typical East. A long, narrow, and shallow boat, manned by several natives, puts out to the steamer to bring you ashore. On land the natives are all agog, the arrival of a vessel is an exciting event for them. They are collected around the little landing-stage, eagerly awaiting the arrivals. Meanwhile, the hotel, a flat over some stores, is being opened for the visitors. A couple of prehistoric push-carts — rickety three- wheeled vehicles like the old-fashioned perambulator — carry the travellers the short distance to the only and so-called hotel of the place. The whole crowd follow; on, a few carrying our belongii;igs to earn baksheesh, and in true Indian fashion one man one article ; every one is running ; aU of them are curious. A running crowd ! It appealed to the risible faculties and gave us a good laugh and jocund moment, and the more we 40 HITHER AND THITHER urged the speed of the doti-clad pushers and cried " Jeldy jow I jddy jow," the faster the crowd went also. We blink and gasp as we are borne along in the blinding sun, and overpowering heat of the place. The running natives and their rampage make one feel all the hotter. The seams on our decks were bubbling from the sun's rays when we left, but here on shore it was a veritable suffocating oven this day. The two white-topeed men loll back in their push- carts, heat-bemused, and smoke their weeds. The hotel has two bedrooms and a dining-room. There are mosquito-netted beds in the bedrooms true enough, but the other usual necessaries are conspicuous by their absence, so a gurrah was used for ablutions and took the place of a basin. Punkahs and chotahazree in the morning were, therefore, luxuries not to be dreamt of in this wild place. Everything eatable was flavoured to nausea with cocoanut oil. The local industry is in cocoanuts. Barges bring loads of them from around along the ' peculiar waterways. The natives use the shells for fuel, and the half-shell with a handle attached as a ladle. The fibre is shipped for matting ; but the toddy from the palm they keep themselves, to get drunk upon. Stroll out and look around. At the edge of the water there is a platform, upon which a primitive fishing-machine is fixed — a beam with a large net, worked manually upon an upright, pump-handle fashion. The net is lowered from time to tirtie. 6n the MALABAR COAST 41 The crows are sparring with each other on the road near by ; the commencement of the upheaval of the net alive with fish is a signal for them to fly up and hover over the net as it is rising, cawing wildly and impatiently^ until it reaches the surface. Then down they swoop and pick up a fish apiece and away, to the unconcern of the fisherman so used to the sight. Further afield a solitary fisherman is working otherwise and not so profitably. He is wading knee-deep in the shallow water, and throws a net over the fish when he sees them in the crystal clearness of the light-green sea. Vasco Da Gama's house is here at Cochin near the church. We pant up to see it in the sultry heat. Natives salaam us as we go along. Kanarese, Malayalis, and Syrians, not omitting the fat Brah- min with his white umbrella, are among the crowd. But the most curious of all curious sights here is the white Jew, with complexion of an ashen-white, untannable by the blazing sun, contrjisting so strikingly with the black Jew and other native. To come upon their colony suddenly, a little way out, is strange and startling. Some of the women are decidedly good'-iooking, with their wealth of blue- black tresses and dead white skin. Little is known of them. They have married and inter-married these thou- sand years long, and are as purely Hebrew as any Semitic race extant — a sect unknown to their faith, dropped into this land no one knows when or how. The black Jew's s5magogue is quite apart. Truly, Cochin is typically native and ancient — 42 HITHER AND THITHER very Indian. Indian habits linger in such a place undisturbed. The Rajah's money was found, strange to say, still circulating in a modest degree. There is no freckle or discoloration of Anglicism in this place to blurr its Orientality. The native hurries less than ever. Time doesn't count with him. He prefers to squat down, according to his habit, on the tendon of his heels, and think. Indian natives do a lot of thinking ! The bulk of the women wear nothing above the waist by long custom, and in some of the older ones the pendulous fold of skin, formed by the slit in the lobe of the ear for an ornament hangs unduly long when devoid of its usual embellishment. The prevalence of the Cochin leg, better known as elephantiasis Arabum, is as curious as is the existence of the white Jew. Every third or fourth person seems afflicted with it in some degree, from slight puffiness to enormous enlargement. A thigh, for instance, has been known to measure as much as a foot or more in diameter. Follow up the street to the mysterious bazars. Hither we hied, and as we threaded through the throng of people, lop-eared goats and crows — beasts and humans — inhaling the characteristic fumes of such a crowded quarter, the natives are noticed working at their several trades, squatting in their booths like figures in a puppet show. Rummage in and about the bazaars for yourselves ; it is the only way to see true Indian life. ^As the Egyptians and Etruscans habitually wear amulets with their much-regarded beetle, the Scara- ON THE MALABAR COAST 43 baeus, worked upon it, here in India the traffic in prophecy, the magic of sorcery and astrology, is as rife as ever it is in China, Japan, or Italy. The fortune-teller or charm vendor exercises his cunning craft among the ignorant and credulous village folk, and for a small sum you can consult the former or buy a charm from the latter. By his witchcraft the sorcerer, with help from beneficent spirits, by divina- tion, assistance from or power to rule the evil one, will control for the anxious inquirer many matters of business, family affairs, love, even to the disposal of an enemy for him. Here in Cochia and neighbouring village we find no exception to the rule, and the shackles of super- stition can be seen, be it only the piece of string with ornament attached as a talisman, worn round the neck or "waist of a little child, otherwise without a stitch of clothing upon it. The juggler and snake-charmer (sunjis), with his inevitable stock-in-trade, the cobra, mongoose, and his musical tubri or pipe, duly appears at our hotel to favour us with a performance. Indian jugglers are clever as a rule. This was one of them, and many were his feats, The rupee, as usual, put down on the floor promiscuously by one of us, stands up on edge when spoken to, salaams, and hops along quite gaily ; the woman cramped up in the wicker basket barely large enough to hold her, is stabbed through and through by a sword, but comes out unscathed ! The two most astonishing feats, however, were the lifting of a weight by the eyeball apparently, and the balancing of a mesnaerised boy. For the former, a 44 HITHER AND THITHER little cup fitting by suction accurately over the eye- ball, with not a grip on the bony orbit, has a cord attached, to the distal end of which is fastened the weight to be raised from the floor. It is lifted by the performer straightening his body from the stooping posture and extending his head gradually backwards. After the performance his eye was suffused with blood, and nothing would induce him to perform this trick a second time. To handle this heavy weight was to us an effort. The mesmerised boy was seated on a high stool with extended arms at right angles to the body, his hands resting on two upright poles. First the stool was removed from under him, then one pole, and, lo ! and behold, the figure was left suspended in mid-air — under mesmeric influence — with only one hand supporting him, goodness knows how. The ways of some of these true Indian jugglers are strange and bewildering. To go up the Cochin river, thereby startling soli- tary figures in dug-out canoes on the way, a boat with an awning can be chartered for the expedition. Ten or a dozen natives paddle with their peculiar- shaped oars, all night and all day, chanting weirdly but musically the while to lessen the toil and help to time their strokes. The crocodiles, you purposely go to see and have a shot at, abound high up the river, floating like huge log6 on the water, monsters that they were, or basking in the sun on the banks, almost undiscernible from the ground by their colour. And so little Cochin goes on, and probably will go ON THE MALABAR COAST 45 on, sleeping and dreaming and gathering cocoanuts, waiting for stray strangers still to come by the boats, and will long remain remote from the activity of other parts of India, with their Durbars and sports, not to say the Sahib, Mem-sahib, and Missy, to kit-kit, the hhoee, chuprasse, or other of the numerous servants who adorn the compound of the Anglo- Indian residence. THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES A Few Incidents of a Prolonged Voyage Nearly a year at sea, or more correctly from home. We were Government chartered, and would receive orders from time to time with some irregularity, and so time was a great uncertainty. On this occasion I was not boarding a palatial Castle liner, or other big ocean-going vessel, but a little packet of only 4000 tons register and a horse- power of 2250. We proudly owned a red funnel with a black top, two boilers, eight fires, and a four- bladed propeller making sixty revolutions a minute. We carried a Chinese crew of about sixty to seventy men:, varying out East as some were paid off and fresh ones signed on ; we had four quartermasters who were British^, and likewise the officers and rest of us. I will not weary the reader with the many, many places at which we stopped, some our own possessions besides foreign ports, but we knew we should be cruising up and down the China Coast, have some long stops now and again, go on to Japan, thence from the Far East to the Far West across the Pacific, and homeward bound we were chartered to ship on 47 4S HITHER AND THITHER at Hong Kong the Krupp guns taken at Taku. In limited space, it is obvious, a few incideijits alone can be here recorded out of many over so prolonged a period. It was not to turn out an over-fortunate voyage however, for we had a tremendous knocking about in the Pacific during mid-winter gales ; one of our holds caught fire, luckily in port ; we fell into the thick of a typhoon, out East ; had some valuable nickel stolen by Chinese coolies unloading our ship, which was evidently a carefully planned affair and cleverly accomplished, and at Cochin China had a ship full of illness. We got away from the West India Dock carrying a couple of huge cable tanlcs, with the submarine telegraph cable for the Pacific. This cable is com- posed of copper wir^s imbedded in a compound of gutta-percha, hemp, or jute padding, and coils of iron wire. At Greenwich we took on board any amount of shell and explosives for our possessions out East, and away we started on our errands to do a long voyage as regards time, and a passage nearly roimd the world as regards distance. We ran down Channel at eleven knots, past the Burlings, with the lighthouse on the largest of the rocks, and were soon out to sea. At Algiers, flying the danger signal, we filled up our bunkers > but had to keep well out from the town and aloof from other vessels for fear of anything happening to explode our dangerous cargo and blowing everything to pieces. THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 49 At Port Said we were victimised again by the unpleasant coaling process, but not for long as this coaling station is the quickest in the world, the coolies running along backwards and forwards with their loads in one continuous stream. Port Said is the habitat of nearly every nationality under the sun, and the worst of them at that — Port Said ! the most wicked place on earth. The Greeks and the Arabs each have their own quarters, as do the Abyssinians and Egyptians and all the others. On entering the mosque here you put on large shoes over your own, and you will probably not think much of the place when you have seen it. It cannot be denied that there is a decided fascina- tion about the crying women, not so much on ac- count of their looks as for their indefatigable energy. These crying women are hired for funeral parties, to conduct the bewailing and renew its fervour should it flag at all. Crying aloud for hours is hard work, but the large gathering of mourners take it up very well indeed with this help and momentary intervals for smiles, chats, and rests. And although they never all stop crying together, should the sobbing become too feeble the weeping woman will bestir herself and them with increased efforts, crying louder and more vigorously than ever, wringing her hands and swaying to and fro in despair, notwithstanding that she is bemoaning the loss of one she has probably never seen. This has the desired effect, and the " music " is taken up again and is capable of being heard at some distance. So it is she conducts the wailing mourners 50 HITHER AND THITHER with the stern skill of an operatic leader. They earn their money, these professional crying women. Ships are constantly coming and going, always on the move passing through the canal outward or homeward bound. Government despatch boats, men-of-war, P and O., and other liners — a continual stream of arrivals and departures. On leaving Port Said, outward bound, we are bidding farewell to the old world and leaving the threshold of all that is European. In Suez Canal, as usual, there is the change of pilots at Ismalia, and, regardless of tying up once or twice to allow other vessels to pass, we got through in sixteen hours, the canal being eighty-seven miles long. The tide was felt as far north as the Bitter Lakes. In the Gulf of Suez lies Mount Sinai on our left, and in the Red Sea, with Arabia on one side and Africa on the other, the old voyageur looks anxiously for " Shadwan," " The Brothers," and " The Twelve Apostles." There are changes in the wrecks since last I was here, and at the Daedalus Lighthouse — the scene of many a wreck — a fresh one is now added, also another close to the " The Brothers." At Aden, are seen the so-called red-headed boys, but they colour their hair more of a yellow than a red tint, and the effect, with their dark faces, is very striking. They dive from the ship in a similar manner to the diving boys at Madeira, but I am inclined to think these latter performers are the better of the two. THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 51 They will dive after money thrown into the sea — a silver coin for preference as it can be better seen sinking in the water — and seldom do they fail to secure the prize whether it be thrown from their own boat, the deck of your vessel, or high up in the rigging. But the diving and the length of time the divers will keep under water are excelled, I think, when watching the natives going under water for coral in the Malay Archipelago, and also the pearl-fishers of Ceylon. I have seen men keep under water four or five minutes, and one man, from the time he dived to the reappearance of his head above water, was just six minutes. Hardly credible this seems, but men on the pearling beds will tell you that any amount of the natives can stop from four-and-a-half to five minutes and then bring up their load of oysters in their wicker baskets. Aden is certainly very barren, and the camel takes the place of the horse in the carts. In the Straits of Bab el Mandeb, Perim divides the channel into two passes — a broad and a narrow passage. Ships can navigate through either, but which is the better to take is a question of nautical difference, some captains preferring the one and others having opposite opinions as regards the safety in negotiating them. The monsoons are on. The monsoons are ordinary trade-winds making the sea far from comfortable, and instead of blowing from the north tropic to the equator, they are enticed round by the intense heat of some large area of land to the north of them, and blow as south-west " anti-trades." 52 HITHER AND THITHER The most regular monsoons are caused by the heating of Tibet in summer, and carry the main supply of rain to India. But you can also get them off the coast of California. There are no monsoons south of the equator because the proportion of land to water is relatively small. The north-east monsoon blowing from Bengal to the Madras coast is the ordinary north-east trade-wind. Sighting North Point, in Sumatra, we were soon at Penang. Penang, one of the Straits Settle- ments, is an island off the Malay Peninsula, with George Town for its capital. We soon got ashore in a sampan and visited the renowned water-falls and gardens, and amused ourselves by watching the chattering monkeys in the woods, up to all their antics, in their native state. They come down in hundreds to the gardens at night time to steal the fruit. We patronised the " Eastern and Oriental Hotel," and there we met some wealthy natives and Indian ladies and gentlemen sparkling with brilliants . They must have carried thousands on their persons. Mangosteens, the most delicious of fruits, are plentiful. It is said Queen Victoria had never tasted them, owing to the difficulty of getting them to England. As was my custom on landing, and when- ever I could, I was now and again anxious to get to the mainland and look round, far and wide, right up into the country. The opportunity presented itself as we should be here for some little while, so taking a native steamer loaded with Chinamen I got over to the Province of Wellesley, in the Malay Peninsula, THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 53 and went away for miles in a gharri with relays of ponies, getting ever so far into the country and jungle, with my gun and Indian guide who acted as a shikaree, and a tribe of natives whom we picked up by degrees and who followed on, to carry our goods and chattels Indian fashion — one article, one man, and not a particle more however trivial that article might be. We got to our proposed destination eventually. After a little mixed shooting, including a rather rare breed of the monkey tribe, I committed two horrible crimes. The first was unsportsmanlike ; I let fly at a pig, a beautifully striped, bristly haired tusker. I was taken unawares by this ferocious beast suddenly galloping so near to me, and missed aim as it disappeared in the long grass. The second crime — and one which I regretted — was the shooting of a very large man-like ape.* As we stood him up afterwards, supported with the fingers in the armpits, he was as high as a child three or four years old and looked just like a little old man. It was as he stood bolt upright, surprised at the apparition before him, an unfamiliar sight — a white man, in white clothes and white topi — that I got my first glimpse and first shot at him. There he stood, this man-like being, walking practically in the upright, with his long arms and bent knuckles almost reaching the ground. The shikaree was some way behind me with the rifle, so I hastily let fly with * Probably a member of the Gibbon family, abundant in the Malay Peninsula and islands, and the smallest re- presentative of the man-like apes. 54 HITHER AND THITHER my powerful Webley revolver, sending a bullet through the upper part of his shoulder. What with the surprise, pain, and seeing the blood pouring down, he cried just like a child, putting his hand continually to the wounded and bleeding spot, and then looking with dread upon his besmeared fingers. It was really pitiful to witness the fear and expres- sion on that human face, and his actions — how human ; too human to shoot. Snatching my rifle, fearful lest the poor animal should escape me, being thus wounded, and anxious as I was to end his misery, I quickly forded a deepish stream of water up to my waist, which lay between the poor frightened animal and still more frightened and excited sportsman ! I got across as quickly as I could — a not-over-easy task, as thick mud lay at the bottom — and followed him up into the wooded tract beyond. The " baboo " (as the natives incorrectly call it, if meaning a baboon) made off with agility, but keeping to the ground. It was evident the loss of blood was telling ; he became weaker and weaker as I chased him forward. As a dernier ressort he took cover behind a fair- sized tree, peeping out now and again to follow my movements. He dodged me with the judg- ment of a man, and was glued to his cover like a Boer. Undecided as to the best tactics to follow to avoid me and escape, he fairly cried aloud ; literally spoke in fact. But he appealed to me in vain. Had he not been mortally wounded, and if I could THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 55 have understood his chattering lingo, we might have come to terms, and I would have spared him and taken him to England, teaching him and petting him up, to atone for my Cain-like action. I have kept wallabies and other things ; why not this creature ? Waiting for an opportunity when he should expose, for an instant, too much of his body, peering round the tree, I fired — bang, phitt ! — and he dropped dead on the spot, falling with extended arms, like a man. This monkey caused some excitement in Wellesley and Penang, owing to its size and peculiarity. As two natives bore him along, one at each end of a long bamboo which carried the "corpse" and the other products of the day, the gaping native multitude that followed us on was distinctly funny. I regretted that shot though, and felt still more how human — how terribly human — that ape was when I examined the body later on. Had I shot one of my own species — murdered him, in fact — without a cause ? At the autopsy, I found my first bullet had fractured the collar-bone, while the second had pierced the heart . The hands and feet of that animal now adorn the cook's cabin, nailed up on the wall, and will sail the world over many times. So I've turned him into a traveller anyhow ! The Sherard Osborn, a cable ship, met us and lay alongside our vessel at Singapore, receiving from our huge tanks miles and miles of line. It was wound off, day and night persistently, at the rate of four miles an hour, and it took six days to accom- 56 HITHER AND THITHER plish this, getting it all out and placing it on their ship, ready for taking to sea and laying. Simul- taneously with our arrival and steaming up just be- hind us was a " Jardine " boat. One of their firemen; a Chinaman, jumped overboard and was drowned. Here was another case of preferring even death to the heat of the fiery furnaces in these tropical climes. Another vessel which had just come into port before us, and a new one, had been to sea from here and had to put back, as she was leaking. There were twenty-three feet of water in her, and it is supposed she had a hole knocked in her bottom on some rock. An inquiry later on will decide if the captain took his right course or not. On steaming into Singapore, several native Malay boats came round, with coral of all colours — white, yellow, red, and many other varieties. Singapore (or more correctly Sinhapura) is an island at the end of the Malay Peninsula, which points to the largest archipelago in the world, and has a capital of the same name — Singapore — the seat of the Government for the Straits Settlements. You approach through the broad straits of Singapore, the small one being guarded by several islands. On one of these islands of vividly green and thick vegetation there are our fortifications, and on another is seen a Malay village, with its characteristic umbrella-shaped huts, built as usual on a platform supported on piles above the water. The shipping extends for many miles along the sea-shore, where there are English and Dutch men- of-war, mercantile marine and sailing ships. Not THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 57 alone these, but the high-heeled shoe-shaped Chinese junks, Malay and Kling sampans, and the large and clumsy Borneo tong-kongs. At the shipping office, men of all nationalities and of every class of countenance were waiting to find ships suitable to their requirements, whole crews sometimes signing on at a time, or in twos and threes. What a subject for an artist — an Eastern shipping office ! The captain of the ship and myself had a good deal to see to at this port, one way and another, so had to get about as quickly as we could in jin- rickshas, or gharris, with only time enough to get an occasional " stingah " (or " peg " as they would say in India) before dinner at Raffles, the Hotel de I'Europe, or the Adelphi. Raffles Square is the business centre, and John Little the provider of all things. In some parts of Singapore one sees in the streets a moving panorama — natives, natives, natives bustling on — from the coolie in his nakedness to the silk-dressed man of money. The picturesque aspect is made up of Jews and Arabs in robes of crimson, the white of the Parsee, and the Malays in their sarongs of red. The Sikh, like the Parsee, is in white, and there is a mixture of many other colours and kind, as seen in the Japanese, Siamese, Achinese, Lascars, Hindus, Tamils, and the inhabitants of Java — the Javanese. The Malay women wear a kind of pantaloon like a short loose trouser ; and one of the sights of Singapore is Malay Street — a street of dubious reputation — where, contrary to what would be 58 HITHER AND THITHER expected from the name, not Malays but highly- painted Jap girls are to be seen sitting out at their doors, in their native vivacity. At night time the street is thronged by the densely packed and slowly moving cosmopolitan crowd, to which I have already referred, and lighted in a way which reminds one of " illumination " night at home, a veritable sight. Those who have visited Singapore will know, or will have heard, of this peculiar scene. Even ladies have been taken — married it is to be hoped — driving through in 'rickshas to witness the spectacle it presents, and as for clergymen and missionaries I say nothing, beyond the fact that, knowing the immoral aspect, it seems to draw the curious. And well pleased and astonished they appear after their visit. Sometimes they go twice ! * * * At Hong Kong we had orders to proceed south again, to Saigon. We arrived at Cape St. James at twelve a.m., came up the river Saig, and cast anchor at five p.m. Cochin China is the central province of Annam, and part of French Indo-China, the delta of the Mekong river, and is divided into four provinces, of which Saigon is the capital, situate on the river Saig. This river Saig is exceedingly tortuous, having large creeks dipping into the flat and swampy paddy fields, yielding the large crops of rice. The tiger inhabits the jungle at the mouth of the Saig, and as the ship is taking its winding course, the cathedral at Saigon stands out so prominently from the distance, like the Reculvers on our home coast. THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 59 Saigon has a citadel, arsenal, and observatory. The town is French, with its cafes, navy men, soldiers, and names of the streets, and, besides the French people, it is populated with Annamites and Chinese. In the suburbs of this French city the surround- ings are very Indian looking, with the bungalow type of house and its groves of trees and overlapping palms, together with the familiar salaaming native present to complete the resemblance. On the river the sampans are inclined to be a bit more gondola in shape than those at Singapore or in China, but are still the hooded boats and worked on the principle of " Have no eye, how can see ? " The Annamite is a bastard Chinese, and does not wear the queue ; the women are clothed in a kind of frock coat, buttoned at the side, somewhat similar to the Parsee. Beetle-nut, Indian-like, is chewed by the Annamite as well as by the true Chinee, and in the streets are the same box-shaped gharris and small ponies to draw them along as elsewhere in the East and Far East. The train runs in the main street, after the manner of the one in Brittany running from St. Malo to Cancale. There is some snipe and wild- duck shooting to be obtained here among the flooded rice fields, but the narrow footways between them are so slippery that more often than not the sports- man finds himself in the deep water of the paddy fields. After we had been ten days in Saigon there was hardly a white man on the ship who was not ill, 6o HITHER AND THITHER and some of the Chinese were very queer indeed. The fresh-water river had a powerful smell coming from it, and from time to time dead decomposing pigs or other animals floated past, and cholera was very rife. A British vessel came up the river after we did, and tied up in front of us, and ere long our captain had to attend the funeral of the master of that ship. He was taken ill at eight o'clock in the morning, was seriously ill at noon, died at one, and was under the turf at two. In tropical lands burial takes place rapidly after death, from whatever ill- ness, but this was another case of cholera, to add to the already long list of deaths from this cause. We got scared on board, as man after man on our own vessel was struck down with either dysentery or fever, but we got through it all right, and none were attacked with cholera, every one surviving. It was a wretched time of it, for all were so depressed and felt so ill with hyperpyrexia! temperatures that we are unaccustomed to at home. If we did not get away from this place very soon, we inwardly felt we should be left there for ever and aye, and some, bolder than the rest, openly expressed their views. To add to our discomforts, a swarm of little insects and other crawling abominations got on board, crawling over and invading everything; they got into one's clothing, bunks, food, ears, and mouth. Down the river, a stone's throw from where our vessel was moored, was a Russian convict ship full to overflowing with prisoners. It was a pathetic sight to see these poor, miserable wretches (whatever their crimes may have been) peering through the THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 6i port-holes of the small overcrowded and dirty cells. The heat inside was insufferable, and it was only the few, who could be lucky enough to get near those small openings all along the ship's side, who were able to get a whiff of outside fresh air. Poor convicts ! They were huddled together in those tedious days, hour after hour, doing nothing but panting like sheep in an over-crowded sheep-pen, trying to get air in this insalubrious atmosphere. Many looked ill and were ill, and some, doubtless, would never reach their des- tination — happily for them. Always in the same position, peering out of the small openings, the same faces got to be so well known to us after a while. The strict guards, pacing up and down on the quay, with their bayonets fixed, would not allow strangers to go close to the ship's side, until a Russian officer came up and courteously allowed us to see what we wanted, and satisfied our curiosity on most points. One fine-looking face, with a sad, soulful expression, we took a particular interest in ; he was so noticeable from all the rest. This man, with his large venerable head, thick brows, and long patriarchal beard, seemed so out of place amidst such a rough-looking lot ; he appeared open, clever, and healthy minded. Daily he would peer from the port-hole, his whole soul seeking recognition from us — a nod or wave of the hand from the distance only could we give. It may have been some comfort to him, so we never missed the salutation. We could not believe he was a desperado, and there was nothing of the criminal 62 HITHER AND THITHER depicted on his face. But his companions in trouble ! What a contrast. Many looked the incarnation of the inbred criminal, and this poor man had to exist with them, all packed in trying to get a mouthful of fresh air in the close, sweltering, tropical atmosphere. His large, sad, dreamy eyes were as mind-windows, and although we could not speak with him, we felt we could read his thoughts. One day he said something to us in a sorrowful and tremulous voice, like a leper's awful wail of " unclean, unclean ! " according to the Talmud, but its meaning we never knew. The guard stopped us as ,we neared him. Soon they would be leaving, the bulk for Saghalien, and the rest for Northern Siberia. The Russian officer before mentioned, one day spoke with us. The climate of Saghalien was very severe he said, and the Sea of Okhotsh is only a degree above freezing point all the year round. Aboard they had degenerates of the worst type, but — this officer would only speak generally, not individually, for, of course, with Plato's anxiety for the discovery of the truth, we had asked about our noble-looking friend, but without result. Saghalien of late years had improved a little, said he, but he could not say much in favour of the island prison. It is believed that at the present time no political prisoner is taken to Saghalien, but sent to Northern Siberia, which is practically worse, shut off, buried alive as they are by forest and swamp, so that flight is impossible. At the time of which I write, we were THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 63 informed that political prisoners were sometimes sent to Saghalien, and as the officer had often been there, and knew Korsakovsk, Madka, and Udumkova very well indeed, we accepted this statement authorita- tively. Perhaps our friend with the long beard was a political prisoner with calumnies he did not deserve ; with any other conviction we could not connect him. It appeared, out of the 24,000 Russian convicts or ex-convicts there were, roughly, 8000 murderers among them, whose death sentence was commuted to banishment for life. The posetenzy, or time-expired men, are forced to colonise on the island. The colony is a picture of misery and demoralisa- tion, the people being dissolute wretches who have lost, or soon do lose, all regard for principle and decency. Drunkenness, gambling, and vices of all description go on unchecked, and the officials, themselves convicts, gamble heavily. Innocent men had doubtless been sent to Saghalien and Northern Siberia, and spent the rest of their days in misery and suffering — mental and bodily. Was our cultured old patriarch on board the convict-ship on the brink of this awful fate as an innocent man ? One morning the convict-ship steamed away with her freight of banished men, and as the big ship moved away from her moorage, we waved a silent " Good-bye " to that grand-looking man, and felt sorry and sad at the sight. We should never see him again. He had always shown marked pleasure at the notice we took of 64 HITHER AND THITHER him, and returned with a sad shake of the head our last salutation, looking back to the very last, and waving his final " Goodbye for ever." Our turn came to get away from Saigon, and, queer as we all were, we took on board a lot of Chinese deck passengers bound for Hong Kong, and a terrible rabble it was during the run. Swatow and Amoy on the China Coast are centres for coolie emigration from Sumatra, Java, Saigon, the Straits Settlements, and the Malay Archipelago, nothing more or less in fact than the slave trade. The emigrant, with a vision of returning to his own home in a few years with untold wealth, finds himself at the start under strict rule and small pay, told off and counted on board ship like one of so many sheep, and, if returning to his own country at all, he finds himself just as poor as when he went — often poorer. In fact, I cannot think of any term which would char- acterise this so-called emigration, except " slave- trading," which it was, nothing more or less. The deck passengers we were carrying north were some of these disappointed ones, with tempers one towards the other none too amiable, and so our work was cut out quelling stabbing affrays and tying up wounds. The noise and rows, particularly at night time, were incessant. The Chinese coming from dif- ' ferent parts of China do not understand each other and are very liable to fight, hence the bother we had with this mixed lot between themselves and with our crew. Strange dogs could not have beep wore Ijitt^r towards one another. THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 65 " BILLY " Billy was our chief steward, a curious and in- teresting individual, in so far as there was nothing much in him except generosity to a degree, which unprincipled men thought it " smart " to take advantage of. Billy was a man with a decidedly negative character, a fool to himself, a man with a hold upon nothing in asserting his rights or in the performance of his daily duties. He was a man without a will, a weak man, but strong enough mentally and bodily where Chinamen were concerned, when he would soon have a hold on " something " — anything to hand — to whack them with. This fault, carried to excess, was the only marked bit of character in his nature besides the strict adherence to the Biblical maxim " Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake " ; the " wine that maketh glad the heart of man " made Billy very glad and joyous, and whiskey " pegs " were the cure for all aches and pains human flesh is heir to, in his estimation, and — Billy always ailed something. Billy loathed the Chinamen as much as they seemed to hate him, and we had a large complement of them on board as our sailor-men. A Chinaman was but vermin to Billy, fit only to be crushed and exterminated, and it was really not safe for him ever to be with them at all, as this voyage proved, and it is a wonder he had not " cocked his 66 HITHER AND THITHER clogs," as they would say in Yorkshire, long ere this, and been mysteriously killed, or suddenly missing from the ship. He showed a formidable scar on his forehead, the result of a Chinaman's knife, testifying to old grievances which burnt deeply into Billy's heart. And this may possibly have been the origin of his extraordinary and deadly dislike to Mr. John. The " pegs " were perceptibly doing poor BiUy some hurt, and shewing their signs, not to mention the effect that was reflected on the Chinamen, causing their insubordination on certain occasions and the upsetting of discipline and authority on the ship generally. Otherwise our steward was an obliging and decent fellow, liked and sought after for his comical stupidity, and he would be in his element when relating the peculiar love romances of his long-gone youth, keeping the listeners in riotous roars of laughter by his funnily worded descriptions. Whiskey, of course, was flowing freely on such occasions, and Billy accordingly was in Paradise. We were good friends, the steward and I, and having some influence over him, I would try to point out the detrimental effect chronic sipping had on mankind generally, let alone continual over-doses of alcohol, especially as I saw mischief brewing between himself and the Chinamen on this account. The effort to show how this " pegging " — seen so much in the East — was the foul parent of crime, the lustful instigator of vices of all kinds, how nations THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 67 were degenerated by its poisonous influence, how people became diseased by its use, stunted in body and mind, keeping our various sanatoria for the insane, epileptic, and idiot filled, proved a radical failure. The interest of national degeneracy was of little moment to Billy, or the swelling of the asylums for the insane, regardless of himself being a not unlikely future candidate for admission unless he soon mended his ways. Certainly, by these arguments, we once reached the tiny oasis in his blank and unreasoning mind, only for him to leave it again for the old ground, with a corresponding outburst of temper upon the un- lucky chink, and a repetition of Chinese disobedience towards himself. We had now a crew of sixty-one almond-eyed, yellow faces all told, with four English quarter- masters and officers. The steward naturally came much in contact with the saloon boys, cooks, and galley hands, and every night also with several of the crew, when serving out the rations for the ship's complement due for the next day's consumption. It was on these occasions of doleing out their chow that the steward gave vent to his feelings which became quite a habit with him at last. The stub- bom crowd of pig-tailed men weighing out the rice, under his supervision, were not above returning the abuse, cheeking him in pidgin English, and swearing and threatening in their own language together. This infuriated Billy. 68 HITHER AND THITHER Billy boiled. The Chinamen sneeringly Wah- wahed J in their deep, menacing, strange voices. The nightly quarrels became worse and worse, assuming a nasty aspect, for the heathen Chinee resented being roughly elbowed aside, and now stood firm. Things looked a bit serious, and the steward was not the man to take advice. One day Billy unfortunately struck the obstinate Wong Fook — one of the saloon boys — causing a bit of a wound and a swelling to develop over the eye. This was the climax. Here was the crux of the difficulties to come. On asking Wong Fook how he came by his injury, he replied it was the steward, and added — " I kill, I kill," and mused sullenly. Now when a Chinaman makes a statement of that kind — he usually means it. Revenge is a Chinese characteristic. John may rest months or years awaiting his opportunity, for he never forgives ; he is cruel and treacherous and knows neither pity nor mercy ; it is not sufficient recompense to him to know his enemy is being punished ; he must enjoy seeing him tortured and killed, and the more fearful the method the greater the satisfaction. On remonstrating with Wong Fook on this remark, and saying if persisted in he would be run up to the captain, he only retorted. " I go topside Cap'n loom, speakee Cap'n I kill chee stew," so he openly declared his intentions, and defied the whole shipi THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 69 He had sworn by the rooster's head along for'ard, for a decapitated fowl hung up in the fo'c's'le as a sign of the oath. That pointed to the gravity of the situation. The lethargic John does not give vent to laughter, mirth, or merriment, but our glancing up at this head- less bird, still dripping with its life-blood, brought forth a sickly smile on many a face as they sat on the fioor silently smoking their opium. In case of emergency, there was a rack of rifles on the ship with bayonets fixed upon them — one for every European aboard — and placed in the alley- ways aft just outside the saloon doors, but eventually, as it turned out wisely, they were placed inside the dining-room not only for ornament but also for further safety. The " old man," as the captain is usually called at sea, once had a lot of bother with his crew and still remembered it, so he kept his revolvers ready to hand in his room in case of a similar event. The of&cers, likewise, had weapons* If the present lot of men turned up rusty, the sixty- one aboard might do some mischief with sheath knives against the seventeen " foreign devils " if taken unawares. How our lot of coolie deck passengers obtained their intoxicating drink, sham-shiu, and passed it to our men in exchange for opium was a mystery — but everything is a mystery in the Chinese. A Chinaman is a puzzle in himself, he doesn't require to manu- facture them. The effect of the sham-shiu was soon noticeable aboard all round, and, as it happened, this and their 70 HITHER AND THITHER opium taken to excess made some of our crew helpless when they might have been formidable opponents later on. . Billy ! your theory of the advantage of stimulants proved correct here, and you have to thank that sham-shiu for preventing a thorough mutiny, in which you would probably have been the first victim. We had three hundred men odd now on board, including our crew, all of whom were not over friendly towards the Europeans. Ching Cheong was a tall, six-foot-something, of powerful, wiry-nmscled manhood ; he was our big- jawed, strong-faced No. i man — a regular profes- sional " bruiser," — and now befriended the aggrieved Wong Fook in his wrongs, and, evidently seeing the situation and the opportunity for revenge, openly asserted his rights. It is said a good dinner lubricates business or increases the prospect of a favour, now, sham-shiu evidently kindled any spark of fellow-feeUng lying dormant in the formidable Ching Cheong's breast, or more probably the murderous instinct. Wong Fook had been badly struck he thought, and it was against the Board of Trade rules, so he lingered on the deck agitating the returning emigrants to rise in the Chinaman's cause. This man, Ching Cheong, had brains, and seemed capable of influencing, organising, or leading an army — there was something of the terrible about him. We watched this fellow carefully. He was worse than any Irish agitator, and had the gifts of a Napoleon. THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 71 So at the first opportunity, he was promptly put down below in irons for refusing duty and using swear-words at an officer. He had to be tackled when no one much was about, and quite suddenly it was done. Ching Cheong's removal was a good thing in one way but bad in another. It raised terrible indignation on the part of the other principal aggressors, and chiefly those who came to fetch their chow from Billy of an evening. Sam Hoo, Kwong Woo, Sing Sun Tai, and Chee Fat we had marked for punishment later on, besides Dong Chong and another with similar warlike instincts to the massive- jawed sinister-looking man then in irons, also San Mow, Yeng Seng, and Ho Gam. We knew these by sight and name as they were giving us some trouble. The captain, too, all this time was pretty busy, and referred to Billy with the snarhng cynicism of a Diogenes, filling up events in his log with acid instead of ink — pretty bitter ! He was a hard, but just man ; a skipper worth sailing with. It was a good thing for Billy, and probably for all of us, that Ching Cheong was quieted down below. Wong Fook was evidently to be avenged, that was plainly noticeable. There appeared a common interest to get rid of Billy, by the marked men any- how, though perhaps the others were too sly to show their intentions. The bulk of the sailors seemed indifferent, but were probably waiting events, for Chinamen are as artful as a wagon-load of monkeys, 72 HITHER AND THITHER and look just about as innocent when mischief is brewing. Matters were pretty thick we could see, so we were ever on the alert ; luckily, it would not be long before we arrived at Hong Kong, where we should be discharging our human freight, be signing on a new crew, and so shortly ending our troubles. * * * About this time, one fine starry night as I lay in my bunk, the cabin door ajar on the hook, it being so tropically hot, I distinctly saw the shadow of a figure on the panels of the alleyway outside. It was 2 A.M. All was quiet. I lay awake and watched that figure. It was not a European, therefore should not be there. I deemed it imprudent to be in a hurry, so I remained silent and gazed at it steadily — it never moved. There was a smooth shaven pate from which a long queue hung ; that loosely clad form with the long queue remained motionless for a lengthened period, the slightest thing would have disturbed him. What was he doing there ? I guessed no good, so I patiently watched, afraid almost to breathe for fear of untimely disturbing the intruder and so losing my quarry. He would be off on the slightest creak. The crew wore their pigtails twisted up on the head, so it was probably a saloon boy. Billy's cabin was on the opposite side of the ship to mine, so if it were Wong Fook why was he on my side ? But Wong Fook I believed it was, and with THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 73 some plan to decoy Billy from his room and then — go for him. He could get round to the steward's cabin through the saloon doors, or by passing in front of the com- panion way. The figure remained so still in that one position as quiet as a