 Chapter 21 of Captain Antefer by Jules Verne. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Joe De Noia, Somerset, New Jersey. Chapter 21. Antefer and his companions left Tunis at break of day. The banker was with them, and so was Ben Omar and his clerk, a veritable caravan of six persons knowing now where this irresistible appetite for millions was taking them. There was no need now to make any mystery of the matter with Ben Omar, and consequently, Saouk was not unaware that island number two was in the Gulf of Guinea. A long way this time said Jules to Ben Omar, and if you are afraid of the fatigues of the voyage, you are quite at liberty to give it up. And really it is a good many hundreds of miles by sea from Algiers to Luango. Ben Omar, however, had no hesitation about going, for Saouk would have permitted none. And besides, there was the magnificent commission glittering before his eyes. Thus on the 24th of April, Antefer, dragging with him Tregomaine and Jules, and Saouk, dragging with him Ben Omar, and Zibuko, dragging himself, occupied their places in the coach or diligence which runs between Tunis and Bone. Perhaps they might not exchange a word, but at least they would travel together. Let it not be forgotten that the evening before Jules had written another letter to Enegade. In a few days, the girl and her mother would know for what part of the globe Antefer was bound in search of his famous legacy, now reduced by 50%. There was not too much to reckon that this second voyage would last a month, that Enegade would see her lover again in the middle of May. How Enegade would despair when she received this letter, that she could only have hoped that at Jules' return, all the difficulties would be smoothed over, and her wedding take place without delay. But what could she expect with such an uncle? Tregomaine, then, was destined to cross the line. He, the bargeman of the Rants, was to sail in the Southern Hemisphere. What would you have? Life is made up of such unlikely things that the excellent man would be astonished at nothing, not even at being at the indicated spot and digging out of island number two the three famous barrels of Camelik Pasha. These considerations did not, however, hinder him from casting a look of curiosity over the country through which the diligence was passing, which over slightly resembled the plains of Brittany, even those that are hilly. But probably he was the only traveler of the six who thought of retaining some remembrance of the appearance of the country. The vehicle was not comfortable, and did not travel fast. From one stage to another, the three horses trod along uphill and downhill, with many a sudden turn amid the alpine scenery, especially in this wonderful mid-Jerdah valley, dashing over torrents, which had no bridges, with the water off and up to the axel trees. The weather was beautiful. The sky of a deep blue, or rather a ripe blue, as if browned slightly by the intense heat of the sun. The bardo, the bay's palace, which they saw on the left shore, so brilliantly white that would have been prudent to look at only through smooth glasses. So it was with the other palaces, embowered in thick fig trees and pear trees, like weeping willows, with their branches drooping to the ground. Here and there were groups of tents of striped cloth, under which appeared the heads of Arab women of serious countenance, and the brown faces of children no less grave than their mothers. A far in the fields, on the slopes, amid the rocky steeps, were herds of sheep, and goats as black as crows. Now and then birds would fly around the diligence, and then the whip would crack in the air. Among these birds, parrots were numerous, and distinguishable by their vivid colors. They were in thousands, and if nature had taught them to sing, man had not yet taught them to talk. And so the diligence traveled. The horses were changed frequently. Tregomane and Jewel never omitted to get out and stretch their legs. Sebucoa led it occasionally, but never spoke to his companions. There is a man, said the bargeman, who seems as greedy of the poshest millions as our friend Antifer. Quite so, Tregomane, and the two legaties are worthy of each other. Whenever he alighted, Sebucoa tried to overhear what was being said, but it only remained quietly in his corner, and grossed in the thought that he would soon have to go to the sea again, and after the choppy waves of the Mediterranean, it was to brave the long rollers of the Atlantic. Antifer also never moved. He sat with his thoughts concentrated on this island number two. This rock lost amid the burning African waters. Before sunset, there appeared a group of mosques, marabouts, white domes, slender minarets. This was Toburka encircled by a frame of verger, and which remains intact its aspect as a Tunisian town. The diligence stopped here for some hours. The travelers alighted at a hotel, or rather an inn, where they were served with a not particularly appetizing repast. As to visiting the town, it was not to be thought of. Of the six, there was only the bargeman, and perhaps Jewel, if he asked him, who would have had such an idea. Besides, Captain Antifer ordered them, once and for all, not to go far away, for fear of occasioning delay, and it took care to do as they were told. At nine o'clock the journey was resumed, the night fine and starlight, but it was not without danger that vehicles ventured across the deserted districts between sunset and sunrise. For there are dangers from the bad state of the roads, dangers from robbers, cremeirs, and others, dangers from attack by wild beasts. Occasionally, from amid the tranquil gloom along the edge of the thick woods, skirted by the diligence, could be heard the roaring of lions and the growling of leopards. At this the horses shied, and it took all the driver's skill to master them. The cries of the hyenas were heard, unheeded. The zenith grew paler towards four o'clock in the morning, and a diffused light grew strong enough for the details of the landscape to be gradually visible. But the horizon was not extensive, only the gray hills and long undulations thrown on the ground like an Arab cloak. The valley of the majority lay curving at their feet, with its yellow river, sometimes a smooth stream, sometimes a troubled torrent, flowing among the oleanders and flowering eucalyptus. The country is varied in mountainous and this part of the regency bordering on Crumeria. If the bargemen had traveled in the Tyrol, he might have thought himself among the wilder portions of the Alps if it had not been for the lesser heights of the hills. But he was not in the Tyrol, nor in Europe, from which he was daily going further. And then the corners of his mouth would rise, which rendered his physiognomy more pensive, and his thick eyebrows would fall, which made him look more uneasy. Now and then, he and Jewel would look at each other, and his looks were quite a silent conversation. In the morning, and for Astus' nephew, where shall we get to before night? Guardimeo. And when shall we be at bone? Tomorrow evening. The gloomy Antipher resumed his habitual silence, or rather his thoughts were lost in that uninterrupted dream which led him from the Gulf of Oman to the Gulf of Guinea, and rested on the only point of the terrestrial spheroid which could interest him. And