Part 3

As the time approached for our attempt at escape, I observed a strange fear and restlessness in Reyya: now she wished us to start at once, and anon she would implore me to put off our journey and to stay longer, but I would not listen to her in this. Nathless, I had reason to fear that the English slave, the soldier of fortune, had got wind of our affair; and once, indeed, made sure that I saw him spying; but when I examined about more narrowly I could find no trace of him. I therefore determined to pretend to take him into our confidence, and named a day upon which we would depart later than that upon which we had in truth fixed, so as to put him off the scent, and if he did betray us it should be in vain. In the first hour after sunset on the appointed day I took the youth aside and led him down to the boat where the rest were assembled, nor asking him whether he would choose to go, put him in. I looked around with anxiety for Reyya, but she was nowhere to be seen. With much perturbation of spirit I ran up into her garden, but she was not to be found there; and then hearing a commotion and running to and fro, I hurried down to the boat and gave the order to push off. Just as we did so, I heard the wails of women from her father’s house that betokened one dead; and as my companions silently plied their muffled oars and we steered along under the shadow of the shore, my heart was heavy and my mind filled with forebodings that the gentle Reyya was no more. Only long afterwards did I hear it said that she had been found with a dagger through her heart; but I never rightly came to know whether she did it with her own hand in the conflict of choice betwixt deserting her father or her lover, or whether she had been betrayed by the slave girl or the soldier slave, and had been slain by her father. ’Tis pitiful that this poor heathen creature was cut off in the flower of her youth and beauty to suffer those torments that the followers of the false prophet Mahomet foolishly believe we Christians are doomed to undergo. I would have saved her if I could, but much as I doubted of her fate, I had to put away all thought of her for the more pressing care of my own safety. We had hardly got the third of a league along the coast when we heard the boom of one of their great ordnance from the mole, we could see lights flitting about, and presently two galleys left the port. The savage yells of the Turks came floating over the calm water, and we heard even the thwack of the whips over the bare backs of the poor Christian slaves who were tugging at the unwieldy sweeps: but they went straight out to sea, which justified my foresight, and left us to creep along the shore as before for about four leagues, when as it began to be dawn, fearing to be spied from the land, and thinking that we had got a sufficient distance from the course of the galleys, we put out to sea. For the first part of the day we saw nothing, and began to have hopes that we had escaped the galleys and should make the coast of Spain, if we did not fall in with a Christian vessel before. But fortune was against us; for about the second watch, when we were resting somewhat from the labours of the night, we saw a galley making straight for us. Doubtlessly they had spied us from the masthead, and so seen us before we could see them. We rowed as hard as we could, but we were exhausted, when luckily a breeze sprang up, and hoisting our sail we made some way through the water. The wind came from the north-east, and I therefore headed our boat north, for I knew that with the wind three points on the beam, the galleys would be able to make but little way, and their oars would rather impede than assist them. They were already so near, however, that they would try their ordnance upon us; and though most of their shot fell wide or short, one, that was almost spent, struck the youth who had accompanied us, scattering his brains all over the place; and what was worst, stove in our breaker, letting the water run out into the bottom of our boat, where it mingled with his blood. Had it not fallen on the breaker it would, I make no doubt, have stove a hole through the bottom, and we should all have been drowned or taken. With the rising wind we drew out of reach of their shot, but I would not allow the body to be thrown overboard yet, for we sailed much better with so much ballast. In vain did we look out for some sign of a Christian vessel; nothing was to be seen but the hateful galley, and our only hope was that we might keep ahead of it, at least while daylight lasted, so that we might escape under cover of the darkness of the night. The wind now veered round a bit to the east, so, tying the shot that had killed him to our dead comrade, we heaved him overboard, and sailing almost before the wind made, as nearly as I could guess, directly for Valencia. As the sun set, the galley was almost hull down in the offing, but the wind only held an hour longer and it then fell calm.

At dawn the galley was nowhere in sight, for we had changed our course, as soon as it grew dark, more to the westward, and the Turks most likely had been rowing all the time in the wrong direction. But there was still no wind, and we were all exhausted, insomuch that we could none of us row, but lay at the bottom of the boat and let her drift whithersoever she would. We had a sufficiency of meat, but no drink; and as the sun gained in power, we felt the want very sorely, but still no wind came. On the third day there was still no wind, and the sun seemed to be hotter than ever; our tongues swole in our mouths, we could hardly speak, and no one offered to row. Some would fain have lapped up what remained of the water at the bottom of the boat which had nearly all been sucked up by the sun, but the blood in it had putrefied and the stench was too horrible even for men parched as they were. One drank some sea-water, whereupon he grew even more thirsty, his tongue cracked and bled, and at last he went mad and jumped overboard, nor did anyone try to save him. I counselled those who had the strength to strip, and sink their bodies in the sea, while they hung on to the boat, and this somewhat refreshed them; but after a time a shark was sighted, and I promise you we quickly got into the boat again. Still we saw nothing, and by this time, so great were our sufferings, we should have welcomed even the Turks. Once, indeed, we did see something black on the water, and hope rose high, for we thought that it might be a cask; and even if it contained rum, or some such liquor, at least we hoped we might go out of the world drunk like gentlemen. One or two of us made a shift to move the oars, but as we drew nearer we saw to our horror that it was our dead comrade--the shot we had tied to his feet was not heavy enough to keep him under, and there he stood, as it were, up in the water black and swollen, with but a fragment of head, his arms waving to and fro in the lazy current.