mouse. The time was looming un- pleasantly near to act. It would be rank irreligion to be frightened of a chink. At last I grew impatient. I would creep out of my bunk and spring upon it unawares. Easier said than done ! Like a streak of lightning it had gone — vanished. I thought I had immediately cut off his retreat by the companion stairs and so had got the offender below; at the same time I gave the alarm. The second steward and the quarter-master were on the scene in a moment, and the whole ship was soon astir, running forward to the fo'c's'le to detect the absentee from his bunk. There was more than one figure though seen flitting across the poop in a hasty flight, but, in the fo'c's'le all hands were there, and the boatswain swore hard that no one had left his bunk during the night — but he was one of them — a Chinaman — so we took it for what it was worth. We had not caught them red-handed, although doubtless thwarted their little plans, for it was promptness itself on their part how they got clear, especially as we were becoming like weasels of late, so quick were we after the retreating figures. Billy's door had been tampered with, he kept it ^74 HITHER AND THITHER locked at night time — and a sailor's knife was found near by, dropped in their hasty retreat. The following night when Billy was at his usual post to serve out the rice, and at the very moment the " old man " and chief officer were discussing the expediency of keeping him non est until we reached Hong Kong, an unusual number of sailor- men came aft to carry back the supply. But the weasels were on the qui vive again, feeling some- what uneasy, although it was agreed that no signs whatever of apprehension on our part should be shown. Three out of the four quarter-masters, four out of five engineers, the second steward, and second third and fourth officers had secreted themselves in the saloon and state-rooms close by. This night the men were most noisy and defiant, not to say abusive, it was very evident they had taken sham-shiu pretty freely, but their courage from its effects was " Dutch." In the fo'c's'le we knew how many were drunk and narcotised. They went so far as to scoff at Billy because he would not go below into the store-room, which was gained by lifting up a trap-door in the flooring of the poop alleyway, and going down a flight of steep steps. They dared him to go in fact, as he stood by the opening getting the men to bring up what they wanted ; if he went below he knew full well he would be caught like a rat in a trap. As these men had come along, there had been much talking with the emigrants amid-ships, in fact, the chief and the captain on the boat-deck had THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES ^5 noticed how all the heads were turned towards the poop, as if anticipating something. What ? Not much chow was given out that night. The inflammatory pustule came to head and pointed to a tumult. There was a sudden scuffling, and Billy — poor BiUy ! Brave Billy ! had closed with a big hostile Celestial who had a diabolical look in his slit eyes. This belligerent Chinaman was no other than a facsimile of Ching Cheong, before mentioned, a regular dragon-flagged warrior. Things looked ugly, and Billy was having a sultry time, and a knife could soon be slipped in his back. Sheer courage and cussedness saved him for the time being. Instanter, the surprise party hidden from view were charging pell-mell into the riotous mob scattering them right and left, and for a few moments a httle " weather " ensued. Over went some of them in a heap when the swinging blows hailed in upon them, and those who received the half-arm punches at close quarters fared almost worse. They got more for their money ! One or two made for the saloon — remembering the bayonets perhaps — but were stopped in the act by running headlong up against the muzzles of revolvers of heavy calibre, thrust almost into their open mouths by the second officer who was standing at the saloon door with a weapon in each hand. They became panic stricken, and the sham-shiu pluck proved useless. Shouting angrily, gesticulating wildly, and con- fronted with immediate annihilation, their animal 76 HITHER AND THITHER instinct told them it was wiser for them " to get," and quickly too, so they rushed helter-skelter for the staircase, stumbling and falling over each other in their hurried retreat. It was the suddenness that saved the situation and caused the stampede. It was no child's game either. Wong Fook was effusive, and was heard to give vent to this melliferous stream : You, you, chee stew, piecey Chinama' Come alon' askee chow ; you speakee li' mandarin, li' tao-tai ! you tink you tao-tai ? Wah I maskee ! you belong alle same dog, bally Englishma' foreign devil ! makee look see, no can tell, perlaps you soon belong dead, sabbee ? You soon kowtow Chinama' you — " This volley was never completed, for away they all fled for'ard, Wong Fook amongst them, and the expectant cargo of emigrants seeing the flight, did not seem inclined to do or say anything. It was simply the tact of the veteran captain with his determined demeanour and quiet caustic tongue, the coolness of the officers following up, and the judgment of the quarter-masters and all concerned, that subdued the disturbance which might otherwise have proved a formidable rebellion. It was a bad defeat for the Celestials — the con- spiracy had failed. Never was the Chinese proverb — " If you are frightened of the shadow of the man coming behind, don't let him overtake you " — better exemplified than on the present occasion. They were glad enough to get back to their own THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 77 quarters to do a little more chin-chinning to their joss, but for all that the whole ship seemed disturbed and untrustworthy. As soon as they realised, on the following day, that a few hours more would bring them to Hong Kong, the firemen struck work entirely, proving that it was not only the saloon boys and a few of the sailors who were aggrieved, but, that there was a universal dissatisfaction amongst them. Nothing would induce the firemen to leave their quarters and go on duty ; they were obstinately sullen and immovable, and it was deemed the wisest plan to let sleeping dogs lie, and not risk a light near the gunpowder. They were smouldering ready to burst into flame on the slightest provocation, so the engineers and quarter-masters quietly and pluckily got to work and did the duties of firemen and stokers, to the chagrin of those on strike, who could hear the engines still throbbing violently, and knew that every revolution of the propeller was lessening the dis- tance between themselves and the land ; what was more, the log was showing a couple of knots in excess of what it had recently been registering. Working on end in the coal bunkers and before the fiery blast of the furnace without relief watches, is not an enviable task, but it shows what cjen will do when they have to knuckle imder. We were soon steaming up the Ly-ee-Moon Pass, and had signalled our condition ashore, and before the usual swarm of sampans were allowed to come around or any of the natives to board us, the tyran- nical Chinamen were safe in the custody of the 78 HITHER AND THITHER European inspector, Sikh and native police, as we swung round at anchor. Two prisoners escaped, one of whom was recaptured almost immediately, the other was at large, and that one was — Wong Fook. He evidently disappeared as the poUce were boarding us, but where he got to was another " Chinese puzzle." Twenty-eight men were eventu- ally convicted of striking work or of mutinous conduct, and suffered accordingly. We soon got rid of our human freight of emigrants, shipped on an entirely new crew and identified them as they came on board from the shipping office, and it was not long before we were well under way, bound for home. Billy was walking about as proud as a peacock in the fullness of his joy, and pleased enough to get another lot of men on, intending to turn over a new leaf, as he had been " hauled over the carpet " in the Captain's room for his behaviour. He was in Arcadia, smiling vain-glorious ! He had, though, the greatest scare yet to come. A couple of days out, when the new sailor-men came aft in the usual way of an evening to receive their rations, who was amongst them but — Wong Fook ! Billy blanched as well he might. The imexpected and uncanny apparition had unnerved him, safe away, as he thought the idola- trous Wong Fook was, on the island of Hong Kong. One of the quarter-masters was luckily descending the saloon stairway at the time and simultaneously THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 79 recognised the old offender ; pouncing upon him immediately he threw and nailed him to the ground with the skill of a Japanese wrestler or a well- trained Jiu-Jitsian, without giving him a chance to carry out his premeditated attack on Billy. From this moment forth, Wong Fook had little chance to do harm for he was zealously guarded, Billy's life being in danger while he was on board. At the first opportunity he was simply put ashore down the coast, administratively, the best thing to do under the circumstances, and so for the third time the cunning Mr. John was frustrated in his evil designs, and although his soul was turned to gall he no doubt consoled himself by thinking, " I stiU catchee chee stew." Small wonder then, Billy never went out East again after that voyage, perhaps the Company did not need his services, or for private reasons of his own he didn't want to meet Wong Fook any more. The better part of valour is discretion. He therefore contented himself with stopping on terra firma for good and all, but continued his big even- ings and his long " pegs," either at his own home or at the nearest hostelry. Billy loved a yarn, particularly when spinning it, and the love romances of old were now replaced by his hair-breadth escapes from the Chinese, and with each " nip " something was invariably added to the tale, and eventually little remained of the original. Billy became an architect — a fiction architect — building up for himself a reputation of heroism and fame, to the satisfaction of his pride, and to the 8o HITHER AND THITHER detriment of his health ; unfortunately the erection of this visionary monument was not entirely per- formed on " small lemons," or as Byron would say : Oh Mirth and Innocence ! Oh, Milk and Water 1 Ye happy mixtures of more happy days ! Billy had a fault — who hasn't ? We all have faults and it is easy enough to criticise the failings of others, but Billy's weakness ended his nautical career somewhat suddenly — perhaps to his benefit, who knows ? I lost sight of him entirely. Good old William ! and often wonder what became of him eventually, and if I shall ever run up against him in the maelstrom of London's surging crowds. I hope so. After all, there are worse men than poor old generous and sociable Billy, for it takes many to make a world, and there is the good and bad in each and all of us, so let us forget his failings, and remem- ber him only as the pleasant, jovial, and obliging " Chee Stew" of those happy and exciting Oriental days. Poor Billy ! "COME BACK! COME BACK.'" Ambition is a quality sometimes undesirable, doomed in the majority of cases to sad disappoint- ment. Far happier is the individual without it, for how few ever realise their great wishes, sometimes life-long ? Speaking of Japan and Ambition, I came across a little girl of that nationality— a little majd pf THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 8l piquant interest, whose great ambition was to marry an Englishman, absolutely, properly, ceremoniously. Poor girl ! She had, no doubt, tried a good few without success up to that time, and when I appeared upon the scene — an untried man — she showered upon me not only flowers, cigarettes, sweetmeats, and other presents, in embarrassing profusion, but also — ^her love ! Her place of abode was near one of the most beautiful of Shinto temples Japan can boast of — the temple of Ikuta, in Hondo — with its splendidly thatched roofs and sundry shrines, many sacred and cryptomeria trees, and flowers ablaze in vivid colours. At first I did not know whether to feel flattered or to reject it all, but as I was then a " grif&n " and she, a pretty little giggling, shuffling, fat dumpling of a girl by the name of O Mitu San, it soft-soaped my sterner feeling and I settled down like a philosopher to the inevitable, without meaning any injustice whatever to this strange and artistically attired wee being of the far orient. She had a nice face and pearly white teeth, quaint ways, and was dressed in gay and lovely colours. Her thick black hair was dressed with the usual precision of her country, and daintily adorned with flower and fan, and as she smoked her cigarette, laughing and politely joking the while, she indeed presented an interesting piece of humanity to gaze upon and a mental spring cleaning after a moral fustiness. Her features told she was but a short time out of 82 HITHER AND THITHER girlhood. She was well educated, and was not of the lower order or Heimin. She spoke fairly good English — pie-English — in the most polite, humble and prettily put phraseology, and was possessed of some wealth, as measured by so many koku of rice. She was probably from the Fudai or successful races, or even Tozama, who knows ? Anyhow, both the above have incomes of ten to two hundred thousand koku. It is ever leap-year in Japan, and so she was far from backward in expressing her eager desires, and would be clashing with you, and bowing many times with hands on knees almost wherever you went. To add to this, invitations were showered on my friend and myself to go to her paper-house to drink tea and feast, where she would enlighten us on things Japanese and generally entertain us. So we gladly accepted the invitation, and soon jumped into jinrickshas, to pay our salaams and do things in true Japanese fashion, taking oft our boots like an unanglicised Jap, so as not to soil the floor matting, and also out of compliment to our hostess. " Tabi " (a kind of sock with separate place for the great toe), or " Zori " (sandals with thong passing between the great and adjoining toes) were offered to us, and we were soon sitting on the floor and being attended to by the little handmaids. Our hostess made herself generally entertaining, showing and telling us much, and giggling as if everything were a huge joke. She even poked her fingers through the paper windows for our special benefit and amusement ! THE SEA ttATH ITS WORRIES 83 A Japanese house, it must be remembered, has not within it what we should call furniture, being innocent of chairs, tables, or beds. Cushions take the place of chairs and a " futon " or two (a sort of quilt) put down wherever space is available or con- venient, is used in lieu of beds. The native mat [tatami) of the uniform size covers the floor, and so the capacity of house or room is measured by so many mats. There are likewise no fireplaces, but the kotatsu for warming purposes, take their place, this being an apparatus sunk down into the floor, with a grating placed over the fire. There is the usual hibachi — a brazier for burning charcoal — from which a light is obtained for smoking the small pipe called a kiseru, which is heard so often being tapped on the ash receiver part or haifuki. The door seems secondary in imporance to enter a room by, for all around the sliding shutters {kara- kami) in the partitioned walls are being constantly opened and shut, gliding figures frequently appearing or disappearing. Japanese people entertain a great deal, and Mitu was no exception to the rule. At all festivities there are the ever-present geisha to sing, play, dance, and make things " hum," so, what with guests in gay silk and crepe kimonos and big obis, and the musumes, these gatherings were not only novel but very enjoyable. The little shuffling maids come in, and, falling down on their knees, kowtow to the strangers, with back horizontal and head bowed low to the ground. Their little fat dimpled hands support them on the 84 HITHER AND THITHER mat while they wait, as they always do, to hear one's wants, before rising. Chow goes on all the time, starting with cakes handed round on brazen dishes [kwashi), and sak6. Then the fun begins. All kinds of food are served, from " raw live fish," as it is termed, to sugared fish, seaweed soup, rice and innumerable other oddities, not omitting confectionery, mandarin oranges and candies, and, of course, the inevitable cha (tea). From time to time one whiff {ippuku) from the little kiseru is indulged in, or a cigarette, then more chow and music [gaku) by the geisha, who play most weird airs upon the samisen, biwa, or koto, followed by a dance — not in our sense of the word though, but rather dumb-acting and posturing, with any amount of fan play. The geisha told tales, too, of the most screaming witticism, if judged by the continual laughter they produced ; so we laughed too for we could not help it. Then there was more changing of sake cups, and games of forfeits followed (kitsune ken) ; the kitsune ken I must say I thoroughly enjoyed — but a piece of mistletoe would have lent a home-like harmony to the scene — but anyhow I managed without it ! Also there were cards (karuta), and a game of chance, termed sugo roku, until it was time for more chow and sake, and later, sak6 and more chow for a change. So the ball kept rolling. There is no limit to Japanese hospitality. Love-making in Japan is far different to that of our own country, but still when I discovered, after initiating Mitu into the English version of kitsune THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 85 ken, that she seemed to take kindly — very kindly to it — and that she was taking the whole matter seriously, and really thought she had " hooked her fish," I regretted I had encouraged her in friendship at all for I regarded the whole matter merely as a passing joke. So forthwith I tried to prevent her wasting further time, so that she might bait her hook further afield. It was of no use, however, and at last it became a perfect — well — I won't be rude to the little lady, but she evidently retained the flavour of that game of kitsune ken and wanted more, for she clung tenaciously to me till I left Kobe for the inland sea, she coming out to the ship's side in a sampan crying, and bewailing : " Come back ! Come back ! " much to the merriment of the ship's ofiicers and my embarrassment. But that is now long since, and she has probably tried her luck again many times ere this. New Japan is so rapidly becoming European, I presume poor Mitu had some idea of furthering her nation's views, and trying to help the scheme by encouraging a new importation of a special line of goods — English husbands — for it was certainly not for money she craved. Regardless of her anglicised views, it was there it ended, carrying few of them out, for she still wore a kimono, shaved the brow, used her chop-sticks, and had not yet learnt to expect chivalry from the opposite sex. But I taught her an English game, anyhow ! ***** One of the most wretched times of my life was 6 HITHER AND THITHER pent on the Pacific Ocean, crossing and recrossing liat vast area. On getting over the first journey (to rhich alone reference is made) and arriving at .merica, the papers were ringing with shipping isasters in various parts of the world, and a long ccount of our passage and woes soon appeared in tieir columns, for just at that time universally bad feather and trouble at sea was pretty prevalent, he run was a bad one, not from what a sailor would ill a " landlubber's " or a " dry land " sailor's ersion of it, for I have been to sea too often to be isturbed by a capful of wind ; but it was the pinion of the officers — all seasoned and hard nuts, very one of them — and also that of the captain — n old Atlantic and experienced sailor. The latter ad never been in more discomfort at sea than at this me. The storm swept the Pacific with unusual y^clonic gales, and we had the full benefit of it being ound from Kobe to Seattle and Tacoma. I am not going to paint, however, a picture of ship- reck, starvation, or cannibalism on the high seas, : give any heightened legendary representation of hat occurred, neither am I going to enter into ^tails of the many troubles that cropped up from me to time, nor lay stress on any personal discom- irts ; but, it is chiefiy of two facts I wish to make a iference. One was a mishap to our big cable tank, hereby we anticipated having a hole knocked in the lip's side and going to the bottom. The second as when three of us got shut off in the after part of le vessel for some little while, right out of touch ith all the others, the hurricane-bridge having THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 87 crumpled up like a bit of paper under a heavy sea, and the iron stanchions bent like slender wire, with the decks awash with the water. We had been up and down the China Coast, in the China, Eastern, and Yellow Seas, as far north as Vladivostock in the sea of Japan, and had seen many places and interesting things. We had been to that Wonderland of the " Rising Sun," where the women do the coaling, filling the bunkers with baskets handed up one to the other, and often with babies on their backs the while, their little heads wobbling about continuously with every movement of the mother's arduous exertions. Yes, we had left the land of the fine pagodas and temples, and chrysanthemum and Mitus, the land where you get into your bath and are boiled alive, and where the distinction of sex, so far as bathing is concerned, is quite ignored ! We had left the beautiful inland sea behind us, and the place where we came quite suddenly, by a hard-and-fast line, into a dense hot vapour coming up from the sea, giving the curious effect and feeling of having passed through boiling water. This was due to the cold moist air on the warm water, condensing it. We had left behind us, too, Vries Island (00* Sima) — a volcano and safety-valve for Fusi Yama — water- spouts, and a hundred and one other interesting sights, but, notably, Japan as we see it to-day with its unanglicised and picturesque little Japs, so polite and charming are those who are still free from the corruption of Western ways. So often in the East there is the little smudge of West. 1 HITHER AND THITHER Now we stare stern reality in the face once more, id awake from that dream of Fairyland. " Come Lck, come back ! " — would that we could. Putting aside a typhoon, we had had some lovely gather, for what can be more enjoyable than lolling Lck lazily in a deck chair under the awning, and loking or reading in these sunny climes, with the a like a lake ; but the rough must be taken with e smooth in an extended vogage like the present — actically tound the world — and the rough came at 3t. Leaving Japan in beautiful weather, and taking a urse well north to lessen the distance across the ide ocean, within a few hours we ran into broken iter and bitterly cold mid-winter weather, and mmenced to heave and roll on the swells almost at e onset. A couple of days out a temperature of 1° was registered on the bridge, and the sky was as ack as ink. Soon, from these confused seas and ntrary winds, we were driven about like a cockle- ell on the water, and heavy waves came thundering )wn on our decks. These gigantic, murderous- oking, and awe-inspiring seas, tearing on from the stance towards the ship causing her to quiver ider their destructive power as the hurricane swept Lst, only gave her time to rally up a bit before !mg succeeded by another and still another onster. We were going across, too, an empty ship, I be thrown about mercilessly before the irresistible ast of the storms. So no wonder we were heavily sured ! There should be a light loading line iforced as well as a PlimsoU's mark, for an empty THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 89 ship is as bad, aye worse, than an overloaded one. In a gale, there is nothing Uke plenty of ballast in your holds and plenty of tonnage under you. For three weeks there were gales without inter- mission, and hurricane after hurricane hurled its force upon us. Seas were continually sweeping the decks from stem to stern, carrying overboard one of our companion-ways to the poop, and anything movable had little chance of remaining on the deck. Niagaras of water were constantly pouring from our ship's bows as we rose on the up-heave of a big wave. The Pacific Ocean was vouched by one and all a misnomer ; anyhow, in winter time it cannot be called peaceful, and our captain substituted the word " terrific " to replace the one suggesting mild, un- disturbed waters. When Magellan crossed it in 1521, he had encountered storms in the Magellan Straits and he fell in with calm weather here, and it was probably summer time, or else the southern Pacific differs materially from the violence of the northern. There is a place in the world where, under certain circumstances, you apparently live a day too many. That is to say, you seem to live a day longer than if you had stopped at home. You live eight days in one particular week. When you return to your own country and friends you can say, " I have lived three hundred and sixty- six days this year," and your twin-brother has only done his three hundred and sixty-five. It you forget to rectify this curious fact, on mark- ing your calendar daily, all future business trans- go HITHER AND THITHER actions would be misdated by you, nothing tallying correctly with home dates. Moreover, you would arrive at your destination on a different day — a day ahead — to those living there. It is a curious phenomenon to go to bed, say, on a Thursday, the 24th of the month, and get up the next day and find it still another Thursday, the 24th — a repetition of the same day and date. There is one way to rectify this, if you are not anxious to have this extra day pushed into your allotted time on earth ; return the way you have come and travel in the reverse direction. You will now lose a day, and by balancing the previous gain by this subsequent loss, you will have cheated " Father Time " in his eccentricity, and are stiU able to return to the aforesaid twin-brother in the same relationship to him regarding age as hitherto. In this case you go to bed, say, on Thursday the 24th, and get up the next day and find it is Saturday, the 26th, thus righting matters again. All this, however, is more apparent than real, and the place of its occurrence is in the Pacific Ocean and at the i8oth meridian. This may appear complicated to those who have forgotten their geographical lessons, but the whole fact of the matter is this : In watching the daily alteration of the ship's clock with Greenwich, you notice time is practically gained going east, and lost going west. Our ship, at the present moment, is going across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Western America, and our accumulated daily gain, in time, is twelve THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 91 hours (as we are going eastward) resulting in the acquired, above-mentioned extra day, " No Man's Day." On arriving at this meridian, we are obliged to put the clock, day and date, twenty-four hours back, as we are still going eastward, and therefore gaining time. The result is, having put the clock back twenty- four hours, we shall now be twelve hours behind Greenwich time, but, as we should have to put the clock on a little every day, according to the distance run, we shaU pick up those twelve hours again, and so arrive in America on the proper day and date. To simplify this still more, consider the world as a circular platform, revolving three hundred and sixty- five times to the year, and if a man were walking on this platform in the same direction as the revolutions (going eastward) and walking once round in the year, he would do the three hundred and sixty-five turns round, plus the one he had walked, making three hundred and sixty-six. This is just what a ship does, and so gains the above-mentioned day when sailing with the world's revolutions. If the man (or ship) is going in the opposite direction to the revolutions, it is easy to see that he does three hundred and sixty-five turns, minus the one he walks, or three hundred and sixty-four in all, or in other words he has lost time going westward. It is interesting to note that : if at 179° E., the ship is II hrs. 56 mins. ahead of Greenwich time. If at 179° W., the ship is iihrs. 56mins. slow of Greenwich time (4min. time=i° long.). 93 HITHER AND THITHER Just here a serious thing happened to us. The tops of our cable tanks got adrift, causing great anxiety to us all, as they could not be righted and made fast in such heavy weather. It was absolutely impossible for any one to go down into the holds ; it would have meant certain death to those venturing, for the limited space would not allow an escape from these huge things rolling to and fro with every move- ment of the ship, and thundering out incessantly like the booming of cannon. At night time it was far from pleasant to listen to, knowing the danger, for had a hole been knocked into the ship's side, the water would have rushed in a torrent through the broken plates, and we should speedily have gone to Davy Jones' locker. The ship's log made a note something to this effect that : the thermometer was registering 48° on the bridge, and tremendous seas were running, with so and so adrift on decks ; ship rolling and labouring heavily, and the log registering barely six knots. Tops of cable tanks in No. i and 3 hatches adrift and impossible to make fast in such a sea. Stores wet, several sheep lost by being washed overboard, and much damage to &c. &c. &c. Extent of damage in No. i and 3 hatches at present unknown. The hen coop had long since been smashed open, and the fowls blown away to sea, and in a similar manner we lost nearly all our sheep, most of them being taken overboard or else dtowned in their pens. But still we thrashed through the fierce gales. When the ship pitched, burying her nose well under the water, with her stem high up in the air THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 93 and the propeller whizzing round frantically until thundering down again into the sea, it looked as if she must dive straight forward to the bottomless deep. The strain put upon the blades of the pro- peller so suddenly again was enough to snap the strongest. Then we would be swept along like a piece of wood in a maelstrom. Loose cargo is never a very desirable occurrence at sea, and when it comes to tons of iron rolling about in bad weather, all excuse could be made for the " Old Man " if appearing at this time of emergency to bully everyone and to volley out a few strange swear words now and again in his stern commands, all heedful for his beloved ship. For three long nights the skipper was on the alert, anxiously listening to that banging of metal with metal, and waiting events as the tremendous solid iron circles were tearing back- wards and forwards across the hold from side to side with every lurch, crashing and thundering to and fro and giving a distinct vibration throughout the whole ship. All this time the Chinese crew were battened in the fo'c's'le utterly scared. They had been washed out, and their little shrine, with the tiny porcelain tea-cups for the offerings, was sent flying, and the punk-sticks, always alight and smouldering, were totally extinguished and floated about in the water ; a big wave had thunderously burst in upon, and washed them out. The fear of the " evil one " was in their hearts, poor, cold, miserable, washed-out Celestials. John Chinaman, it is said, is never in a hurry, but the first time the shrine got displaced proved an exception to 94 HITHER AND THITHER this rule. It was an ill omen for them and many were seen rushing to prevent the disaster. The climax to everything came at last. The hurricane or fly-bridge now got smashed by a sea dropping directly down on it. The hurricane bridge is a narrow but thick footway rigged high up on stan- chions, reaching from the captain's and chart rooms on the boat-deck to the poop, and is the only available method of crossing from one part of the ship to the other in rough weather, as the fore and after decks are practically under water. The chief and second stewards and myself were thus shut off from the others. There were some rough seas washing over us, bow and beam, and the wind was howling and shrieking, making the megaphone quite useless. Forward they had some stores in the galley ; aft we were well supplied in the pantry, but could not get a fire or anything cooked or obtain a hot drink, however, we remained iron-hearted though sorely tried. It was not only the fo'c's'le that was washed out, but the second steward's and my own cabin were both flooded. Water found its way down the companion staircase to the saloon, and gushed up from the bathroom tearing down the alleyways between the state-rooms. Moreover, there was a leakage in the port-holes and our bunks got swamped. During the four days we were incarcerated it was useless to undress or take off our boots, and as the mattresses in the bunks were soaking in a foot of water, we had to lie on our respective settees, cramped up, cold, and continually beine shot off. THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 95 The linen locker was also flooded out, and so there was no chance of getting any dry blankets to wrap up in and keep ourselves warm. To our surprise the ship suddenly turned round and steamed back at half speed before the wind for a day. The stupendous seas were too much for our little craft, and, quivering for a moment after the force of a broad-sided wave had hurled its force upon us, we would creak and groan and our engines throb laboriously. It is seldom a ship cannot face the head-wind. The strain to the propeller and engines was very great, and we were doing only a knot or two in the hour, so the captain decided to steam back, for a while anyhow, which we did. Now we were better off in one way and worse in another, for we com- menced to poop dangerously, although the rolling tops lurched over and got fixed below, causing a big list to starboard. By pooping is meant a following sea falling and thumping down on the poop with great violence, and if too heavy it may cause the ship to founder, pushing the stem under water by sheer force, when the stem would rise up and the vessel dive backwards into the depths of the sea for good and all. We were now heeling over 55° with the funnel trying to kiss the water and shipping a good deal, to the inconvenience of the engineers, who were having a bad time of it down below. But the poop- ing was remedied by once more facing the head- winds, which were now lessening considerably, and we managed to struggle into port " all on one side," 96 HITHER AND THITHER to put it in ordinary language. The wind had been dodging all round the points of the compass, the tempestuous weather had moderated considerably, and we three, " by our lonesomes," could at last once more come up on the poop deck and get a mouthful of fresh air. The fly-bridge got patched up temporarily, and communication between us all was once more established. The weather altered to torrents of rain and light- ning ; to sleet, hail, and blinding snowstorms in rapid succession, but with moderation in the sea — a welcome change. The temperature was 22° F., and the tons of snow we were carrying increased our list for a time. The officers, standing behind the dodgers on the bridge to avoid the blinding snow, absolutely could not see any distance in front of them, and oakum soaked in paraffin had to be placed round the frozen whistle and set alight to restore it to working order again. The blasts on the sirens were going continually every few moments throughout those black, dour days and nights. The tanks were attended to and made fast, and, as the weather remained as good as we could expect it, our troubles were at an end as we sailed along, a phantom ship with long Icicles aloft hanging from the rigging and snowy ice-coated decks alow. There were several injured men on board, from scalds in the engine-room, to one very severe head injury to a Chinaman, who was hurled into the lee-scuppers by a Itmge of the ship to starboard, a big wave helping him on. Our chief at the same moment received a THE SEA HATH ITS WORRIES 97 bad sprain, compelling him to turn in for a day or so. Struggling on and running south we hugged the coast to Vancouver, and, sighting Cape Flattery, a boat hove in sight, the first seen of any description during the entire passage, and this was but a small sealing schooner. Panting into Port Townsend, our first stop after three weeks and three days at sea, being much overdue for a twelve-knot boat — we heard a " protest " had been made by the owners of our ship, i.e., an extra insurance — speculative insurance — put upon her owing to bad weather, and the fact of being overdue. But we cared for nothing, now that we could put foot on terra firma again, although only for a couple of hours just then, and, all hilarious, our spirits went up like a column of mercury under sudden heat, and we once more lived in the superlative. Port Townsend is the quarantine station, and our new crew of sixty-nine Chinamen was bathed here £ind their clothes disinfected, as we had recently been in a plague-stricken district. Our ship, too, underwent thorough disinfection, and, this process finished, we were soon steaming down the Pudget Sound towards Seattle and Tacoma, the end of this part of our journey. There were bears about in this locality of snow- covered mountains and pine trees, which are occasionally seen from the quarantine station on the opposite side of the cul-de-sac. Later on, far out beyond Mount Tacoma, one day I suddenly walked almost into the very arms of a fine black bear, and at the moment two men were jumping out of their 98 HITHER AND THITHER cart to have a shot at it. A report rang out immedi- ately, and bruin rolled over a corpse, the bullet entering the brain between the eye and zygoma. I helped the Americans to haul the bear up into their cart — no easy matter either, as he was a fine heavy fellow, weighing close on 500 lbs. — and drove back to town with them, sitting on the top of his body with its soft black fur. Fond of sport as I am, with British instinct, I almost felt what a pity it was for that beautiful animal to be lying there dead, which a moment before had been wandering naturally at large. But perhaps it may have been a matter of sour grapes. I had no gun with me, unfor- tunately. A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES It is astonishing how an English boy has a strain of the wanderer in him, and adventure is so often in the day dreams of his school life, and later, perhaps, these wondrous visions do come off to the few, unsought or even then wished for. The unaccount- able often happens. A whole life may be changed by a small incident, or perchance some cannot settle to a humdrum city existence riding in the same train daily to and fro ; others crave and seek for the freedom of the wilds, mayhap in answer to some long dormant instinct inherited from savage fore- fathers, calling them as it does out of the midst of the turmoil of modern civilisation to hark back and live once more the free and unfettered existence, and be subject to none in body or soul, save Nature. To break away from a monotonous past or unsuitable calling, to do anything and everything ; and still others, it may be for a " big reason " that compels the man to flight, to escape the justice of the law. All are met with in turn. Each year finds many quitting their own country, some fading from very existence and leaving their friends and all in total 99 100 HITHER AND THITHER ignorance as to their whereabouts, finding their way for different reasons and under different circum- stances to all parts of the world. It seems strange ; but it is so. Some are downright good fellows, some are bad, and a few trying to thoroughly redeem the past. Even in the worst, the better side is so often seen oozing strenuously through the bad — the helping of a " pal " in adversity, or the risking of life to save a stranger, or even a drowning dog. In some there is much of the brutal instinct and devil, as there is some good and God in them ; yet there are again others whose feelings are absolutely devoid of all that is nice, decent, and humane. I should not say this however on the face of the words : " There's so much bad in the best of us and so much good in the worst of us, that it ill behoves any of us to find fault with the rest of us." There are men, neither thankful for their creation, preservation, nor anything at all for that matter ; the world has gone hard with them and they care little for life, existing solely for the moment. They know not what to-morrow may bring forth, and this fact no doubt accounts for their dauntless courage in moments of danger, as in war. How often the " shining light " ! of a good English family, or the dare-devil son of a parson it is, who comes out of the fray without a scratch, and even with distinction ? They have charmed lives apparently, perhaps because they hold it so lightly, and naturally many of these have curious histories A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES loi as we shall see later on in one of the peculiar characters I have rubbed shoulders with, called " Every-Time." Before dealing with this man, let us dwell for a moment on a few others taken collectively from the rim of this life's gigantic wheel, material enough, for those sufficiently interested, to study our fellow- creatures whilst prowling about here, there, and everywhere. Let us go out eastward. Of course the " ne'er-do-weel " of the Far East is easy enough to " spot," the constant habitue of the European clubs, sponging on his friends, living by his wits. He is of little interest, however, and no one cares a tittle who he is or what becomes of him. Sometimes, indeed, a subscription is raised at the club to pay the passage out of the place of one of these extra troublesome, though maybe, genial offenders : no more chits are accepted from him as he is already much in arrears, so he lounges about until some one is found to stand him a drink. Even if he has to leave for a while, he is sure to turn up again sooner or later, and, strange to say, is received cordially by old friends with many handshakes, chipping, and hearty laughter at the return of the apparition ! There is also an Englishman out in the Orient marked on my mind, a degenerate, shunned even by his own countrymen. I could never see the reason for this, unless, perhaps, he had sunk too low in the social scale for much notice from any one. His history was a sad one. He had been a European inspector of police, and fell into disgrace for shooting 102 HITHER AND THITHER four Chinamen in a serious riot — serious and dangerous for him who had to subdue it. The act was exaggerated by the fact that he had had a peg or two on that particular day and was not " quite" as he should have been whilst on duty, but otherwise he was known as an exceptionally abstemious man at that time. The authorities, who by the way were not in the danger of the flourishing knives, considered the action unwarrantable — or perhaps not, who knows ? — but it meant a big bother resulting in a ruined life through red-tapeism. Dismissal, want of money, and now too much " liquid damnation " as he expressed it, brought the ex-officer to his present position of loafer in a foreign land, " fairly down and out " with little chance of a fresh start turning up. It made one's blood boil to see this once brave fellow, cringing to, and being prevented from entering a low-class drinking saloon by a swaggering Creole proprietor, whose own career would not bear the slightest investigation. We took that poor degenerate temporarily under our wing, to uphold the Englishman's — I can hardly call it dignity — smarting under an uscrupulous black tongue, and to spite the tar-brushed, vagabond who had accumulated so many dollars : He entered that saloon as our guest ! What Enghsh club, whether it be in Kobe, Hong Kong, Shanghai, or elsewhere, has not its legend of some one or other whose identity is never known, or only rudely guessed at by some unexpected incident or incautious remark. The colonist return- A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 103 ing to the Old Country if meeting any of the exile's friends is very loyal, and never so much as hints he has ever met him, and religiously respects his undoubted though unspoken wishes. Just for one more moment let us jump over to Western America — the Wild West. Everything there seems to begin and end in a saloon. There are white men's saloons where the boss, in those days anyway, had the genial and friendly knack of shooting quickly on provocation ; but order had to be maintained, I suppose. There are also nigger saloons where it is infra dig for a white man to drink, but I have, however, I blush to say, entered to see the fun. Whilst nuzzling into every nook and cranny in the Western States of this gambling and speculative country, object lessons in physiognomy, phraseology, ideas, and other racial diversities are abundant enough, and it is a strange experience to be in the company of a man or two from the parched-up, rocky, imperfectly governed country of the Bad Lands,vAi&rQ all professional outlaws and desperados find refuge, the locality of those who " hold-up " trains, raid banks, plunder and shoot men indis- criminately. We will now walk into a scene where a few of these undesirables collect, e.g. a low " whiskey joint," a den or a " dive " where the miner, gambling sharper, hobo, and others of that type can be seen. We conclude our lesson in human nature is better shown up in such places than at a church parade on the Lees at Folkstone, or even at a cock-fight in the 104 HITHER AND THITHER Philippines for that matter. There are certain parts of the globe where it is better for a man to control his tongue and not quarrel unnecessarily, as we shall see under another heading in these notes — " When Greek meets Greek." In an assembly of this kind where views are often diversified — listen, but keep quiet ! In such places are intermingled petty deceptions, crime, treachery, and the paltry sins of the ordinary offender, some appearing to boast and even take a morbid pride in the enormity of their wickedness, and their shrewdness in evading the law, so making themselves the greatest of their class in these divinities of hell. The lives of these men were rough indeed, and their conversation and conduct matched their lives. Their yarns were told in the most emphatic and in- elegant of language, backed by a stream of the most finished profanity any mind could give birth to. Glancing around from face to face, there are the various expressions noticed derived from a hard and tough existence, from exposure to sun and all weathers, to privations and the struggles and " ups " and " downs " of life ; some wearing the appearance of the weather-browned and stained wanderer, here to-day and afar on the morrow — a very mixed crew indeed, though, doubtless, some good as well as bad. There were sailors, a hobo or two, a few outcast, forlorn-looking individuals, thieves, and, probably worse ; sun-downers with their swag, and American gold diggers with their " liftings." There were lumbermen too and others of that type, all drinking A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 105 and smoking and laughing, yarning and gambling, and the bulk cursing together. These were not the sort of men who would dream of a soft answer to turn away wrath, nor would they expose the other cheek to the smiter, but still — all God's creatures. But enough of this colloquy. It is of another assembly of quite a different nature, and to one man in particular I wish to refer, partly because of the suspicion attaching to him, and partly on account of the curious life he had led. He flashed down among us like a meteor, dazzling and