then he thought to himself that other eyes besides his own were fixed on this point, those of the bankers in Boko. In truth, these two beings of races so different, of habits so opposite, what never to have met in this world seemed to have become of one mind, as if they had been linked together like galley slaves with the same chain. Only the chain was of gold. The forests of fig trees became thicker and thicker. Now and then Arab villages emerged from the Glockus greenery, with which the Castor oil trees tinted their flowers and leaves. Sometimes there appeared a dress shea or two on the sloping sides of the mountains. Here tents arose, and sheep fed on the banks of a torrent. Menace station for changing horses would appear, generally some miserable stable or men and beast lived together, promiscuously. In the evening they reached Guarda Mayo, or rather the wooden cabin surrounded by a few others which 20 years afterwards was to form one of the stations of the railway from Bone to Tunis. After a halt of two hours, too long for the rudimentary dinner furnished by the inn, the diligence resumed its journey along the windings of the valley, sometimes skirting the majority, sometimes crossing the brooks, of which the waters often rose over the traveller's feet as they sat in the coach, toiling up hills so steep that the horses could hardly draw the load, dashing downslopes with rapidity that the break could hardly check. The country was magnificent, particularly in the environs of motars, but no one could see anything in the very dark, misty night, and everyone was being overcome by the longing for sleep after 43 hours of such jolting. The dawn had appeared when Antifurn's companions arrived at Zuccarus, at the end of a tiresome winding on the flank of a hill which united the town to the road along the valley. A comfortable hotel welcomed the weary travellers, this time the three hours they rested did not appear too long, and certainly would have appeared too short if they wanted to visit the picturesque town. Antifurn Zambuco, of course, protested against the time lost at this halting place, but the coach was not due to start until six o'clock in the morning. Calm yourself, said Tregomane, to his irritable companion. We shall be at bone in time to catch the train tomorrow morning, and why not, with a little more haste, catch it tonight, retorted Antifur. There is not one, said Jewel. Suppose there is not. Is there any reason for us remaining in this hole? Here, my friend, said the bargeman, here is a pebble I picked up for you. Yours ought to be nearly worn out by this time. And Tregomane handed him a charming specimen of majority gravel, the size of a green pea, which was soon being ground between the Malawyn's teeth. The bargeman then asked him to accompany them only to the principal square. He refused point blank, and drawing the atlas out of his bag, he opened it at the map of Africa, and plunged into the waters of the Gulf of Guinea at the risk of drowning his reason. Tregomane and Jewel went for a stroll on the plos of the ghast, a vast quadrilateral planted with a few trees bordered with houses of very oriental aspect, with cafes already open at that early hour, which were crowded with natives. At the first rays of the sun, the mists dispersed, and a fine day, warm and bright, announced itself. As he walked, the bargeman was all eyes and ears. He tried to hear all that was going on, although he understood nothing. He strove to see what was happening in the interiors of the cafes, and in the shops, although he bought nothing, and drank nothing. As wayward fortune had sent him on this unlooked for voyage, the least he could do was to bring away a few lasting impressions. And thus he spoke. No, Jewel, you cannot keep on travelling as we are doing. We stop nowhere. Three hours at Socarus, one night in Bone, two days in the railroad, two days in the railway, with short stoppages at the stations. What have I seen of Tunis? What shall I see of Algeria? I admit it, it is only common sense, but say that to my uncle and see what he'll say to you. This is not a pleasure journey, but a business one. And who knows how it will end? In a hoax, I think. Yes, continued Jewel, why should not island number two contain a document referring us to island number three? And so on to island number four, and island five, and all the islands in the sea, said Tregymene, nodding his big head. And you will follow my uncle. I? Yes, you. You cannot refuse him anything. That is true. The poor man troubles me much, and I am afraid his head. Well, Tregymene, as far as I'm concerned, I draw the line to island number two. Does Enigate want to marry a prince? Do I want to marry a princess? Certainly not. Besides, now we have to share the treasure with this crocodile of a Zambuco. There's only a question of a duke for her, and a duchess for you. Do not laugh, Tregymene. I was wrong, my boy. It is no laughing matter. And if we have to prolong this search? Prolong, asked Jewel. No. We go to the Gulf of Luongo, but beyond, never. I shall know how to make my uncle return to St. Molo. And if he refuses? If he refuse, I will leave him there and then. I will return to Enigate, and, as she will be of age in a few months, I shall marry her in spite of wind and tide. Do not be obstinate, my dear boy, and have patience. All will come right, I hope. It will end with your marrying my little Enigate, and I will dance at your wedding. But do not let us miss the diligence. Let us return to the hotel. If it is not asking too much, I'd rather reach bone before night, so as to see a little of the town. As to Constantine, Philippeville, and all the other queer places, what shall we see of them? If it is not possible, I shall have to be contented with Algiers, where we shall stay a few days, I suppose. He's not lucky to find a vessel ready to start immediately for the west coast of Africa, and will have to wait for one. We will wait, replied the bargeman, smiling at the thought of visiting the marvels of the Algerian capital. You know Algiers, Jewel? Yes, Tragomene. I have heard sailors say that it is very fine. The town in the semicircle, it's wharves, squares, arsenal, garden, it's Mustafa, it's Kasbah, it's Kasbah, particularly. Very fine, Tragomene, interrupted Jewel, but I know something finer. There is St. Malo, and the house in the rue des Hossales, and the little room on the first floor, and the little girl who lives therein. I am of your opinion, my boy, but as we have to pass Algiers, let me hope that I may visit Algiers. In abandoning himself to this hope, the bargeman, followed by his young friend, turned towards the hotel. It was time. The horses were being put to. Captain Antifa was striding to and fro, growling at all late comers, although they were not late. Tragomene bowed his head beneath the stormy look his friend launched at him. In a few minutes, they were all seated, and the diligence was descending the rugged slopes of Sukars. It was really a pity that the bargeman was not allowed to explore this Tunisian territory. Nothing could be more picturesque, hills which are almost mountains, wooded ravines, which forced the future railway to make many a roundabout route across the opulent verger, large rocks rising from the ground, here and there, duars swarming with natives and with big fires round