After this we lay as dead, at the bottom of the boat, how long I know not, but it could not have been more than twelve hours, for another day’s sun would have killed us outright; and when we came to again, we found ourselves aboard a Turkish galley. Had they not picked us up, we had surely perished, yet it grieved us that we had not had the fortune to be picked up by a Christian vessel; and some of us that before had prayed, now blasphemed their Maker that He had again cast them into slavery: and, in sooth, it was hard to bear when we had as it were already three parts escaped. The Turks treated us well until we had somewhat recovered our strength, for we were all strong men, and valuable for slaves, though at present weak, seeing that we had been unable to eat owing to our great thirst. We were uncertain whether they knew us to be runaways from slavery at Algiers, for there was nothing about us or the boat to show whence we came. Many of the people about Calabria, Malta, and Sicily were attired as we were, and the boat differed in nought from the boats of those countries. We therefore agreed among ourselves to deceive them if we could, and to give ourselves out when questioned, as we presently were, for poor mariners from an English ship that had been blown out to sea while attempting to land at Palermo in a gale; and this story they appeared to believe, for I do not think that this was one of the same galleys that had come out to take us. We knew, nevertheless, that this would only save us until we returned to Algiers, where our master would know us again, as well as others that had seen us before; our only hope, therefore, was that we might yet be taken by a Christian vessel.

As soon as we had somewhat recovered, as I have said, we were chained to the oar with the other slaves; and though we had in our former slavery esteemed our lot to be a hard one, yet it was easy in comparison with our present state; nor is there any torment in this world that approaches nearer to the pains of hell. Those deaths that I before have spoken of, though lingering and painful, yet release the sufferer after but a few hours’ agony; but this doth last as long as the slave lives: and some there are who have suffered thus for over ten years, though not many are so strong as to live so long. Chained to their benches by the oar, for the double reason that they may not rise upon their oppressors nor seek refuge in death by jumping overboard into the sea, there they remain night and day, until the vessel returns into port again, when sometimes they are taken on land while the vessel is laid up, and put to heavy work there. Their food is at best but bread and water, nor have they any covering to guard them from the scorching sun by day or nipping cold by night, save and alone a short pair of cotton breeches; their heads are shaved, their visage disbarbed; their filthy skin, scarred and broken, is pearled with bloody sweat. At the sound of the whistle, the whole three hundred of them must start up and row orderly and punctually and all together: a dolorous labour, at which many do split their hearts. From prow to poop there is nothing but execrations and passing of blows, the whip is never resting, and the bodies of the slaves are stiff with congealed blood. Their repose, when they have any, is at the oar; the upright bench their pillow, not having so much room as to stretch their legs, and that only for an hour or two at night, the one half rowing while the other half slumber, so that their want of sleep is in itself a very ecstasy of torture. If chased by Christian galleys which might relieve them from their woes, then must they put forth all their strength to get away; and should any poor wretch by reason of his weakness faint, he is beaten until he be dead indeed. If again the Christian galley do come near within speaking distance of the cursed ordnance, then are they slaughtered by those who would release them: for being so many and so close together, more of the poor galley slaves are killed or maimed than of the devilish Turk. In all this dreadful cup of bitterness is only one drop of sweetness: for should a Turkish galley be overcome, they are made slaves upon the Christian galleys; and ’tis sweet indeed to see them tugging at the oar, beaten, cursed, and spat upon, starved if they will not eat hog’s flesh, and given no drink if they will not first taste wine.