causing much speculation, and was gone again as quickly and as mysteriously as he came when the place became too " hot " for him. " EVERY-TIME " " Every-Time," so nicknamed by us owing to his frequent repetition of these words in a broad, nasal, American twang, sat on the left side of the chair, the night I had the honour to be elected Master of the Ceremonies to a cosmopolitan " smoker " of a very bohemian order. It was held at the Bridge Hotel, Estcourt, in Natal, during the Boer war, and was one of those re- markable, albeit informal demonstrations of good humour, even to rowdyism towards the end, seldom if ever seen at home. The company consisted of some regulars from various regiments, troopers of Irregular Horse, Natal Police, a civil guard or two, a refugee or so, and a few bearded rough diamonds hailing from goodness only knows where. io6 HITHER AND THITHER A particular friend of mine, whom I had got to know out there, and whose patronymic, confirmed by his brogue, showed his more than evident Hiber- nian extraction, was also much in evidence, and helped the chairman in his arduous duties. The one peculiarity of this Irishman, who was living a hermit's life at Willow Grange, looking after a few miles of rails on the then single line, was to quote and spout Byron whenever he had the chance, and which was seldom appreciated by his restless, though polite listeners. " Every-Time," however, was the centre of attraction this sing-song night, and a mystery that even daylight hid. He was supposed to be a trans- port rider, though the authorities were strongly of opinion he was a spy, and, although they had no ground for an immediate arrest, were watching his every movement. The account of himself and his recent doings was accurate enough, though his words made a sinner of him, for I now believe he lied on those points. It must be remembered that during war time it is no easy task to get through the lines or from place to place, and it is useless going to a station and asking for a ticket without a passport or permit to go down to the base of operations, even if smart enough to slip by the various pickets on the line of communication. Scouting and spying are attended with many risks, especially the latter, and a man must have nerves of iron as he knows full well his fate if caught. " Every -Time's" gymnastic feats of oratory under A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 107 the ordeal of severe cross-examination and a battery of questions made a trapezist of him of the highest skill, as he would swing away from the topic of his stern examiners with ease, grace, and cleverness, leaving his hearers in a confused state of accurate vagueness as to his doings. He forced them to swallow absurd inexactitudes with their ravenous appetites to get to the bottom of it all, and, although very suspicious, they had no grounds to arrest him there and then. They would wait, watch, and make inquiries. " Every-Time," was a man declining towards the evening of life, perhaps sixty-five years of age ; very odd looking and thoroughly sun-browned, wearing an overshirt belted to corduroy knee-breeches, and thick-ribbed stockings and shoes ; a shock of tangled hair showed under a large Boer hat which latter caused some comment as to how he came by it. Answers to everything he had, though. His battered, hard-bitten face, lined and seared from climate, the uneven days of a curious past, and the ulcerous ones of the present warfare — for he had undoubtedly seen active service on one side or the other as shown by some recent wounds — was a sight to look upon. One eyelid was drawn down and everted, with a blocking of the tear duct which caused the eye always to be watery, or tears to flow over the cheek on the affected side. When first arriving at Estcourt, he scanned the faces of all eagerly. He was worn out, furtive, and had a hunted look, the living symbol of a man with blood-hounds on io8 HITHER AND THITHER his heels, and seemed sadly haunted by hunger and want. After a beer and whiskey baptism, he soon re- covered, did this old sun-scorched son of the soil, whose path in life had been very rugged. He was thoroughly " salted " though to the roughnesses of life. Ever on the alert, and the possessor of a mine of all-round knowledge, he was the essence of shrewd- ness and repartee, weighty with good common sense, and teeming with any amount of laugh material. His schooling had been the world, his study Nature and human nature, and he had certainly reached the high-water mark of thoroughly understanding men and their methods. His capacity for liquid (not from the teapot ! ) was astounding, and he never refused a drink ; he took in a store whenever he could I expect, and might compete with a camel, or a cactus turning itself into a kind of cistern. His brain when unsteeped with alcohol — and even when it was — was clear, and sharp, and subtle. On the evening of which I write, the orgies were soon in full swing, and towards the end of our impromptu concert a more riotous gathering it would almost be impossible to conceive. It was war time ! Men had come down from, or were going to, the front. All were bent on having a good time. Some of those present might be under the turf in a day or two ! Unfortunately, some form of savage debate is inevitable at such meetings, but, withal, a company of women could never achieve at a hen party, or a bun-struggle, that camaraderie a body of men like A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 109 these fellows can ; but it requires a skilled and even frolicsome pen to justly describe it. The chairman's duty was to collect, announce, and call upon the numerous artistes in turn, and our programme was freckled with much variety, not only in talent but in kind. Songs with choruses of " rag-time " music were the big events of the evening ; some very witty comic songs were forthcoming, and a few recitations both good, bad, and indifferent. In the expansive conviviality of the entertainment, offers of help were not hard to obtain, although the bulk were but listeners, sitting, smoking, and kicking their heels in idleness. Our Byronic friend, of course, had a turn or two, but he did not succeed in bringing down the house with rapturous applause, any more than did one or two " stars " of the evening — social silhouettes shewing far above the human horizon of this motley crowd. The audience, strange to say, though sorely tried in these ordeals, possessed the soul of patience, and listened quietly to these cultured fellows. There were no rude remarks to discontinue — even to Byron — ^not much in their line ! One trooper of the N. P.'s, for instance, rendered " On the Banks of Allan Water " with as trained a voice as one might expect to hear in a London drawing-room. Drinks, naturally, were soon flying about, and the conversation teemed with episode between the songs. The chairman had terrible difficulties with his drinks. This official had to bow politely and accept all the numerous offers proffered to him, and manage, no HITHER AND THITHER as well as he could, to induce the Kaffir boy in waiting to get rid of the barely sipped fluid in the confusion of attendance and the mingling of many glasses ; as the evening wore on, this was easy enough. The Kaffir boy eventually suffered very considerably from the effects of my unswallowed drinks. The curious stranger was, of course, invited to drink with all and sundry, and " every- time " was always the prompt reply ; likewise when called upon for a song, " every-time I will " he blurted out, and he kept his word, for as the whiskey was warming the lining of his heart, he would get up unasked, and burst forth with his one song, " Take you home again Kathleen" regardless of the interruption of any other performer. At first roars of laughter greeted this breach of etiquette. Clop ! clop ! clop ! heavily sounded the chairman's hammer on the table to proclaim order, a small broken-short knobkerrie, and events would proceed quietly again. But when at last the interruption became too frequent, poor Kathleen herself got much abused, and a profane but sometimes excusable syllable which wrathful men are apt to give vent to, was hurled at her most ungallantly. Amid many deep-throated murmurs, a silent rugged man with a walrus moustache, sitting alone in a corner, neither spoken to nor speaking except to give violent applause when any gifted songster pleased him, roared out in a leonine voice ; " D Kathleen, shut you up now, Every-Time." " Every-Time " for once only smiled superior and took a long pull at his nectar of life, He was always A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES iii witty and mirth provoking in his repartee, which made him loom large in the public eye. His first attempt at the song I shall never forget. It was so successful that he sought further applause evidently, and not a few were as surprised as myself at the rendering, given so softly, musically, and with such great pathos. It was really quite a haunting melody, and so unnexpected from his lips and whiskey-burnt throat. He brought the house down more, possibly, because it was he, this semi-branded being, than from the splendid rendering of so sweet a song. Every-time became quite a catchword at Estcourt with one and all after this night, and the originator eventually gained for himself a niche in the hall of fame there. This kind of entertainment goes on for hours, and the chairman had frequently to call the house sternly to order with his knobkerrie, and glasses would jump and jingle, but the bulk present respected and helped him in his somewhat difficult task as the hours wore on. Here and there a man was getting a little talkative, somewhat worse of wine ! Then the crisis of the evening came. A burly, over-bibulous man hailing from Spanish America, and working as a civilian in the place, discussed politics rather too loudly in an unlicensed, bacchic privilege, for men will do and say anything when in drink. He was adverse to many operations in the conduction of the war, but politics and opinions at such a time were dangerous topics and now gave " Every-Time " a good chance to distin- 112 HITHER AND THITHER guish himself and gain further favour with the crowd — maybe it was a mere buttering of ^read, but the brilliant idea dawned upon him like an aurora borealis, and forthwith he put it into immediate practice, while it was hot. He boomed forth at the speaker in full applause of our Government's actions, amid many " hear hears," and every one banzaied with the bushido of a Jap. He spoke fluently, fervently, and with good sense did this eagle-sighted viator, in spite of the cargo of drink he had succeeded in stowing away during the evening, and which now and again made itself apparent by bubbling hic's above the flow of his eloquence. " The English nation was never so great as in (hie) in adversity," he said, " it was not the mere yap — [hie) yapping of distressed puppies a foe has to contend with, but quite solid action — " and so on. He hit the right nail on the head with Mr. Tommy Atkins. If he were a spy, his tactics were splendid, disarming the doubts of his identity with a good few, though not with all, for many were disbelievers ; a sign from heaven would not convince some of them. He was gaining favour, however, all round. " What the devil do you know about it, you bally Boer spy ? " yelled the burly one whose foul soul the waters of Jordan could never cleanse. The leakage of views was out ! It was a bald declaration : It was intended to enwheel " Every-Time" into a severe court-martial and searching analysis by the rank and file of those present, but the web was too flimsy for this old warrior to be entangled in. " You A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 113 ought to be shot on sight ! " added the bull-necked civilian as an after-thought. " Every-time," was the prompt, curt, and deep- mouthed response, more emphasised than ever ; then a flood of emotion seemed to sweep over the veteran, and he sprang to his feet of a sudden. The remark had unexpectedly touched him to the quick, and blood in his arterioles sprayed his temples and face with the crimson of wrath. " You degenerate, unmuzzled, snarling mongrel, you," he cried, " is that your Spanish-American method ? If you're so darned smart, and have the courage, call me out at twenty paces with your shooting-iron, and do the dirty killing yourself — for I'm your man — every-time — every-time ! " For a while the pulse of life stirred faintly, and things looked a bit drab. We all felt we were fast watching the birth of a tragedy. It was a Kalpa period as in Hindu chronology, and annihilation seemed imminent for one or the other. Public speculation was buzzing assiduously as to how it would end. Some sipped their whiskey in expecta- tion, or as an antiseptic to the unparliamentary debate that followed. " Every-Time " recovered his composure and vented his spleen in a volley of the most lurid profanity on his enemy — a hard glitter of scorn and cynicism on his countenance. The angered burly one likewise sprang up, and the two men eyed each other with lethal glances for a moment, evil and wrathful in mind. " Ructions" seemed imminent, for each had insulted the other terribly ! 114 HITHER AND THITHER The contretemps was like a stormy petrel heralding a gusty time, and in this atmosphere of mirth there was a sudden unwonted silence — a calm before a storm — and the situation had to be quickly and severely handled, and those would-be combatants parted, or big trouble would undoubtedly ensue. At a time like this, quarrelling is infectious. There is often a party siding, and a general faction fight quickly follows. As it was, it could be seen, some were in favour of one, some of the other, and were already discussing it between themselves. A good few, true, were neutral tinted, but the uproar was growing in volume and intensity. I would not dare to harass the reader with the speeches of those two men for obvious reasons ! A whirlpool of fierce anathemas was forcibly breathed forth ; hundreds of words were covered in a few moments. Verbal fireworks started from here and there, and Chinese crackers spit out their sharp retorts all down the table. There was going to be a big thing on. The shadow of a rope loomed up dark in the back- ground of some one's existence. The chairman was clearly the man to handle the situation, indeed was called upon so to do. The strangest possible result followed this savage debate — more terrible than has been one-hundredth part conveyed through the omission of those fearful words of profanity — especially, coming as they did from two godless, infuriated, and fearless men, not likely to be easily intimidated or restrained. The chairman had to brawl out vehemently and with determination to stop the harangue, and with a per- A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 115 emptory — " Silence ! there," the formidable little knobkerrie dropped, with vicious thuds, many times during the cheap oratory which he felt it incumbent upon him to blurt out at the risk of much mud being spurted. However, it had to be done. I spoke the best I could, and the gods know I am no public orator. I was in a quandary. I would say anything, keep talking and hold sway. Having gained time by severity, I would try and appease anger by softer methods, and I racked my brain for the blessed ray of a little side-issue, and it would be better to prick them with a sharp-pointed bayonet of ridicule than to "go for" them and hit too hard with a heavy knobkerrie of prejudice. Luckily I had warmed both hands at the fire of life, and understood the temperaments of the men with whom I was dealing, so I buckled to my task, appalled at first by the overwhelming fury of the enemies, and possible results. To my profound astonishment every one listened to what I had to say, even the two fire-brands, so I stuck to it and tried to weather through. To gain time was important. Sometimes a change of topic will turn the deluded brain of a madman from his troubled thoughts, so it might here cool the ardour of those enraged. I would apply the theory and chance it. Eureka ! it was answering. First there were a few " hear hears," then a ringing laugh or two at some extempore bluff, and at last a demand to " go on." Things were becoming quieter, and the turgid-faced men athirst for blood stopped their yelling at each other. So with the effrontery ii6 HITHER AND THITHER of the evil one I continued. Of course appeal was made to a few of the troopers of the N.P.'s to help to maintain order, or negotiate in the usual manner any over-turbulent gentleman if he went too far, with a suggestion to those who wished to quarrel that " they were perfectly at liberty to do so, and go out- side in the compound to blow off their enraged feelings, or else sit down quietly and allow the rest of us to enjoy the talent yet to come." " Patriotic speeches," I said, gradually swelling with importance, " like women arousing the good- nature in man, are often stimulated through the stomach, only in the one case it is food and a little gentle persuasion, and in the other, liquor and anger. The woman's remedy might do a little good here just now ! " (Laughter.) I was gaining confidence, " The spirit of the Englishman," I continued, " was the same to-day as it was yesterday — he does not like to hear anything detrimental to his country (a knock at the burly one, and a presumption " Every- Time" was a Britisher); "the spirit is the same to-day as it was yesterday," I repeated, " whether in patriotism, sport, or club meetings — it's whiskey!" (uproarious laughter), "but sometimes an overdose of this British spirit is very unwise ; it has a tendency to make some of us too unreserved, to say the least of it, especially on these sing-song nights." Surrounded by glasses as I was, and pointing to them with a laugh, I explained, pathetically : " Although almost a teetotaler myself, except when A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 117 with friends, which was fairly often ! I am not exactly bigoted on the drink question." Incidentally, in order to keep up the dignity of the ■chairman to the more sedate non-commissioned officers, I fear I rather gave myself away, in a sense, by suggesting, " I was responsible for the morals of the Kaffir boy in waiting, who, I had just heard, was lying down in the stable near by, helplessly drunk, and talking to himself in broad Scotch ! " A tempest of applause followed my remarks, apparently baffling the fury of the frenzied men who had been hurling such venomous abuse at each other, and the row was strangled at its birth. " Every- Time," fearful of sinking under on the perilous quick- sands of accusation, and perhaps not without some artfulness, bowed to the rulings of the " chair " and apologised for the interruption in his peculiar vernacular, delightfully frank and open. This action was appreciated all round. He of the bull-neck, whose phraseology was particulary lax, and who hugged the smart of defeat, felt bound to follow suit ; but the two men nodded to each other as if to say, " this business can be seen to later on," and growled inwardly, seething like boiling cauldrons. Bull-neck, with his brass mouth and iron lungs, would have the last word however, and, murmuring with a savage glint in his eyes the while, said : " any- way he is a bally rogue," to end up the subject and have the last smack at Every-Time. " I return the compliment, old sport," retorted this man in the rough, with an angry smile but quite a little cheerful, sparrowy chirp in comparison ii8 HITHER AND THITHER to the raucous croaking of his opponent — turning a little testily, as he did, to reply. I rounded off these last insults with the honeyed sarcasm : " Well, gentlemen, on that point I will not dispute either of you ; possibly both of you may be right in your surmises ! " So the stormy whirlwind turned into a ground swell, and the topic was cast off like an old waistcoat. I have seen all sorts and conditions of rows in my time, but never one so quickly and curiously terminated. The entertainment was immediately resumed, and my Irish friend began a stanza ; while on the other side of the room, some one, rather dull of eye and husky of voice, thinking his turn had come, pro- ceeded to hiccough a piece of nervous prose with deep feeling and pathos. Bull-neck, to atone for his sins, suggested he should give us a Scotch song, and forthwith thundered out ". The Wearing of the Green ! " and " Every-Time," not to be outdone, got on his bandy legs and commenced his sole repertoire — " I'll take you home again Kathleen." As the curtain of midnight had fallen some two hours, and the clanging summons of the gavel, to order, was somewhat losing its effect, the evening was brought to a close, and after the customary thanks to the chairman had been proposed and seconded tumultuously, and a little more regaling had been indulged in, the crowd commenced to filter out of the room. As to how the row would end I was left dimly wondering. A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 119 Mules outside the hotel were whinnying to call their white owners who had strolled in and stayed so long ; waggons drawn by large-horned trek oxen, which had been pulled up by their Kaffir drivers attracted to the scene by the sounds of hilarity, moved on ; and Bull-neck, unhitching the reins from the rail, swinging himself into an old saddle on the back of his weary, sad-eyed, lop-eared pony, trippled off. " Every-Time " confided in me, and asked if I would take his arm as he went across the compound to his room, for " he was as sober as a judge in his speech, but as drunk as a lord on his legs," he said. I did not doubt these statements when we got fairly to work. He did not want the lads to know he was bowled over. As we crossed the open space a splash of moonlight was silvering the compound, and I acted as his " guy " as requested, he leaning on me like a flying buttress for support. We gybed over now and again to starboard, and then, after a lurch, went full speed ahead, like a ship in a heavy sea cleaving through the waves. He would give vent to " cussings " at every lurch, and I would have to mollify and sooth his inflamed feelings with poultices of soft and encouraging words. The place was soon as deserted as the dead cities Chitor and Amber ; and few I think would require anything further to re-establish the recurrence of their sleep functions this gala night of song. At meetings of this kind, there is human nature unrestrained ; all kinds and conditions of men are present. Some quiet, sober, and world worn ; others 120 HITHER AND THITHER saddle-weary and war-stained ; the young soldier and the seasoned veteran. Some one with iron humour is bound to be there, and in this case a couple of fire-eaters. Anyway, at such times and under such conditions, one must nod excuses for a good deal, even if sick, sorry, and sore, and you have the satisfaction of knowing some of the finest of England's men were present that evening, fighting for their country's weal and honour, and, even if not the highest in rank or the richest of men, had hearts like steel, and true, reminding one of the words : " It's no in titles nor in rank, It's no in wealth like Lon'on bank, To purchase peace and rest ; It's no in makin' muckle mair It's no in books, it's no in lear. To make us truly blest. " If happiness hae not her seat And centre in the breast. We may be wise, or rich, or great. But never can be blest. Nae treasures nor pleasures Could make us happy lang, The heart's aye the part aye That makes us right or wrang." * * * " Every-Time " rewarded me for the little help I had given him by hob-a-nobbing with me whenever he got the chance, and instructed me on matters local, and told me something of his life, short as the time was I knew him. A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 121 One fine morning to the surprise of all, and proving himself too smart for the authorities who were about to arrest him, doubtless scenting trouble and not desirous to be caught on his own hook, he had dis- appeared as though the wings of Mercury were attached to his ankles, but not before borrowing from all and sundry, victimising some to the tune of a good few shillings, and, of course, left his hotel tariff ignored and unpaid. He saw a beacon-light of liberty before him, so cleared while he had the chance. It does not require an artist to paint a town red, " Every-Time " had done so ! He left us to crack the nut ; he had already ex- tracted the kernel, and probably got all that he wanted. Hf * * " Every-Time " had gone ! I could not forget him. Except for certain things, he was a man of my kidney. I liked, and was half sorry for him. He had carded his life away. Yet, if he were a traitor, what could be worse than treach- ery to one's own country ? For of English birth I discovered he was. I had hoped the surmises were a mistake. If he were caught he would be shot, not that he would fear to meet death, he had never done so in all his dangerous career. I could picture his fearfully deformed face, and quaint figure, standing in defiance before the firing party, and as they were curling their forefingers round the triggers and taking aim, he would shout at the very last in ridicule, " I'll take you home again Kathleen, every-time— every — ! " and with the unfinished sentence on his 122 HITHER AND THITHER lips he would drop a senseless mass. I felt confident, too, all the bullets would not reach their mark. These thoughts of his treachery changed my mind and spoilt him in my eyes. He had seen and done much in his time, and put it to no good account. He was a sort of gem, of a certain class, as hard as a diamond, and requiring another of his kind to make an impression or be even with him, although he had cultivated the part of a man's life to do a kindness when in his power. He did not agree that gratitude was a virtue of the educated and cultured alone, and was opposed to Dr. Johnson's statement, " You do not find it among gross people." He had himself done many good turns in life, indeed he was a curious mixture of opposites. A rogue, yet a decent fellow ; uneducated, yet a learned man in a sense ; unrefined, yet with the instincts and views of a gentleman inherent in him — and a fighter to the backbone. He was doubtless a man of the present tense ; he lived only for the present, tried to forget the weary past, and had no belief in the future. It was while prowling along the roadways, " Every-Time " con- fided much to me. He had never spoken of his past to any one, but unfolded a good deal of it knowing I would hold sortie of it sacred. After my pledge never to reveal his parentage, the wealth of India or the proverbial wild horses would not drag it from me, and I would not break that seal of silence ; suffice it to say, what he conveyed dumbfounded me. As quite a lad he left a splendid home, and was lost to his people, suddenly and for ever, which history A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 123 is my secret unfortunately. His aliases and nick- names were as varied as his career and as many as his years. His surname he had never used, and was rather uncertain as to one of his Christian ones. By now he has probably joined the majority, and his identity will never be known. Though culled from the best, unnurtured, except in his very early days before leaving home and getting across to America as a stowaway, he started on " his own " in the cold shade of neglect, which doubtless sharpened his wits and spoilt a character which should have been a noble one. " What's bred in the bone " showed itself so frequently, and, regardless of this self-upbringing and rough life, the lamps of his better nature had not entirely burnt out. What he had seen and read he seldom forgot. Hence, times and often, he had to " step-lively " when down on his luck and crossing oceans of difficulty ; at other times, of " green goods " (bank notes) he had had his share, and now at the sunset of his life, he got shipwrecked down here in Natal with signs of broken health, evidently hard up, and in danger of his life. He had well-nigh finished a hard and profitless existence; it should have been quite otherwise. Said this old philosopher — " You know the Arabian saying that there are four things that come not back — the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected opportunity ? " He paused. " Well, well— I've had all these things to regret. I've cursed a dying man, my greatest regret, but I atoned by giving the widow all I had at the time ; my arrow has sped, and I cannot withdraw it, for I 124 HITHER AND THITHER have shot a man or two in my time, in self-defence and in war anyway — a sniper I would never be ; my past life won't bear criticism, and my opportunities I early threw away ; but let us bury that part of my history, I've told you — keep it ! " And momen- tarily we grasped hands, his confidence in me being deeply entrenched. After landing in America as quite a boy, and having an unhappy time and many ordeals to go through, doing a bit of tenting (travelling-circus life) as a start, he found his way from the frontiers of civilisation to the West — the Wild West, the land for an adventurous spirit. He decided to tramp, or " bum " as it is called, his way across the States from the Atlantic coast, and this he actually did in the orthodox manner, jumping trains when he got the chance, or, after earning a bit at odd jobs on the way, buying a railway ticket at a reduced rate through the " cut-rate " ticket agency, or one partially used, and often feeding at a " free-lunch " counter, where a meal can be had for the price of a drink. After this tramp he became a young hand in a quartz-crushing plant, then cowboy, and many the days he had had to round up vast herds of cattle, " cutting-out " the steers from the main herd on a brute of a " crow- hopping " bucking broncho or one that was always " pitching " or a bit of a " twister." His gait told his early and long connection with horses, a saddle- weary, semi-bandy, side- to-side waddle had he, like the well-known ostler's walk, though a badly mended broken leg exaggerated his peculiar pro- gression. He was an adept, and could wield his A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 125 stock-whip with skill, governing his mob of cattle with it like all cowboys ; could cook and " shoot his tucker," catch and break in a horse, throw or hobble him, besides the other duties as branding and so on. He then turned miner Dawson City way, and at Klondyke a few of the " boys " formed a syndicate to raise the funds to work a claim, but a man from the Bad Lands, armed with a power of attorney, ' ' jumped " the claim, sold it off-hand for a good round sum, and bolted. This turned the tables for " Every-Time." Coming South, broken in heart and pocket, he and another lived for a while in the wilds. The vastness of these " parks " cannot be grasped by those who have never seen them, for they are thousands of miles in extent. Seldom is a man seen. In those days there were no rangers or Government officers to look after the valuable timber. A forest fire swept them out. They rode for their very lives. I do not intend, however, to attempt to go into details of this curious man's adventures — it would take a volume. I am giving an outline of his career, simply to explain the kind of man in whom I was interested. This latter terrible experience led these two men to go " snaking " (dragging logs out with a chain and a team of horses) in Assiniboia, and logging with the " swampers " (trail cutters). They had lived with their friends the trees for so long that they had the inclination to do so again in pastures new. I have seen somewhat of the lumbering industry 126 HITHER AND THITHER in the States myself, and can appreciate the meaning of the life. After lumbering in all its stages, " Every-Time " in turn was a Red-Indian fighter, fighting the Sioux Indian in North America, became a member of the Prairie Police, then Chief Inspector of Police in town, called Captain in America, where he had many a " ten spot " given him (ten-dollar bill) to shut his eyes to certain transactions. He left the police, perhaps had to, and his down- fall rapidly began. He tried stock-raising, and speculating with no good result ; joined with men of inferior calibre, and spent most of his time in gamb- ling hells and lost " vurry, vurry quickly " what tidy sum he had made and saved, " but man, alive, that's nothing, I've heard the same yarn of men doing like- wise in France and Germany, Monte Carlo, and even in Kingdom Come for that matter." It was, how- ever, a trite reflection, and it guillotined through his mind quickly enough, dropping right out of sight into the grim sawdust basket of " confounded ill- luck," as he called it. He got mixed up with some big gambling affairs at Raw Hide Peak, Wyoming, associating with some of the shrewdest men on earth, and some of the greatest rogues. From a life in God's open, with friendly rivalry in " busting " with the cowboys, and the grit, loyalty, and esprit de corps of the Prairie Police, he degenerated into mixing with men of the great clearing house of the West — the Bad Lands. Pulling himself together again he helped to subdue with the troops a revolt with the Navahoe Indians, A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 127 went to the affected areas and fought with distinc- tion. It was then his face was wounded, and through inattention disease of bone set in, the origin of his terrible deformity. Once more he commenced to swim again, and to rise to some distinction. He saved the " Overland " from being held up, although it drove him from the country* He heard of the plot late one night in a gambling hell, left suddenly, and rode for all he was worth, a distance of some fifteen hours in the saddle, to the next station, where they could tele- graph the information down the line. It was a feat alike for horse and horseman. The train was due the next night with a haul on board. Police and military came with the train, and greeting the marauders with a volley, saved the robbery from being effected. Two were shot dead, several wounded on each side, four caught, and a few got away. " Every-Time " forthwith was a marked man, for he was present at the affray, and they knew who had given them away. They remembered his leaving the den. He received from the authorities two hundred and fifty dollars and a watch. The money soon was spent, and the watch was sold, and all he had to show of past deeds was the letter acknowledging his services in the name of one of his aliases, kept in a waterproof letter-case which he wore inside his shirt. Had " Every-Time " remained in America, he would have been shot. He was not in the least 128 HITHER AND THITHER perturbed, but he thought he would live a little longer, which, under the circumstances, would be impossible there. Crossing the continent as best he could, and he knew how as well as any one, he got on a cattle boat bound for Liverpool, " the worst job I ever struck " he said. He did not desire to be a day longer in his own country than he could help, although it was very unlikely that he would be known now. He had altered a good deal ! How he got over to Africa he did not say. Striking an ostrich farm, he worked on it for a while, but his restless spirit took him over the Karoo into the Transvaal. He had fought at Majuba Hill with conspicuous bravery under the British flag, but later was known to President Kruger, and from that period his history is sadly wanting, and I could not get it from him, but there is no doubt he was hanging about Pretoria, on and off, for long periods. Such is the brief and incomplete outline of his doings. We were introduced to him as a transport rider, or Boer spy, which ? And at this time he had been many years in Africa. On being asked by him, during our chats, if I had ever seen the Indians drowning their gods at Umgeni, it was now my turn to tell him about something he would much like to have seen. In those days it was a huge panorama and spectacular performance in magnitude. There are, as we know, many Indian locations in Africa. On this occasion they came from far and wide ; it was an event, a long-looked-for event, and the good folks coming all in their best, plodded on for miles, almost A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 129 incredible journeys, a pilgrimage in fact, to get to the theatre of this drama and to witness the beating and drowning of the gods. Crowds upon crowds came along with the pagodas, figures stood on the hills in gorgeous brightness, masses of splendid colour; and what with a sky above of perfect blue and the glaring South African sun, it formed a dazzling picture of burning flame and fire. Hundreds upon hundreds were upon the hills and on the road and by the river, a display of gorgeous silks and vivid colours, and with the exception of a few mounted European poHce and scattered civilians, not a white face was to be seen. It was a scene of colour, the only term appUcable. If a crimson shade of silk, it was not a half-hearted crimson, but a brilliant, sparkling, radiant shade of its kind. So with yellow, red, purple, scarlet, and green, in fact of every chosen colour of the piece, whatever it may have been. The women folk, too, were bejewelled in profusion, with broad, massive, silver bangles on the arm and smaller ones as wristlets, huge earrings, diamonds, or other precious stones in the wing of the nose, and rings both on their hands and on their feet. The men wade into the river beating and drown- ing the gods, and the ceremony is over. To a European, the interesting feature is the gorgeous procession and the countless multitude of people. * * * Wandering up past Fort Durnford one day, I came across " Every-Time " sitting down by the roadside smoking his pipe. He accompanied me on my errand, and communicated many matters in I30 HITHER AND THITHER connection with scouting. For instance, he told me all about horses' hoof-marks indicating the direction the animals had taken, whether coming or going, walking, galloping, cantering, or tripling. Likewise, he gave me much information about native foot- prints, showing the speed of the Kafi&r, whether he had been rimning or no, and as for the various animal imprints marking the species, his experience was extensive and detail precise. Habit in these matters makes one familiar with them, and, in a measure, the old transport rider (he once had been a transport rider to our Government, hence I will still honour him with that title for the present, as he has not yet been proved a guilty man) reminds one of the savage tribes whose livelihood depends upon the accurate knowledge of wild animals. Their hearing and eyesight are so keen that the approach of an animal will be discovered long before we should ever dream of its proximity. In this respect, the old transport rider was quite a savage. Every broken or deranged bush, stone or twig has its meaning he told me, the footprint indicating the kind of beast that has passed, and when ! Difficult indeed to a novice. The various trees and plants were pointed out by him, including the cancer plant used in the Transvaal as a cure for that dire disease. As we journeyed forwards, we knocked a fair-sized hole in an ant-heap, and marked its position so as to recognise it again on our return in four or five hours' time. " Every-Time " bet me the hole would then be sealed up. There are many of these white ant- A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 131 heaps studded about. They are not mere mound elevations, but are large enough to take cover behind, as our men did on some occasions during an engagement. They stand about three or four feet high, and in some parts of Africa are very much higher, even to giant pinnacles. On our return, sure enough, the destruction we had made was all but mended ; these busy ants had immediately set to work and had nearly com- pleted their task. I lost the bet. They are clever Uttle things, these white ants, and work with definite purpose and design. The ant-heaps are useful in many ways to the camping-out man, and can be utilised as cooking-stoves. The inside of the nest is first of all scooped out, leaving an opening or doorway, as to a hut ; on top of the heap, holes can be made to receive cooking utensils like a kitchener ; one hole is reserved as a chimney, and, if possible, fitted with a small funnel, and a handy little stove is thus made. It was during this walk " Every-Time " referred so much to America, and, among many things, spoke of a subject, perhaps too morbid to relate, and, yet, we all know it has, and does happen. I will give his narrative in his own words as far as I can remember them. " You, yourself saw to-day, stranger, that woman seated on a form with her two daughters to witness bloodshed. She had brought that form from within her house for the occasion, so as to sit and be comfort- able, and thoroughly enjoy the slaughtering of a pig ! She meant to have a good time of it, judging from the plgasujre depicted on her countenance, and whilst 132 HITHER AND THITHER the Kaffir cut its throat, she and her daughters sat smiling and laughing and gloating over it, and were sorry when its terrible squeals got less and less, fainter and fainter, until they ceased. They stopped the whole afternoon for the cleansing and dissection, though that to them was not half as enjoyable as the fun of witnessing the awkward Kaffir struggling with the fat pig, and jumping aside when the blood spurted, letting the animal loose and having to chase and get another dig at it when and where he could, for Kaffirs are slow and none too humane in these matters. " Does that elevate that woman and her daughters in one's eyes, even a woman of her mean class ? " he asked slowly ; " it may have been only a pig, but it's the idea." I thoroughly agreed with his sentiments. "I'll be bound to say," he continued, "that if there was a bull-fight in London this very day, there would be heaps of smartly dressed women struggling for places. When executions were public not so very long ago, we know that women strove to witness them, and paid large sums for the privilege of a good position. We read of ladies anxious for a balcony or window to see a guillotine decapitation, and even going to one of the most gruesome of sights — an official garrotting. And yet, we associate some of these women with sweet, loving dispositions, and an abhorrence of anything coarse, vulgar, or horrible, and expect them to shrink in awe from these kind of things as is decent and becoming to any woman of culture and refinement." A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 133 " Every-Time," I thought, you are a curious mixture, and yet how true your words. " In the States," he continued, " I've seen as bad or even worse* Once I saw a crowd of women gathering to see six negroes hanged on an oak tree at Hemphill, Texas. There had been a race- war going on for some time, and owing to a white man being killed at a negro dance, the fury of the whites was let loose and six out of the lot were brought to justice. Not contented with this, they broke open the prison doors, brought out the culprits and hanged them near by. " Barely had the ropes been put round their necks and they were hauled up taut, than zpt ! zpt ! and a score of shooting-irons riddled their bodies with bullets, and death was instantaneous. They probably deserved their fate, but can you imagine men, much less women, burning a negro at the stake ? Cer- tainly it was in hysterical anger and hot blood, and all were a rough lot, men and women, and the feelings against negroes at that time was malignant, for again a racial warfare was raging. The women were as ener- getic in arrangements as any, piling up the faggots, and witnessing the sight better than the men after all, and the worst part was they had done to death the wrong man — a poor innocent black who was a Christian. The criminal had meanwhile fled and was never caught. The offence, of course, was the usual. " It was the month of the year's death — Decem- ber. As this young negro — for his features told of some twenty-four years — was hauled out of prison 134 HITHER AND THITHER by a furious mob, hustled to the place of execution, selected on account of an old upright iron girder cemented in the ground, he struggled like an ox for his liberty ; I say ox, for is not this animal the symbol of force ? and he was young and powerful. As he was roughly forced along by a few full-muscled men, the crowd howled and hurled at him anything handy ; heavy blows were levelled at him from fist or stick, and blood flowed from his head and face. Men laughed or swore ; women spit upon him, shrieked in hysterical anger, stamping their feet and shaking their fists, and hissed out vehemently clamorous blasts of curses on his head. "Lynching just then was getting too prevalent, and had I been the President I would never have rested until I had severely punished those who actually took the law into their own hands ; this burning was one of the most atrocious acts of blood- thirsty cruelty that even savage men could adopt, much less a supposed civilised population. " The wretched man, standing on a couple of feet of faggots, was bound to the stake by a small chain attached to the upright, and the young woman with the more than half-imaginary grievance against a black, uncertain as to correct identity as it even- tually turned out, was allowed the privilege of first setting light to the bundle of branches and twigs. " What an honour ! What a revenge ! " They became ignited for an instant — there was a belch of smoke — but even with the help of four or five torches the imperfectly dry wood would not burn A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 135 up properly. This necessitated fetching something inflanunable from some little distance, prolonging the suspense and agony of mind to the terrified negro. Many scuttled hither and thither in the vain hope of securing something quickly, noisy and quarrelsome like a lot of Indian crows. " One over-impetuous old hag, who had with her a smaU bottle of paraffin, went and poured it over his head and set light to it. There was a flame and a little smoke curling up to the hushed heaven. It was a degrading and ghastly scene. It was useless for him to protest that he was an innocent man. Had he been properly tried, he probably would have got off, as the evidence against him, or any one else either, was thin, for blacks are often much alike, especially at night-time. " The crisp woolly curls on the supposed culprit's head soon burnt out, leaving a peculiar smell of burnt feathers. The blood on his cut face was drying up in crusted lines, the paraffin smarting badly, and the temporary flame which passed over his face caused much pain. At last the oil came, and was poured over the man and wood, and again a lighted torch was applied. This time it lit up freely, and a bvirst of applause rang out as the flame and smoke ascended. So dense at first was the smoke that it cloaked the central object, but as it cleared, and tongues of flame leapt heavenward, the figure was seen in the lurid light with hands clasped on his abdomen, for he was tightly bound, praying to God. The dusk of the late winter's afternoon was crawling on the murkily lighted scene, exaggera- 136 HITHER AND THITHER ting the intensity of the bonfire glare on this dark, dour day. " It was a scene of hell ! " The noise and shouting and laughter fell off as the shrieks resounded again and again, and finally the crowd was sunk to silence. " You ask, no doubt, what I was doing not to suggest a bullet to end the awful sufferings. Man alive ! in a seething mob like that, you are helpless ; nothing but an earthquake would dislodge them, a bullet would not satisfy their ravenous appetite for revenge and torture. One man, kinder than the rest, slowly sauntering to the flames, would have stunned him with a thick stick had he been allowed, but was promptly ousted and kept out oi the way with abuses. Those piercing shrieks, again and again, seemed to make some of the most brutahsed men shrink from