them at night, as a defense against wild beasts. Tragomene would relate what the driver had told him, for he talked with him whenever he had an opportunity. In a year, 40 lions at least are killed among the brushwood, and the leopards killed him out of several hundreds, to save nothing of the crowds of howling jackals. Antifa cared nothing for Tunisian leopards and lions. If there had been a million of them on island number two, he would not retreat an inch from his purpose. But the banker on one side and the notary on the other listened to Tragomene's tales with interest. Zambuca would often take a sly glance out of the window, and Ben Omar would lean back in his corner, and start and turn pale whenever a growl was heard from the thicket along the road. I have heard, said Tragomene, that the diligence has been attacked before now, and firearms had to be used to drive the beasts off. Last night even, the coach had to be burnt to drive off a lot of leopards by the glare of the flames. And the travelers asked Ben Omar? The travelers had their journey on foot to one of the places where they changed horses. On foot exclaimed the notary in a trembling voice. I could never! Well, you could have remained behind, Mr. Omar. We should not have waited for you, you may be sure. It could be guessed that this observation came from Captain Antifa. He did not again join in the conversation, and Ben Omar had to recognize that he was not born to be a traveler, either on land or sea. The day went by without the wild beasts manifesting their presence, except by distant growls. But to his great disgust, Tragomene had to make up his mind that it would be night before the diligence reached bone. It was seven o'clock in the evening when they passed Hippo, a locality that is famous as being linked with the imperishable name of Saint Augustine. And curious on account of his deep reservoir, were the old Arabs indulged in their incantations and sorceries. Twenty years later, they would have seen the founding of the Basilica and the hospital, which have risen from the ground on the powerful hand of Cardinal de la Vigiri. As they entered Bone, a deep darkness enveloped this promenade along the shore, its harbor terminating the sandy point of the westward, the clumps of trees which shade the key, the modern city with its large square, its Kasbah, which might have given the bargemen a foretaste of the Kasbah of Algiers. The travelers chose a hotel in the chief square, had their supper, and went to bed at ten o'clock, ready for the journey next morning. And that night, thoroughly tired out by sixty hours in the diligence, they all slept, even the terrible Antifur. End of Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Captain Antifur thought he would find a railway between Bone and Algiers, but he had arrived twenty years too soon. The reply he received early next morning when he asked the hotelkeeper, proved a puzzler for him. What, he said with a start, is there no railway from Bone to Algiers? No, sir, said the facetious hotelkeeper, but there will be one in a few years' time if he want to wait. Doubtless Ben Omar would have asked nothing better, for it would probably become necessary to go by sea to avoid delay. But Antifur had no intention of waiting. Is there no boat announcing the sail he asked in an imperious voice? Yes, this morning. Let us go on board. In at six o'clock, Antifur left Bone on a steamer with two companions of his choice, and the three necessity had imposed on him. We'd need not dwell on the incidents of this short voyage of a few hundred miles. Tramain would have preferred to have performed this navigation in a carriage, so as to have been able to see these territories, which the remarkable railway was to traverse a few years later. But he reckoned on making up for his disappointment in Algiers. If Antifur imagined that as soon as he arrived, he would find a vessel starting from the west coast of Africa, he would be deceived, and would have to exercise a little patience. Meanwhile, what delightful walks Tramain would have in the environs, perhaps even to Blyda, or to the Monkey Brook. The departement would gain nothing by the discovery of the treasure might be true, but at least you'd gather a rich collection of memories of the journey to the Algerian capital. It was eight o'clock in the evening when the steamer, which made a quick passage, dropped anchor in the harbor of Algiers. The night in these latitudes was then dark, even then last week of March, although the sky was glittering with stars. The confused mass of the town rose gloomily toward the north, rounded by the Kazba. This Kazba so greatly desired. All that Tramain could see in leaving the landing place was that he had to climb a lot of steps, abutting on the key, supported by monumental arcades, and that he had to go along this key, leaving to the left a square, brilliant with lights, in which he would not have been displeased to stop. Then a block of high houses, comprising the Hotel de l'Europe, in which Captain Antifur and his party were hospitably received. They were shown to their rooms, Tramains adjoining jewels. They had their luggage brought up, and they went down to dine. They had occupied them until nine o'clock, and as there was plenty of time to wait for the departure of the steamer, the best thing for them to do was to go to bed and rest, so as to be in fit condition next morning to begin a series of walks through the town. But before taking the rest justified by this long journey, Jewel wrote to Anogate. He did this as soon as he regained his room. The letter would go in the morning, and in three days it would reach her. There was nothing very interesting in the letter, except that Jewel was almost mad at the delay, and that he loved her with all his heart, in which there was nothing new. But while Ben Omar and Saouk went to their room, and Tramain and Jewel went to theirs, Antifur and Zambuco, the two brothers-in-law, as it is surely permissible to describe them after the signing and sealing of their contract, disappeared from the hotel after dinner, without assigning any reason. This rather surprised the bargemen and the young captain, and perhaps made Saouk and Ben Omar uneasy, but it was not likely that Antifur would have answered any questions on the subject. Where did the legates go? To stroll along the picturesque quarters of Algiers? Probably not. It was noticed that during the latter part of the journey, Antifur had occasionally conversed in a low tone with the banger, and that Zambuco had appeared to approve of his companions' suggestions. What they had been talking about? Was this going out late part of a pre-arranged plan? What plan? What strange combinations were possible with two men of this kind? After shaking hands with Jewel, the bargemen went into his room. Before undressing, he opened the window wide to breathe a little of this delightful Algerian air. In the pale starlight he looked over the wide expanse, all the roads that had up to Cape Montefou, over which glittered the lights of the vessels, many of them at anchor, many of them coming in with the night breeze, while the coast was aglow with the torches used by the fishermen. Closer in with the steamers getting underway, there are large funnels belching forth showers of sparks. Beyond Cape Montefou was the open