Not long after we had been picked up, our galley, joined with six others which were assembled at a rendezvous agreed before, near to Tunis, where, having tallowed our vessels, with all celerity we set forth on a great expedition of destruction for the Italian shores. We soon descried four Christian galleys which nimbly got from us, and giving warning to the coast, we found everywhere the people had fled inland, driving their cattle before them and leaving their crops and houses and impotent or aged people to our mercy. We landed a party at Ocootra, a city of Calabria, who destroyed everything that they came across, leaving nothing behind them but wasted vineyards, burnt crops, and ruined houses; and this we did at divers other places, insomuch that it was disliked of by some of the graver Turks themselves. In this way we came at length to Naples, where there is a mighty burning mountain, or volcano as it is called, which some wise men say is hollow within, and through which is a passage to the depths of hell: for there the groans of the damned are plainly to be heard. Here the people, as soon as they had notice of our coming, were in great fear: some of their ships of war which lay in the port were deserted of their men, who all ran ashore, and we took and set fire to them. The castle fired upon us, but their shot were so ill directed that they did us no damage; and the Turks laughing at them passed on, everywhere getting information from Christian spies of the richest and weakest places to attack. And, indeed, it is lamentable to see how ready the Christians are to discover their most hidden secrets to these, their greatest scourges, though it be to the ruin of their own country. I have known three of them who, casting off all grace, have piloted the Turks to the place where they were born, and have been instruments in the captivating of their own fathers and mothers and all their kin, afterwards turning renegadoes and receiving their part of the price for which their parents were sold in the market. One of these piloted our fleet to a small place called Quirico, which lies a little south of Leghorn, whence most of the people who were able fled with all that they could hastily take with them when they saw the Turks landing, who, nevertheless, brought away 215 persons, besides having slain many that were too old or that had offended them. Of these one was the Bishop of San Miniato that chanced to be there at the time, thirty-one were nuns, and the remainder were women and children and a few brave men that had stayed to defend the place. What weeping and wailing there was among these, and how the men wished that they had all slain each other rather than allow themselves to be taken. They were all divided among the different galleys, and among those that were brought on board ours I noticed a girl aged about seventeen or eighteen years, so beautiful that our rais or captain designed her as a present to the Dey himself. She was accordingly treated with honour by them, and allowed more freedom than the rest. Now, as this was the first place that had offered any serious resistance, so was it the first fight in which we had many wounded; and I, wishing to soften my hard lot and gain a little respite from my intolerable labours, offered to bind their wounds, which they allowed of; and when they saw that I did it as one that had knowledge, they released me from my heaviest chains, and I was appointed assistant chirurgeon to a renegade that held the chief office. Whether it was that my face inspired confidence, or whether, knowing that I was no renegade, this fair creature had the more hope from me, I know not; but one evening when it was already dark, I heard a gentle ‘hist’ in my ear. I started, and a fair hand on my shoulder motioned me not to move. ‘I am one of the captives,’ said the voice; ‘she, alas! who is destined to worse than slavery; art thou willing to assist me?’ She spoke in Italian, a language which I read before I had left England, and which I had talked to some of the other captives; I could therefore answer her in her own tongue, and assured her that any man who had once seen her would willingly die in her service. ‘A truce to compliments,’ she answered, ‘but listen to my story, and you will then see whether it is possible to assist me.’ With many sighs she then related her story as follows.

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_THE STORY OF GABRIELLA DI CAPELLINI_

My name is Gabriella, and I belong to the princely house of the Capellini who hold vast possessions in the neighbourhood of Siena. My father is a distinguished general in the service of the Duke of Florence, and in the winter time, when there is little stirring, we inhabited one of the finest palazzos in Florence. I am an only child, and consequently a great heiress; for which reason, and also on account of the high position of my father, you may readily imagine that we did not want for the best society that the town could afford. In the division of troops commanded by my father was an old officer whom he greatly respected for his prudence, courage, and military capacity, whose name was Girolamo dei Stracci, of the noble family of that name; but who belonging to the younger branch, had nothing but a small farm which barely served to supply his wife and only son with sufficient polenta for their daily food, and an occasional piece of goatsflesh for feast days. One day he begged permission from my father to place his son among his pages, saying that he wished to bring him up to be at least a gentleman, if a poor one; and that, though he had trained him as well as he was able, yet his frequent absences, and the difficulty of finding proper companions for him, made him unwilling to let him remain any longer on his farm, and he would esteem it a favour if he would allow him to be placed among his retinue where he would meet with companions who were his equals in rank, and learn all that was necessary for a gentleman and a soldier, until he was old enough to join him with the army. This my father very readily accorded; the young gentleman was enrolled among his pages; and not long afterwards his father died, leaving him but his farm, his sword, and an untarnished name.

Baptisto dei Stracci at this time was only eighteen or nineteen years of age; notwithstanding which, it was difficult to say whether nature had been more bountiful to him in body or in mind. He was tall, slight in figure, as was natural at his age, though well made, and with strikingly handsome and noble features. I would liken him to an Apollo, but I have never seen any cold and lifeless statue so beautiful as he. Added to this, he had so just an understanding, such charm of manner, such perfect courtesy, and spoke so well on every subject under the sun, that he soon became a favourite among his companions and arbiter in all their disputes. Moreover he attracted my father’s notice by his skill in the use of arms and management of the great horse, which, indeed, he sat like a god, and seemed to make obey his every desire merely by the pressure of his knee. Soon after being taken to the wars, he showed such proofs of courage, combined with a certain amount of prudence, as was very unusual in one of his age.