their task of stirring up the embers, and replenishing the fire with wood, but the women worked away with a will with their long sticks, talking excitedly the while, inhahng the smell of burning wood and flesh — the smell of a live burning man ! — and hearing the appeals and screams of anguish without a pang of remorse. " The time that man lived on was awful ; the work was improperly performed. Rapid shock he evidently did not suffer from — an almost incom- prehensible vitality prolonged his agonies. Slowly he burnt to death ! Sick as I was, I looked again. I can see him now with the large whites of his eyes looking through the smoke like some unnatural being, and curled lips showing his large pearl-white A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 137 teeth as even as peas in a pod ; it was a hideous, staring grin. " At last his head fell forward on his breast, thank heaven, he was dead ! When the fire had burnt itself nearly out there was the grim sight of a figure — a human figure — the charred remains of an innocent man, chained to the upright, and there was an exodus of people going to their homes, contented, I suppose, that they had witnessed the burning of a man ; and the wrong one ; for the authorities had made a discovery. I was too sick to do anything other than drown my feelings in plenty of rye, but the nightmare remains with me yet. When people heard with stunned surprise that the wrong man had been burned, never did I hear a single comment expressing regret at their inhuman act. Such doings are neither good for mind, body, nor estate. They could kindle the fire, but could not kindle back to life that wretched negro ; nor did they seem to care. How silly to be surprised at anything in this life," said the tender-hearted old philosopher with the rough exterior, pausing after his tale, " but it is a tragedy of truth." * * * Barely had he finished this gruesome tale when a Zulu despatch-rimner came suddenly upon us. Crossing the shallower part of the Bushman's River, jumping from stone to stone like a chamois, he unexpectedly caught sight of us as he landed on the bank. He had got through the lines as we afterwards heard, in and out of the besieged Lady- smith several times — a feat of great daring — and 138 HITHER AND THITHER the distance he had covered was enormous ; his speed and staying power were equal, if not superior, to the South African tripling little pony. His black skin aided him, and under cover of the darkness he would creep along and crawl on his stomach like a serpent, unnoticed through the Boer lines and trenches ; his physical strength and know- ledge of the country and every donga enabled him to dodge the pickets even if a long detour had to be made. A bullet had whizzed past his head more than once. His fate, if caught, he knew full well, and yet, marvellous to relate, he had got over Bulwana Hill within a short distance of where " Long Tom " kept spitting out at the town until dislodged from its lofty perch. He had hidden for hours under the sand-bags on the banks of the Klip River before able to get clear, and once had passed through Cronje's laager imder the very nose of the enemy. On seeing us he halted up suddenly, as if imcertain for the moment how to act. We put up our hands as a signal that we wished to speak with him, for we wanted to know if the further side of the river was over deep, as we should have to wade through, and we had not seen him negotiate this part. Across his shoulder was the strap of a small despatch case, and he carried in his left hand a formidable knobkerrie, and two or three assagais. Ever on the qui vive, an assagai was taken into the right hand. Was he facing friend or foe ? And although comparatively near his goal, the part was A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 139 very secluded, and he did not expect to see any one about just here. " Every-Time " spoke to him in his native tongue, and tried to inspire confidence, but he was not to be caught napping, nor did he in- tend to palaver with us either. His menacing attitude kept us at a distance, and he stood there defiantly like a lovely carved muscular statue, head erect. On our attempting cautiously to move a pace or two nearer to him, " Every-Time " explaining our need, this fine, upright, black, perspiring figure poised his assagai ready to let it fly, circling round us terribly on the alert. These Zulus are deadly with their weapons. Had we moved another pace towards him, one or both of us would undoubtedly have tasted the feeling of a spear passing through the body. Discretion promptly helped us, and stopped him from " seeing red " and " eating us up," to use Zulu war expressions. Before we could realise it, he was away like the pro- verbial streak of greased lightning, thinking possibly our intention was to decoy him by stratagem into a snare. " Every-Time's " Boer hat may have confirmed his suspicions. Dogs have instincts to know their friends, and sniff out their masters by the special sense of smell. This black curiously enough may have smelt out a foe, like a Tagal or a Peruvian Indian can do by this acute and exalted function they possess — who knows ? " Every-Time," I dis- covered, had a "shooting-iron " hidden away beneath his thick corduroy breeches, an unusual thing for a man in his position, just then anyhow, but I thought 140 HITHER AND THITHER little of it at the time. He admitted he would much like to have seen if the runner would have shown his papers, and seemed annoyed that the " sUly fool " was not more amenable to gentle persuasion as he was well in bounds of his friends." I sometimes think, had I not been there, he might have seen those papers ! A mouse for caution, a ghost for invisibility, they say ; the clever De Wet for elusiveness, and this Zulu runner for the triple characteristics of mouse, ghost, and Boer leader combined, to say nothing of his loyalty to the British nation by the strenuous efforts and kilhng pace to speedily deliver the missive entrusted to his care. On our way back the conversation drifted to cannibahsm as he had seen it at Babila, practised, not merely for the sake of food as it often is, but also, in order to acquire the good qualities of any warrior, famous for his bravery and skill, by eating him after a tribal fight. He had witnessed also the sacrifice of wives of deceased men by strangulation, or by being actually buried alive with the husband — a kind of suttee, as it were, of Hindu widows immolating themselves and being burnt on the fimeral pile of the husband ; customs, after all, are very similar in different countries. In the East of Africa they have a curious method of deciding if a man is mad or not, as stupid a proof as the "trial by ordeal" for guilt. The suspect is killed and tied to a tree ; if animals eat A FEW OF GOD'S CREATURES 141 of the body, or birds peck at the flesh, the surmise is considered to have been correct. Killing the person seems to matter little if the suggestion is proved the reverse. In trials by ordeal, a poisonous potion is given to the one, or many supposed criminals. If death ensues it proves guilt, survival innocence. " Every- Time " had also seen in East Africa the muganga or medicine-man, who is aU powerful with his people, but now, the progress of Christianity weighs heavily on his wicked mind. He gets information from the milungu or gods, invokes magical assistance, shakes his mawizi vigorously, and abstracts a host of good things from his patients by his wily ways and the credulity of the people. But what weighed most heavily on " Every- Time's" kind heart, was the Portuguese bartering for slaves, for in the Congo, the native looks upon children and wives, too often enough, as a ready means of obtaining wealth, and hence the idea of family ties is practically nil. He spoke of these practices as " most pathetic," and coming from this rough old bunco-steerer, and, knowing what he had seen and done, showed that a sympathetic nature was stiU lying dormant in his soul. This was why I liked him. This was why he was more than a brave man to me ; how often do we find cowardly natures with instincts the reverse — liking to witness pain, especially in animals, gloating over their slaughter, but when in pain themselves bearing it so badly. * * * " Every-Time," you have gone from Estcourt ! 142 HITHER AND THITHER Where, I wonder ? We all wondered that, the authorities included ! They would like to have known, I think; but you wiU long be remembered by a good few memories . Good-bye, old " Every-Time," you have those who are in sympathy with you, except for one thing ; but you are old and worn and have had a strenuous life, and been the habitue of undesirable places, and have not had the guidance of good friends, or the comfort of a woman's care — and all this must influence and harden somewhat. It is a pity, one so brave and tough and hard as you have been, that some of your kind actions in life, and social relations for obvious reasons, are left unrecorded, whilst the worst part of your hfe only is rmfolded, and that you should have sunk in the grejoiess and weariness of hfe, broken in health and pocket, to the most heinous of crimes, but I think England will survive your treachery ! Had you, " Every-Time," been rescued years ago before the fatal " too late " knell was sounded, you would have been a man worth the knowing, instead of a shattered fragment of broken humanity which now no social influence could ever mend. If you escape arrest, you will be buried by those who so little know your life, or who you really are, and you will pass quickly into oblivion. The little piece of paper you carry in your wallet, ready for the inevitable event — whatever happens — will incorrectly inform those concerned in the matter, the uninteresting fact, that your name for a brief epitaph is simply — "A. T. SMITH." ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA Our ship was lying in the Bay of Naples, that treasure city of Italy, with its many associations of the past. The old Greeks founded their colonies in the vicinity, and the Romans, who conquered them, buUt their villas. Cicero, too, wrote here, and again the interest is aroused and centred in the tomb of Virgil, and it was also at Naples that Nelson was introduced to the bewitching Lady Hamilton. We would loll in our rattan deck-chairs, enjojdng our pipes, and watching the smoke issuing from the volcano which buried Pompeii, Herculaneum; and Stabiae long years ago. At night-time in the harbour the lights of the little boats flitting about, and the mandohne music being played by the occu- pants as they rowed along, added to the enjoyment of these balmy starUt nights, and induced a feeling of general contentment. A troupe of musicians boarded us and played most exquisitely during our dinner hour. The Violins with their tremor and soft slurring simply spoke, the mandolines were played as I have 143 144 HITHER AND THITHER never heard them played before — so soft as though all on harmonics — and the rich mellow notes of the ribboned guitar, together with the picturesque " get-up " of the players, gave just that element of romance to the whole surroundings. They were all Italians, save one, a handsome Spanish girl, who danced, and played on the castanets. Dinner over, we all went on deck to enjoy more music, and the usual weed. " Buenas noches, senor," said this good-looking, dark-haired Spanish girl with rich complexion, large flashing eyes and long black eyelashes, speaking more than lips dare utter perhaps. Holy godfather ! no wonder we were all keen and made a fuss of her. Dare I suggest she was a bit of a flirt, though ? She was certainly not " fast," as we understand that term, simply what I should call a little bit " rapid," and very charming. The modesty that usually sits so sweetly upon the music-hall artiste or strolling player, was nattirally there, but then she was so decidedly handsome and quiet — so refreshing after our disappointment in the beauty of the general run of Italian girls we had expected to find. And yet, with this coal-black hair and lustrous dark eyes, with full and somewhat cruel lips, the whole expres- sion was quiet, and even cold, when not animated. " Passion in repose, passion in repose, old man," said Smithy, our fourth, who was rather inchned to romance. " I can imagine what aspect it would assume if aught occurred to break the calm," he continued, " but, she's a darned fine strapping ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA 145 wench, anyhow ! " breakmg out in his usual sailor- like strain. "• Don't offend her ; a bull-fight would not make that girl sick." The music just then struck up a charming waltz which proved too much for my itching feet, and ask- ing the Spanish lady to favour me — " Gracias Senor Ingles " — we were soon gliding off to the strain of the most lovely and dreamy air possible. This started the baU rolUng, and many rushed to their state-rooms for their dancing pumps. Our fellows buzzed round that girl like flies about a honey-pot. Lookers-on see most of the game they say, so Smithy and I took up our position, and watched the bewitching way in which she dehvered the Spanish expressions apparently taking such effect on her partners, although, to the uninitiated they appeared to be composed of a large element of swear-words. Of course they weren't, but, as I don't know the lingo, I am not in a position to say definitely. " Canajo Diablo ! " is called forth as her em- broidered panuelo is accidentally torn from her shoulders. " Santos ! it is all right, senor ; gracias, gracias. Santo Dios ! you no trouble, please ; it is nothing." And as you sit and smoke, bits of disconnected sentences are caught now and again, as she waltzes by to the enchanting sound of the music. " Caramba I " laughs the little woman, as she is evidently explaining aught of the dons. Altogether the maimer, the mantilla, the fan, the eyes, the lips were all so fascinating to watch, but ultimately, I discovered the bewitching senorita of Spanish blood 146 HITHER AND THITHER was endowed with some Yankee intellect and repartee, thus somewhat lessening the charms of romance. Our fellow-creatures are of many denominations, creeds, and morals, but the bulk seem to swear ! " Caspita! " she sneeringly remarks : " The men, senor, are never true. All the same they are, they love always the new face, they tire of the old and deceive. If my husband he would deceive, santos y demonios ! . . . ." and she volleyed out a stream lost as to a literal translation, but doubtless implying terrible forms of vengeance. And so the evening went on, until the troupe of musicians after collecting a little pile, having what refreshment they wanted, and generally being fussed, departed. " It is adios — until we meet again ! " and I didn't think then that the next meeting was to prove an awkward predicament for me. " Adios, mi caballero. Good-night, senor ; good- night, all ! " and so our dance party came to a close. * * * Smithy and I had been " doing " Naples pretty thoroughly, what with the museum, the many chiurches, cathedrals, and the ruins of the temple of Serapis at Pozznoli, including the Catacombs, where the bones of the dead are lying practically on the surface of the earth, and in cofhns are laid a princess, a couple of generals (five hundred years old), and a cardinal, all having been thrown in carelessly with uniform or clothes on, the latter with the actual rope round his neck with which he was hanged. ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA 147 But far and above them all, for interest, is Pompeii, the " city of the dead," bubbhng over, as it is, with thrilling and dramatic incident. There we had seen this Roman city of nearly two thousand years ago, with the Temple of Venus standing identically in the same place and sur- roundings as when the last sacrifice was offered up. We were thinking how the lapili and pumice-stone (incorrectly called cinders) came pouring down from the bmning crater and buried that city. There are yet parts of it still to be disinterred, and the history of the place tells us that Pompeii and Herculaneum were being buried while the people were in the theatre, and the skeletons of many of them can now be seen covered with lava in the museum at the entrance of the city. We were discussing the many points of interest, and particularly the Amphitheatre with its seats for twelve thousand spectators, and we were seeing mentally the brave gladiator falling in the arena, and the lion or tiger emerging from the original entrance into that vast ring towards the miserable criminal, or may be Nazarene, waiting to be pounced upon. We were stretching our imaginations greatly, and seeing the netter or retiarius fighting his duel in the arena, and the bestiarius and the bold gladiators displajdng their skill and shewing their manly courage, courting death or slaying an opponent, as coolly as the sightseers took their places for this awful but imposing spectacle. 148 HITHER AND THITHER Smithy would then quote Byron. " I see before me the Gladiator lie ; He leans upon his hand — ^his manly brow Consents to death, but conquers agony, And his droop'd head sinks gradually low — And through his side the last drops ebbing slow From the red gash, fall heavy one by one, Like the first of a thundershower ; and now The arena swims around him — ^he is gone." ^K >!< * It was too late for dinner on board that night, so Smithy and I were making for some place where we could stay the " inner man." As we walked along the crowded thoroughfare, watching the very noticeable foster-mothers riding so luxuriously alone in private carriages, decked out with conspicuous gold-knobbed combs in their hair, we talked still of Pompeii with its Temple of Isis, this one-time rage of the Roman ladies, used both for worship and none too seldom for their amorous intrigues. The wicked old priests, though sworn to chastity, were notorious for indulging in all kinds of debauch- ery and licentiousness, and hoarded wealth by work- ing on the minds of the ignorant behever in this Egyptian deity. There was ample evidence of these many vices practised at Pompeii, from gamb- ling with cogged dice to morals we won't speak about. Smithy was giving me an art lectui'e,.and enlarging upon how the Greeks revelled in the perfection of proportion in their sculptures, and how hving and moving they seemed, how beautifully graceful, with ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA 149 that buoyant life and natural play of drapery, when, all of a sudden, a well-dressed, daik-eyed woman bowed poHtely to us. It was the Spanish girl — " Santa Maria " as we had christened her, owing to her frequent repetition of these words — who, but a few nights before, had touched so many hearts. She was not in her war-paint with her castanets, as we saw her on the ship, but in mufti. For the moment our hearts beat faster, and mine a good bit slower later on, with despair. Smithy, with the politeness of a Spanish cavaher, proposed she should join us at our meal. Santa Maria readily accepted the invitation, and we almost wished some of our shipmates would see us with this well-set-up, neatly dressed, quiet girl from Spain ; it would be a kind of crow over the others. One does get so childish at sea, where but very Httle things seem to please. At dinner she refused all intoxicant drinks, and we, only thinking this good nature on her part, or that her palate might be more adapted to her own particular class of wines, pressed her more than we shoidd have done, and unwittingly led her to foolishly partake of that to which she was not accustomed. A humble vermuth and seltzer could do no harm we thought, and later on we were sampling corifinio, of which Santa Maria also partook. This corifinio had a most disastrous effect on Santa Maria, so we considered fresh air outside, the bset antidote. 150 HITHER AND THITHER In Naples they say corifinio is very intoxicating, and I might have beheved it from the effect on Santa Maria, but Smithy, however, disproved this rule — in practice ! We emerged, supporting the lady on either side, and got as soon as possible out of the glare of the most frequented streets, finally arriving at the Piazza Municipio, where Smithy found that he would have to hurry up to get back to his ship for duty, Santa Maria had, meanwhile, been getting more and more hopelessly drunk, and by now couldn't stand a bit, so we two had to sit in the public square alone. Luckily it was getting late, and but few people were about just then. It was a tight corner for me ; an awkward predicament. My shipmate had to go, and here was I, left alone with a senseless figure. Telling her to pull herself together was as fruitless as the remark was absurd. There was Vittorio Emanuele the Second, perched upon his monument staring at us from above. What was I to do ? I could not leave the Senorita alone, for I had helped to make her drunk, I could not stop where I was, at that time of night, with an inebriated lady, for there were many who might pass by and know me, and my hitherto good character aboard might suffer. People are so evil-minded ! Two Neapolitan policemen soon spotted, and planted themselves immediately in front of us. Then they commenced to stare. That was distinctly rude and annoyed me ! They stood still and glared, then they spoke in a tone, too, which I did not like, so I told them to go to ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA 151 — well, never mind. They preferred cooler climates, evidently, and stuck to us like leeches. Then they jabbered away to each other like monkeys, and the younger of the two, a violent enthusiast, kept pointing to us with his finger, doubtless urging our arrest, the other wondering if it were feasible. I could see they did not intend we should remain on the seat where we were — ^me and my immovable figure — ^with such vitality of expression, such a natural play of drapery as Smithy would say in reference to the Greek sculptures — the attitude, the grace, the pose, all imitating so essentially the Greek feeling of the Greek artist. I could see it all. I had profited so much by Smithy's tuition ! This model was now posing before his Majesty, Emanuele the Second, for a study to be called " Helplessness," and she took the part well. The police still looked oil and growled. If I left poor Santa Maria, to seek some conveyance to get her away — where to I did not know — she would get locked up by the sulky police and be disgraced. If I stopped where I was, her husband would, in all probabihty, soon come along to seek her, and, although I have been shot, I didn't want to get knifed just then, and in such a cause too. Things were getting to a climax, when salvation came at last. An American man-of-war's man came airily along. He stopped, looked at the bobbies, looked at me. " Say, pard," he said, " I guess she's got enough rye in her hold to put her well below the water line." I assured him it was not the quantity but the quality that had sunk the ship, and after yarning 152 HITHER AND THITHER to him about Uncle Sam's Territory, Mount Tacoma, and bear-shooting, porterhouse steaks and cocktails — subjects so irrelevant to the occasion, but anyhow having the desired effect — Jack became most amiable and we steered the corifinio-logged craft down the quay. No boats were available except the one from the man-of-war, so good-naturedly he rowed me and my freight alongside our ship. Two quartermasters and Smithy were soon hang- ing over the side of the ship, hearing us come along, and ran quickly down the steep gangway to help poor Santa Maria on to the deck, where she was stuffed with coffee and all kinds of antidotes, and generally fussed by stewards, of&cers, and every one around. Smithy and I had, of course, to bear the brunt of all this, evil beings that we were ! Anyhow, some hours later, poor Santa Maria recovered, and was put ashore in our own boat. There are some places in the world which I have no desire to revisit ; too fever-stricken, for instance, or unsuitable for a Britisher in many ways. Now — I include Naples as one of these undesir- able places, for I might return shortly only to see the tomb of Santa Maria keeping company with that of Virgil, for I expect her husband killed her when she got home for being away so long. And she had given me her castanets, too, as a remembrance of Napoli. This showed her loyalty to her husband, or she would have put it much more prettily and enhanced their value, but — it was before that corifinio, or I might not have had them at all. ON THE TURBULENT SEA OF JEALOUSY " Alas I the love of women ! — It is known to be a lovely and a fearful thing, For all of their's upon that die is thrown ; And, if ! — 'tis lost — life hath no more to bring To them, but mockeries of the past alone." :|< * * It was my wont to mizzle into every nook and cranny when abroad, often resulting in seeing what otherwise might have been missed by the casual observer or a hasty globe-scorcher on his rapid tours. At times one learnt much ; at others, saw things which were indelibly burnt into the mind ; and in the following sordid romance, my calling was my open sesame — grim and sad as the spectacle was — and enabled me to gather the full details which are here recorded. Alas, the love of woman ! — it is known to be a lovely and a fearful thing, and in this instance it was the fearful and lurid. * * * Giacinta was a beautiful Neapolitan brunette, a creation beloved of the artist, with rich complexion 153 154 HITHER AND THITHER and a wealth of black tresses ; large eyes had she, with exceptionally long curved lashes which had a mesmeric influence over the men of the locality in which she resided, and often resulting in a lot of bother. The witchery of her fascination caused much rivaky among her endless admirers, and many a row took place between them on her account. She was an inspiratory and fascinating siren. The attentions to which she was constantly subjected were naught, however, to the lovely Giacinta, she was even bored by them, and, too, she loved desperately one, Guiseppe — a good-looking, curly-headed, though rather fickle Italian, who was bred from idleness and fostered by many vices. Giacinta's dark majestic beauty, and the terrible jealousy and lurking revenge so characteristic of the race to which she belonged, fitted her to play the role of a tragedy queen in a drama, rather than the life she was leading, but we will not throw too much search-light on her sins — enough ! she was a dancer. All might have been weU in her love affair had Giacinta not had a formidable rival in a poor girl working at the macaroni factory on the road to Pompeii, and originally hailing from Capri. Her name was Mirandola. This Capriote girl was the very antipodes to Giacinta in looks, disposition, and views of right and wrong. She was a nice, quiet, respectable girl, very proud but poor, and more of the Saxon type of beauty with fair hair and blue eyes, and although on occasion she could light up her countenance in a merry and engaging smile, or give ON THE SEA OF JEALOUSY 155 roars of laughter, the incarnation of innocent fun and pleasure, she usually wore a serious, demure, and Puritanical look; her hard work and struggle for very existence made her thoughtful beyond her years. Poor Mirandola also deeply loved Guiseppe in that quiet, devout way of hers, though she had a barrier between herself and lover, in the form of Giacinta, which perhaps made her look more sorrowful than ever. Women in these southern climes sometimes love and hate even unto madness. Unfortunately, Guiseppe had been one amongst those who once had lost his heart to the handsome Giacinta, and still had an irresistible liking for her, though in a half-hearted way determined, through family objections, to abandon her ; he could not be entirely indifferent to the fact that she earned much money in the famous— or rather infamous — Glass Rooms, where the Pompeian dances were performed by the prettiest girls Naples could boast of, in foamy transparencies — and less ! — though their reputations seriously suffered thereby. Giacinta could afford to do many little things for her admired Guiseppe, while Mirandola was poor enough indeed, and had only just enough to keep herself and her sick mother on her hard-earned wage. By nature she was very proud, and her pride stood uppermost in her character. She was sad at heart, and brooded over and over the thought that her lover had even a liking for this Giacinta, although she felt his love was truly hers. It was not her wish she thought to out-paramour 156 HITHER AND THITHER ^ her adversary, and she would certainly never divide him with another, and with such an one with this damaging episode in her life ; that she could never do, and until such a time came that Guiseppe would entirely give up the wicked Giacinta, she could not dream of marrying him as was already proposed to her, much as she adored him. The two women, unfortunately, often clashed in the streets. At the outset of their acquaintance with each other, Mirandola would never associate much with Giacinta, and the fact of being shunned fomented Giacinta's early dislike for Mirandola, for she knew full well the reason why. She was a Pompeian dancer ; and what if she was ? Tchar ! the thought of this made her furious, and she seethed with rage at the poor factory girl. The early friction and lethal glances that passed between them, soon led to sarcastic tongue-lashings and bickerings, and these bickerings turned to vitriolic speeches and gibings as they passed, until at last the two girls hated each other with the same powerful force that they eventually loved the handsome, curly-headed though somewhat fickle Guiseppe. The frail links in this chain of early trouble, became strong enough in time, through jealousy, to be unbreakable. Guiseppe, this shining light, who was causing all the bother so unconcernedly, barely knew his own mind, and so went on lazily smoking his cigarettes, but now and again, calmly and coolly trying to pour oil on the troubled waters in turn, without ON THE SEA OF JEALOUSY 157 the slightest avail; hence perhaps his apparent indifference. Such a state of affairs with hot-headed women could not go on like this indefinitely, and the climax came at last ; a little side-issue further kindled the red-hot inflammation and brought matters to a head. There was another — a two-tongued snake in the grass, Giaccomo by name — also one of the many admirers of the lovely Giacinta, who had long since wished to change her affection for Guiseppe, of whom he was very jealous, towards himself. His opportunity came at last. One fine, starlight night he came across Mirandola and Guiseppe seated in a bower together. They were deep in conversation, and perfectly obUvious to the outside world. They were discussing the question of the moment, and, with the sneaking of the eavesdropper, Giaccomo resolved to hear what they had to say. Mirandola, it appeared, absolutely rejected the hand of Guiseppe in marriage until she could call him all her own. She would not consent to divide his attentions with another. So she refused to listen to him until he no longer walked with the beautiful Giacinta, and ceased to pay his paramour attention. Guiseppe,with the seductive language of the ardent lover, passionately poured forth the usual vows of allegiance, which gave poor Mirandola much comfort and happiness. He was hers, and hers alone, he said. As for Giacinta, she might be lovely to gaze 158 HITHER AND THITHER upon, he remarked, but how could he even think of marriage with her, when his family were so strongly adverse to his union with the gifted dancing girl, though of such dubious fame. He would swear this very night to give her up entirely. At a later hour, Giacinta heard this news, and more, too, from the tongue of the despicable Giac- como. She listened with flashing eyes and heaving bosom, standing majestically before Giaccomo, and throbbing with revenge in the fulness of her over- whelming wrath, asking question after question from the now-delighted and smiling mischief-maker. Hell was written upon her face. That night Giacinta prayed long and more fervently than was her wont, the poison of revenge was working its venomous way through her veins, corroding her heart and corrupting every good instinct, and when she rose from her knees, she was determined on immediate action. She did not intend to kill her faithless lover — at first anyhow — but if she could not have him herself, nobody else should, particularly the loathed Miran- dola; women are alike, the world over, in this respect. Should she stab her in the dark, as she came home like a poverty-stricken peasant from the menial duties of a factory hand ? Should the fair-haired macaroni girl, besmeared with paste, pay the penalty of her galling remarks, the young minx ? No ! Wait ! She would challenge her to come out and fight if she dared. She would make her do so in fact, and could then eeisily accomplish her ends. It ON THE SEA OF JEAIiOUSY 159 would be better so, and even Guiseppe might think the more of her for so doing. But what if she lost her chance ? She had not thought of that. She might ; Mirandola was brave and strong, and happen — ? That would be too horrible to think of though, and a shudder ran through her at the thought. But still, she could first have the satis- faction of scarring her face beyond recognition, and she could die content, for her old lover would never marry Mirandola then ; he set too much score by good looks. He had admired her own beauty so much, and had often said so. Was it reaUy possible then, that he loved that flaxen-haired disgrace to her Italian sisters ? The brunette feared it must be so, for the blonde had no money, now she herself, who had, would give her all for even a spark of his affection. Dear, dear, Guiseppe ! Behind the scenes at Naples — in the poorer parts of the slums where it is particularly dirty and many germs of disease are harboured — acts of degradation go on which are not generally known to the passing tourist. They are concealed, as it were, behind the curtain of the beautiful bay and the better parts of the most populous city of Italy. The narrow streets are thickly packed with people ; the houses are high, some of which have flattened garden-roofs with low parapets around, likened to the stahr of Moorish dwellings, or the so-called " terraces " at Malta, used as a drsdng-ground for clothes, as well as a rendezvous to which to repair i6o HITHER AND THITHER for a gossip and a mouthful of fresh air after the day's toil. Passing up such a strada, throngs of excited people suddenly met the gaze. Men were running pell-mell, hoarsely calling out and jostling each other to get up the narrow way, doing a minimum amount of good with a maximum of uproarious imprecations. Women were wildly screaming, and gesticulating frantically, scuttling about aimlessly to and fro. Everything seemed confusion. Follow- ing the crowd which stopped before a certain house, arguments were found to be in full swing as to the best methods of breaking open the front door, firmly barred from within. Nearly every one was looking upwards at — something. Upon the house-tops, crowds had assembled, aU pointing and screaming at, beseeching and imploring some one or other on the garden-roof of the very house where the general halt of people had taken place, to " Basta ! Basta 1 Fermo ! Fermo ! " It so happened that this particular house was detached from the rest, and so it was impossible for any one to pass along the leads from the next house to that one. Whatever was happening ? What was all this excitement ? Evidently the object of attraction could not be reached ; only watched from the distance. There was no one in the house at the time ; the door was locked below, and the roof was separated from the rest of the houses by a wide interval. Thus every one was helpless to do anything but look, and shout and become excited and hoarse. ON THE SEA OF JEALOUSY i6i In puzzlement as to what was going on, I soon gathered a fight was in progress in this little arena on high, but the spectators were not witnessing a gladiatorial encounter as in days gone by at Pompeii, but, instead, two women, with knives, who were stabbing away at each other desperately, unto death. Those two women were Mnandola and her rival, Giacinta ! A ghnt of steel flashing here and there, quickly betrayed the seriousness of the situation. Stripped to the waist, the two stood, face to face, at a distance of about ten feet apart, ready to start the fight and spring upon each other at a given word, honourably arranged beforehand. They had been seen and watched from the onset. On each left arm was wrapped a shawl, to ward off the other's blows, and in the right hand was firmly held a formidable knife, which glittered in the sun's rays. With arm and hand across each bared breast, with feet apart, and knees bent in a half stoop, the enemies eyed each other, neither losing for an instant the gaze of her opponent. Stepping as quietly as cats, and stealthily circUng roimd and round each other, in true Corsican style, they lightly moved. With impetuous women these preliminaries could be but brief, and in a twinkhng the opponents neared each other, with the result, that very soon the long knife of Giacinta was buried in Mirandola's shoulder as she skilfully parried the strong and fear- ful blow directed at her heart. The blood streamed down in gushing torrents. i62 HITHER AND THITHER from the gaping gash in the fleshy part of that well- developed upper arm, but, nothing daunted, the women never stopped for a single instant. This first blood drawn could not give satisfaction to them, for the fight was, they had agreed, to be to the bitter end. They fought and fought and further fought, " giving " and " taking " with a skill and determination to be wondered at, until the blood-stained shawls on their arms were stripped to ribbons, and woimds were inflicted too terrible to describe or dwell upon. Getting weaker and weaker from loss of blood, and their indefatigable energy — flghting without a moment's pause to breathe, the girls closed with each other in a fatal embrace of this awful deadly struggle. They fell and rolled over and over, struggling violently, and clinging tenaciously like wild animals, each clasping the other with what Httle strength remained, and using their knives meanwhile as best they could in so restricted a position. They held on to each other with hands and teeth, with bull-dog tenacity. It seemed as though death alone could ever now induce them to relax their convulsive grip. Meanwhile, those who had rushed to the house- tops were calling out to them, for mercy's sake, to stop. But the clamour was in vain. The rivals heard not, or took no heed. Those in the street below were considering how to burst open the front door and get up quickly to the combatants, for it was evident that precau- tionary measures had been duly taken to prevent ON THE SEA OF JEALOUSY 163 any intruders entering lest they might untimely interrupt. The heavy door, with its substantial bolts, required much forcing, and to enter the house on either side was not practicable, yet every moment was of the utmost importance if any good was to be done at all. Running about aimlessly hither and thither, one man suggested one plan, one another, and with each hurried idea a dispute generally arose, and so time slipped by without an5d:hing being done in spite of the good intentions of the crowd. One silent, rugged man, calmer than the rest, procured a kind of crowbar, but it might have been a toothpick for all it availed. The continued screaming, exclamations, and shouting from the roofs showed that the battle still raged violently, and many from the house-tops covered their eyes with their hands to shut out the awfulness of the scene in their affrighted anguish ; between that bedlam, and the uproar in the street below with the quarrelling and haranguing of the men, the whole scene was one of scare, a perfect panic — a babel. Every one had lost his head, and those of sensitive nature had a throbbing heart. The excitability of the race imder strain now showed itself beyond description. At last the suspense became unbearable. Can no one do anything to rescue those poor girls from further injury ? It was easy to say this. Suddenly, there was a tremendous shout from the sightseers on the adjoining roofs, and instantly a i64 HITHER AND THITHER perfect calm reigned — the hubbub hushed ! Every one seemed paralysed for the moment. Evidently something awful had happened. The calm man radically failed with his " tooth- pick " ; another thought an inspiration might come to him with prolonged spying through the keyhole ; a third posed as a saviour and — did nothing ! So things went on regardless of these apostles of wisdom. At last, a wee chit of a boy suggested the use of a ladder standing near by. In that way it would, he said, be possible to enter the house by a window which he noticed was partly open. The wee boy triumphed. Hooroo ! Half an hour later, two limp forms were brought down into the street, to be taken to the mortuary. When the would-be rescuers reached the duelling- ground, what a sight met their gaze. One was " done to death " by the cruel knife of her adversary. Poor Mirandola ! She had fought bravely but vainly in the cause of the one she so dearly loved — and lost. Giacinta, glancing at the lifeless form beside her, with a sneering smile of contempt, was breathing her last. Raising herself on her knees with a last feeble effort, clasping her rosary the while with blood- stained hands extended heavenwards, she thanked the Madonna for answering her fervent prayers of late. Then suddenly she sank down in a heap and expired. She was imposing, even in death. Giacinta had also fought the fight of love — and ON THE SEA OF JEALOUSY 165 won. The Vesuvius of her terrible and almost mad hatred had conquered. Guiseppe could never wed the hated Capriote girl now, and that was sufficient recompense. " Sweet is revenge — especially to women," so she died content, without a single pang of remorse to embitter her last moments on earth, and she was carried away with that self-same sardonic smile of combined victory and hatred still upon her lovely features. The sadness of it, the awfidness of it, and all for whom ? Were you among the screaming crowd, Guiseppe ? :|c 4: !