sea, bounded by a horizon on which the splendid constellations were rising like displays of fireworks. The next day would be magnificent if it fulfilled the promises of the night. The sun would rise radiantly and outshine the last stars of the morning. How pleasant, thought Trigamene, would it be to visit this noble town of Algiers, to have a few days rest after this diabolical rush from Muscat, and before being hoaxed again at island number two. I have heard of Moisey's restaurant at Point Buscade. Why should we not go tomorrow and have a good dinner at this Moisey's? At this moment came a loud knock at the door just as ten o'clock was about to strike. Is that you Jewel, asked Trigamene? No, it is Antipher. I will open the door, my friend. Useless, dressed in pack-up. My poor man-toe. We start in forty minutes. In forty minutes? In mind you are not late, for the steamers don't wait as a rule. I'm going to tell Jewel. Overwhelmed with surprise, the bargeman thought he must be dreaming. No, he heard the knock on Jewel's door and Antipher's voice telling him to get up. Then he heard the departing footsteps descending the stairs. Jewel, who was writing, added a line to his letter to tell you that they were all going to leave Algiers that very evening. That, then, was why Zambuco and Antipher had gone out, was to inquire if any ship was sailing for the coast of Africa. By unhoped for good fortune, they had found the said steamer preparing to start. They had secured the berths, and then, without troubling themselves about ceremony, Antipher had returned to tell Tregomain and Jewel, while the banker warned Ben Omar and Nazim. The bargeman was inexpressibly disappointed as he packed up, but nothing was to be said. The chief had spoken, he must obey. Almost immediately Jewel came into the room. You were not going to stop, he said? No, my boy, although I ought to do so for your uncle's sake, and I who promised myself at least two days in Algiers, and the harbor, and the gardens, and the casbah. But what could you expect, Tregomain? It is most unfortunate that my uncle has found his ship ready for sea. Yes, but I shall strike before it is over, said the bargeman with a gesture of anger. No, Tregomain, you will never strike. If you were to attempt such a thing, my uncle would only have to look at you in a certain way, and you would have to give in. You are right, Jewel replied, Tregomain, lowering his head. I would obey. You know me well, but as a nuisance all the same, and as fine dinner I was thinking of giving you at Moises, at Point Bascade. Vane regrets. The poor man heaved his sigh and completed his preparations. Ten minutes afterwards, Jewel and he had found Antepher, Zamboko, and the others in the vestibule hotel. If they had been welcomed on their arrival, they were not allowed to depart so cheerfully, and had to pay for their rooms as if they had occupied them for a day. Jewel put his letter in the box, and then they all descended the stairs leading to the harbor, while Tregomain took a last look at Government Square. Half a cable's length away, a steamer was moored with her steam up. Black smoke rose from her funnel to the sky. Her whistle was already announcing that she would soon be off. A boat at the key steps was waiting to bring the passengers on board. Antepher and his companions took their places in her, and a few strokes of the oars they were alongside. Before even Tregomain could make out where he was, he was conducted to the cabin he was to share with Jewel. Antepher and Zamboko occupied a second, the Notary and Saouk a third. The steamer was the Catalon, belonging to a Marseille company, employed in the regular service of the West Coast of Africa to St. Louis and Dakar. She called in at intermediate ports when necessary to receive or discharge passengers or goods. A quarter of an hour after Antepher had arrived, a final scream of the whistle rent the air. Then her hawzers were slackened off, and the Catalan began to tremble. Her screw spun round violently, beating up a streak of foam on a surface of the sea, and she glided around the vessels at anchor, took the channel between the arsenal and the jetty, and headed to the westward. A vague mass of white houses greeted the bargements' eyes. This was the Kazba, of which she could only make out of the general outline. A cape jutted out from the coast. This was Point Piscotte, the point on which was the restaurant of Moisey, who made those succulent boulevets. And that was all Tregman brought away with him to remind him of his stay in Algiers. We need hardly mention that as soon as the harbor was left, Ben Omar, extended on the couch in his cabin, began again to taste the delights of seasickness. And when he thought of his voyage to the Gulf of Guinea, he also thought of his return. Fortunately, that would be his last passage. On this island number two, he was certain of getting his promised commission. But if some of the others had also been ill, it would have been more soothing to him, and not one of them felt the slightest nausea. He was the only one to suffer. He did not even have the very natural consolation of seeing one of his kind share his sufferings. The passengers on the Catalan were mostly sailors returning to the ports of the coast, a few Senegalese, and a certain number of soldiers of the marine infantry accustomed to the eventualities of navigation. They were all bound for Dakar, where the steamer was to land her cargo. She was not going to stop anywhere on the road, and Antifa could but congratulate himself on having precipitated himself on board. It is true when we got to Dakar, he would not be at the end of his journey, and to this Zambuco called his attention. Agreed, he said, but I never expected to find a steamer going from Algiers to Luongo, and when we were at Dakar, we will see about matters. In fact, it would have been difficult to have done otherwise. The difficulty would be in the last part of the voyage, and therein was a subject for serious anxiety on the part of the expectant brothers-in-law. During the night, the Catalan kept along at some two or three miles from the coast. The lights of Tanez were observed, and the summer mass of Cape Blanc could just be distinguished. In the morning, the heights of Iran were sighted, and an hour afterwards the steamer doubled the promontory on the other side of which is the roadstead of Mirz al-Kabir. Further on, the coast of Morocco developed on the port side, with its distant profile of mountains dominating the rift country, where game is so plenable. On the horizon appeared Tetuan, quite striking under the solar rays. Then at a few miles to the west, Kuta planted on its rock, between two creeks, like a fork commanding one of the swing doors of the Mediterranean, the key to the other swing doors being kept by Great Britain. And beyond in the offing through the straits appeared the immense Atlantic. The wooded slopes of the coast of Morocco could be plainly made out. Tangiers was passed hidden in the curve of its gulf, as villas amid the green trees, many marabouts here, and gleaming white in the sun. The sea was dotted with numerous sailing vessels waiting for the wind to take them through the straits of Gibraltar. The Catalan had no delays to fear. Neither the breeze nor the current, recognizable by peculiar rippling in the vicinity of the