|> Such is the brief outline of an Italian love romance of comparatively recent date, wherein, alas, two lives were lost on the turbulent sea of jealousy. A BY-PATH Travelling south from Lucerne, by the St. Gothard Railway, and passing through magnificent mountain scenery, not to mention the renowned St. Gothard Tunnel — a veritable piece of engineering skill — we are borne towards the wedge-Uke portion of Switzerland which projects into Lombardy, and thus we arrive at Lugano, the Italian part of that beautiful country. The St. Gothard Tunnel pierces the very heart of the mountain rock. We are told it is over nine miles in length, and that it took between two and three thousand men seven-and-a-half years to com- plete the work, toiling at it daily. Proceeding to Marogia, on the shores of Lake Lugano, we climbed up the mountain road towards the village of Rovio, 1600 feet above the sea-level, and nestling amid grand, wild, sylvan scenery. On the way up stands the fragment of an ivy-clad ruin, supposed to be haunted by a female figure which appears at midnight. This lady, unfortu- nately, we never saw ! On entering the village, the Church of the Madonna, with its conspicuous campanile, is to 167 i68 HITHER AND THITHER be seen on the right, and on the left, nearly opposite, is a frescoed shrine mounted upon a rocky base, Here we paused to look back across the lake, towards Mount Georgio, with its wooded declivities, and the pathway to the left leading to the isolated Kurhaus, from whence a good view is obtained of Monte Rosa the queen of the Alps, and Simplon, with their mantles of snow so white, raising their lofty peaks towards] the sky, far away in the distance. Passing through the narrow streets of the village, we reached the rocky perpendicular plains of the Monte Generoso beyond. The " Vetta " or highest summit stands out prominently. The " Kulm " lies to the left, and " Bella Vista," situate some distance to the right, both of which can easily be seen. Rovio is a very old village — and looks it — ^not only from within, but more especially from the distance on a higher level. It stands on red and green porphyry, and boasts of some four hundred Catholic Italian-speaking inhabitants. The place formerly belonged to the Duchy of Milan, but this portion of the canton came under Swiss government in 1522. The main thoroughfare is only about seven feet wide and cobbled at that. It is known as the Via Carloni, being named after the painter, Taddeo Carloni. As we passed through, over the narrow flagged pathway, placed there to facilitate progression over so uneven a road, we could not help noticing how the over- lapping tops of the high, and somewhat dilapidated A BY-PATH 169 houses, all but met above. In winter, the wet from the snow drips — ^nay sometimes pours — in the centre of the way, but in summer the sun is sufficiently powerful to penetrate and dry out these dark, wet tunnels. Continuing our walk we met a peasant clacking along on his wooden sabots or " zoccoH." His greetings to the newcomer were peasant and polite — " Buon giorno ! " or " Buona sera ! " he would say. Rovio boasts of many bygone painters and sculptors of repute, whose works have been given in Italy the prominence they deserve, palaces and churches aUke being adorned with them. It is with great pride the Rovio people point to pictures in the Church of the Madonna, and the old paiish church on the hiU, by that famous painter of the i6th century — ^Taddeo Carloni. The good and worthy priest. Sac : Don Carlo Grassi speaks of the dis- covery in their church of a panel-painting supposed to be an " Andrea del Sarto." This represents the Holy Family, and the Madonna is depicted with the beautiful type of feature made so familiar to us by his brush and dexterity of touch, but in some of the other pictures the figures are tortured into the wildest attitudes by the artist's perceptive imagina- tion, and, like many of the great sacred paintings, are apt to look droU except to the initiated in art. With the exception of the old paintings over the doorways of some of the better homes, the antique sundials so beautifully painted on opposite houses for the ante and post meridian, and the 170 HITHER AND THITHER Roman mule-path leading up from the village, the most conspicuous objects are the half-dozen sarcophagi now used as washing troughs. Water runs continuously into these massive stone recep- tacles, brought down, from the mountain above, by a conduit. The women may be constantly seen fetching water from these water-pipes, or washing their clothes in the troughs. In two instances, the in- verted covers, or Uds, have been placed on the ground by the side of their respective coffins, and, owing to their angular, roof-Hke shape, have also been utilized for holding water. They are, however, as may be imagined, shallow in comparison to the deep, bath-shaped, chiselled-out sarcophagi formed out of the " schistose " stone of the locality. These ancient rehcs were found near the village, and are dated about the first or second century, A.D. There are probably treasures, more ancient, still to be unearthed by those who care to dig on the site of what was once, it is beUeved, a burial ground. Vases, bronzes, and bones have been brought to hght after being undisturbed for a stiU longer period than that of the above-mentioned sarcophagi. These sarcophagi and conduits are much valued by the villagers, as not a single house has a water tap in it — at least, a house in the village proper. On moonless nights, and when the two or three oil lamps are extinguished at lo p.m., the narrow deserted tunnel streets are of an inky blackness, and as one gropes along in the darkness, the place has a plague-stricken look about it — a village of the A BY-PATH 171 dead. On moonlit, starry nights, however, it is very quaint in appearance. As in the past " we " had Uved for more or less lengthy periods in Germany, Brittany, and Switzer- land, so now have we come to reside amongst these folk — to eat with them, to drink with them, to learn their customs and habits. To study the people of any particular country, is quite a thing apart from touring ; in the former instance, it is necessary to be one of them, and to make them feel that you are one of them. The chances are, that you will find disadvantages and even personal discomforts in so doing, but if you are tactful, possess judgment, and have genial manners and appreciation, instinct will teU them that you are their friend, and they will then show you what could never be seen properly or otherwise studied in a cursory visit. Give them S3mipathy in their troubles, show them joviahty and fraternity when sitting on an old settle by their log fires in the casinos — a very fine name for exceedingly humble inns ! — and you wUl find that the reputation of the " Signori Ingelese " soon spreads far and wide, and with a corresponding respect and the many advan- tages so useful for your purpose. So it was we lived practically in their very midst, our residence being a house known as " Mazetti." Rovio had the advantage of many enjoyable walks and rambles in the immediate vicinity, while Lugano is easily accessible from Marogia by train, by which, after passing Bissone, one crosses the 172 HITHER AND THITHER lake to Melide. Milan can also be reached in a couple of hours by the little vapore (steamer). The village of Campione, beyond Bissone, on the same side of the lake is, strange to say, Italian territory, and yet on each side it is Swiss. Cam- pione may also be reached from Arogno. The top of Monte Generoso can be got at from Rovio, passing Bella Vista, where a splendid view — a vast panorama of mountain, valley, lake, and plain is seen, while in summer time the cog-wheel railway runs up to the summit from Capolago. The few foreign visitors, who favour Rovio in the summer-time, repair either to the hotel or the kur- haus pension. We, however, gave the preference to " Mazzetti," a house in the heart of the village, although it had not even an outlook to recommend it, but because it was commodious and afforded ample space. It belongs to a family of the name of Mazzetti, resident in the place for many generations past. The only other available house in the village belonged to the ex-mayor or biirgermeister, and a wondrous house it was with its numerous rooms, Hbrary, painted ceilings, and works of art, when one remembers the humble peasant dwellings surround- ing it. More life-size tortured figures can be seen. Some twenty-five years since, Rovio had a resident doctor who lived in this very house, " Mazzetti." Among other curiosities, he owned a fine collection of bronzes, also vases containing the burnt bones of human beings, not forgetting a knife used in sacri- ficial ceremonies, a pla^e, and a twisted ring. For A BY-PATH 173 this piece of information and a few other points I am indebted to the work of E. J. Miles, late secre- tary of the Archaeological Society of Rome. The old parish church is of the nth century or thereabouts, if judged by the shape of the cross over the door, significant of that period. Beyond here, one comes to the remains of an ancient little structure which few seem to recognise as a " Roccolo." " Caccia di Ucelli," a sport of the Middle Ages, is stiU prevalent in Italy. When asked to suppress so cruel a game, the king was heard to remark : " I might subdue a revolution of my people, but to do away with this national pastime would be impos- sible." Decked out in costumes for high days, holidays, and bonfire nights — tunics of gorgeous sporting colours, and brass buttons, feathers in their hats, and what not — the sportsmen arrive in late autumn on the scene of action. What to do ? To catch httle birds under a net, to shoot or beat them to death ! From their get-up, one would imagine it was nothing short of a boar hunt or big-game shooting they were to be engaged in ! The modus operandi is as follows : In a prominent position on the mountain side, a semicircular pathway is made, well shaded by tree and bush. Here the sportsmen take up their positions ready for action, and, hidden from view, peep out between the foliage, holding the strings of a net working within the square earthy platform enclosed by the half loop. Decoy birds — with their eye-sight previously destroyed with a hot wire, in order to make them pipe and call — are in cages on 174 HITHER AND THITHER the platform, where food is cunningly placed to attract the poor unwary birds to be entrapped. Down they fly in numbers, at the calling of the blind prisoners, the strings are pulled and the victims are ensnared. Out the sportsmen rush, frantic with excitement, shooting, and banging away with sticks at the help- less birds under the net. These, it should be added, are eventually collected — and cooked — what there is left of them ! The little building at one extremity of the " Roccolo " is called the " Casino." It consists of a kitchen below, and one room above where the sports- men repair to feast. Here they drink, feast and make merry — very merry — the mangled remains of the poor little birds forming an important dish in the banquet. The inhabitants of Rovio are chiefly occupied with wood-cutting in the winter, and tending their goats and vineyards in spring and summer. In the early morning the herdsman, or shepherd, walks slowly through the village, tooting his little horn in a peculiar way. At this signal, the peasants immedi- ately open the doors of house and stable, and the goats are let loose for the day. Then they calmly walk up the streets and b5nvay3 alone, until, at a certain given spot, they form into a common herd, and the herdsman conducts them high up on the moimtain reaches to graze. These animals are docile and friendly, and, so far as we personally were concerned, took the place of dogs. Two exceptionally sociable goats, whose A BY-PATH 175 Ccisual acquaintance with us ripened into a staunch friendship, would accompany us on our mountain walks. The narrowness of the paths mattered little to these agile creatures, for they would jump from rock to rock with the agility of a chamois. Sometimes they would walk in advance of us over a difficult bit of pathway, capering about like playful dogs, and turning round to see if we were following. Then they would wait for us, as if to say, " It's all right ; come along ! " At night-time, when the herdsman wishes to collect the scattered herd he coos to them, talks to them, and calls one of them by name. This one is really a sort of a leader, although it eventually brings up the rear when all are collected, shamefaced, as it were, at being the only one amongst them that is hornless. " Kitti " then gets a lick of salt, as a reward for answering the call so quickly and inducing the others to " fall in " for the homeward journey. The goats all love salt, and many a time, from a distance, they would recognise, and come galloping towards us for a lick of what they knew was in store for them. Round they would crowd, and if the hand holding the salt were held up in the air, they would stand with their front legs resting on one's chest or shoulders, or on one another, so tame were they. These goats are an important source of income to the people, all of whom take the milk to one place to be sold. On reaching the village again at night, the goats placidly leave the man, and quietly walk down the street until they come to their respective 176 HITHER AND THITHER stables or houses again, as the case may be, and, strange to say never, by any chance do they fail to return to their own homes in spite of their having mixed with so many others. Some people send but two or three goats ; some more. The flock, however, usually consists of a himdred and fifty or two hundred, besides a few sheep. It is a pretty sight to see the herd, far away in the distance, high up on the rugged decHvities, looking Uke specks on the mountain side, with the man in charge appearing about the size of the last phalanx of the little finger. The peasants have a habit, which reminds one somewhat of these goats. Within their homes they all wait, imtil the third bell calls them to church, then they all swarm out into the hitherto deserted streets, and off, in this human herd, they go to their rehgious duties. Rovio air is exhilarating. Babies are plentiful. But then babies are plenti- ful everywhere, especially among the poor ; stock is as good as money they think. Rich people don't have babies. Either their views are different, or they don't frequent places where the air is exhilara- ting as in Rovio. During the first period of infant life here, the wee " bambino," is carried about bound up Uke an Egyptian mummy, or papoose, with its arms straight down by its sides. Thus habited and tightly swathed in clothing it is pushed into a kind of slipper- shaped toilet-tidy, similar- indeed to the method of the Laplanders, and in this way the mother is enabled A BY-PATH 177 to carry her infant about. It would appear to be in a kind of miniature and portable bed, with the bed- clothes reaching half-way up the body. Only the head of the child is capable of any movement. A few years back, passing through a native village on the Malabar Coast of India, great homage was done to the stranger; no rajah could have wished for more. Babies and children were as plentiful there as in Rovio — indeed, more so, for the place literally swarmed with them. On leaving the village, they crowded round and ran after the antiquated push-cart or large perambulator, calHng aloud : " Papa ! papa ! Mama ! mama ! " The three or four natives who were pushing the concern along were told to " jeldy jou ; jeldy jou ! " (get along quickly ; get away) ; for to a bachelor such a gieeting was, to say the least, embarrassing ! His character was suffering. It looked like a pre- meditated scheme, but I was determined to fight the law (or defy it) if needs be. Orders or no orders from the court, I would not adopt any one of them. I was a respectable single man — although I had left my passport in England. I soon discovered, how- ever, that there was no cause for worry. They merely intended to convey I was the father and mother of them all ; the head of them, in fact their benefactor, helper, and adviser. So enhghtenment altered the version of that greeting considerably, and made me feel quiet proud. Even in these out- of-the-way places, flattery and comphment are adopted as the best inducement to the stranger to part with " baksheesh." 178 HITHER AND THITHER As in Brittany, chestnuts form one of the staple articles of diet, the villagers eating large quantities of them boiled. As a food they have much value and are most digestible when boiled ; the starchy, proteid, and fatty matter is in excess of that con- tained in the potato. Opposite the Church of the Madonna there are some five specimens of the chestnut-tree, four or five hundred years old, and of these the Rovioites are justly proud. The names of the people are so soft too ; so musical if pronounced properly, that they seem pecuUarly suited to their kind natures — kind, that is, except when the men are playing odd or even in the casino, when the excitement may get to such a pitch, that in the heat of an argument, knives may even be drawn. The record of damage done in this way is shght, but is sufficient to serve to show the admixture of the Italian with the Swiss blood. There are Filomena, Fermina, Pierina, and Erminia, all dark-eyed girls as pretty as their names, and Pietro, Luigi, Elvezio, and Vitali, all good fellows of their kind. A word about the above-mentioned " kurhaus- pension," as it is an important structure of the locality. The pathway nearly opposite the church leads to it, and it is right away from the village in a prominent position on a hiU, overlooking the lake beneath. There are some few foreign visitors, who have discovered the advantages of this salubrious and winter air. At present, these visitors do not include an ordinary run of person. There is, for instance, a bullet-riddled, much-decorated Bavarian A BY-PATH 179 cavaky officer of high repute and status, and a lady of American extraction who had lived nearly all her life on the Continent. This latter, was an artist of no mean order, and has received from her own country recognition from the highest in Art. She is also a literary woman, art critic, and linguist, with an exceptional knowledge of archaeological and other matters of travel. She is a lady with a " past." Oh ! these women with pasts ! They are to be found, like the bam- binos, where'er you go — in hotels, pensions, or living quietly — or otherwise — with their maids in suburban villas. There are women, go-ahead spinsters, who would love to be widows without the initial bother of the married state. Then, there are women, without a " past," who should be happy — but are not, because they haven't ! However, this particular lady had led an excep- tional life, regardless of her good looks, ultimate position, and the many attentions she received from men at large. Her past was not, it should be recorded, what is generally understood by that term. She had been a society beauty some ten years previously, figuring before the public in various social periodicals, and her photographs were not only displayed in Paris, but in the chief cities of Germany. But the admiration for this woman, and the laurels which she had won and deserved, were for so bravely fighting, and so successfully overcoming, the struggles of a once arduous life, and her many domestic troubles. Of course, there i8o HITHER AND THITHER was a husband in it. That was where the past came in. But no matter. She lived now for art, literature, and music, and like many of her class with brains, had a muscular as well as an intellectual development, being a keen Alpinist, swimmer, general sportswoman, and Continental traveller. She also had interesting connections with the Russian Court. Her brain was like a sponge, for it soaked up all she had seen and read, and, what is more, retained it. She was ever ready to relate what she had learned, again and again to her friends, with the additional interest gained by experience and study, and would pour forth the knowledge to her listeners with the accuracy of a scientist. In her society, it mattered little whether the conversation drifted to anatomy, botany, archaeology, general literature, men and women of the day, or any other topic, she had always something to say on each subject arid something sound to impart. In short, she was a clever, well-read woman. Another of the visitors at the kurhaus, was a different type, but also noteworthy. This one was an ardent Alpinist, photographer, and exquisite zither player. He would turn out in the middle of the night, with his mountain lamp and various appliances, so as to be ready in the morning, high up on some summit, to take photos of the rising sun and other pictures. The only objection to this gentleman was, his non-acceptance of refusal to accompany him op llis nightly exploits. In glancing over A BY-PATH i8i studies such as he made, one little imagines the difl&culties which have to be overcome before one can obtain such photographs. This man, a Swiss, had a record of mountain ascents ranging from Pilatus, Vitznauerstock, Uri Rothstock, Stanserhom, and Titlis to Hochste Spitze — one of the Monte Rosa peaks — the peaks of the almost perpendicular Wetterhom, Matterhom, the majestic Jungfrau, to say nothing of the numer- ous climbs of the unfrequented and lesser known mountains, not familiar by name even, to the general run of his own countrymen. This man had missed his vocation and should have been a guide, but I shall speak of him again anon. He knew most of the known guides living, or the histories of the dead ones, and would take the wind out of your sails if speaking of ascents. This photographic craze of his now accoimts for many of us seeing ourselves depicted on postcards and the like, perched up on snow-hooded mountain tops, or balancing (apparently !) in precarious and almost impossible positions. At the time they were taken, we were not aware these hitherto unpubhshed productions of the Ziirich and other fabriks were intended for the public gaze hereafter, or we might have been a bit shy. The other people were, but a couple of ordinary every-day individuals, besides two Jewish ladies and a man — a German of Jewish extraction. The Jewish ladies were very well to do. Jews are good financiers — the best in the world perhaps, i82 HITHER AND THITHER bar the Chinese — straightforward in their dealings and clever. It is good, therefore, to have some Jewish blood circulating in one's veins ; enough — just enough — to inherit that characteristic business instinct by which they thrive, but not enough per- haps to fight shy of a ham sandwich. You are sure to get on in life if you have that little drop of blood and instinct. Our German friend had, and he got on right wonderfully well, here in Rovio even, the last place in the world apparently to do business in. He transformed the proverb of " When you go to Rome, do as Romans do," into a maxim, " When you go to Rome, do the Romans or else they may do you." He applied this maxim in Rovio and it succeeded. Sharpness and cimning were going on in this quiet, honest, unsuspecting little village, where the natives, never dreamt of such a thing, and the pic- nicking visitors had too implicitly confided in their fellow-kind. Collectively a considerable amount was lost ; some lost more than others, but the Jewish ladies showed more brains than all of us put together, and were the only ones who could smile that smile of sarcastic pity for fools — so irritating. They lost nothing ; which was more irritating, The " just-enough " gentleman left hastily on urgent business one day, and our money left with him. Then by degrees, notes were compared. There was a gnashing of teeth, and threats of all kinds thundered out, just as the band commenced to A BY-PATH 183 play, that lovely little hymn so well known on the Continent, and translated literally : " Confide in me, ye simple ones." * * * The winter was exceptionally severe this year, and intensely cold. In the observatory on the Sentis, all registering instruments were frozen, and this has not occurred for twenty-three years past. The temperature sank to 34° F. Winter is the grandest time to see Switzerland, although in spring and summer it is loveliest. True, the Alpine glow (Alpengliihen) on the glaciers, and some of Turner's sunsets are beautiful enough ; but the " Nebel-meer " of winter is grandness itself. In certain altitudes in Northern Switzerland, one can pass through a dense mist in ascending to higher grotmd. At a certain height there is a hard line between the mist and sunshine, and, passing through, you emerge into bright, clear weather. The sun is shining brilliantly and is hot ; the snow is all around on the mountain, and the sky is of a Medi- terranean blue. You have passed above the clouds, and are looking down upon them. This is the " Nebel-meer " or the sea of cloud. You are above in the sunshine, and as warm as in summer weather, whilst the world below is cold, wintry, and palled in mist and gloom. Looking down on this sea of wool, higher peaks peep up here and there, like little islands in this curl- ing surf of snow-white down. A wondrous sight indeed. Below are houses, the lake, and people — cold and shivering in the mist. i84 HITHER AND THITHER The large cascade, at Rovio, was frozen to such an unprecedented extent during our stay, that folks came from Marogia, Capolago, and Riva S. Vitale to see it. At the bottom of the cascade was a little glacier and a smooth cone of ice, contiguous with the waterfall. The circimiference of this solid block of ice was very large, and it merged gradually up- wards to a point some 80 to 100 ft. in height. The Alpinist wanted to show his skill with the ice-axe, and cut footholds in order to mount up the well-nigh perpendicular surface. The only good " grip " obtainable was by means of a hook, for there was no grasp whatever on the large smooth surface. We were longing for some excitement, still cringing, as we were, under nerve irritation from recent events, and so we encouraged this foolish and risky performance. Some of us tried to get up this mountain of ice, to prove the difficulty for ourselves. We climbed about as high as an ordinary doorway and then wondered, in our fright, how we should ever get down. We were suffering from ennui and craved for excitement, so to see a man commit suicide, have a chance of some ambulance work, or be able to " make a bit " on our bets with him, came as a blessing to break the monotony of our then rather tedious careers. Our wits had been sharpened up by a practical experience of late, and here was a chance in a lifetime. We could even risk a hundred to one without fear. A BY-PATH 185 The complete ascent to the very summit was ahnost impossible, and yet the Alpinist felt con- fident of managing it. Strange to say, however, although the chance to " make a bit " on an in- evitable failure was so pronounced, the onlookers were more frightened than the climber, who was appealed to in order to make him desist, and eventually they refused the winnings they had rightfully won, thus proving once again how strange, fickle, and unreUable is the human intellect. But the Alpinist distinguished himself regardless of the incomplete success, and the onlookers pined the absence of that " just enough " to make the afternoon a thoroughly pleasurable one and their pockets the weightier by a good few francs. Last year, a young lady fell from the Monte Generoso and was killed. It is astonishing the number of lives that are lost every year, and often in places where the probability of mishap is less than in the recognised spots reputed to be difficult and dangerous. The writer once collected a series of notes on the memorial markings and tablets seen scattered about here and there over Switzerland. The amount of life lost was melancholy to dwell upon, and yet, it increases yearly, for the beauties of the country encourage an increasing number of visitors as time goes on, with a resulting increase in the number of those who give way to the fascination of mountain climbs, and a consequently larger number of fatalities. " Edelweiss " accounts for many a death. i86 HITHER AND THITHER Glancing over the shipping casualties from the Report of the Board of Trade, the following deduce tion may be made : In 1901-2, 1657 persons lost their lives at sea, and this is a decrease from the previous year. In the last twenty-five years there were 6621 wrecks belonging to the United Kingdom, with a fatal result to 41,267 persons. The average annual loss during the past twenty- five years is 1651 persons. Shipping fatalities are decreasing. Alpine dis- asters increasing. I am, however, unable to obtain statistics of the latter, even from our friend the " Alpinist " who knows the history of most notable events connected with climbing for years past. Even in our small experiences, we — the pro- verbial " we " — have personal recollections of one or two incidents connected with tramps in moun- tain-land, and the present weather and surrounding locality revived afresh a pathetic little anecdote of old. The weather just now was very severe ; the worst the Rovioites remembered for twenty-five years past. In the Alps avalanches were falling freely and doing much damage. At Elm, houses had been overwhelmed, people injured, and cattle killed. People had been buried in their houses at Grindelwald, and there have been large snowslides in the Jura, and forests had been swept away by avalanches in the Bernese Oberland. It was little wonder then that the weather was too severe to allow the Alpinist and ourselves to A BY-PATH 187 reach the Kulm on Monte Generoso. We tried twice and faUed, the condition of the path from Rovio and the depth of the snow absolutely- preventing our proceeding. So it was we came to speak of the past and to retail our previous experiences. One of us — one of the " we's " — had been on a tramp in winter-time — a severe winter at that — and had had a series of little incidents such as are likely to occur at such a season, and especially to a man possessed of a love of overcoming difficulties simply for the sake of excitement. This one, had already left behind him, in a little Swiss village, the reputation of a foolhardy but successful climb, regardless of nearly being buried aUve in a snowstorm, and all but getting his cranium smashed in through the falling of battlements of rock and ice. It was in an unfrequented part of the Northern Alps that this " same one " and a Swiss companion were descending a mountain height — a broad expanse above and a safe path beneath — where the danger was comparatively small except, at this season, for the off-chance of bad weather. On the particular day in question, snow com- menced to faU again after a long interval, and quite unexpectedly. A local knowledge of the place was essential to the travellers, as the landmarks and pathways were becoming obliterated by the fast- falling snow. Otherwise, everything was straight- forward enough. Up or down it was more of a tramp than a climb. The lower slopes of this broad mountain are i88 HITHER AND THITHER clothed with trees, and the winding pathway finds its course through this forest, gradually merging into an indented and exposed expanse. Looking up higher, wild and serrated cliffs in the distance are seen. Mounting these, still beyond, fore-shortened summits steal into view — mountains hiding mountains. The snow was already ankle-deep, when aU of a sudden the wind sprang up, the sky darkened, and a little blizzard was soon blowing, causing the men to hasten along as fast as possible, in the hopes of not being overtaken by what appeared to be a snow- storm in store for them. They had already diffi- culty in steering the right course towards the haven for which they were bound, as snow was now falling more heavily every moment. But these men were strong and active and enjoyed the exertion, shouting loudly at each other in order to be heard in this boisterous weather, or singing and laughing merrily the while. They had had a meal within them just recently, at a Klubhiitte upon the mountain side. Warm soup is a good thing for a winter's day some six thousand feet above the sea-level, and a pipe of tobacco is, too, a wonderful restorative to a tired man. The surroundings and conditions would be quite otherwise for an aged person of some three-score years, empty, fatigued, and worn from a prolonged rail journey, from walking, and from great mental anxiety. The sturdy wanderers only too soon found them- selves straying from the direct course in which A BY-PATH 189 they were bound. It was difficult to take one's bearings in the blinding snow and the darkness. If a ship steers the slightest bit off her course, and continues to do so for some while, she will eventually find herself many miles out. The wanderers had diverged from their snow- covered path, and were out. The darkness had con- fused them. Luckily they fell in with a Tyrolese guide who put these tramps, more or less, on the track to find their right road again. They had hoped in four hours' time to be cosily tucked up in the warm and at their destination. But it was not to be. The snow was becoming deeper and deeper each moment, and it was now doubtful if it were possible to do the journey in the allotted time. If all went well, in a good hour they would, any- how, be protected from the winter's blast by passing through the wooded declivity. Suddenly the two men stopped. They fancied they had heard a faint jodling (pronounced yodling). It was a funny place, and a funny time to hear this Alpine call. They listened and tried to imitate it, but their voices seemed lost in the whistling winds. It was certainly a jodel they had heard, but not that of the happy peasant tending his goats ; rather it was a cry of distress. They listened and listened and shouted and better shouted, for they felt sure it was a call to draw attention and an appeal for help in this unfrequented by-way. 190 HITHER AND THITHER The men had been heard and evidently some one was in dire distress. The stranger must surely be quite near, for it would be impossible to hear a voice from afar. The two men raised their voices to the utmost, and waited for the muffled response to guide them to its whereabouts. Then the jodling and responses continued for a few moments, so serving to guide the tramps to an indentation at the side of a snow- drift within a few feet of them, and there they found — an elderly woman who had been lost in the snow, frightened and exhausted. When first seen she was in a kneeling position. The white-haired dame had travelled all the way from Schwyz, and was on the road to the half-way house — the Klubhiitte the tramps had but recently left — to inform her relations there, of the sad news, that her brother's house had caught fire, he and the other inmates being burnt to death. Neither post nor telegraph is available in these parts, so the hardy old woman had no alternative but to trudge up the mountain to break the bad news. Although so hale and hearty and quite familiar with the locality (having lived all her life on the Swiss mountain side) she had now strayed and wandered about for hours, trying to find her path in vain, although she thought she knew the course so well. The severe weather had mastered her. She thought she would never reach her destina- tion or see her friends again, and had, it appears, lain down in the snow to die, with all hope lost. She was absolutely in . despair ; cold, weak, helpless. A BY-PATH igi and faint. She had prayed, as many people do, the only time in their lives, perhaps, when terror-struck or in imminent danger of losing their lives. This poor woman may have always prayed for aught one knows, but, anyhow, there she was then, fervently asking Divine help. In the deep snow she knelt, far away from everybody, beseechingly begging for help and deliverance. It seeemd as though her prayers were answered, for it was but a feeble chance indeed, at this time of the year particularly, that any one should come along that unfrequented mountain. It may, or may not, have been ordained that the nomads should come along in the very nick of time, for in a very little whUe longer the fate of the over-exhausted and feeble woman would have been decided in that cold and biting bhzzard. She was promptly dosed with some Cognac — which the tramps always carried with them at such times, in case of need — and that, with a little food, and the reassurance as to her ultimate safety, had a marked effect on the old lady. None but the hardy would have survived her ordeals. Her age was so much against her too. To be brief — she did see her friends again and was able to impart to them the terrible news which had caused her to undertake so perilous a journey alone. The tramps were many hours later in arriving at their own destination than they had anticipated, having to retrace their steps a long distance in order to navigate the poor old derelict safely into the harbour of refuge. After resuscitating her, and, with some difficulty. 192 HITHER AND THITHER restoring warmth, they cabled on and eventually got her under way. Two strong arms were linked in hers, on either side, but what with the almost total disablement from sheer exhaustion and the half gales that were blowing at the time, she rolled terribly in the deep and irregular sea of snow, eventually leaning on one man with a distinct list to starboard. As " Jack " would say, the " tugs " — a most appropriate term for the struggling men under the circumstances — brought her in safety alongside and made her fast, although she nearly foundered more than once on the journey. However, an overhaul- ing in dry dock would, without doubt, soon make her seaworthy again. Poor old lady ! That time will never be forgotten by her. It was better inside the Klubhiitte than out on such a day as this, but the " tugs " had to put to " sea " again regardless of the dark night passages in front of them and the Arctic gale that was blowing, as they had no wish to be snowed up in so elevated and so lonely a position. * * * The many tourists visiting Goldau will remember that in 1806 after much wet and heavy rains, one of the Rufi or Rossberg peaks (the Grippenspitz) was softened and undermined. Huge masses gave way and came rolhng and tumbling down, hurling with violence into the vaUey and villages beneath, and burying four villages and close on five hundred souls. These masses are stated to be two miles in A BY^PATH 1^3 length, a good thousand feet tooad, and a hundred feet thick, and broke away three thousand feet high. To this day, the rocks scattered about testify to the enormity of the disaster. Again, about the very time to which the narrative of the old lady lost in the snow refers, a whole village was destroyed by fire. So Switzerland, beautiful as it is, has, besides comedies and pleasurable recollections, tragi- comedies and tragedies to relate. * * * Spring is here. The land is ablaze with almond and peach blossom, and the cherry and apple trees are in full beginning. The undulating green meadows are bright with flowers. It is more like summer than spring. Violets, primroses, anemones, and snowdrops are all around, and the wild crocus and strawberry are everywhere about, to make no mention of the ferns and plants more especially in- teresting from a medical point of view — to wit, aconite, belladonna (deadly nightshade), conium, green hellebore, and digitalis (fox-glove). The lover of flowers has enough indeed to assuage his desire for collecting, and the botanist ample to further his studies. The flowering acacias, nar- cissus poeticus, sweet chestnut, golden laburnum, lily-of-the- valley, white cephalantera, blue gentian, hepatica, and others, and still others, are obvious at once to those with but a limited knowledge of this beautiful branch of Nature. There are a couple of legends which the peasants in certain parts of Southern Switzerland still adhere 194 HITHER AND THITHER to. Just as in Italy, the supposition that the bite from the spider — Lycosa tarentula^which causes nielancholia, can only be relieved by hearing the music of a certain piece called " Tarentula." To wit, the green hellebore (veratrium viride), a powerful poison and analogous to digitalis in its action when taken internally, but now seldom used medicinally, is supposed to cause raving madness to those who are foolish enough to take it. On what grounds this idea is founded it is hard to say, as the action of the drug is rather more of a depressant than one causing cerebral excitement. The other firmly-rooted notion among the more simple mountain dwellers is the superstition as to the virtues of a certain fern — the Botychium lunaria. Should any horse be unfortunate enough to touch it with its foot, it will immediately become unshod. To attempt to disabuse the mind on this score would be as fruitless as to disconnect the allegorical Wilhelm Tell with Altdorf, the Hohle Gasse, or the legendary shooting of Gessler by his arrow. Maybe, it is this simplicity of nature that makes the Swiss peasantry so polite and obliging to the stranger, for toddling along with his tragkorb or tragebel (basket or curved wooden support) on back, seldom does he forget to pass the time of day with the kindly greeting to you — " Grusse " in the North, or " Buon giorno, buona sera " in the South. What a contrast is one's arrival in honest Switzerland to that in many other parts of the world. You don't have to " tip " for simply look- A BY-PATH 195 ing at the man, and if you take a carriage a legiti- mate fare is asked and received, and there is no extra charge for the civiUty thrown in. Try a drosky in Russia and compare notes. If you wish to avoid a disturbance at the end of your ride in the latter country, it is wise to come to distinct understanding with the driver before you start. When bargaining he will, in all proba- bility, turn his eyes to heaven, horror-struck at the fare proffered, and will appeal to the saints to bear witness that he is thoroughly entitled to the ex- orbitant amount which he asks. He only wants four roubles for a two-franc fare — twelve shillings, perhaps, for a half-crown run. You reject this, naturally, and leave him to seek a more sane man, but he is too shrewd to let slide the chance of earning a bit and is soon running after you. Pointing to his drosky for you to get .in, he tells you he will now actually condescend to take half the original sum asked. It is now your turn to cast your eyes to heaven and appeal to the Madonna, call upon the saints, and swear generally at this generous favour, and the transaction is eventually brought to a close with his acceptance of 1.50 or two francs, which sum he is really glad to get. Even then you are paying an amount considerably in excess of what his own countrymen would give him. After all my roamings in Switzerland, once only have I met with any trouble from the people, and this was on the occasion of meeting a genuine tramp, of unkempt and formidable appearance, on the road. 196 HITHER AND THITHER I had met this very man the day previous in an outlying district, when he had asked alms of me. On this occasion, miles away from anywhere, in a lonely spot in Northern Switzerland, he accosted me again, in French, speaking in a growling, surly manner. Not receiving anything on either occasion, on account of his impertinence, he commenced to be very abusive and approached me more closely than was pleasant. That man meant mischief. ■ I tumbled to it that I had a nasty opponent to deal with, so thought it wiser to show immediate fight as I felt sure he meant no good towards me. I had met men like this in other lands, and knew them when I saw them. My diagnosis was correct. He was coming straight for me. Turning my stick upside down and holding it in a suggestive manner — for he was a big, powerful man — I returned his volley of abuse in a language only to be heard from a Western American or cowboy. The effect on him was decisive. He was abso- lutely taken aback. It was not that he understood the exact meaning of the words, but it was the sound of them that proved too much for him. He cringed and gradually slunk away, like a dog chasing a cat which suddenly turns round and faces it. Any one in the " know " will understand my meaning. A porterhouse steak and a bit of Western American slang are peculiar to one place — America. Once tasted and heard, they are seldom likely to be forgotten. A BY-PATH 197 But all this is digressing from the spring-time and natural history of Rovio. There are about 1700 known different species of lizard, and one or two varieties are to be found here in Rovio — arboreal as well as terrestrial varieties. Watching these carefully day by day, as the spring advanced and their surroundings altered, one noticed them gradually change colour from a dust-ground or bark to a green tint — a variation under Nature for pro- tective purposes. The naturalist knows this cryptic resemblance to their surroundings is shown in Nature in many ways by various animals and creatures. Often this colouring or their markings or shape conceal them from view by the similitude to their environment, and hence this difficulty of detection is " protective " to them. All this may also be for an aggressive purpose, as in the case of animals stalking their prey, or it may be both for concealment and for aggressive acts. Well-known examples are the plain sandy coloura- tion of the lion and puma, the striping of the tiger and zebra, and the spotting of the leopard and giraffe — all for cryptic effect. The tawny-coated Alpine hare becomes as white as snow in the winter months. Whilst referring to this natural protection, it is also interesting to watch for the mimicry of certain living creatures, which is a deceptive similarity of animals in the same district. It is curious to note that certain insects often 198 HITHER AND THITHER copy others of their kind, notably when the mimicked forms are repulsive or unpalatable to their enemies that hunt them, and they protect themselves by so mimicking. Bees and wasps again, how largely they are avoided on account of their sting, and accordingly are mimicked by various other insects to prevent being devoured. It is well known how easily lizards part with their tails and how soon they are renewed again. It is not generally known, however, that there is a variety of lizard found in the States which, as a defensive act, spits blood — not from the mouth, as would be generally imagined, but it squirts it from its eyes, and can, moreover, do so several times in succession. Lizards are interesting things to study ! There are some birds of prey here also, of power- ful flight and undaunted courage — namely hawks. Watching these hunting the smaller birds on the wing, one comes to the conclusion that the hawk must possess a truly sporting spirit, for, although opportunity often occurred for an attack, the pursuer would always disdain to swoop down suddenly and pick up a resting bird. To the naturalist whose inclinations tend more towards the classification of insects, there is choice enough in the several varieties, lepidoptera, coleop- tera, diptera, neuroptera, hymenoptera, and the many other orders of the class Insecta, sufficient of which will be found to considerably augment any normal collection. So far, then, as the natural history of the place is concerned he has certainly some scope for botanical research. A BY-PATH 199 The Zoology embraces varieties of the classes Mammalia, with its moles and those little animals which supply the royal fur — ermine. Of birds, too, there are many kinds. There are lake fish, insects, small reptiles, and so on, to say nothing of the interesting study of the people, with their habits, customs, and ways so different from our own. Rovio and its surroundings, therefore, has much to recommend it in its way, and before leaving the subject, mention should be made, in this somewhat short and breezy epitome, of the old castle on the road to Arogno. Perched up on a hill, with mountains on each side, is an old ruin standing prominently out. It is surrounded by a deep valley like a natural moat. This is the old castle built in the days of the Bishop Prince — probably about the time of the Battle of Hastings. In the present day, protection from such a stronghold would not be dreamt of, surrounded as it is by higher levels on which guns could easily be placed, so covering the castle at all points. It is an exaggerated Bulwana Hill and Ladysmith, so far as the relationship of castle or town to surround- ing hills is concerned. But when that castle was built, warfare was otherwise than it is now, and the fine old building then probably answered the pur- pose for which it was intended, with its narrow footpath leading up to the fortress which could not be rushed. The chapel, with its paintings, still exists ; but although the roof is intact, the front wall is entirely 200 HITHER AND THITHER absent, exposing all within to the vicissitudes of the weather. The family, residing in another part of the dilapidations, now use this chapel as a store place, and chickens ramble about it at will. Beneath the castle are long passages ; some it is said lead directly to the lake and thus afforded a means of escape should the enemy have proved overwhelming. There are cellars, too, containing the bones of those soldiers who had fought there- abouts in the olden days. These are stored in a crypt, after the manner of those at Hythe, in Kent. The entrance to the vaults is now firmly barred, and nothing will induce the people living there to disturb it. They are haunted, it is said, and the ghosts would come out — to the everlasting detriment of the residential part of the building, and the insufferable fear of the tenants. ■K :!: * Early one Sunday morning the tinkling of a bell was heard, and the measured step of the Signore Curato slowly and deliberately passing up the main but narrow street of Rovio, announcing the passing-by of the " host." A large brazen cross was carried before him. Acolytes followed, in their short white surphces, chanting as they gradually wended their gloomy way, the sacristan bearing the pyx in which the consecrated bread of the Eucharist is kept. Their errand was a doleful one, for the priest was on his road to administer the Sacrament to a dying woman, give her his blessing, and sprinkle her with Holy water, for the last time on earth during life. A BY-PATH 201 He would remain with her until she breathed no more. As the procession proceeded on its mournful way, people would fall down on their knees as it passed, and, with heads bowed low in reverence, silently offer up fervent prayers for the sick and dying one. This weird train, marching in such solemnity, was all but too significant. It was a sorrowful but impressive sight. Ora pro nobis. Requiescat in pace. These spectacles make people ponder, and think, and wonder — ^wonder what ? " Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery." The priest had better hurry up if he is to be in time, is what all are saying. But this good man has twice in the past night visited the sick one, and now again he enters alone the house of death. The kindly folk without, wonder how it is their honoured priest remains so long within, and why he walks so quickly back. The choir boys forget to chant the Requiem. This is surely not their wont, but no one present can say why. Perhaps the other figure which entered the house later, and still remains, can say — if only he would come out. All are anxious to learn the wherefore of this irregularity. In a village of this kind, any news is acceptable — it is, in fact, a legitimate right. The people's extreme interest is centred in their own local affairs : everything else is nothing to them. That second figure was the doctor of the place, and as he glanced at the glassy eyes and unconscious form before him, 202 HITHER AND THITHER he involuntarily shook his head at his task, as the i aw had all but dropped. But he would try. A hypodermic S3n:inge, some strychnine, atropine, brandy, and a few other things were his sheet-anchor in this touch-and-go — and the little angel, who visited this earth to bear that woman's soul away, had to return on her errand at a much later date. Quite exceptionally — the procession had been turned out in vain, and the Viaticum not administered. A STRANGE DELUSION The name of the village, if indeed such a title could be given it, matters little ; the priest who lived there we will call by the fictitious name of Signore Antonio Pietro Badaloni. The place is still there, lost in a mapless part — " the back of beyond " — and the curato is still there, so, for obvious reasons that will become more and more evident as the tale proceeds, we will rest con- tent with these nameless introductions. We, the proverbial editorial we, that is to say another and myself, heard from a certain signora of the above-mentioned village, that there existed a roomy, well-furnished house of the Italian type, with splendid verandah and other attractions, only waiting for our worthy selves to come and occupy it at an exceptionally low rental. It seemed admirably adapted to our requirements just then, being as it was, a spot combining the enjoy- ment of living at a high altitude in the mountain air, amidst magnificent, wild, and rugged scenery, with the novelty of the life, as well as the quietude so essential to the " other," in order that he might 203 204 HITHER AND THITHER complete some intricate literary work on which he was engaged. Accordingly, we proceeded to this " God-forsaken spot," as we contemptuously termed it on arriving late one night, after some stiff and prolonged climbing. A miserable light was shining ahead of us for our special benefit and guidance, indicating that we had at last arrived at our destination, after groping about for so long in the dark, on what appeared an endless journey. As for our baggage, we expected to see that again in about a year's time, when the cart was designed and made for the transport, and the donkey bred and trained to the precipitous mountain path ! Even then, it proved that we had underrated the estimation. At first glance, our future abode did not appear over-cheerful or inviting, but we were fagged, and everything looks very different under those circum- stances, especially at night-time too. But the shock had yet to come. The signora was graciously waiting to receive us as we entered and took over our house. Holy Patriarch ! We looked askance at each other, curling up our nostrils in disapproval. Had our twin destinies side-slipped off the knees of the gods ? Shades of Abraham and Jacob ! Assuredly there was some mistake somewhere, but, concluding this would be righted in the morning, we made a tour of the place. Our disillusion, however, was soon complete and overwhelming. A STRANGE DELUSION 205 The size of it ! The gloom of it ! After a terrific and furious parley with the woman, in a language composed of bits of German, French, Latin, and a few words of Italian, it became evident that this was the house intended for us, so, as we saw no alternative or escape from it in a hurry, we settled down to the inevitable, determined to rouse " hades " or the village — for the take-in. We were soon being shown over the place by the aid of a flickering candle. Absolutely flabbergasted, we denounced the whole thing as a fraud, swearing never to buy a " a pig in a poke " again. Was it a deserted monastery, convent, fortress, or what ? We came to the conclusion it was a " what ! " Our hearts sank within us as we passed up the wide stone-staircase to some large bare rooms above, with lofty ceilings and stone floors. Endless, empty cubicles led off from the long, white- washed corridors, with niches in the walls at every turn. These were, however, bereft of their images, and — horror ! — beneath the house was a large crypt, leading into mysterious and creepy cellars on all sides of it. The whole place was wrapped in silence except for our own footsteps, and only ourselves were in this huge place save the ghosts of old-time monks who walked the corridors with us. True, as regards the rooms, the place was clean enough ; but, then, how could it be otherwise, for ledges and crevices there were none for the dust to to settle on. One's voice resounded in those long, rambling corridors in a hollow intensified manner, strangely 2o6 HITHER AND THITHER weird and eerie in the gloom of that feeble light, and — we poor lonely wanderers were to be left all alone, at night-time, in this large barrack of a place. The building stood over a considerable area, and so gave ample space for the large cellars, which, however, extended beyond the precinct as well. Immediately beneath the sloping roof, there was a series of large heavily beamed attics with openings the shape of windows but devoid of either frames or shutters. In consequence, the air and wind whistled through this upper storey in a manner most ghostly. Originally it was a place of storage for miscellaneous goods — green wood, to dry and mature, as well as other requisites. It had one redeeming feature certainly — the view. It would not do to wander about recklessly in this house of many mansions without a guide, for there was no town-crier to announce the fact if you got lost. But we were men who had been in very funny corners before, and latterly it had been our wont to visit unfrequented places in our search of the unlooked-for. So we had got what we wanted this time with a vengeance, The village at which we had landed seemed barely known even in the immediate vicinity, but, strange to relate, we got used to the place sooner than seemed possible — force of habit maybe, or perchance tumbling down to anything — and almost got to like the novelty of it. Most decidedly, a few months' stay would do us no hurt ; the air and scenery at least were good. We only used four out of the many rooms ; two bedrooms, one sitting-room, and the heavily beamed, A STRANGE DELUSION 207 old-fashioned kitchen where a large log fire was always burning brightly. The maid, who had been found for us, came daily to attend to our wants, and in the evening she carried away the key with her so that she might begin her morning duties without disturbing us. Every night we two solitary men were left locked in that large building, all by our " lonesomes." By dint of various " borrowings " from the villagers, a few photos and odds and ends of our own, we soon succeeded in making the living rooms fairly comfortable. The curato, Signore Antonio, was, it appears, the person who had ensnared us into this place, in order to fill his somewhat empty pockets, and the aforesaid signora had little or nothing to do with matters at all beyond carrying out the curato's instructions. The curato soliloquised and worked out the problem thus : The newcomers would have to buy wood he decided ; he had an over-abundance. They would be compelled to live on the produce of the place — little enough, by the way — and so money would be imported into the village, and thus to the church ! Perhaps wine too they would want, for surely the Englishman must have something to drink, especially if whisky were not procurable . . • and the signore curato had some excellent wine to sell — at his price. So altogether it seemed a great pity for the " chalet ! " on the mountains to be untenanted when people were anxious to come to it, and he 2o8 HITHER AND THITHER would dictate to the signora what to say. As he grew older, the curato had an ever-growing, sordid yearning to have a good balance on his side of the ledger, and times had not been overgood of late. Without doubt, the building had at one time been inhabited by monks, and as the days rolled on we had more time to examine our quarters carefully and draw conclusions. Signore Antonio was obstinately silent on this point of the house-question. Every morning, after breakfast, he would toddle over to see us, and, following the usual salutation of Buon giorno, a constant query of his was : " I hope you slept undisturbed last night, signori ? " On assuring him we had passed a very comfortable night, he would appear almost surprised at the answer in the affirmative, but said no more about it. The village is in the Italian part of Switzerland, some 6000 feet above sea-level, and is nestling in a hollow under the shadow of a high mountain. All around are mountains — nothing but mountains — mantled in snow and raising their heads loftily above us, and here and there are large cascades, pouring their water, crystal-clear, down the precipitous mountain side. Majestic passes, with stupendous over-hanging battlements of ice, and undulating wooded hills below, also abound. Some are clothed in rich vege- tation, alternating with bare and much-indented land ; and yet lower, is the Alpine valley where a herd of goats is turned forth to graze ; these make up the surroundings of this wild and rugged part. A STRANGE DELUSION 209 Half the houses in the village are in a state of dilapidation or apparently deserted. Some are little more than ruins, though inhabited by man, and very incongruous they look with such lovely surroundings. Very little is seen of the poor, frugal, and kindly folk, who are all under the stern regime of the priest in this quiet but interesting locality. From the far end of the village, a slight but generally ascending pathway, dotted with frescoed shrines, leads up to a slab of porphyry rock which stands out prominently from the mountain side. Upon this is built the little church with its large campanile, and attached is the residence of Signore Antonio. Climbing to the summit of the almost unattainable peak towering above, an expansive and magnificent panorama comes into view. The self -same "Jungfrau " and " Finsteraarhorn," that are seen from the Rigi-Kulm in Northern Switzerland, can here be picked out from afar, but presenting to us now a different aspect. Looking southward, " Simplon," and " Monte Rosa" the colossal Queen of the Alps, are prominent among other summits shimmering with virgin snow. Our barracks, monastery, or whatever it is, lies to the far and slightly elevated extremity of the so- called village. With its Indian-like verandah, pillared and semi- rotund, its conspicuous size and massive entrance, with sacred mouldings above the door, its shuttered windows and figure-painted walls, the entire building stands out prominently from the rest of the houses 210 HITHER AND THITHER about — mostly in the Italian style, high, dirty, and dreary looking. Here we are, barely in touch with the world at large, owing to the insignificance of the place and the difficulty of approaching it. The natives are very indifferent to the presence of newcomers. They care little who you are or where you come from ; indeed, they appear barely surprised at your presence there, although visitors are so infrequent. Notwithstanding, they are very polite and obliging to strangers. What an ideal spot for runaway folk ! We were much struck with the handsome type of Italian, the Southern Latin type, such as artists love for models, with dark eyes and hair and rich, warm colouring. But how did they migrate to this part ? They were not Lombards, for they were too lazy for this to be so, and there was not a blonde representative of the race which is seen in Genoa and among the Milan townfolk chiefly. As time went on, we became more and more friendly with Signore Antonio. Sometimes he would visit us ; on other occasions we would go to his place. He kept an exceptionally fine cellar, and would always produce an old and crusted bottle on our arrival, for his wines were of the choicest and his liqueurs were plentiful and varied. " I hope you slept undisturbed, Signori ? " he never failed to ask, and we would sit over the big log-fire, smoking and yarning with him on all sub- jects until the lateness of the hour suggested our departure. A STRANGE DELUSION 211 We learnt much from the old curato, and always noticed the persistence of his one question when first greeting us. Once we asked him why he always appeared so deeply anxious concerning our slumbers, but his only reply was a shake of the head, and a " Nienie, niente, nulla, nulla; nonimforta." When we inquired if he expected other than our usual answer, then he raised his glass again to his lips and took a few sips as if to parry the question and dismiss the topic. After a while the reason of this question — " I hope you slept undisturbed ? " — dawned upon us both. Neither had told the other, but each had, at intervals, heard weird and uncanny sounds at night ; quite sufficient to make one decidedly uneasy. Neither of us was a chicken, and we had long since shaken the egg-shells off our tail feathers. Our fighting weight was fifteen and thirteen stone, respectively, in our " birthday suits," and we both had traveUed widely from North to South, and between the Bad Man's Land in the Wild West to the extreme Far East of the Orient. We had both seen " funny " times ; but, notwith- standing, we each had an unaccountable feeling of something being wrong. What it was, we knew not. Those sounds at night ! Here were we, two men who had been in many tight corners ere this, two old " toughs " in whom the feeling of great fear had long since ceased to exist, becoming attentive and on the alert, listening and yet and yet — Those pounds at night ! What were they ? 212 HITHER AND THITHER It is the unknown, the mysterious unknown, the uncanny, that a man cannot grapple with. Put him face to face with an enemy of flesh and blood and experience tells him how to act, but cowards that we were now, to be mentally invahded by sounds only. This was a new phase in our lives, for the very idea of spirits or ghosts or anything of that nature, up to now, we both scorned. We two fellows slept in adjoining rooms, and, it appeared, those distinct and peculiarly weird noises had more than once made us deliberately get up, dive to the bottom of our kits, get out our revolvers, load and place them within easy reach of our beds. Yet, strange to say, when morning came, each found himself too ashamed of that act in the dead of night to tell the other what he had done. A man who travels much, finds comfort in his " gun," as the American calls it, even though he may not need to use it. It is a habit with the wanderer in out-of-the-way places, and at the first sign of trouble how instinctively the right hand passes to the holster at his side. In some lands, one would as soon think of going about without a " gun," as, at home, of walking down Regent Street without a collar or tie on ; it is part of one's attire. But now — to load up in a civilised part of the Continent, fie to us ! And after a night of the kind referred to above, we slunk down to breakfast in the morning with lowered heads, degraded in our own minds now that it was light and sunny. Neither, as has been said, did one speak to the other of this A STRANGE DELUSION 213 loss of self-respect, brought about simply by hearing a few unaccountable sounds. Sounds sure enough. Sounds that were not exactly human. A nasty, gurgUng, choking sort of a sound ; not the usual rustling of skirts spoken of in a Christmas ghost story and the appearance of a white figure coming through an unopened door, but — the resemblance to dried leaves being wafted along a stone floor by a gentle breeze, followed by a horrible, gurgling sound, and within ten minutes of this a loud banging-to of an adjacent door. After that, complete silence would reign again. The sequence of these events was always exactly in the same order, invariably making the " weaklings" of fifteen and thirteen stone, respectively, sit up in bed, think, listen, light up a smoke and watch, and wait for a repetition of it all, which, however, never came off again that night anyhow. The wafting of the dry leaves along the floor, and the slamming of the door which followed, could not possibly have been caused by the wind during those still, quiet — too quiet in fact — moonlit nights. If silence could be said to speak, those tranquil nights spoke volumes. Had they occurred in a hotel, they would have caused no astonishment, but here, at the end of the world, in a creepy building, with nothing assuredly wanting to add to any mystery and everything suitable for such an anomaly, it was quite another matter. We got up and loaded our " guns " all the same, so quietly, so deceitfully, so unmanfully. 214 HITHER AND THITHER both fearing to confide in the other for fear of ridicule, so truly ashamed were we to own to such conduct just because we heard some sounds at night. Oftimes a few nights would pass quite peacefully ; then, all of a sudden, the mysterious sounds would commence again. At last the climax came. Gently, carefully, and guardedly we broached the subject, and, as neither could jeer at the other, the ice was broken and we decided to fathom the whole thing together. We had both heard, both been astonished, both been prepared to meet the untoward event, and now laughed heartily over the whole thing as we sat at breakfast together. After these confidences we kept on the alert, and a week later we were rewarded for our vigilance. The sounds were heard again, and without difficulty we were able to locate the troublesome door, for it produced the unmistakable slamming-to noise right in our faces — though it never moved ! This was certainly very strange, but it would have been stranger had it done so perhaps. One of us should, we arranged, stop on the outside of the " accused " door, and the other would remain inside the room, waiting to hear the bang again. We did so, but, even then, we were no wiser after we heard it how it was produced. Of one thing alone we were confident, and that was that the sound emanated from the closed and locked door. We palpated it with our hands, to feel if there was any vibration, but none could be felt. It was most A STRANGE DELUSION 215 curious, and, concluding our senses were deceiving us, we became disgusted with the whole thing, and to this day neither believes there was much in it. I say much advisedly, for want of an explanation. The coincidence, however, with the history to follow, made it undoubtedly peculiar, and the believers in spirit theories would not have doubted the veracity of the annexed report. We did though. * * * It was an exceptionally severe winter, the worst that the last twenty-five years had produced, and we were snowed up to the extent of five metres. Unable to get about at all, for the time being, we had ample leisure to read, write, smoke, or chat with Signore Antonio, and after a consultation, we two men decided to tell the curato all about our fears, partly as a joke and partly to see if he could throw any light on the phenomena. Somehow we had the idea he could. " I hope you slept undisturbed last night, signori ? " — that question, that qestion of his, always accompanied with a sour, acetic look upon his countenance. We accordingly forded through the deep snow to hunt him up one evening. " Buona sera, buona sera, Signore Antonio," we both simultaneously shouted to announce our arrival, as we pushed open his door and found him engaged busily writing in his little study. We had arrived at an inopportune moment we decided, and therefore we left him, having first extracted a promise that he would come over to us 2i6 HITHER AND THITHER for a "peg" (not of whisky unfortunately) the next night. The old man was certainly peculiar in many ways — eccentric if you will — but shrewd, clever, and well read, and had undoubtedly held high positions in Rome, Naples, Milan, and elsewhere, thus adding considerably to the halo of romance which hung over him. He was a man of wide humanity and clarity of vision, and, no matter what the topic of argument, his reasoning was sound and his general knowledge always prevented conversational bank- ruptcy. With no one of his own social status to fraternise with, such a man was wasted in this out- of-the-way place. The more we knew of Signore Antonio, the more we liked him, with his cynical remarks, his sense of humour, and his lively repartee. But, withal, he was rather strange at times we noticed. He was so " priesty " too, with his thick black hair, keen, dark, piercing eyes, well-marked brows, and face meant to be clean-shaven but more often than not presenting a blue-black, stubbly growth of some days. His tonsure was a thing of the past, and seldom properly bared. He was a wonderful old man, for he had hardly a grey hair, and looked years younger than his age in his long black robes, and feet encased either in zoccoli or else in shoes with large silver buckles. The " cocky " little berroto, too, of the three cantons, as it is usually termed in these parts, completed his costume. But to revert to our informal call, it should be mentioned that the next evening, as agreed, Signore A STRANGE DELUSION 217 Antonio joined us. During the conversation, when sitting over our big fire of logs, smoking and drinking white and red wines and sipping absinthe and benedictine, we attacked him on the topic of the sounds. There was a long pause as he knit his bushy brows in deep thought, staring quietly into the crackling and flaring flames before us, evidently pondering the subject. " Inferno ! — I could tell you much that would astonish you," he at last remarked, " if you would but have the patience to listen to me." We acquiesced with a nod. Draining his glass, he forthwith settled down to unfold the following tale and unravel the meaning of that in which we were so interested. " Porco ! " he commenced, with his favourite but meaningless ejaculation, " I am an old man now, and have probably well nigh finished my allotted time on earth. When I am gone, there will be found my life's history — or confessions, if you like it better — and that will throw light upon many old traditions, and even on comparatively recent mysteries as yet unsolved by the Department of Public Security." That was a startling statement, and our curiosity became keener than ever. " Si, Signori, I have much to regret I can tell you, for, Santa Maria ! I have known the crimes of others, I have been an ' accessory after the fact ' as you would say in your country, and given absolution to the perpetrators of foul and vsdcked deeds, with 218 HITHER AND THITHER whom at one time I had much to do. Ecco ! Many of them Hve still ; many are gone, and Christo ! may the absolution I gave so freely render them pure, for by my priestcraft I extorted much from them to save their wicked souls." And he gave a peal of mock laughter, with some evident pangs of remorse. " Do I not constantly do penance for these things and the violation of my faith ? The Madonna knows that it is so." " Si, Signori," he added, " you drink now the wine " (which by the way we had bought from the curato, at his suggestion and price) " purchased by me with the lire I obtained from the products of the confessional. It is the wine of the cursed." Again a bitter cynical laugh echoed through the sparsely furnished room, and his eyes gleamed with an un- canny look which we had not beheld before. " But listen," continued the old man, " we people of Italy, before Vittorio Emanuele's time, were governed loosely. The knife and other forms of murder were, consequently, as rife in Italy as in any other part of the Continent, for the assassin knew full well he would not be hanged, shot, and quartered, for we have no Capital punishment. Taking that fact into consideration, with the aid of false swearing, prolonged trials, help from the colleagues perchance on the Bench, and other forms of farcical justice, the chance of acquittal was favourable. Even if a man were condemned, the sentence was a short one, and within quite a brief period the accused could come out of prison and start his crimes anew." " Now your laws and methods are very different." A STRANGE DELUSION 219 " Thank goodness ! " we both ejaculated. " All over Europe, America, and China, there are, as you know, many gangs or secret societies, but Italy I do say undoubtedly takes precedence as regards men defying the laws of God and man, except, perhaps, where the ' High-binders ' of the Chinese are concerned. " Half a century ago, such an organisation origi- nated — like the Katipunan of the Philippines — thanks to oppression and arbitrary government, and eventually it turned from political motives and fights to actual warfare against their persecutors. Merging gradually into a dreaded body, they commenced murdering and plundering recklessly to benefit their own aims, or that of the society to which they belonged. " Signori, you are now living under the roof of one of their headquarters — and — murder has been committed here. The sounds you hear at night are from the dead. Ecco ! " Taking no notice of our evident surprise, he calmly continued his narrative. " This house, as you have correctly surmised, was, years and years ago, a Friary, for it is very old. It was, however, eventually discarded by the monks. " At the time of which I speak, I had been helping to overthrow many of the stringent rules of our Government which kept our peasantry in a perpetual state of poverty. This, as you will imagine, like- wise reflected seriously upon the Church and the pocket of the priest. " Porco ! I found myself listening to confessions 220 HITHER AND THITHER of wicked deeds, and becoming daily the confidant concerning many a foul sercret and forced to obey all sorts of taboos. Then I became an adviser regarding more than one political transaction, until I was gradually under the entire sway of the society which had agreed to help itself and to get rid of the tyrants. " The slightest suspicion of disloyalty to them would simply mean a knife passed immediately through my body, so silencing my tongue for evermore. " Owing to a false move, just then, I was check- mated and lost the game. So, fairly or unfairly, I had to resign my position in the Church, then a substantial and honourable one. I possessed some slight literary ability, and a power of persuasion, and for a time I was engaged in the preparation of Nihilistic and revolutionary pamphlets, and in this way helped to terrorise the community at large. " Christo ! through my well-known and somewhat characteristic literary style, the Questore all but brought home to me the authorship of those agitating articles, and I was indeed on tender ground, between the devil and the deep sea. Thus I became more and more involved, being blown about by every new gust of the dynamiters' doctrine, and was compelled to perform gymnastic feats of intelligence and intrigue by their command, for I had gone too far then to withdraw, even at my own risk, and I should have been compelled to bear the brunt of it, if detected. " Things were at a climax too, for the fuse was fizzing round the governmental gunpowder, so A STRANGE DELUSION 221 threatening our destruction at any moment. That was a critical time for me. Banished from the world and finding it impossible to remain in a large city with the Quesiore always on my heels, I came here, but even then, I was still in touch with the men I had once sought to avoid." We were becoming more and more absorbed in the old man's tale, as it went on, and after proffer- ing him another cigar and prosit-ing together over another drink which he much needed, so hoarse was he becoming through nervous excitement, then with an anxious, though lack-lustre look in his eyes, he resumed : " Si, si, here was I, degraded and friendless. It was an ideal spot for the workings of such a body, and nothing was left for me but to further their cause, and in this way help to revenge my displaced confi- dence and supremacy in other circles. Strictly speaking, headquarers we had none. I say "we '' because I was as good as a member of the society, although I had never gone through the solemn forms of initiation. This mattered little in my case — a curato. Of documents we had none — nothing beyond that solemn ordeal by means of which one was admitted to the brotherhood and instructed in its aims by the functionaries in office. " That oath ! That terrible, solemn, blood- curdling oath of initiation — oh, signori ! " For a moment he said no more, but with head and eyes uplifted he shook his hand with emotion to- wards the ceiling as if appealing for mercy or asking that those fiendish bonds might be snapped for ever. 222 HITHER AND THITHER " You must not think me timid," he went on, " for I have nerves of iron, but the first time I was present at an initiation it showed the weak link in the nervous chain, for it was not strong enough to support the strain. I trembled like an aspen leaf, broke out in a cold sweat, and turned sick and faint at what I saw. The oath which is taken by the new member is more stringent and binding than has ever been known to man, but there is nothing what- ever that could give incriminating evidence against this fraternal organisation. " The code of laws is a verbal one, and new rules pass from centre to centre and from man to man, any suspicion of treachery among its members bringing instant ' dispatch ' of the suspect. To avoid suspicion, the meetings were held sometimes in Rome, at another time in Geneva, then in Milan, and even in the remote mountain districts of Switzerland. Posing as tourists, or Alpinists, they had no difficulty in holding these meetings undisturbed. Often enough they were simply to allure a victim into the silent passes. Then a strap would be passed round his neck, tightened by means of a wooden neck- piece and screw ; there would be a slight struggle, a gurgle, and all would be over." We were now disbelieving his statements, but he seemed so earnest that we pandered to him : Anyhow, it was a curious story, and stood foremost in the nudity of his tortured mind. " History repeats itself they say," he continued, " and it certainly has in this instance, for this method ef strangling was revived here, in Italy, in th§ A STRANGE DELUSION 223 present century, and practised almost exclusively by the society, to rid themselves of single persons, or where other methods were inadvisable. They became practically Thugs, like the devotees of Bhowanee of old. It was an echo of Thuggee. " The satisfaction of Thuggee became stronger and stronger with them, and the knife now had less charms with these fanatics than hitherto. They loved to hear the snap of the fractured voice-box, the musical gurgle of death. How soft, how sweet — but, alas, far too short — to those who witnessed their revenge. The look of fear, the protrusion of the violet tongue between the teeth, the staring eyeballs bursting forth from their sockets, the turges- cence of the face merging so quickly into that dusky, cyanotic hue, with perhaps little streams of blood trickling down the mouth, nose, or ear, formed indeed a gratifying spectacle to them. " It is easy enough to strangle a man, signori, especially if he be taken unawares from behind. A twist of the screw, barely a spasm, and the head drops forward on the chest, often without a struggle or any suspicious sounds to indicate the tragedy. It is thus Thuggee has its good points, Signori, and is after all humane. " Even a strong man, in complete possession of all his bodily powers, can be easily overcome, for, Porco ! the remedy is certain and safe I can assure you. " I have seen desperate struggles when the victim suspected foul play, but the strap once round — and the trump card is played. Even if the body were found in the passes, it would not be till some time 224 HITHER AND THITHER after the assassination, and then death would be put down as due to another Alpine disaster. Sometimes the body would be found in the street, but then, though the medical evidence went to show strangula- tion, either the Department for Public Security were not shrewd enough to capture the murderers, or, as likely as not, those in office on the Bench were members also of this very society, and probably colleagues of the prisioner arraigned before them. This accounted often for the most extraordinary verdicts given — in their favour naturally. " As I have already stated, originally this secret society was started for political motives. It culmin- ated, however, in a gang of the basest kind, pillaging for the sake of plunder. At the head of this gang were able men, who worked up their followers to a fanaticism, the reason of which they, hardly knew themselves, for they appeared eventually to be driven to irresponsible crime. They had a fervent, unconquerable desire to kill — a fascination to kill their enemies by a strap — in other words, to strangle. " Does this not shew the influence of man over man, a stronger will over a weaker one almost to a hypnotic influence ? How a lie can become the truth, how habit and custom can remove any feelmg of scruple, how the vilest of acts can be committed quite rightfully in the eyes of the perpetrators — even with a zeal and enjoyment to be wondered at ? But such things have happened. These men had a grievance they felt, and they swore to revenge it. But what that grievance was, they asked not, neither did any of them know, for it was so long, long ago. A STRANGE DELUSION 225 " That did not matter. They felt they must be revenged, and so they wreaked their vengeance wholesale for a time. Before admission to the fraternity, the crucial tests were extreme, before donning the robes, metaphorically speaking, of blood-brotherhood and, as I have said, the bond when once sealed is so close, so religious even, that severance is impossible. " Through their combined instrumentality, the political views of the country have been changed. They helped one another in many ways in civil life, for there were men of all grades and positions in their ranks. " Perhaps the Signori will be astonished, when I suggest, that not so long since, war was waged against their country for certain reasons. Doubt- less the Signori can recall the arrest of certain dynamiters at Philadelphia and how, through their treachery, the police obtained the clue to their intention to blow up certain vessels flying the British flag. " Perhaps the Signori will also remember the strange disappearance of certain other vessels, in mid-ocean ? Ecco ! " It was not the Spirit of the Sea — Davy Jones you call him, I think — that sent those men to his ' locker.' No, no ! Ask the fraternity I say, per- chance they may be able to explain aught of it. Infernal machines are wonderful appliances when properly handled ! Ecco ! " Come, let us repair to the crypt below and I will show you things to bear out my statements." 226 HITHER AND THITHER So, after a sip of cognac, as a restorative to the agape listeners of so strange an announcement, we readily acquiesced to the proposal. Lighting up our smokes and once more filling up our glasses, to " prosit " with our guest and as a recompense for leaving the warm blazing logs for the cold, dreary, and uninviting regions below, we prepared to accompany Signore Curato Antonio that we might further unravel the mysteries of the building. We three zoccoli-shod men clanked down the flags in file (for we had taken to wearing these high clogs in lieu of slippers, the better to keep our feet off the cold stone floors), the priest leading and holding a lighted candle high above his head, to show the way. The sound of our zoccoli reverberated down the stone stairway with startling distinctness. Reaching the iron-clamped, nail-studded door, we entered the dreary arched cellaring. This was divided longitudinally into two by a series of vaulted massive stonework. Beside the mere slits in the wall, once used as peep-holes, a few cruciform lunettes admitted rays of light during the day-time. On the floor a memorial slab of stone, chiselled with Cyriologic and Latin inscriptions marked the burial-place of a monk of distinction, and here and there peculiar hieroglyphics were carved on the walls by the side of niches which were once the resting-place of sacred images. An Etruscan inscription was of especial interest. On the stonework were a few old paintings ; these had stood well the test of dust and time. Originally of gorgeous and extravagant colouring A STRANGE DELUSION 227 as well as peculiar design, they were now toned down — to their advantage, perhaps — but were still plainly discernible. At the far end of the vaultage, right away in the dark,was a large worm-eaten crucifix in a sad state of repair. This marked the one-time position of the altar. Leading off from the left of the crypt were four large flat-roofed cellars. Two were particularly capacious. Roman columns stood on one side of the entrance door of one of these latter, and within was a large well let into the wall and bricked round to the height of about four feet. It was filled with a white cement reaching nearly to the level of the floor surface, and in appearance was not unlike a lime-kiln. To the right of this was a stone crucible of con- siderable dimensions, also one of those very inter- esting antiquities of the first or second century — a sarcophagus. The adjoining and largest of these underground cellars had a more cheerful aspect, being considerably lighter and owning an exceptionally large fire-place with a wide open chimney, very similar in design to the ones we had in our apartments above for log fires. There were several small eyelets placed there, not only for the purpose of light, but doubtless to aid the eavesdropper or give ocular demonstration to the wily monk of old. Strange to say, the actual chains for supporting the cauldrons over the fire still hung rustily in their original places. 228 HITHER AND THITHER The remaining two chambers were simply dark, bare, earthy-smelling cellars. " This cross " commenced Signore Antonio again, " is a relic of the monks. You see these holes and the broken, distorted figure upon the crucifix. It was here the brothers of the society would pray to the Madonna for help and success in the crimes about to be committed by them, for the Italian is a superstitious man and needs much spiritual help. The holes are from bullets fired, during the initiation ceremony, by the new members who, at the same time, swear to kiU even their own flesh and blood if called upon to do so, in defiance of God." The so-named bullet holes hardly showed con- vincingly to us, they looked like large, worm-eaten holes, but we were deeply interested in the old man's talk and would not argue with him. " Here is a rude chiselling — not by priestly hands — representing one of the fraternity operating on his victim, the wretched man having the strap already placed round his neck. It was opposite this that some one breathed his last ; see, it dates '68 " The carving might have represented anything to us. " This Roman vase here, contains the remains of another victim who was strangled first and then cremated in yonder crucible, and the walled-in space there, is but a well containing hardened cement, wherein now lie embedded the bodies of several that were murdered in this very house. Their disappearance from the world is a mystery still. " Ecco ! You can understand now, perhaps, that A STRANGE DELUSION 229 the noises you hear at night, in the room opposite to where you both sleep, correspond with the noises of men's feet about mezzanotte. The victim who met his doom there one Venerdi santo (Good Friday) was a fine, handsome Italiano. You hear his gurgle still. He was a man who regretted immediately the steps he had taken to join the dreaded band, and so he signed his own death warrant. I witnessed the ceremony of his initiation and his pistol-shot at the crucifix — look ! here is the very hole he made. I witnessed his death and can vividly recall his sub- mission, the snap of the larjoix, the gurgle, the protruded tongue and staring eyes, and — I wit- nessed his burial in yonder well of cement. " Sitting down quietly in the chair proffered to him, the victim clutched the sides, and, fixing his muscles in a tonic contraction like a man bracing up his nerves while preparing for the wrench of a tooth-extraction, he awaited his doom in silence. After strangulation, this rigidity of position volun- tarily performed during life, crystallised into an instantaneous cadaveric spasm. I remember it, Signori ; I remember it well. " When they entered the room allotted to him, they told him the object of their visit and did not take him unawares. He neither spoke, nor flinched, nor struggled, for he knew it would be of no avail, but sat down quietly and met his fate like a man, with true Oriental resignation. " Ten minutes later — note the time — they left the room to bring his remains hither, and as the bearers of his body pushed roughly through the doorway 230 HITHER AND THITHER with their burden, the spring door slammed angrily after them, as if in a rage at what it had witnessed. You hear it still in its wrath." Such was the history related concerning our mysterious abode, but, notwithstanding, we stopped in it for some good while after this episode, so proving we could survive the yarn. We became quite used, in fact, to the weird, unaccountable, not to say phenomenal sounds, and even put our "guns" away. But though we often tried to discover the cause of the noises for ourselves, we radically failed. The poor old curato showed unmistakable signs of incipient mental abberration as time went on, particularly on the subject of strangulation. Doubtless, the bodies of which he had spoken did exist ; and it may be possible that at some time or other, he did have some unfortunate experience which was now playing havoc with him, causing as he got older, this unfortunate, exaggerated, delusional insanity, or whatever other term psycho- logists might apply to it. With that kindly, genial, and sympathetic nature — though a shrewd man for all that — we can never believe he was such an unmiti- gated villain as he represented himself to have been. The strange part of it all was, stretching the imagina- tion, it appeared quite in accordance with his tale. Indeed, one day, evidently at a sudden, lucid inter- val he remarked : " Signori, I have been hopelessly mad these three months," and an hour afterwards he had the delusions as badly as ever again. In spite of the creeping disorder of his mind, he proved A STRANGE DELUSION 231 himself eventually to be a good staunch friend to us and a man worth the knowing. In travel, there is much to be gained by a know- ledge of the world and a knowledge of human nature. The mixing with divers and curious characters leaves many recollections pleasant to dwell upon hereafter, and points m nature to fathom in idle hours . It may not be all gain, however, to the nomad, for experience is often very dearly bought, not alone by the con- comitant wear and tear from these wanderings with their sunshine and storm, but, through the inevitable ups and downs in life which must necessarily come with it in due course, these all leave their scars behind to help pay the penalty and tell the tale. The exchequer, too, may likewise suffer, and a man be no richer at the end of his journeyings than when he first started. He may even be the poorer. But should he of nomadic instinct, and a spend- thrift always in travel, be thus depleted, he becomes richer in another respect, for does he not obtain, in ex- change for his financial loss, another form of wealth — a knowledge wealth — a wealth to be gained in no other way ? This is a possession no one can wrest from him. There is also the priceless wealth of gaining life- long friends, friendships tightly woven by except- tional circumstances, for is not one of the greatest joys of life found in " true " friendship ? So now, Signore Curato Antonio — alias Signore Curato — is proudly claimed as another true one and added to our valued list of friends in many parts of the globe, and we shall always think of him with 232 HITHER AND THITHER pleasure and speak of him with reverence, regardless of the strange tale he unfolded concerning his curious life. We look upon the part accounting for the un- canny sounds we heard, and the initiation ceremony he described as fictitious ; yet, strangely enough, it aU appeared quite in accordance with his tale. Perhaps it was due to the sad and pitiable mental state into which he had gradually merged. It was a curious coincident, and a strange delusion. " Not chance of birth or place have made us friends." AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL It is not often two men elect to go away from all society, especially in winter time, far from the beaten tracks, and live for a while a mountain life in a dwelling — a veritable hermitage — away by itself in its solitary and snowy surroundings, and sample an existence somewhat between the erratic bush life of a Cape Bosjesman or an Australian Bush- ranger, and the icy comfort of an Esquimaux on extreme northern shores. When once the roaming craze seizes a man it is fatal. He is bound to follow the inclination, and is literally driven by the implacable rein of destiny. This class of man does mad things — ^things that no one else would dream of doing, at least not ordinary ones, but then it is the very madness of it that pleases and pacifies, and satisfies the inclina- tion to do these out-of-the-way acts. It will be seen though that these two men had a tangible reason for so going to live this quixotic existence, and, being of a feather, fraternised together, and were exultant at falling in with each 233 234 HITHER AND THITHER other's views. The conditions, too, were far from new to either of them. Although I had been rolling about for some years, uncertain whether to be pleased or bored with the world at large, having tasted to the full of hfe's pleasures and excitements, disappointments and sorrows, content now to look on, I found, however, my nomadic days were not yet ended ; though world-worn, I suddenly boarded a Channel boat en route for the Continent again, but pined for the nonce the more even tenor of my way, instead of renewing those hustling days. The passengers' luggage was being shot down the hold in rapid succession ; the telegraph on the bridge rang out " stand by," and almost immediately " full speed ahead," the engines simultaneously commenced to throb, the propeller to churn up the water, and we were then on our course with the siren screaming out a laughing farewell to those on shore, as if in ridicule and anticipation of the dirty run we had before us. The siren did not mock in vain. The " sick-ing ! " was fairly universal. I was making Ziirich my objective, and, on arriving there, called on my Swiss friend, the Alpinist, of Rovio's introduction and fame. It was a year since we had met. Our tendencies still seemed to harmonise, at least in one direction. It was therefore not long before we had planned a scheme for a temporary residence together on the Kerenzen-Berg. We were not going to Rigi-Kaltbad, Engelberg, Andermatt, Adelboden, AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 235 Grindelwald, or St. Moritz — all so well known, but to a little mountain home from whence we could have snow-climbs to our heart's content, tramp far and wide, and my friend could in addition take photographs of the various peaks around at sunsets and moonrises, and so help to appease his zealous ardour to obtain the best of views. The fabriks would take them of him, and repro- duce as those large tinted pictures seen so much in the principal cities in Switzerland, tempting visitors to buy and remind them of this picturesque and mountainous country. He possessed the most expensive and latest ap- pliances, and doubtless turned over good round sums for his trouble and the chances of breaking his neck. Winter is the best time for scenic effect. The mountains with the snow on them look their very grandest. This enthusiast — this man who risks the perils of the Alps more than any man I know — treks about with his camera at this time of the year in spite of the great labour, and sustains frequent disappoint- ments, often being unable to proceed owing to im- passable snowdrifts, or to icy planes preventing him obtaining a position coveted for getting an extra special view. People little imagine the difficulty under which certain photographs have been taken. To commit hara-kiri, as they say in Japan, it is quite unnecessary to go to Chamonix, Grindelwald, or Zermatt, to ascend " The Monch," the Jungfrau, Finsteraar- horn, Monte Rosa, or the Matterhorn, from which 236 HITHER AND THITHER so many have come to grief — you can do so on lesser known peaks here with equal facility. It was thus I yielded to my friend's seductive proposals, and we sallied forth to live the life of Bohemians, despising all conventionalities and scorning the many terrors suggested by well-wishers, who evidently judged us to be made of eiderdown, and a foot thick at that. Ryff knew where to make for, indeed little did he not know of his own country — in the mountain line. True, only men who have had previous experi- ence in roughing abroad would take kindly to, or even tolerate what was before us. The place where we were to pitch our tent in would not suit everyone, that was a moral certainty, for many people nowadays seem little to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, and seek only those which often amount to a vice, but they are, nevertheless, righteous in their own eyes, and expect to be glorified and esteemed for the acquisition of these supposed virtues brought to such a high art. In our little chalet, there will be no feverish all-night bridge parties brought to a white heat on account of heavy stakes, the play prolonged late into the next day at the expense of one's career, in addition, determining the potent inclination to resume the game at the earliest opportunity at all hazards, with the gradual development of the gamester's reckless and unhealthy spirit. I've been there, so I know. On ocean-going steamers I have seen some severe gambling, and abroad daring players risk several AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 237 hundreds on the single roll of an ivory ball, or turn of a card. Men will chance a bit often, but more women will risk their all. Is not money far better invested seeing divers lands and stud3dng the inner life of man ? A study which the few perhaps care for, and the ordinary globe- trotter never deigns to stop and fathom. The man who gets the most out of life, though, is he who has tasted all kinds of experiences and impres- sions — good, bad, and indifferent. They all have their value, even the hurtful ones. In due time we arrived, therefore, at Miihlehorn by train, and from there had to put the rest in on foot to arrive at our destination. Our impedimenta — as Caesar rightly called bag- gage — did not worry us, a peasant seemed pleased to deliver it safely for us, and cared not whether to the top of Mont Blanc or on to Joppa in the Holy Land. Passing by a little church, sweet, soft, mellow strains of music were heard coming from the half- opened door — so clear and sad it sounded on that cold, crisp, winter's day, so very sad. In the Strasse not a soul was to be seen about. These lovely notes appealed to the feelings, and irresistibly constrained us to stop and listen and enter that House of God. There sat the organist, a man of no pretension, all too absorbed in the instrument that produced such rich tones, to notice any intruders upon his privacy, lost to everything but the air he was render- ing so plaintively. 