straits, could contend against their powerful screw, and towards nine o'clock in the evening choose beating with its triple blade the wide Atlantic. The bargeman and jewel were talking on the poop before retiring for a few hours' rest. Naturally the same thought occurred to them as the Catalan, steering southwest, doubled the extreme point of Africa, a thought of a wreck. Yes, my boys said, Trigamane, it would have been preferable if, on coming out of the straits, we had gone starward instead of port. At least we should not have turned our heels on France. And to go with her. To the devil, I'm afraid, but you must endure evil with patience jewel. You can return from everywhere, even from the devil. In a few days we shall be at Dakar, and from Dakar to the Gulf of Guinea. Who knows if we shall find any means of transport from Dakar. There's no regular service beyond. We may be kept there for weeks, and if my uncle imagines, he does imagine, never doubt it. That it will be easy for him to reach island number two, he's mistaken. Do you know what I think, Trigamane? No, my boy. What if you'd like to tell me? Well, I think that my grandfather, Thomas Anfer, also have left his confidant at the camel lake on the rocks of Jaffa. But Jewel, the poor man, if he had left him there, his Egyptian could not have left his millions to his rescuer. If he had not left his millions, my uncle could not have run after them, and Enogate would be my wife. That is all very true, but if you had been there, Jewel, you would have saved the life of this unfortunate Pasha as your grandfather did. What is that, he added to turn the conversation. What is that light, showing a bright light on the port bow? That is the lighthouse of Cape Spartel, replied Jewel. In fact, it was the lighthouse placed at the western extremity of the African coast and maintained at the expense of the state of Europe, the most advanced of those that projected their rays over the surface of the African seas. The voyage of the Catalan did not be related in detail. The steam room was favored. She picked up a land breeze in these parts and can keep at a short distance from the coast. The sea was agitated merely by the long, rolling swell coming in from the westward, and it required the most susceptible of Omar's to be ill in such weather. The shore remained in view. The heights of Meccanes, of Magador, mount the shot, which dominates this region from a height of about 3,000 feet, Tarodant and Cape Juby, where the frontier of Morocco ends. Turgomaine did not have the satisfaction of seeing the Canary Isles, as the Catalan passed some 50 miles to the eastward before to Ventura, the nearest to the group, but he was able to salute Cape Bohedor before crossing the Tropic of Cancer. Cape Blanco was passed in the afternoon on the 2nd of May. The next morning they were off Portendike, and then the country of the Senegal lay spread before the traveler's eyes. As all the passengers were bound to Dakar, the Catalan had no occasion to put in a St. Louis. Which is the capital of this French colony. Dakar seems to be of more maritime importance than St. Louis, and Antwerp will probably find it easier there to obtain some means of transport to the Luongo. At length, on the 5th, about 4 in the morning, the Catalan doubled the famous Cape Verde, situated in the same latitude as the islands of this name. She rounded the triangular peninsula which hangs like a flag on the edge of the African continent, and the Port of Dakar appeared on the lower angle of the peninsula after a voyage of 800 leagues from Algiers. End of Chapter 22 Chapter 23 of Captain Antwerp by Jules Verne. This liberal vox recording is in the public domain. Recorded by Joe De Noia, Somerset, New Jersey. Chapter 23 Never had Trigamate imagined that the day would come when he'd be walking with Jules on the keys of Dakar, the ancient capital of the Gorian Republic. And yet that is what he did on this particular day, visiting the port, protected by its double jetty of granite rocks, while Antwerp and Zambuco, as inseparable as Ben Omar and Saouk, went up to the French agency. A day is amply sufficient for seeing the town, there's nothing very interesting about it, or rather good public garden, a citadel affording quarters for the garrison, and Bel Air Point, on which is an establishment to which are sent those suffering from yellow fever. If our travelers would remain many days in this country, which is Gory for its capital, and Dakar for its chief town, the lapse of time would appear interminable. But it is as well to keep a good heart against ill fortune, as Trigamate and Jules said to one another. And meanwhile they strolled along the wars, and up and down the sunny streets, which are kept in good order by convicts under the supervision of a few warders. The only things that interested them were the ships, these bits of herself which France sent from Bordeaux to Rio de Janeiro. These steamers of the Massageries Imperialis, as the line was called in 1862. Dakar was not then the important station it has become today. It possessed some 9,000 inhabitants with a tendency to increase its population, owing to the important works in progress for the improvement of the port. If the bargemen had never made acquaintance with the Mbembares Negroes, he had now an easy opportunity of doing so, for these natives swarmed in Dakar. Thanks to their dry, nervous temperament, their thick skulls, their woolly hair, they were able to support with impunity the fierceness of the Senegalian sun. Trigamate had hung his square handkerchief behind his head as the best substitute he can find for a sunshade. Good gracious it is hot, he exclaimed. I really was not made to live in the tropics. This is nothing Trigamate replied, Jules, when we were in the Gulf of Guinea, a few degrees below the equator. I shall melt for a certainty, replied the bargemen, and I shall take nothing back to my country but skin and bones. And, said he with the sweetest of smiles as he mopped his face, it would be difficult to take home less. You were much thinner than you were. Think so? I have a margin yet before I am reduced to a skeleton. In my opinion, it is better to be thin in countries where the people feed on human flesh. Are there any cannibals on the Guinea coast? Not many, at least I hope not. Well, my boy, do not tempt the natives by being too fat. Who knows if after island number two we have to be off to island number three, and countries where people feed on each other. As in the islands of the Pacific? Yes, there the inhabitants are anthropophagous. He meant to say philanthropophagous, if he had been capable of inventing the word. For in these countries, it is out of pure gormandizing that the natives eat their kind. But to think that Captain Antfor would be so obstinate as to let this madness for the millions drive them to such distant spots was not admissible. Certainly his nephew and his friend would never follow him there, and would prevent him from entering on such a campaign, even if they had to shut him up in a lunatic asylum. When Tregman and Jewel returned to the hotel, they found Antfor and the banker. The French agent had received them cordially, but when they asked for a vessel bound for Luongo port, his answer was not encouraging. The steamers engaged in the trade are very irregular, and under any