238 HITHER AND THITHER He was alone, perchance preparing for the morrow's Sabbath service, but no, on closely watching him, we knew he was but wandering off into soft melody, composing as he went along. The organ literally spoke, like a human voice in- stinct with sympathy ; it seemed as a prayer to us — pathetic, earnest words of prayer. The player sat unconscious of any strangers present, wrapped in his thoughts, in his rapture, in his self-communion, praising and glorifying his Maker with these tender words of song, as we at first thought. We lingered on, for we were loath to leave the man who was composing this poetry of his soul, this poetry of his music's wondrous notes — he was telling on those ivory keys the story of his life it seemed. We bent forward as the soft melody sang of his child- hood — the dawning of an immortal soul full of life and hope ; we wandered with him into baby's fairy- land, that eternal sphere of glorious make-believe with its everlasting summer. The strains of melody passed on — youth, manhood ; it worded his first love, his ambitions, joys, hopes, sorrows ; it trem- bled and sank. His wife lay dying. Then, of a sudden, its harmony burst forth in the moaning wail of a man in agony ; it throbbed and quivered back and forth about the dome above us, until one might imagine a thousand angels wept at the sorrow of the player. Was not his life finished ? His love had gone from him ! But he shook his white locks and his fingers crooked themselves as they closed on the keys. AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 239 The organ hissed and shrieked forth the defiance of this man — this atom — against the will of the Great Supreme. The jarring chaos of discord came to a climax and died away. And the player sank forward over the manuals and sobbed. We crept away. Here was talent and sorrow, shut away in a tiny obscure village. On the other side of the lake — The Walensee — are the seven peaks of the Churfisten. One of these is the Leistkamm with its jagged sharp-cut rocky summits towering towards the heavens and sil- houetted so distinctly against the azure sky, stand- ing there like a sentinel watching over this little church below, and listening to the strains that were wafted over to it in the stillness of the clear bright air. On emerging from the church on tip-toe for fear of disturbing the organist, and passing by the little churchyard adjoining, a woman was seen kneeling by the side of a grave. She was in sorrowful meditation, weeping quietly over the loss of a dear one, now past all recall. Perhaps the music in its mournful harmony touched her heart and spoke to her innermost feel- ings, and consoled her in her grief, just as it had touched ours — hardened sinners — in our happiness ; music of that kind can delight and soothe and com- fort as well as cause tears — a sad pleasure if you will — even as some can weep for joy. But we had to pass along to ascend the mountain road to our destination up — up — up. 240 HITHER AND THITHER So we plodded on and on, full of vim, and limbered up in the characteristic mountain gait with slow and steady progress ; and after passing Obstalden, we arrived at Filzbach, and thence, on up to our future abode. * * * Our dwelling was tucked away on the mountain side, and how such a comfortable little chalet was got there is a question for surmise. In Switzerland, chalets and sennhiitten are put in the most inaccessible places possible, either on the steep snowy slopes, or at the very edge of a yawning chasm where the inmates can come out of their front door and drop hundreds of feet full tilt into another world without any exertion, fuss, or bother whatsoever. Our landlord was a wealthy peasant, not above shouldering his Tragkorb ; and I ought not to breathe it, but he had tons of money tucked away in his still smaller brown-black chalet at the side of ours. He had outhouses and sheds, and several beasts of burden in the way of cows, with httle brass plates piercing the ears to denote the registered marketable worth, and with large raucous bells to tell their whereabouts ; a few pigs and a horse had he — quite a miniature farm. What thrifty, hard-working people are the Swiss ; men you are proud to shake hands with. There were drawbacks for us, however — RyfE and me. In the village of Filzbach there was apparently but one shop which seemed ill supplied just now, AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 241 and stocked only with things that were of little use to hungry men, such as picture postcards and snow boots, so we had to fall back chiefly on our own little township for our up-keep. " Our " village consisted of the landlord, his Frau, four children, a farm hand, and our two selves. Truth to tell, we could get here eggs galore, milk enough to swim in, and the like, but down to Weesen at the head of the lake we had to trudge — a day's journey there and back — and fag up again laden like pack horses with eatables of all descrip- tion and in quantity to save journeys, in case of heavy snow suddenly falling, and then being practi- cally starved out. We thus, " lay an anchor to wind'ard," and adopted measures for security. It was toilsome enough to return labouring up the rough, wooded, steep, and zigzagging path to Filzbach with our precious loads on our backs, and simply heart-breaking — poor, lean-witted fools — when almost at the top, to stumble, and have a basket shot sideways off the shoulders and see the potatoes, apples, and other commodities cannonad- ing cheerfully into the valley some two thousand three hundred feet below, and vanishing altogether like dew under a rising sun. It was a test to try even the patience of Job. A voUey of demonstrative language resounded immediately in the woods from the brace of labourers anticipating a feast of fools as in the Middle Ages, and it burst out as violently as a typhoon with the wind running at 105 miles an hour — English versus Deutsch. Q 242 HITHER AND THITHER My wiry colleague in adversity was unable to speak my native language, luckily, perhaps, justnow, but really one had to venture a few remarks to ease the tortured feelings. Put your money on a Briton for emphasis appro- priate to such an occasion, and a Western American of the " Bad Lands " for blistering the paint ofi a church door and staggering to silence even the hardiest and most explosive, paling them with their ingenuity and eloquence. Stand up Mont Blanc ! you're swaying. The food topic with us was a large and thorny question, both as regards variety and the method of procuring it. The good Frau, however, came to our rescue. A huge, full-grown pig was ear-marked for aboli- tion, and daylight let into its throat for our special benefit. As the poor brute " passed in her checks," to use vulgar phraseology, after a blizzard of kicks, an outcry of triumph burst forth from our village, like the flourish of trumpets in a chant-de-mori heard in the days of my long-gone youth at a wild- boar hunt in Germany. So we ate pig, and pig, and pig, day in day out ; different bits of pig, for breakfast and for dinner and for supper — always pig ; anyhow, what wouldn't kill would fatten, and what wouldn't fatten would fill up ! The banzai-ing and clamorous exclamations of joy at this providential good luck grew less and less after a while, as we had Schweinfleisch ad AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 243 nauseam, and eventually it became quite a night- mare and disturbed our peaceful slumbers. We dreamt of that pig, and eventually ate up the whole of it, except the grunt, or at any rate were charged to that amount with only discount for its head and tail. Thus ended our troubles in the food line. Of course, eggs without salt, much less egg-cups, and the cold comfort of pickaxing a block of ice out of the frozen milk pail to get a drink for a nightcap with your pipe, are only little discrepancies none but the faddist would deign to complain of. To cook was easy enough I thought, even if a bit primitive, especially as Ryff did the best part of it ; and such things as crushing the sugar with a rounded stone was but one of the least of these ante- diluvian methods in daily use. All the food was put in a tin together, pushed into the hole of the heat- ing stove and left to luck, and the results were good — sometimes ! Once we tried to make some cakes but made bricks instead. Now they are commencing to build houses in Filzbach from the idea ! Sometimes our soup in the stove would dis- appear and get dried up into a crust if we were away from home too long. Thin fluids, too, had a knack of oozing through the peculiar pottery ware by a kind of osmosis, as scientists would say, and so compelled us to recommence our culinary duties on our return. Trying when hungry ! Boiling water was easily obtained from the huge panchion on the stove in our little caboose. Wood, of course, was plentiful. 244 HITHER AND THITHER True, we were eschewing the winter sport of fashionable resorts, although in the immediate vicinity of good skirennen (ski-ing), for at Glarus there is an annual competition. People from all parts of Switzerland assemble with great delight to witness this well-known festival there. We were certainly also foregoing the comforts of the Engadine or places like Davos, Interlaken, Montreux, and so on. Instead of putting up at the Schweizerhof at Lucerne, or seeking other accommodation, models of organisation, we have this chalet all to our " lonesomes " to picnic in, rough it a little perhaps, but enjoyable enough for a while, away from the hubbub of a busy city with its myriads of people hurriedly draining away their life's blood in the rush and strain for very existence, with the hum of constant traffic and the hideous shriek of the impatient motor siren burring in one's ears at every turn. All experiences are blessed, however, and my colleague, who had already embarked upon the turbulent water of matrimony, hailed this change as a perfect paradise, and a peaceful respite from his much-worried fatherhood, and the pandemonium of continual little voices at home. Society here there was none. The old Politzei came then quite as an acquisi- tion to these outcast, forlorn, Arab children. We met him at Filzbach and would chat and have a drink in the little Hotel Miirtschenstock together. He had been forty-one years on this same beat from Miihlehorn to Filzbach and back daily, and he had AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 245 never missed a day's duty in all that lengthenedperiod, wet or fine, snow or hail. He therefore had walked approximately 113,980 miles odd, and probably, too, without a single arrest or exciting event on his lonely trudges. Forsooth ! a feat in itself, a mental en- durance ; dear, kind, lovable, toothless old policeman. I have been a bit of a tramp myself in various countries, but this record completely snuifs out any pride at spasmodic tramping, not so much for the distance covered, as for the fortitude of an in- telligent and active mind, and the retention of a healthy brain at the finish of this prolonged feat of lamentable and deadly monotony. At night-time, we would sit and smoke after our day's outing, and gaze up at the bald peak of the Miirtschenstock sleeping so grimly, so forlorn, so deserted — its sharp point towering up just in front of us — and look at the lovely starlit and snowy scenery around, weirdly solitary yet grand in its silent magnificence. We would watch the sickle-shaped moon develop- ing, until night was as light as day, and in the early morn, it was good to behold the full moon sink- ing to rest, looking a bit hazy and tired after her long vigil, as Father Sol was rising in all his fresh- ness and glory in such briUiant relief. Is it possible for the artist to justly reproduce, pen to describe, or photographic plate to depict these scenes of grandeur ? " But who can paint Like Nature ? Can imagination boast Amid its gay creation, hues Kke hers }" 246 HITHER AND THITHER Rigi and Pilatus ! you have your panoramas, but here, too, we see the rising sun in all his splendour. The contemplation of these wondrous works is, in itself, a sermon to us — no need for church this Christmas day away from the busy world — for is there preacher so eloquent as Nature to those who have eyes to see the grandeur, and ears to hear the mountain music of the rushing torrent ? Frohliches Weihnachtsfest to us then, for we have a sumptuous repast of frozen pork, and a bottle of Schnapps by way of dissipation for our feast of revelry, and carousal, so let our grace be one of thanks for all these privileges. Without is an awe-inspiring silence. You might be at the very end of the world, dropping off into nowhere. The nebel gives one this idea. The frost is very keen and the cold intense at times ; after prolonged exposure the snow, clinging to our cloth putties, becomes frozen, encasing our legs in leggings of ice. The food in our larder is as hard as stones — fluids as well as solids — and the milk can be turned out in a block, shaped like a blanc-mange from the mould, and rolled along the floor like a quoit. The steam from the boiling water in our large pans on the stove freezes imme- diately on our kitchen window. I was glad I per- suaded Ryff to be chief cook ! The lumbering Weesen-Amden, and the Miihle- horn-Obstalden diligences are running sleigh fashion on runners, and the children of the villages are busy with their little skis and schlitten, but these gaieties ^.re not in our village, AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 247 A fair bit of toboganning can be had from Obstal- den, down the road for a distance of about four kilometres, or two and a half miles without a break. Another friend of ours besides the Politzei is a cretin hailing from the industrial village of Mollis, seven kilometres from Filzbach. Cretins chiefly come from Aosta, being endemic to that place, and are either idiots or imbeciles. This cretin is a sporadic or isolated case, born in Mollis, and, strange to say, the parents hail from Aosta. This is the first cretin of these people, of the fourth generation, the great-grandfather having migrated to Aosta from Northern Switzerland. This is curious, when we think how healthy people going to reside in a cretinous district eventually bear children that are cretins — about the third or fourth generation. We have christened this little dwarf Gretchen, as she has two miserable flimsy plaits of hair brought over her flattened, trans- versely broad and deformed head. The parents must be fond of "it " — this little inert being. They won't part with her. We are discussing the advisability of doing a bit of kidnapping, as she would be such an adorn- ment to our mountain home above ; Ryff saw that in an instant — he must have unusual acumen, a natural keenness of perception, and be skilled in fine arts and antiquities more than I am. When we call or whistle to the poor little thing, it comes to us just as a dog would, and we walk hand in hand, and lead, and pet, and stroke it. 248 HITHER AND THITHER Its ugliness is its charm and beauty, as it is of a well-bred bull-baiting bull-dog or a snorting pug. The other children of the village are kind to this freak, which makes up a little for what cruel Nature has done. It stands in the midst, a little heroine, but does not appreciate this unasked-for honour, and if we happen to come along on the scenes, it will soon waddle over to us on its stunted limbs, and leave its playmates, giving a blood-curdling smile although the brain is practically a blank. In its hand it always holds tightly a little box, like a Pandora, and I prayed Ryff not to pry into it as Epimetheus did, for surely nothing good would come out of it. Pandora's little box ! Poor little Pandora ! Minerva's beautiful and animated Pandora. When it does favour us, and further distorts the features by one of those appreciative goblin-like looks, it fascinates and mesmerises, and you are forced to keep a steady gaze upon this wondrous being. The broad forehead, the squinting eyes so wide apart, and flattened nose, strike one ; and the thick eyelids and lips and hard yellow skin add to this false beauty of its blurred countenance. It may have pleasurable moments of a kind, this friendly little breviped — let us truly hope so. As a preliminary training to stretch the legs a bit before more arduous work commenced, and yielding to the desire of seeing places of little use, however, from the virtuoso's point of view, we trekked about the canton, doing 387 kilometres, or about 242 English miles, on foot, and a climb or two not amount- AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 249 ing to more than 37 hours all told. Climbs and mountain routes are usually reckoned by time. Some of our tramps and snow climbs were pro- longed from dark early morning to late at night, and, when one is tired, to be told "it's only six hours now to be home," is encouraging, and hurrying on for lengthened periods is also somewhat fatiguing; but the hopelessness of sitting down " nowhere," and visions of that panacea, pork, in the distance, spurs a man on to renewed vital energy. Some one says somewhere — probably in reference to life's arduous toil, but which is also applicable to some of our trudges : " Does the road wind uphill all the way ? Yes, to the very end. Will the day's journey take the whole long day ? From morn to night, my friend." One little tendon-stretcher, for those of similar inclinations to my untiring virtuoso colleague, is from Filzbach to Amden, which is loftily situated on a slope on the opposite side of the lake. The route is via Weesen, a favourite summer resort. Proceed up the Leistkamm and return the same evening, and the little outing is indeed one to record in the mind of the ordinary amateur. Blasting is in ever-constant progress in Switzer- land, and yet withal the mountains seem as large to-day as of yore, regardless of the continual explosions sending rock and debris falling in all directions. It will, however, take some little while yet to raze these noble structures to the ground ! One of the most tremendous blasting explosions 250 HITHER AND THITHER we had come across was in this canton, where a huge semi-detached slab of mountain rock, dangerous to the public weal, succumbed to its destructive in- fluence. Look out, there ! Stand clear — heavens, What a crash ! and quite a little berg fell thundering down, hurtling through the air in tons and tons with terrifying noise and bewildering effect. We had seen a Rossberg or an Elm landslip in miniature, and were hailed upon for our pains by the flying fragments, as though from the vomit of an erupted volcano. Referring to landslips, part of the Kerenzen Berg road is just now completely blocked by masses of ice, the size of fairly big boulders, which fell with overwhelming force from above. The change in the weather and the thaw accounted for it. Had any one been immediately under this little ava- lanche, Ijis day's work would surely have been done. One notices the natural falling of the pulverised earth continually going on — always falling, crumb- ling and falling, but you never see a landslip of any magnitude. You always miss it and are told of it, and only go to see it — most aggravating. At a rugged part between Mollis and Netstal a mass of boulders had galloped down the stony slope, luckily in a part that mattered little, and with one or two large rounded rocks in addition, the size of small Sennhiitten, had transported themselves from their native beds a long distance down into the valley below. There is no doubt that winter is the time to see Switzerland falling to pieces ! AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 251 We two men were always busy in our own surround- ings, giving a hand at tree-felling, snaking with iron- spiked poles, and helping to shoot the timber down the slippery mountain side, enjoying to see them bound along, jumping drop-fences — to use steeple- chase language — turning over like a weet-weet, and colliding with others at the bottom of the run with a fearful thud. Dangerous work this. Many poor men have inadvertently got in the way of these uncertain sliding monsters — with an obvious result. The brother of our good Frau was one of the many victims killed in this pursuit. When the limbs get stiff at this sort of work, a little attention directed to the sawyer cutting up wood with his continuous thish-shish, thish-shish, wiU soon grease the joints again, and whet up the appetite for more pig — and, my word ! we didn't make fools of our faces either. Another source of amusement, in the hopes of being able to possess a bit of the royal fur, was to stalk ermine. These cunning little sly-boots, with their coats as white as driven snow, were as fleet and as elusive as a De Wet, and to locate them on the frost-bound ground was none too easy, had it not been for little black tufts on their tails giving the game away. So this emblem of purity and justice was not for us evidently, and in the continual chase our ambi- tions and murderous instincts ended. Squirrels we could have easily shot, but left them undisturbed. By the trail in the snow we ki^ew a fox came 252 HITHER AND THITHER nightly to give us a visit, and to bait and lay in ambush these moonlit evenings for this nocturnal thief proved his cunning to be far superior to ours. The visits promptly stopped. Track imprints of the hungry Mr. Reynard's feet were much in evidence round and about the Thalapsee. One day we struck a Jdger who had not only shot a fox, but an Alpine hare. We promptly froze on to the hare to give the pig a chance. The coat of the hare had nearly changed colour. These hares are tawny-coated in summer and a snowy-white in winter — an example of the provision of Nature for protective purposes, although Nature was a bit at fault in this instance — luckily for us. As can be imagined, at times our toilets were fairly deshabiUe, and in our official mountain regalia we might have been mistaken for anything ranging between lumbermen or squatters, to cattle-rustlers or men of any other nefarious vocation whatsoever. This canton evidently encourages early matri- mony, Rjrff and I discover. We have it on good authority, that in a certain community there are half a dozen young men, all under age, having the following records. Three are widowers, two are divorced, and one has actually wed and buried three wives ! Mont Blanc ! now you're winking — ^but it's true. You are sorry for the first three, weep for the last, and are uncertain whether to congratulate or con- dole with the divorced ones. In one of these latter instances, it appears, the AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 253 gentleman in question had an over-much partiality for a lady other than his wife. A small locality where every one knows every one is no place for such genial little ways, and their doings eventually leaked out and brought about these interesting legal proceedings. Nothing gives a man away more than the lady asking at breakfast — " Do you take sugar in your tea, dear ? " Below our mountain home is the lake of Walen- stadt, nine and a quarter miles in length and one and a quarter in breadth. Above us are two little lakes on the moimtain — mountain lakes — the Thalapsee and the Spanegg-see. From the Kerenzen-Berg mountain-road we can proceed to Mollis and Nafels, the latter with a fine church, Freuler Palast and Schlactdenkmal. Here stretches the extensive dale of the Klonthal, with splendid mountain scenery to feast upon all round, and pre-eminently distinguished is the Frohnalpstock vis-d-vis with the Rautispitz, the summit of the Wiggis chain. For the Todi, a run down to Linthal must be done to enjoy the magnificence of this giant. At the town of Glarus— half of which was burnt down in 1861, the conflagration being seen nearly all over Switzerland — is the imposing Glamisch, one of the most picturesque mountains in the land, with its Vorder, Mittler, Ruchen, and Hinter summits. Our tramps and snow-climbs to obtain views were laborious, not to say exciting, at times, and often 254 HITHER AND THITHER enough we would wade in the snow to waist, or be sliding down a smooth plane of rock or ice. 'Tis said, the greatest curse to the proud is humiliation, but somehow or other I never felt humilitated lowering Ryil down an icy plane or over a precipi- tous bit of rock instead of going down myself. Un- shamefaced I would not wrest the honour from him ! We trained it, and tramped it, and climbed it, and only too often our plans were frustrated by impassable snowdrifts as the winter came full on us. Our wanderings had doubtless the advantage of much diversity, varying from deep snowy plains and snow-clad peaks to steep pathways over loose stone and rock — mind your boots ! though we were not in dancing pumps by any means, but worse, as a rule, clump soles with nails that would make a British navvy gasp. At times, we were passing over a rocky chaos or a precipitous sloping talus of broken-down debris from rock and stone, over detritus, or clambering up a gigantic rock trying to attain a spur by the side of a turbulent waterfall tearing down the sharp incline or deep rock cutting. Lacerated hands or sprained tendons do not count in expeditions of this kind, although the memory of some of these things is already burnt into my mind like an indelible scar. Nothing daunted, my daring friend, under talis- manic influence, would leave me staring agape while he ventured some almost impossible ascent, a mass of ice at this time of the year. Little wonder he was termed Der Affe, or the Alpine monkey. I AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 255 objected to the apparently minor details of a sheer drop of a few hundred feet to hurtle down on to some rock, or even pines below — a dead certainty for me, but the Affe said he had often had a fall, and found it gave him an appetite. A third party, in the person of a guide, who joined us later on, like myself, did not take kindly to some of these foolhardy risks chanced by Ryff, all for the sake of the camera, and the gratification of reaching places fit only for a chamois. He, therefore, had often to go alone, eclipsing both guide and astonished wayfarer by his feats. Frequently we had to bawl out furioso, in stern stentorian voices worthy of any Greek herald, to prevail upon him at all to alter his helm and get off some ledge that only one suffering from suicidism would venture on. But all this, related in cold and unadulterated chronicle, does not Well paint the picture especially to those with a vivid recollection of these surroundings in summer-time. We, above, were practically in the snow more or less the whole time. Summer or winter makes all the difference imaginable. The exhilarating feeling of ascending snow-slides with the snow like ice, or glissading down a snow slope at an obtuse angle scarcely greater than a right, will reverberate in the minds of those who have had similar experiences, and generate a thrill at the recollection. This guide tells me, a very old friend of his— also an Alpine guide — had recently been able to identify the body of his dog, which forty-seven 256 HITHER AND THITHER years ago was lost on the summit of a glacier. It was found buried in the ice like a fly in a piece of amber, and in perfect preservation. When the old man once more saw his faithful friend after such a lengthened period in its cold grave, and looking practically the same as when he had last seen it following at his heels, it was difficult for him to realise so many years had since elapsed. One day very heavy snow fell quite unexpectedly, practically marooning us in our home, and it had evidently come to stop for the remaining winter, putting an end to our varied struggles and the hermit's life we were leading — providentially perhaps, who knows ? Mountaineering was now impossible. Nature seemed in her angriest mood, and as Nemesis showed her vengeance on us for our previous dilatory start when the weather was so good, our future plans were therefore suddenly aborted. A couple of sleighs brought us and our belongings down to the lake once more, the good Frau and her husband coming all the way to the station to give us their valedictory good wishes for a bon voyage and a hearty and genuine Auf Wiedersehen. Thus ended the twelve weeks' sojourn of the two men in a chalet, after their many stupendous tests of strength, staying power, and sometimes temper, a good deal of roughing it, and only too often formidable and unexpected set-backs in the teeth of almost unnatural enthusiasm. * * * Then and now ! What changes occur in a short AWAY FROM LIFE'S TURMOIL 257 while, ever changes, even in a quiet and remote part like Filzbach and surroundings. Now, one sees on a second visit little Dependances springing up for the summer months, an artist building for himself a modern house below Obstalden on account of the view, and the place is more thickly populated and seems no longer quiet as of yore. Quite a preten- tious station is in progress at Miihlehorn, and tele- phones and electric light are now in the Hotel at Obstalden, but it hardly seems probable Filzbach will ever be a large place or a prominent summer resort. A few wiry Swiss with green Alpine hats, and the usual bit of edelweiss, or cock's plumage saucily tucked in place, still pass along, mostly on a Sun- day, tired, scratched, and dirty, stripped to the shirt for action, the usual Gepack on their backs, axe in hand, and one or more with a coil of rope across his shoulder — the true signs of real work — breaking the silence of the lonely Kerenzenberg road with their lively chatter and hearty laughter. It is an exhilarating sight to see such men of daunt- less courage, nerve, and daring, even if they are foolish to undertake such risks. Some are going great distances touring round, others come from afar. IDLE GOSSIP AND RANDOM RECOLLECTIONS As I have already remarked, I have purposely avoided mentioning in these pages experiences which, though pleasurable to dwell upon afterwards, might be termed a bit hazardous. Even to visit music and dance halls in foreign climes, dives and gambling hells which flourish best under darkness, is not always calculated to end without event. A risking of pocket, too, with strangers in such places is far from wise, but at times one cannot help being led into the web of the wily spider waiting for a tenderfoot to come along, where the mental stomach must always be on the alert not to digest all it hears, and the navigable capacity for bad drinks known to oneself — or trouble ensues, but to humbly modify such adventures is to lose their effect, so they are therefore omitted. A trivial incident or so is, however, within the scope of these simple pages — a licence granted to aU world-wanderers, and " A little nonsense now and then Is relished by the wisest men." 259 26o HITHER AND THITHER " WHEN GREEK MEETS GREEK." Beech-combers or stiffs, and a lot of miners coming down south from Dawson City, were about as rough a lot of men as one could wish to find in a good day's march. It was late at night when we arrived, a friend and myself , at a " whiskey-joint" or gambling saloon, as we tramped our way up country through Washington State. It was our inborn curiosity that led us that night into a sizzling frying-pan, and from thence we were unceremoniously bumped into a red-hot fire. As we passed the door of the saloon, our ears were greeted with the sound of hilarious commotion that was going on within ; so what must we do, imbued I suppose, with the inquisitiveness of the modern knock-about, with whom the " see-all " tendency is second nature, but go inside and see the fun. The majority of the crowd seated at the many tables, drinking, smoking, and gambling, were Ameri- cans, and the Old Country was represented by five Britishers, one an Irishman. Upon the latter, the effects of the bad whisky was extremely pronounced, and this potent electuary once getting the upper hand of the intellect was calculated to arouse its very worst passions in the imbiber. Pat thought he had been cheated by the boss of the shack, a burly elephantine man, a kind of pro- fessional bruiser, and after using staggering language towards him without avail, the enraged Irishman swept the table, at which he was seated, clear of GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 261 everything — glasses, cards, bottles, and all, scatter- ing counters indiscriminately all over the floor. There was a breeze on, and poor Pat was in the wrong place for this sort of thing, and it quickly provoked hostilities. There was a general upset of equanimity. With a sardonic grin the burly landlord slowly and deUberately rolled up his sleeves, and taking a belt with holster attached, from behind the bar, he fastened it around the somewhat expansive region of his waist, and, thus arrayed, he waited events. They were not long in coming. The bad rye whisky had aroused all the " who-trod-on-my-coat- tails " instincts in Pat, and, what's more, Pat was a born fighter. Things had gone far enough, and unexpectedly the Boss grabbed hold of Pat by the collar, and, with a herculean heave, flung him towards the half-open door of the saloon. Now either the door got in the way, or perhaps Pat's head had swollen larger than usual, for his face caught the jamb with fearful force — and blood flowed. Now it was "standing-by " time for his compat- riots, and with one accord the quartette of English- men, and we two newcomers, rose from their seats, while the Americans helped the landlord by striving to eject the agitator. The six of us, a forlorn hope, but, with pluck worthy of the best traditions of our country, charged to the front. England was upholding the cause of Old Oireland. A free fight ensued and raged violently and fear- 262 HITHER AND THITHER fully, and sledge-hammer blows rained in from the mighty boss. To the credit of the Yanks, let it be said, that not one offered to use his shooting-iron in the fray, and this is saying a lot : for in those days, and in those parts, quarrels were generally nego- tiated in that manner which was pecuHar to the Wild West, when " Hands-up" promptly terminated matters in the favour of those who had the "drop" on their opponents with their gun for its acquirement. Men were soon rolling over one another on the floor. There was a jumble of struggling humanity amidst broken glass, crooked-leg tables, and chairs. Half-arm punches rained in like shots from a Gatling gun, and while national tongues roared their profanities, various unfortunate faces acquired a look of extreme ill-use ; it would take a lot of gentle persuasion and much plaster to coax the many battered features back into their old moulds. It was a losing fight and eventually numbers told, and the Britishers were vanquished and cast forth from that heaven of delight, dropping like hot potatoes into the cold and wicked world without ; stiU they had fought a good fight, but Pat's cause had lost. After some moments of calm repose upon the muddy ground, the combatants rose up and started to sort themselves out, and after the roll call, we found that coats and shirts had been torn, and collars awry, and that Pat somehow or other had lost an extremely important portion of his nether garments, while the wild, wicked wind played havoc with the few remaining shreds of clothing, causing them to float GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 263 like the pennants of knights of old borne forward to battle. Airiness in the nether garments was not the worst, for sundry chunks of meat were missing from one and aU, while others had apparently gained some, and blood was trickling from faces and hands. One of our luminaries, who had been murderously attacked in the overwhelming fury of the fray, had sustained an extensive scalp wound, in the flap of which a severed artery was pumping away for all it was worth. Our opponents, however, would not allow re-admission to the bar to attend to the wounded man, so we had to patch him up as best we could by the aid of a flickering match, and curse their unreasoning attitude, as we were then flying the Red Cross. Through the dark and stiUy night Pat led us home, victors, yet vanquished, conquerers, yet conquered ; like a legion of the lost we passed back to our shanties, while our victorious opponents no doubt indulged in more bad whisky as they chanted the io6th Psahn in commemoration of the massacre. But Pat would play with edged tools and this was the result. MAURITIUS Passing Madagascar and Reunion, we arrive at Port Louis at dusk, so had to lay out all night and go into port next day. Her Majesty's ships, the Eclipse and Rancoon were Ipng alongside us. Mauritius was discovered by the Portuguese, and belonged to the French from 1713 to 1810, and since that period it has been a British possession. 264 HITHER AND THITHER On first acquaintance with the place, it seemed composed of various nationalities, not forgetting to include some convicts serving their sentence of life-banishment from their native land of India. The character of the place is French, the language French, and a patois French at that. The sugar industry was the mainstay of the island, and there are a good many sugar-factories and sugar- cane fields in Mauritius. The cyclone which occurred in the 'nineties evidently did a lot of harm. As to scenery, it is very good. In parts, avenues of mangoes are seen, and roads bordered with mimosa. There are groups of mountains with very sharp and jagged points — old volcanic rocks : one particular mountain is called La Pouce because of the pro- jection like a thumb. Curepipe is the little suburb. This is a few miles out from Port Louis, and is characterised by the peculiar spikes or wooden pegs adorning, more or less universally, the house-tops. Two or three feet in height, some sharp pointed, some flattened, these give the whole a kind of hedge-hog appearance from the distance. Mauritius seems far from a sanitary or healthy place. At the present moment the plague is very rife here, giving me my first practical demon- stration of the same in the plague huts. One of the blue-jackets from the Eclipse died from fever. The Botanical Gardens at Pamplemouses invited our attention, but they had no guide-book (or if they had it was not available), so an intelligent lad living on the spot came to our rescue, and told us all about GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 265 the various plants, trees, and fruits, and loaded us with specimens of all kinds. The traveller's plant also, for the first time, became known to me, a lesson which proved of value later on, for we learnt how to recognise, percuss, and tap for water, and to use the large leaf folded so as to make a drinking vessel out of it. The fig-tree, the indiarubber plant, the nutmeg, allspice, cocoa, prune, tamarind, sugar-cane, and the sensitive plant were all there and examined by us in turn. The prickly pear, too, and its plant was present along the roads, leaf growing from leaf as it were. It is best to handle it carefully, or you will be engaged for a long while extracting the sharp spiculse of fine prickles from your hands, spoiling the enjoyment of your introduction to it. In Australia it amounts to a pest, and has to be exterminated ; but Australia always seems to have its share of all sorts of plagues to contend with, what with the " Dingo Dog" going for sheep, the "rust" depleting the wheat crops, and the "tick fever" attacking herds of cattle, not to mention tuberculosis, while as to rabbits, they are at the present time in multitudes in New South Wales. This last pest is so great that the Government pay a fair price for their skins, and in twelve months 25,280,000 were killed. Their frozen bodies are imported into England, and the trade for one single year is valued at several thousands of pounds. But this prickly pear is a terror ! Its vitality is so great that if it is cut down it will grow up again ; 266 HITHER AND THITHER pull it up by the roots, it will still grow ; burn it out and it will reappear ; poison it, and it will still show signs of life. The leaves even take root, leaves growing from leaves, and from last year's leaves. Each fruit has endless seeds, and each seed is capable of reproducing a further plant ; in fact to extenninate it is not so easy a matter as might be imagined. But there is something else with great vitality at Mauritius, and they might well be called the oldest known inhabitants of the world ! There is a male and female, both large enough to ride upon straddle legs, and in order to spur them on to energy and pro- gression, it was necessary to scrape at their shells with a coin, or to produce other irritation of the kind. They are centuries old and live now, as they lived then, a monotonous, dragging-out existence. They are two members of that most interesting group of tortoises — the gigantic land-tortoise. Naturalists confirm their age at three hundred years or more, but how much more they cannot say. They scale about eight hundred-weight apiece, and measure some five feet along the curve of their barrel-shaped shell or carapace, and the female has just laid some eggs. A native of the place told me that during the breeding season the tortoises make a peculiar roaring noise, loud enough to be audible at some distance. Giant tortoises originally existed in Aldabra Island in the Indian Ocean, an island to the north- west of Madagascar ; in the Mascarenes (Reunion, Rodriquez, and Mauritius), and also in the Galapagos group of the Pacific. GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 267 Ponder over it ! Probably when the scaffold was reeking with the blood of Charles I., and when the streets of London were being devastated by the great fire, here in Mauritius were those two same animals, living side by side, just as they are to-day. When Paris was running with the blood of Robes- pierre's victims ; when Nelson lay wounded to death in the cockpit of the Victory ; when Waterloo was being fought and won, here they still were, undis- turbed in their peaceful existence, toddling oft" on their beaten tracks for water on the hills ; even as to-day, when the Boer guns are booming and the trenches filled with the many dead, they are stiU breathing and living and burying their eggs as of yore. Not a creature has survived them, and they wiU outlive us again, in turn, as they have outlived others. There they were before any of us were dreamt of, and there they will be when all that are living are dust. There they are, living and moving and roaring as of old, doing exactly the same now as they did then. Do they think of the past or of the morrow, or are they capable of any affection, the one to the other, after these years of companionship, or does time help to dull their senses.? For ages they have been walking on their scaled limbs and claw-like nails, withdrawing head, tail, and limbs within their bony case at will, and are now eating as ravenously with their toothless jaws, as though their food was a new experience to them to break their dull monotony. 268 HITHER AND THITHER Do they ever go into dreamland and think of the past ? for they must have seen much as they will see much again. Have they any emotions, and did the one great event of Mauritius — the cyclone — make any impression on their torpid brains, or did it pass unheeded o'er their heads ? As they are seeing now, so they have been looking about for years and years. " Marked things seen leave their trace behind the eyes," 'tis said, and if these creatures have memories they would have much to teU. Perhaps that is why they are so sad and dull looking, these inanimate, morbid creatures. But they have dragged on through that vast space of time, their vitality as undiminished now as it was some hundreds of years ago, heeding little of the momentous events of the world's history — these wonderful giants ; and they are going on and on in the same way, as the cen- turies pass by, still breathing and living and roaring, and will probably carry others on their backs in the far future even as they have carried us this day. A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE Whilst referring to the animal kingdom, it reminds of a terrible struggle for life I once witnessed be- tween large denizens of the sea. It is, perhaps, only the few who have ever seen a furious battle between a whale and a school of thresher sharks — truly an appalling sight ! Let me relate such a fight. This day the sea was calm, but for a heavy swell on, and there, on GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 269 our starboard bow ahead of us, was a terrible com- motion going on. Glasses were soon to our eyes. The water was heaving and splashing and foam- ing around, and momentarily a large dark object, like the inverted hull of a boat, was seen to dis- appear below the surface in a perfect whirlpool, displacing the water as in the sinking of a ship. A few seconds later it reappeared, towering up and blowing a volume of water high up into the air, for a large, bull whale indeed it was, spouting and lashing the sea with its tail, and diving in dire distress. We watched it in these irregular movements, wondering ; but it soon became evident that the whale was struggling and fighting desperately, and as we neared the scene, it became very evident sharks were attacking him, for they could be seen jumping out of the water on both sides of the leviathan monster, and a fight was going on to the death of the whale. The sea was tinged red in the trail, and now and again it became more and more dyed in places as the blood gushed from the body when his forward progress was somewhat prevented in the fight. The sharks were tearing at his flesh with eager voracity, and it seemed as if the efforts to fight and the strength of the whale were rapidly waning. They had been in combat, perhaps, for hours. The battle was unequal, and the whale could only " steam full speed ahead " and lash his tail as a weapon of defence — and we thought he did some damage with it too. 270 HITHER AND THITHER These thresher sharks are ten or twelve feet in length as a rule, and this whale was a big fellow — a perfect aristocrat from his blow holes for'ard to his forked tail aft. The captain of our ship pointed out that there were also a sword-fish or two in the wild tumult, stabbing away relentlessly, and hunting as usual with their companions the thresher sharks. Now and again the fins of the sword-fish could just be seen momentarily above the surface. Steaming nearer the scene of battle, wrapped in silence and still with glasses to our eyes, we saw more and more distinctly the awful combat that was going on, and as we passed — the whale coming towards us and going in the opposite direction to our ship's course — we came in almost at the death. The thresher sharks, we then saw, were in some numbers attacking this huge aquatic animal, keep- ing him well under water as far as they could, for a whale must come to the surface to breathe and spout, and every time he rose up, the sharks would spring out of the water and thump down on him and give powerful blows with their tails, driving him down again, and scareing and harassing the poor bull beneath the surface of the water, struggling in his fear and anxiety to get clear of them. This occurred times and often. The sharks were hanging on savagely, and tear- ing the flesh of the whale with the sharp, cruel serrated teeth in their snapping jaws, and the sword-fish were stabbing away for all they were worth under the water with their long-pointed GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 271 beaks or swords, and the blood that flowed kept us well posted as to the events we could not see under the surface. There was no doubt the furious and terrific onslaught of the fish, with their deadly weapons, must speedily decide the battle disastrously to the cetacean monster, but we were steaming on and on, leaving him in his struggles, in his despera- tion — in his death agony. I have never since seen the like. The sword-fish must not be confounded with the saw-fish, the former having a sharp, straight, wedge- shaped sword or spear, whereas the latter has a flattened process projecting from the upper jaw, armed with a number of teeth on each side. In one species of the saw-fish the length may attain to twenty feet or more, with a saw of a couple of yards. This formidable weapon is used by a side-stroke, opening the bodies of their victims that they may feed upon their flesh and intestines. The sword-fish on the other hand, drives or thrusts the " sword " into its prey. The length of the fish may be twelve feet or more, with a sword about half the length of its head and body. It is a sur- face swimmer and the single, or double dorsal fin can often be seen peeping out of the water. The force with which they can thrust their " sword " may be estimated, when it is known that they can transfix the copper sheeting of a ship's bottom, and wooden planks of great thickness, so they can easily pierce the unfortunate fish or whale they are hunting, and when ramming a ship doubtless they mistake this for a whale. 272 HITHER AND THITHER The ferocity of the shark is only too well known. Of whales there are (according to the absence or presence of teeth) the whalebone whales (Mysta- coceti) and the toothed whales (Odonticeti), and a noticeable feature is the forked tail placed hori- zontally or fiat, unlike the vertical or upright posi- tion of the fish, by which it can come quickly to the surface to breathe. Whalebone is a homy material obtained from the roof of the mouth of the whalebone whales, growing from transverse ridges in the mucous membrane of the palate, where it lies across transversely to the long axis of the mouth, in parallel plates. The largest of the plates is near the middle of the jaw, and on each side they become smaller and smaller. The whalebone develops after birth, the young whales having smooth palates, and the amount of whalebone obtained depends on the species, for in one instance (Greenland Whale) the plates are very large, being measured by feet, and in great numbers ; or, on the other hand, may be considerably less in number and only some inches in length. IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ! America is a great place for reminiscence. An untoward occurrence happened, as a matter of fact, when we were on the road to that little con- troversy with the hard-bit gang at the Joint, where we got our aforesaid hurts and variegated appear- ance of countenance, derived from joining in all the fun, to say nothing of the hang-dog air of our final defeat. GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 273 This last experience was a bit of a squeak, nearly lodging me on the threshold of Eternity — a kind of first-cousin business to a general smash up. It was like this : The elevated railway in America is often a matter of iron pillars placed along at intervals, girders put on these, then sleepers and rails. Any omission of the transverse floor timbers, or sleepers, would leave a large gap. There is no central footway between the ties, therefore any un- wary pedestrian coming unexpectedly upon such a wide opening would be sent to the depths beneath, and in the case of the higher bridges almost to certain death. Two of us were " stepping lively " over such a trestle bridge in the Western States, and some of those bridges, I guess, are mighty high, and long too. We might meet a train staring us in the face, but, mother's sons of us, we gave no more due consideration to that than to a dead marine or empty whisky bottle, but we knew we should have to hurry. I query if we should have found space enough to lie quietly down, as an escape, on the protruding ends of the ties on the single line until the cars had passed. On either side of the way was a mighty fall ! Once well on the bridge retreat could not be thought of. To save a long dHour by road we much preferred the trestle bridge, and even took to the excitement of a hurried crossing like a parson's son to vice. 274 HITHER AND THITHER It was a centre shot for me that time, but I was with a member of the craft who could always be relied on in a haphazard adventure or a foolish risk. The dusk of the evening was upon us. " Salted " somewhat to danger with a recklessness of habit usual to those of nomadic instincts, we passed quickly and carelessly from sleeper to sleeper, for the regular stepping gait we soon got accustomed to, and occasionally could lift our heads momen- tarily and look out to sea as we paralleled the coast in the lurid gloom. By an ill star, and before my colleague could apprise me of the fact, I happened upon a huge gap in the gauge — a sleeper was wanting, and, " gee whizz ! " my body shot through the opening hke a criminal in an execution drop. Instinctively clutching at the thick plank in front of me, I was left hanging in mid-air with arms extended over my head, clinging like a tendril for support solely by my finger tips. My " pard," quick as the proverbial greased lightning, dashed forward and clutched my coat collar in the nick of time, snacking me ignominously out of the gap, remarking, in a half-jocose manner, " Say, man, that's too short a cut to H — 1 .for the likes of you, old sport," and stood nodding at me like an American Stagger-bush, as if to say, forsooth, you nearly did it this time, but I copt yer going south. I could not have held on for a second longer, and it was as near a shave as a man wishes of an un- GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 275 enviable and unalluring death, to say nothing of first probably breaking one's fall, and back, in the descent, on one of the cross iron girders which help to strengthen the skeleton frame of the American trestle bridge which bears such heavy weights. A usual adieu by our clique, when some of us were off to town, like an outfit of cowboys when trailing cattle, for a good look round and some fun was, " Ta-ta you chaps, be good now, but, if you can't be good, be careful ! " The advice was excellent ; anjrway, it was cer- tainly advisable to be " careful " when crossing trestle bridges, for life is short enough and we are dead a long time ! As to the goodness part of it — that depends on circumstances. RIGHTING A MAN Years ago, I had the opportunity to cast a life-buoy, with a good result, to a sailor who was thrown into the North Sea by leaning over a lax boom-guy, which suddenly tightened with a gust of wind, so toppling him over the side. Quick action was the thing and a favoured throw, for the sailorman would have sunk like lead, with his heavy fisherman's sea-boots to thigh. But instead of saving life, I have seen this appliance nearly have the opposite effect. I remember when at Mauritius, regardless of the warnings concerning sharks, three of us went over the ship's side for a swim. One of our number, who was not a good swimmer, was allowed to have one of the ship's round cork lifebuoys to 276 HITHER AND THITHER rest upon. Now a curious thing happened which might have proved disastrous, as the only onlookers were a few engineers, all of whom were non-bathers and non-swimmers. One of we three in the water had gone right away for a long swim ; I had just come aboard after my bathe, and the fellow with the buoy had drifted some little distance from the ship's side. He was amusing himself with simdry antics for the benefit of the onlookers. One of his contortions in par- ticular was to try and " drown " himself in a sort of genu-pectoral posture, i.e., back upwards and head well immersed under water. The exact modus operandi I did not at the time fully grasp ; suffice to say, it was an unsuccessful attempt on his part to get through the opening of the floating buoy, head first over its side, resulting somehow or other that he appeared wedged, and in such a position as to be unable to free himself, and was left struggling for dear life almost upside down. A good swimmer would doubtless have easily extri- cated himself, but with our very " tubby " friend it was otherwise. It must be remembered that a lifebuoy is more weighty than it appears, and if bearing heavily on one side of it in the water, it will depress that part ; and should the body get through a certain distance, it will sink the portion with the weight on, but will not completely turn over so as to bring the experimenter's head head- upwards again. We yelled and shouted with laughter at the fruit- less and comical efforts and struggles until we GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 277 suddenly realised the urgency of the matter. Luckily I was still in my birthday suit, and it fell to me, being the only swimmer on board at the time, to dive in, swim to his assistance, right him, and bring him to the gangway. When near enough to the ship's side a rope thrown helped me through the water with my charge, buoy and all, and many glad hands stretched out in succour were ready to take the would-be mirth-maker up the gangway and immediately set to work and help revive him as soon as possible. He had suffered rather more than was at all advisable from this prolonged immersion upside down, but a little artificial respira- tion and some restoratives completed his resuscita- tion, and he survived to tell the tale and how he felt under that trying ordeal. But a moment or two longer in that awkward position would have altered the verdict. After that, he naturally was known as " Backup- 'ards" and would humorously relate the tale, which was sung and storied to all new-comers. At sea, the same yam goes round many, many times. FLOTSAM For the sake of life's contrasts, let this humble journeyman's pen take the reader to a pathetic study in our own land — the Thames Embankment as the scene. What a contrast ! This vast city with its slums, and the untidy though luxuriant tropics. To attempt to paint the latter would be useless. Those 278 HITHER AND THITHER who have seen for themselves know, and how often descriptions fail adequately to convey to the mind the many glories of a picture of colour and beauty and dense foliage. The palm, the cocoa-nut, the mango, the banana ; the harsh music of the cicada or other insect humming in the ears, how vividly all this returns to the mind of those who have seen and heard. And, then, there are the many wonders and grandeurs of the world — the Southern Cross, water-spouts, volcanoes in eruption, glaciers, heaven- seeking Alps, the Nebel-Meer, coral islands, and end- less other things on " the back of Beyond," and, lastly, that sense of lazy contentment and happi- ness when basking in a hot sun we fog and dust- breathers so seldom enjoy in our own metropolis, or the exhilaration induced by a clear and brilliant atmosphere so necessary to the harassed and over- strained city dweller. Then, the magic of a throbbing city, the superb city of the world — London ! What a difference, even with its wealth ; but what about the slums and the people of these squalid regions ? How well I know them. At night, some years back before much aid was forthcoming from shelters or other help to the unfortunate poor, the Embankment was a place for a certain peculiar class of more than broken-down, half-starved people to assemble and pass the night. They were seen sitting on benches, leaning against parapets, and in most nooks and comers to get rest or shelter against the vagaries of our inclement ^yeather. Summer and winter they came. GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 279 To-day, there is still an assembly of a night, al- though not quite of the same peculiar class. These latter of nowadays are a mixture from many sources — men out of work, mechanics even with a trade at their backs who should earn good money, and would if they had the chance, also beggars and loafers and general riff-raff. In the past, they were a set characteristic to themselves. The police would tell of their disappearing in the dajdime from off the face of the earth as it were, but where they went to, or how they held on to life, no one could say. In those days, there was not the complete organisa- tion of societies or religious bodies, working in the sacred cause of charity, to cope with the number of the strays. Like nocturnal owls these curious beings pre- ferred the gloom of night than to be seen hobbling along in their tatters in the bright sunshine of the day. They were spectres of an under-world, and reappeared at their haunt when all was quiet and dark. One thing was common to all, both men and women — abject poverty. These pariahs of the street were a crushed and forlorn people, who had drunk so deeply from the cup of life's bitterness in their squalid years of the aches and pains of wastreldom, but to my story of one of these, which for the sake of a title I wiU call " The Sinking of a Derelict," so let that pass for the want of a better name. 28o HITHER AND THITHER " The Sinking of a Derelict " Alone in the world ! The West End and Strand were thronged vrith people, for it was the time of night that pleasure seekers were wending their way homewards in the fulness of their joy. These parts were busy and throbbing. On the -Embankment it was otherwise. A lurid gloom paUed the deserted scene, and a thick mist loomed up from the river ; it was a cold, damp, cruel night, everything reeking with wet. Upon the steps by Cleopatra's Needle sat a woman, looking out towards the river beyond — contemplating. No more ! Little else could be seen. The Obelisk, which had basked recumbent for years in the sun-blasted Egyptian land, was this night standing like a fancied vision in the now murkily lighted part, and gave but little comfort to the woman as she sat and leaned against its in- hospitable stony pedestal, yet — it was some place to rest by. Hither had this poor wastrel nightly hied when London slept, to be undisturbed except for the occa- sional police patrol as he passed noiselessly on his beat. This night she was earlier. But why pick out this figure in particular from the many broken bits of humanity so often seen hereabouts ? Because she was beyond common compare. GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 281 Cold as the column itself, gripping a ragged shawl about her half bare bosom, the woman leant, pondering perchance the river was warmer than she was ! Under a tattered " something " which had once been a bonnet, a wealth of black hair hung down her shoulders in dire neglect. In her wan face of ghastly pallor were detected traces of decided beauty, besides quality of feature which could be discerned critically from the general run of outcasts. Eyes which had once been soft as the meeting of sea and sky in the tropics, gazed out over the river with a soulless stare. It was the terrible look of a being who knows all is lost. One can imagine the thoughts which tore her soul in agony — how her young brain staggered under the weight of grim memories of better days — how she indulged in that awful longing for what might have been — perhaps would have been had she been less beautiful ! With stunned surprise one gets to know her his- tory. The tale can be focussed in a few words, and the record clothed in the dress of romance. EngUsh she was not. Born of wealth}' parents, moving in aristocratic circles, pampered in her whims, dazzled by glittering gaiety and intoxicating visions, enticed by the incense of flattery showered upon her by a man with whom she was hopelessly infatuated, and never won ; whilst a girl — barely in her womanhood — a babe was born ! In many places, such things are hidden up as in a pall of night, but in her native home all was 282 HITHER AND THITHER known, and people shrugged ; society rushed pell- mell to discuss the news of how one of their number had been so unfortunate as to have let her sin see daylight, and as their misdoings were still cloaked under the veneer of immaculate modesty, they quickly proceeded to cause a scandal — and who, under God's good sun, can be as fiendishly cruel as woman to a fallen member of her own sex ? The world's conventional armour had been pierced, the finger of scorn now pointed at her, and she drank no more from the cup of human joy. Henceforth, a divorce between her body and soul, which no social evolution could ever bring together again, resulted from the tales the rag-tag and vicious habitues of smart places sang and storied about her, as if, forsooth, they were whiter than the driven snow themselves. But this is human nature, the world over, in one of its darkest guises. Whilst the flush of shame still coloured her cheek, she left the mother-coimtry to lose the past in glaring defiance of her many friends. Concealment was her aim, and this object she verily attained. How easy it is to be lost in London, in the pathetic isolation of semi-poverty, even in this age when the resplendent march for the betterment of most things is in full swing ; when wider intercourse between people is in progress generally ; when more and more help for the poor, the sick and dejected, is the daily work of many, yet, amidst all the magic of this huge bustling city, a tragic note rings out, so typically English — the absolute desola- GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 283 tion of such numbers of women right in our very midst. Why is this ? How is it ? The common cause is doubtless economy, but apart from this, however, there are often stronger reasons why many lonely existences of dire priva- tion, accompanied by some mental distress, are dragged out in voluntary exile. Many of these are ladies born and may be relation- less or friendless, living with the shadows of better and brighter times as their only companions, or have affecting reasons best known to themselves, but how often most pathetic. The troubles of these broken-down ladies should bum deeply into the heart of a nation. In certain thickly populated districts, some people barely ever see their neighbours in adjoining rooms or in the little flats of a common dwelling building, much less know their doings or even their names, and so it was in such a place, among a middle- class clientele of London-wearied humanity, and under a veil of anonjmiity, this dark-haired woman of our story lived for a while, lost completely to her friends who sought her strenuously, but in vain. Money was soon exhausted. In the clutch of circumstance came the stage as a dernier ressort, which set the final seal on her doom : her looks were never given her for the good of her soul. In quick succession followed drink, associates whose vices were glorified to virtues, moral obliquity, further rapid downfall, the streets, and, to-day ! a shivering, emaciated figure in abject poverty, 284 HITHER AND THITHER whose finer feelings are beyond recall ; a breathing body, that's all ; a foundered woman — a sunken derelict, alone in the world ! But this a pitiful tale you say ? True — yet it is an everyday story of sad, wearied humanity in the life of a big city. " L'ERMITE SCULPTANT LES ROCHES " " He makes a solitude and calls it — ^peace." The hermit of Rotheneuf ! Hermits usually have a certain fascination for the run of people ; they go and hunt them up when in their vicinity, talk to them, learn their history, look upon them as peculiarly eccentric and ab- normal beings, and, finally, contribute towards the maintenance of these curious " sohtaries," going away well pleased with the experience they have gained by their informal call. In many cases the hermits live far from an eremitic life, and can sustain themselves in some degree of comfort and ease by the peculiar choice of their self-imposed calling. You expect to find an un- kempt old man with flowing locks, and long patri- archal beard, leaning on a staff, and living in a disorderly cabin, but being the supposed possessor of untold wealth ; curt, top, in manner, resenting all intrusion, and foregoing the life of an ordinary individual, performing this mental feat of endur- ance in his solitary seclusion. But hermits differ. GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 285 This one, on the Brittany shores, is far from an unkempt, unshaven man with a belligerent attitude, although living alone in his own peculiar way. His face strong, and his appearance manly, in priest's garb, is prepossessing, and he is more than usually interesting by his genial manners and the curious life he has led — carving the rocks persistently for years with the most unique and grotesque figures conceivable. Thirty long years has this man— an educated man — seen peculiar designs in the rocks that slope down gradually to the seashore, and so has chiselled out these imaginary figures into marked designs, designs of the most — shall I be rude enough to say —inartistic, ugly, and weird forms the mind could possibly invent. But this is where the interest and originality come in. Thirty odd years of continual and well-nigh daily toil, and hard toil at that ! — and the result ? Curious, very curious perhaps, is a just judgment on his works, especially when reflecting on the lapse of time spent on ornamenting over so vast an area of the beautiful rugged rocks placed there by Nature, and the more so when we dwell upon the fact that it comes from a cultured mind originally intended for the Church : upon this last point, however, I speak under correction. The reason he dedicated his life to this extraordinary occupation I failed to gather, but there the fact remains, and the hermit of Rotheneuf dearly loves his work and finds com- fort in it. Naturally, all sorts of ideas cross the 286 HITHER AND THITHER mind ; was it a love affair, an early unsuccessful matrimonial life, a failure in some particular venture resulting in the renunciation of his worldly goods and friends and all ? This is but conjecture, and the cause of his strange life and habits seem known to himself alone. He can be seen going to and fro from his home in the quiet little village of Rotheneuf, or mallet and chisel in hand, hard at his labours hammering the steep and rugged inclines not very far distant from his home. When approaching the seashore you can hear the ring of his tools, which guides you to his where- abouts. If seen, as is mostly usual, in the day- time, except by nomads who are about at all times, the collection of carvings, the tortured faces and figures of his imagination, can be studied closely and are not so weird perhaps as if seen at night. Some are posing on an artificial wall, upright to waist like a bust on a pedestal ; others, supine as in death ; some, alto-relievo ; still others, large or pygmean. But there is a predominant expression of feature all round, likened to a cut and painted cocoanut with the shell and fibre intact, so often observed in fruiterer's shops. There is the squint-eyed giant of fairyland tales, and others of pantomimic gesture ; a soul-sick Datto chief in frowning meditation, or a Japanese, even, with the look of hara-kiri on his face ! Some Atlantes-like, bearing the weight of the rock above them on their shoulders, or others projecting Uke a human gargoyle from the roof of a noble edifice. GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 287 Pathways and little walls are made between the varied groups. But the weirdness of the sight is rendered more acute at night time, in a profound silence broken only by the rippling of the waves on the moon- whitened rocks and the seashore below ; the light, filtering through nooks and crannies on the rugged surface, streaking and splashing the features of those grotesque figures making them pallid, faint, and deathlike, and the little gnomes and devils re- semble, more than ever, beings of a central world. The scene is haggard with the grim and soul- less sights of this heathendom ; the quiet adds to the effect, but the hermit sculptor often pursues his studies undisturbed — by the light of the moon — alone in his solitary glory. Follow round the pathways of his eerie church- yard of grim goblins, '.' Like one that on a lonesome road Doth walk in fear and dread." Mischievous little deities are peering round at you from many a corner, but don't look too long ; it will haunt you if you are timid, for 'tis "a sight to dream of — not to tell ! " And so it goes on. The garden entrance to the hermit's house in the village is shut off by a high wall, which is quite a little battlement parapet in shape with embrasures, and six large heads adorn this rampartlike wall, and five smaller ones are perched up in the open- ings — the insignia of the occupant. Hermit ! of the solitary rocks— we like you, 288 HITHER AND THITHER " hail fellow well met " as you are with all, and soon again as the summer falls more gazing tourist folk will stare at you and your works, and place French coin in the little box to help you through the dreary winter months to follow. What strange and curious beings one meets in life! DEEP-SEA TRAWLING THE s.s. Progress It was different then to what it is now, years ago in the 'eighties, and about the time when people said something should be done to lessen the hardships of a trawler's life in the North Sea, and the pioneers of the hospital ships were starting on their good mission. In those days, the men were rough, their accom- modation was rough, and the sea was rough in winter time round and about the Dogger Bank, and, too, an evil as destructive as any rough sea, was the " coper," helping to send men to ruination, damnation, and even death. The steam-winch then was a luxury only for the few, the trawl being hauled up by manual labour, and the men's hands often getting frozen while labori- ously straining on the handles of the windlass, winding and winding on the slippery deck of snow and ice in mid-winter, a biting wind freezing the very marrow in their bones. True, they were a hardy lot and acclimatised, and could handle their vessels with a dexterity GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 289 and fineness to be wondered at. When waiting to drop their trawls, they would play around in a smart fishing breeze, first on one tack then on another, sailing in and out and shaving past each other with judgment to an inch and a daring which amounted to foolhardiness. Fear to them was an emotion they were not favoured with. They were sailors too, and there was not a " bridge-ornament " amongst them — as our sea-captains contemptuously speak of the gold-braided ofi&cers strutting the bridge without having served on a " wind-jammer " previous to their steam experience. In the fishing trade, besides these trawlers, there were steam-carriers plying between the fleets and the London market, doing a little trawling on their own, and storing the fish collected from the sailing boats, and, when full, " driving " full speed ahead to get back in time for an early morning market. If they could not mount a sea, they would go through it, being well hurricane-decked for'ard, and would come up the river in a fog, pacing along, screaming and hooting when all the other craft lay to. The rule of the road was nought to them, too much money was at stake. A voyage with one of these steam-carriers was of about a fortnight's duration, so Bert and I decided to gain a passage, if possible, and see the working of the whole thing for ourselves. In due course we boarded the s.s. Progress at Shadwell. Bert had been to Australia, had knocked about in the bush, and knew a thing or two, so scorned the Sgo HITHER AND THITHER idea of being turned-up. I might be, I was but a " greenie." He, however, was sick first. It was now, for the first time, I learnt that even sailors can suffer from mal-de-mer , and no wonder, on this rolling packet. She rolled even going down the river, and as the crew had got a lot to get rid of after their time ashore (all coming aboard beastly drunk except the skipper), they also participated in the " sicking " and so minimised the disgrace of the " greenie." What with the first introduction to our shipmates, and the appearance of the clumsy, dirty, unpainted look of the carrier we were about to join, it nearly pacified our ardour for the trip. But it was too late, for honour's sake, to give it up then, after the warnings we had had ; so we went. We were miserable at first, miserable and happy in turns later on, and finally threw off the guise of the land-lubber. We saw what we wanted to though — the life of a deep-sea trawler — and ex- perienced some of the joys ! To wit, we didn't wash for the whole of the time out, except for an occasional sluice on deck in a bucket full of sea water, much less shave, and this form of ablution only helped to make the face more sticky and greasy for the grime to cling to. Neither did we undress. How could we ? Nobody else did. And as we slept on the settee of the seamen's cabin which took the place of dining saloon, crew's sleeping quarters and everything else combined, we were glad enough to keep our clothes on, shivering with cold as we were. GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 291 On a long night journey by rail one always gets chilly in the early hours of the morning, even with wraps, and so it was here, regardless of the stove which in daytime made the atmosphere stiflingly and insufferably hot, while at night time it was cold enough in our day clothes with nothing to throw over us. The men would turn in to their locker-berths, clothes and aU, draw the wooden doors quite to and smoke themselves to sleep. You could see the fumes of their foul pipes issuing from the only little opening of their bunks, the finger-hole about the size of a shilling, for the tip of the finger to open or shut the sliding panel of their boxes. But they neither set the ship on fire nor suffocated themselves, for their bunks and clothing were too wet for that ; and the odour emanating from these almost air-tight compartments was a foul mixture of stale tobacco, fusty mattresses, fish and salt water, not over appetising for the green-horn, but apparently a stimulant to the enormous appetites of the sailors. I do not think the cabin was ever cleaned out, so no wonder that at meal time you could amuse yourself exterminating with the end of your knife a certain " insecta " of the sub-order heteroptera, and described by entomologists as being flat, broad, reddish of colour and a blood-sucker ; and the sport was pretty active ! One learns a lot of natural history on a fishing expedition ! The cooking aboard had a certain charaicteristic of its own. Everything went into 292 HITHER AND THITHER one pot, meat, potatoes, and pudding, all boiling together ; condensing water was not dreamt of, and fresh water was too precious to be wasted thus. The ever -brewing tea was simmering and stewing on the stove continually, day and night, always ready for the watches, and the art of obtaining all the goodness from the leaf was certainly successfully attained, for the liquid was as black as nicotine and ten times more nauseous. Fish, on the other hand, was dehcious, making up for all other deficiencies and cooked only as they can cook it, and fresher than we can ever get it on shore — straight from the sea into the frying-pan. UnUke an ocean-going ship, there was no painting or brass-poUshing or holy-stoning the decks going on in our little packet ; everything was free and easy. Bert and I soon had to lend a hand at peeling the kidful of " taturs," and help in the cook's galley generally, and ere long were instated as quarter-masters, taking the wheel in turn, the skipper, or other man whose watch it was pacing the bridge the while, giving an occasional glance at the compass. How soon one learns to take the helm, but anyhow our course was not of vital importance as the fleet were playing hide-and-seek with us. We wovdd learn its position from a passing boat, and arrive there only to find it had left. We might be lucky, or we might be some days in tracking it. It was usual to put up sails in heavy weather, to steady her a bit or to help us along if the wind were blowing in the wrong quarter, and one day we ran into very ugly weather. The hitherto white. GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 293 crested waves and irregular choppy seas suddenly changed, and the wind, which had been dodging round the points of the compass, now settled down into a gale for some days, blowing hard with the sea running high. There was no safe place on deck, and on the bridge you were nearly blinded, but had to stick it hour after hour, and keep yourself as warm as you could in oilskins, with the lappets of your souwester tied down over your ears. Anyhow it was better than being below. We now seemed at the mercy of the howling wind, which lifted the water in huge volumes on to the decks. The vessel would lurch over with her funnel trying to kiss the water, and our lee-rail became submerged. She would roll unmercifully from side to side, and when in the trough of the sea it seemed almost impossible for her ever again to mount the awful wave ahead of us. She was not the right build, shape or tonnage to be of much good in heavy weather, at least, so I thought. When Bert and I had had enough of it on the bridge, we would endeavour to go down for a little watch below, which was no easy matter by the way, and not unattended with risk, as we had to get through the foaming and boiling sea tearing about the deck. You would wait your opportunity, and creep along, holding on to anything handy, and then make a dash for another object to grasp ; but one or two heavy seas thundered down on us, com- pelling us to hold on for dear life imtil they had passed. Half-drowned, breathless, and perished, we at last got down to the vitiated atmosphere of 294 HITHER AND THITHER the cabin, there to Ksten to the screaming of the wind and the " thuds " as the water came crashing down over our heads. I reaUsed how easily a man could get washed overboard, especially on a boat like the Progress with a meagre gunwale, and the deck almost flush with the surface of the water. I then believed the yarns concerning the numbers who had gone. Down below everything was wet, and the water found its way down the companion stairs, causing the fire in the cabin stove to crackle, so we concluded we had known happier days and things more cosy, than a blow on the North Sea. Then I little thought I was to, or could, encounter even worse troubles than that in after life, at sea. At times, the wind would fall off somewhat, leaving one of those nasty North-Sea swells on, and we would rise and sink like a cockle-shell, climbing the mountainous seas before us, and then steaming down the other side of this steep-water chute into the tremendous hollow beneath. We sighted the fleet at last to windward. Rising to the summit of those gigantic, sweeping waves of this running sea, the mast-head lights of this floating village which could be seen around, far and wide, came as a welcome to us, and relieved the loneliness of this dreary scene. Down the chute we go again into the wide trough, and now every vessel is lost to view, only to re- appear later. In the early morning the wind dropped consider- ably, only a " cat's-paw," as they called it and it GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 295 was then that the havoc the late gale had played with the fleets could plainly be seen. The bulk were saihng about gaily enough, but here and there a sufferer could be marked. One vessel had her starboard bow drove in from coUision and her deck swept clean, her boat being completely torn away fropi the fore and aft grips, and lost. Here is another with her mainsail ripped up ; a third with her storm jib blown away, and still another cripple, with a patched-up steering gear, and her mainsheet in shreds, and so on, and so on. Several men had hurts. But there were worse times than this, when men are lost, and vessels are lost, or, with frozen sails as hard as the slippery ice-coated, snow-covered planks of their decks, the men themselves, encased in rigid clothes of ice, benumbed with the cold, have still to work on day after day regardless of their hardships and discomforts. THE EVILS OF THE 1' COPER." The toiler of the deep must have solace in his chew, and a little bit o' bacca' for his pipe, and as he could get it at sea at a great reduction in the price, so it was that the " coper " had such grip over him, and floated his grog-shop. Flying the Dutch flag he could supply the trawlers' needs in tobacco brought from the Continent at a cheap rate— at the mere cost in fact, the heavy duty being thus avoided. Originally the " coper " cruised about with the 296 HITHER AND THITHER fishing fleets, and dealt in the various articles the fishermen need — clothing, sea-boots, oilskins, to- bacco, and so on — but only too soon he wedged in his most lucrative deal — spirit — to the advantage of his own pocket and to the detriment of the hard- earned wages of the smacksmen. Their wives at home suffered in consequence, but the mischief did not end there, for the wily Dutch- man would barter his drink — and vile drink at that ^when money was short amongst any of them, taking in exchange sails, ropes, nets, or any other gear they would part with, even to their trawls and fish. The smacks themselves have been known to be bartered away, when the skipper and crew have been in debt to the unscrupulous " coper," or men being led into this dishonest transaction to " make a bit " for themselves into the bargain, and then they would sail away to the Continent. Hard-working men have become dissolute wrecks, the smack-owners suffering severely in consequence, not only by the idleness and loss of labour, but more directly by the foundering of their boats, with all hands, which, had the crew not been helplessly drunk, leaving the craft to the mercy of wind and sea, could otherwise have tided over the vengeance and fury of the storm. Men have been washed overboard, have jumped overboard in the madness of their delirium, have quarrelled one with the other angered to the murder- ous point — an unexpected blow from a cuUing hammer or a dig with a sheath knife — and the victim generally popped overboard to feed th§ GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 297 fishes. Or a tilt over, when no one was looking, for men sink like stones with their heavy boots to hip. Such things have often happened— the result of the " coper." During our cruise, Bert and I gained a fair insight into the lives of the deep-sea fishermen, and the constant dangers to which they were exposed in all weathers, fetching boxes from the carriers and ferrying fish back again to them. They are out to sea for a couple of months together, and cannot run home to port to escape the fury of the gale. If only partially disabled, they must rig up some device to tide over the difficulty. We saw the mechanism of the " fishing the trawl," and that wonderful sight, the peculiar phosphorescent glow all round the ship's side, particularly plain on a dark night, as the trawl is hauled to the surface and its heavy freight of fish landed on the deck. Standing knee-deep in fish, which were flopping and wrigghng about the deck, we would help to sort the " primes " from the " offal." Some of the large fish would object to being aboard, so the sailormen would quiet them by a sedative blow on the head. One very large dog-fish was particularly trouble- some, and had to receive several whacks before his head ached and he was despatched to the bosom of his fathers. Accidents were frequent enough. The " admiral," whom they all follow, and who sends up rockets at night, for the whole fleet to drop their trawls, is a sort of boss of the whole thing, and 298 HITHER AND THITHER one of the most experienced of fishermen. He had many yarns to spin, nautical, of course, and mostly in reference to loss of smacks and men, notable gales, or exceptional hauls of fish. And so our time eventually came to an end. After receiving and stowing away some three thousand trunks belonging to Messrs. Hewitt and Co.; we bade adieu to the " Short Blues," for such was the name of the fleet with which we had been sailing. Everything square and trim, and the hold battened down, we were soon ploughing our way homeward, " driving" in the teeth of a strong headwind. After about thirty-six hours, we found ourselves running up the Thames full speed ahead, in a thick mist, but that mattered little as we had to catch the market. THE TEMPLE TATE. This experience did not evidently damp my ardour to see more of the Hfe, and some time later on I returned, to stop for a while. On this occasion, I went on a sailing boat, the Temple Tate, belong- ing to the then M.D.S.F., in order to minister to the men's aches and pains, carrying tobacco at " coper's" prices in order to help hunt him out of the field, to say nothing of the distribution of warm woollens and other comforts, and taking papers and journals for " bits o' readin,' " in their spare time. We cruised in turn with the " Short Blues " again, the " Red Cross," and the " Great Northerns." In late autumn the weather gets pretty lively, and there's no running ashore when the equinoctial GOSSIP AND RECOLLECTIONS 299 gales or winter storms are blowing. It is ride them or founder ; and few it is who know the tremendous loss of life that went on (and does now, for all I know) in this pursuit of deep-sea trawling where a few thousand men are daily employed. In hauling up or " fishing " the trawls, curious things were often dredged up from the bottom. One day a human skull was brought aboard the Temple Tate to show me. It had been found in the day's haul, and told its own tale. On another occasion, as we were sailing quite close to one of the smacks, the skipper held up one of the big and heavy sea-boots which cover the thigh. " It's got the leg inside ! " was bawled out as we passed each other, showing a recent fatality. But the strangest thing of aU was the case of a young man getting washed overboard by a heavy sea early one morning. He sank like lead. The fleet was cruising about, waiting for the admiral to signal " drop trawls," which he did. Some few hours later on, returning over the same ground as they had been sailing during the day, the father of the boy hauled up his own son in the trawl of the same vessel from which he had met his doom. This is a curious coincidence when one takes into account the number of boats, the distance they had traversed, and the time that had elapsed since the accident. Before the days of the hospital ships, the skippers were the chief medical advisers to their crews. A common ailment was a swollen and inflamed lymphatic gland in the groin, invariably termina- ting in an abscess, which the men used to call a "pig." 300 HITHER AND THITHER The derivation of the word I could never understand. However, out would come the skipper's knife (not a particularly aseptic one either) and he would open this " pig " and let out the pus. One day, a young smacksman appeared before his skipper with the complaint that he had ruptured himself by overstraining. The diagnosis was scorned by the wise-headed skipper, who spoke sternly and acted promptly. " Come here, damn you ! I'll rupture you. That's a pig ! " and forthwith his septic knife was dug into the supposed " pig," which, however, proved to be intestine ! That man died. Strange things went on in the North Sea, but such is the life of these workers on the briny, who, by their continual toil, hardships, and venturesome careers, help to provide our tables with the products of their labours, swelling the pockets of the smack- owners with little gain to themselves, and with the small reward of being as poor at the end of their lives as they were at the beginning, and often enough going to a watery grave. Nights at the Play By H. M. WALBROOK With portraits of Henry James, Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy, and J. M. Synge. Crown 8vo, Ss net Mr. H. M. Walbrook has collected a number of his criticisms of the theatre from the Pali Mall Gazette, written during the last four years ; and the result is a portrayal of most of the best dramatic work done in London during that period, not British merely, but also American and foreign. Among the notable features of the book are its careful records of the brilliant visit of the Sicilian actors, and the hearty and yet always discrimi- nating welcome extended to various American and German plays and players. Mr. Walbrook is known as a fearless critic and an enthusiastic lover of the stage, and these records are well worth a permanent place in dramatic literature. The Hunting Year By W. SCARTH DIXON Crown 8vo, illustrated, 6s net A very interesting book for all lovers of sport, the outcome of many seasons' hunting in many countries, which will appeal to men and women who appreciate the exciting and exhilarating pleasures of the field. In addition to his description of a season's runs, the author shows how a hunting man may find something in connection with his favourite sport to interest him throughout the year. Each month tells of experiences and possibilities of sport, and the many happenings of interest after the season — puppy shows, point-to-point races, keepers' dinners, looking out for horses, covert watching, litters, cub-hunting, etc. etc. — all these things Mr. Scarth Dixon writes of with full knowledge. London : W. J. Ham-Smith, 6 John Street, Adelphi The Awakening of Turkey A History of the Turkish Revolution By E. F. KNIGHT Second edition, with autographed portraits of Enver Bey, Aassim Bey, Ahmed Riza Bey, Niazi Bey, and others. Demy 8vo, cloth, los 6d net " Presents a vivid picture of the growth and influence of the young Turk." — Morning Post. ' ' As up-to-date as the news in one's morning newspaper, as romantic as a novel." — Observer, " As a book of reference this volume ought to form part of the library of every student of the History of the Near East." — Pall Mall Ga/sette. The Walls of Constantinople By B. GRANVILLE BAKER Illustrated by 30 line drawings by the author. Royal 8vo, cloth, 1 6s net ' ' The work of a man to whom the marvellous romance of the great city on the Golden Horn has appealed irresistibly. The reviewer, who has not been in Constantinople for nearly seven years, finds the old wonder, awe, and amazement stirring his pulse as the author's facile pen and clever pencil bring back the old sights, the old stories Captain Baker has studied his subject well." — Illustrated London News. The Age of Folly A Study of Imperial Needs, Duties, and Warnings By CHARLES J. ROLLESTON Demy 8vo, cloth, 5s net The Writing on the Wall — The Lesson of Rome — The Lesson of Spain — The Lesson of the Netherlands — The Voice of Cassandra — The Leakage of British Wealth — The Manufacture of Paupers — Mischievous Charity — Behind the Mask — Wasted National Resources — The Hunting Grounds of Croesus — Our Neglected Gardens — Revival of Agriculture — Aid for the Enemy— The Sceptre of Power. " Mr. RoUeston's book is a thoughtful and telling effort to induce this country to shake off slackness and work out its salvation by business-like resolve to set the House in order . . showing on the one hand how the country is frittering itself away, on the other the great things it might malce of itself and its Empire. " — Pall Mall Gazette. London : W. J. Ham-Smith, 6 John Street, Adelphi '-^&