circumstances do not call it to car more than once a month. There was a weekly service between Sierra Leone and Grand Basame, but from there to Luongo was a long way further. The first steamer was not due to car for a week. How unfortunate! A whole week for him to spend in his town chafing at his bit, and would have to be of well tempered steel this bit, to resist the teeth of Captain Antfor, who was now chewing down a pebble a day. It is true that there is no want of pebbles on the African beach, so that Antfor would have no difficulty in supplying his wands. We could not afford remarking that the week at Dahar was long, very long. The walks about the harbor, the excursions to the brook at the east of the town, had very soon exhausted their charms. Such patience was required as only an easy philosophy could give, but with the exception of Tregman, who was remarkably gifted in this respect, Antfor and his companions were neither patient nor philosophical. If they blessed Kamalik Pasha for having chosen them for his heirs, they cursed him for the Caprice by which he had buried the heritage so far away. It was really too much to send them to the Gulf of Oman, and now they had to go to the Gulf of Guinea. Why could not the Egyptian have found a quiet little island in the European seas? Was there not one in the Mediterranean, in the Baltic, in the Black Sea, in the North Sea, with every convenience for the stowage of three casks? Really, the Pasha had indulged in quite a plethora of precautions, but so it was, and if you'd like to abandon this treasure quest, abandon it? See what a reception you would have had from Antfor and Zambuco, and even the notary held in the grip of the violent Saouk. The bonds, which attached these companions to each other, were being visibly relaxed. These were three distinct groups, Antfor and Zambuco, Omar and Saouk, Jewel and Tregman. They lived apart, meeting each other only at mealtimes, avoiding each other during their walks. They sorted themselves out into twos, and seemed as though they would never combine in the final six-tech, which could only result in abominable concoveny. As regards to Jewel and Tregman group, we know the usual subject to the conversation, the infinite prolongation of the voyage, the gradual widening of the separation between lovers, the fear that so many researches and fatigues could only end in a hoax, the state of Antifersanity. All of them caused a regret for the bargement and Jewel, but made up their minds not to withstand him and to follow him to the end. As regards to the Antifersan Zambuco group, what a curious study these two future brothers-in-law would have made for a moralist. One, up to then of simple tastes, living a quiet life in a quiet town, with the philosophy natural to a retired sailor, now a prey to the lust for gold, his mind deranged by this mirage of millions gleaming under his eyes. The other, already so rich, but having no other care that the heat riches on riches, exposing himself to so many fatigues, to so many dangers even, in the endeavor to increase the heat. A week to get rusty at the bottom of this hole, said Captain Antifur, and who knows if this wretched steamer will not be late. And then, said the banker, our ill fortune makes us land at Loango, and then go out fifty leagues to Mayumba Bay. It is uneasy about the end of this road, said the irascible Antifur. Enough to make you uneasy, observed the banker. It is no good anchoring to we reach the roadsteads. Let's get to Loango, and then we will see. We might persuade the captain of the steamer to put in at Mayumba. It would not take him far out of his way. I do not suppose he would consent, and he's not likely to be allowed to do so. If we were to offer him an indemnity, he might suggest to the banker. We will see, Zambo-Go, but you are always thinking of what never occurs to me. The essential is to arrive at Loango, and from there we can get to Mayumba. At least we have legs, and if necessary, and there's no other way of leaving the car, we shouldn't hesitate at going round by the coast. On foot? Yes, on foot. He spoke quite airily, but the dangers, the obstacles, the impossibilities was such a journey. He might think himself lucky to be able to find a steamer, and thus avoid the perils of the journey. Not one of those who accompanied him on such an expedition would have returned. And Talisman Zambo-Go would have waited in vain at home in Malta for the return of her two audacious husband, that was to be. And so they had to resign themselves to this steamboat, which could not arrive for a week. But how long seemed the hours spent at Dakar? Quite different was the conversation of Saouk and Ben Omar. Not that the son of Marad was less impatient to reach the island and carry off the treasure of Kamalik Pasha. His thoughts were concentrated on the way in which he would best rob the legatees. He intended to carry this out on the return from Sahar to Muscat. Now he would attempt it on the return from Mayumba to the Longo. Certainly his chances had improved. Among the natives and interlopers, he ought to find a few fellows capable of anything, even the shedding of blood, if necessary, who would manage this matter for him. And the prospect of this terrified the Pusillanimus Ben Omar, less from delicacy of feeling that from fear had been mixed up in such an affair. He made a few timid suggestions. He remarked that Captain Antford and his companions were men who would sell their lives dearly. He insisted on the point that no matter how much so he paid them, the scoundrels he employed will talk about it sooner or later, but the truth is always found out at last regarding the massacre of explorers in any part of Africa. His arguments were directed, in fact, not against the criminality of the attempt, but arose from fear of being found out, the only reason which could stop Jamanus Oak. But they had no effect on him. Giving the notary one of these looks which chilled the very marrow in his bones, he said, I only know if one imbecile was capable of betraying me. And who is that? You Ben Omar. Me? Yes, and take care for I know how to make people hold their tongues. Ben Omar, trembling in all his limbs, bowed his head. One corpse more or less on the road from Mayumba to Luongo would not embarrass Suu as he well knew. The expected steamer dropped anchor at Dakar in the morning of the 12th of May. This was the Cintra, a Portuguese vessel bound with passengers and goods to San Paul de Luanda, the important Lusitania colony of tropical Africa. She regularly stopped at Luongo, in that she started early next morning and for his companions at once booked their births. As her speed was only from nine to ten knots, the forage would last a week during which Ben Omar would suffer as usual. Heavy dropped a few passengers at Dakar, the Cintra started next morning in fine weather, with the breeze blowing off the land. It had deferred the banger heaved and immense sigh of satisfaction, as their lungs had not been working for a week. This was the last stage before setting foot on island number two and putting their hand on the treasure it was guarding so carefully. The attraction the island exercised on them seemed to become more powerful as they approached it, conformably to natural laws, increasing inversely as a square of the distance. And at every turn of the screw of the Cintra, the distance decreased. As for Jewel, it increased. He went farther and farther away from France, from Brittany, where Enogate sat in sorrow. He had written to her from Dakar as soon as he arrived, and the poor girl would soon learn that her lover was farther away from her than ever and could fix no date as to a probable return. So he tried to find out what passengers would be landed at Luongo. Among these adventurers, with consciousness untroubled by scruples or remorse, who were in search of fortune in these distant lands, were there any who knew the country and were likely to become his accomplices? His Excellency could not find any. He would have to choose his rascals when he reached Luongo. Unfortunately, he could not speak Portuguese. Neither could Ben Omar. This was embarrassing, as he had to treat of delicate matters and express himself quite clearly. Antefer, Zambuco, Tregomain, and Jewel were reduced to talking among themselves, for no one on board spoke French. There was one who's surprise was equal to his satisfaction. Ben Omar to wit. To say he felt no discomfort during his voyage on the Cintra would be untrue. But at the same time, the intense suffering he had frequently experienced was now spared him. The Cintra kept within two or three miles of the coast. The sea was calm, and she felt very little of the swell on the open sea. This continued as she had doubled Cape Palmas, the extreme point of the Gulf of Guinea. As often happens, the breeze followed the line of the coast, and the Gulf was as smooth as the ocean. But the Cintra had to lose sight of the land when her course was laid for Luongo. The traveller saw nothing of a shanty land, nor of Dahomey, nor even the summit of Mount Cameroon, which rises for some 12,000 feet beyond Ferdinando Po on the confines of Upper Guinea. In the afternoon of the 19th of May, Tregomain became somewhat excited. Jewel told him he was about to cross the equator. For the first time, for the last, no doubt, the bargeman was about to enter the southern hemisphere. What an adventure for him, the mariner of the rants! And it was without regret, following the example of the other passengers, he gave the crew of the Cintra his piester in recognition of the honour of crossing the line. At sunrise the next morning, the Cintra was in the latitude of Mayumba, but about a hundred miles to the west of it. If the captain of the steamer had agreed to put it at a port which belongs to the state of Longo, what fatigues, what dangers, perhaps, would have inspired Captain Antefur? Such a call would have saved him an extremely difficult journey along the coast. Urged by his uncle, Jewel tried to argue the matter with the captain of the Cintra. The Portuguese knew a few words of English, as what sailor does not, and Jewel, as we know, spoke his language fluently. He introduced the proposal to stop at Mayumba, but would take the steamer only two days out of her way. The expenses would be paid for the delay, the coal, the provisions, the indemnity to the owners of the Cintra, etc. Did the captain understand Jewel's proposal? Certainly, when it was explained on the chart of the Gulf of Guinea. Sailors soon understand each other in such matters. Nothing was easier than to steer eastwards so as to land this half-dozen passengers at Mayumba, provided the passengers were willing to pay. But the captain refused. He was freighted for Luongo. He would go to Luongo. From Luongo, he was bound to San Paul de Luanda, and to San Paul de Luanda, he would go, and nowhere else, even if they bought the ship for her weight in gold. Such were the expressions he used, which Jewel clearly understood and translated to his uncle. Terrible was Antefur's anger, and fearful the broadside of owes he let fly to Captain. Fitted not then for the intervention of Tregomain and Jewel, Antefur, in a state of mutiny, would have been sent as a prisoner to the hold for the rest of the voyage. Two days afterwards, in the evening of the 21st of May, the Cintra stopped before the Long Sandbank, which defends the coast of Luongo, and landed with her launch the passengers in question. A few hours afterwards, she was off again on her way to San Paul, the capital of the Portuguese colony. End of Chapter 23. Chapter 24 of Captain Antefur by Jules Verne. This liberal box recording is in the public domain. Recorded by Joe De Noia, Somerset, New Jersey. Chapter 24. Next day, beneath the Baobab tree, would shelter them from the fiery rays of the sun. Two men were in conversation. As they had come up the principal street of Luongo, where they met by the greatest chance, they had recognized each other, with many gestures of surprise. One had said, You, here? Yes, here, the other had replied, and I signed from the first, who was Saouk. The second, a Portuguese man, Barroso, had followed him out of the town. Although Saouk did not speak the language of Barroso, Barroso spoke the language of his Excellency, for he had lived for some time in Egypt. Two old acquaintances these. Barroso was one of the band of adventurers under Saouk when he was engaged in every kind of depredation, without being troubled by the agents of the viceroy, thanks to the influence of Moran, his father, the cousin of Camelik Pasha. When the band had been broken up, after two or three outrages, too bad to be overlooked, Barroso had disappeared. Returning to Portugal, where there was no scope for his particular abilities, he had left Lisbon to work in a factory at Luongo. At this period, the trade of the colony, almost ruined by the abolition of the slave trade, was reduced to the export of ivory, palm oil, ground nuts, and mahogany. At the moment, this Portuguese, who had been a sailor, and was then about fifty, commanded a small vessel named the Porto Legre, engaged in the coasting trade. Barroso was possessed of a conscious, so utterly devoid of scruples, and an audacity acquired in his old trade that made him just the man Saouk wanted for his criminal machinations. When they reached the foot of this baobob, which the arms of twenty men could not have encircled, though it was nothing compared with the banyan of Muscat, they could talk without fear of being overheard, of anything they pleased that threatened the safety of Antifur and his companions. To begin with, they told each other how they had spent their lives, since the Portuguese had left Egypt, and then Saouk came to business without beating about the bush. Although he took care not to let Barroso know the immense amount of treasure he was anxious to get hold of, he did not fail to tempt his cupidity with the bait of a considerable sum to be gained. But, added he, to help me, I want a man, resolute, courageous. You know me, excellency replied the Portuguese, and you know that I will stop at nothing. If you have not changed. I have not changed. No, then, that there are four men we must get rid of, and perhaps a fifth, if I find it necessary to disembarrass myself of a certain Ben Omar, whose cleric I am supposed to be, under the name of Nazim. One more makes little difference. In this case, certainly, and he will give you no trouble. What are you going to do? This is my plan, replied Saouk, after looking about to see that he would not be overheard. Three of these men are Frenchmen, a certain Captain Antifur, his friend and his nephew, and a Tunisian banker named Zimbucco, just landed at Luongo to take possession of a treasure deposited on one of the islands of the Gulf of Guinea. Whereabouts? Near Mayoumba Bay, replied the Egyptian. Their intention is to travel up the coast to that town, and I think it would be easy to attack them as they are returning with their treasure to wait for the steamer from San Paul to the car. Nothing easier said Barrasso. I can find a dozen trusty fellows, always ready for business, who will be glad to assist you for an agreed sum. I was sure of it, Barrasso, and in these desert places, we would be certain to succeed. Of course, but I have a better plan to propose. What is that? I am in command of a vessel of 150 tons, taking goods from one port to another along the coast. My ship is going to start in a couple of days for Baraka, on the Gabun, a little to the north of Mayoumba. Ah, we might take advantage of that. Antifur would be only too pleased to take passage in her to avoid the fatigues and dangers of a land journey. You can land us at Mayoumba, deliver your goods at the Gabun, and return to pick us up. And while we are on the passage to Luwango, that is understood. How many men have you on board? Twelve. You can trust them? As myself. And what are you taking to the Gabun? A cargo of ground nuts and six elephants bought by a house at Baraka, which are to be sent on to a Manajarae in Holland. You do not speak French? No. Do not forget that I am not supposed to speak it or to understand it. I will tell Ben Omar to make the proposal to you, and Antifur will not hesitate to accept it. There could be no doubt of this, and there was every reason to fear that the two legates would disappear with their companions during the return voyage across the Gulf of Guinea. And who could hinder the crime? And who would find out the authors? Luwango is not under Portuguese rule, like Angola and Benguela. It is one of the independent kingdoms of the Congo, bounded by the Gabun on the north and the Zaire on the south. But at this period, from Cape Lopes to Zaire, the native kings recognized the sovereign Luwango and paid him tribute, generally in slaves. Such were Cassange, Tamba, Le Bolo, and other vassals reigning over the much-divided smaller territories. Society is regularly constituted among these Negroes. At the head, the king and his family, then the princes, that is the sons of a princess, who alone can transmit nobility, then the husbands of the princesses, who are Sousa Reigns, then the priests, the fetishes, or yangas, of whom the chief is Chitomi, by divine right, then the courtiers, the merchants, the retainers, that is to say, the people. As to slaves, there are many. There are too many. They are no longer sold to foreigners, it is true, but only to the consequences of European intervention in abolishing the trade. But although the king of Luwango is the monarch of a country that rejoices in independence, it does not follow that its rows are sufficiently guarded and that travelers are free from peril. And so it would have been difficult to find a territory more favorable, or a sea more suitable for a foul action. This it was that made Jules so anxious, at least with regards to the land journey. If his uncle felt little about it, upset as he was, the young captain cannot contemplate without serious alarm this land journey of 120 miles along the coast to Mayumba Bay. He thought it his duty to tell the bargemen of this. What would you do, my boy? replied Tregomane. The cork is drawn and we must drink wine. In fact, continued Jules, it was only a promenade between Muscat and Sahar, and then we were in good company. Could we not make up a caravan of natives at Luwango? I would no more trust these niggers than I would the hyenas and leopards and lions in the district. Ah, are there plenty of these beasts? Plenty of them, to say nothing of lentas, which are venomous vipers, of cobras which spit their foam on your face, of pythons 30 feet long. A nice place, my boy. Really, this excellent posh could not have chosen a more convenient one. And you think that these natives are not particularly intelligent, being like all the Congolese, but they are intelligent enough to rob and massacre the fools who venture in its abominable country. This fragment of dialogue is a fair sample of the anxieties that Jules shared with Tregomane, and consequently they are both greatly relieved when Saouk, by means of Ben Omar, introduced the Portuguese Barasso to Captain Antiphar and the Tunisian banker. No long stages across these dangerous countries, no fatigues in the successive climate during so long a journey. As Saouk had said nothing of his previous connection with Barasso, and as Jules kept no suspicion that these two scoundrels had formally known one another, his suspicions were not aroused. The voyage was to be by sea to Mayumba Bay. The weather was fine. They would be there in two days. The vessel would land the passengers, go on to Baraka, and bark them on their return, and they would all go back to Longo for the next steamer to take them to Marseille. Never had Chance declared itself so clearly in favor of Captain Antiphar. Of course, he would have to pay well for his passage, but what mattered the cost? There were two days to wait at Longo until the half dozen elephants sent up from the interior were shipped on board the Porto Legre. And so Tregomane and Jules, the former always anxious to learn, amused themselves by strolling through the town, the Bansa as it was called in Congoese. Loango, or Boala, the old city, measuring about two miles and a half in circumference, is built in the midst of a palm forest. This composed of a collection of factories, surrounded by huts built of raffia twigs, and covered with papyrus leaves. The traders are Portuguese, Spanish, French, English, Dutch, and German. Quite a mixture, as you see. But how new everything seemed to the bargemen. The Britons on the banks of the Rants are not in the least like those half-naked natives, armed with bows and wooded swords and rounded axes. The King of Longo, dressed up in a ridiculous old uniform, was not in the least like the prefect of Il Ed of Lain. The villages between St. Malo and Denon had no such huts sheltered by huge coconut trees. And the people of St. Malo are not polygamists, like the idle Congoese, who leave all the heavy work to their wives and go to bed when their wives are ill. But the land in Brittany is not as fertile as the land in Longo. Here it is only necessary to scratch the ground to obtain superb crops of Manfrigo, or millet, with ears weighing half a pound, of hocus, which grows without culture, of luco, which is used for bread, of maize, giving three crops a year, of rice, yams, money oak, tomba, lentils, tobacco, sugarcane, and the marshy districts, vines in the neighborhood of the Zaire, imported from Canary and Madeira. Figs, bananas, oranges, called manbrocas, lemons, pomegranates, kudos, fruit in the shape of pine cones containing a flowery melting substance, new bonzems, a kind of nut much like by the Negroes, and pineapples that grow naturally on the desert spots. And then what's huge trees, mangroves, sandalwoods, cedars, tamarins, palms, and a number of those baobobs, from which is extracted a vegetable soap, and a residual much appreciated by the natives. And what a crowd of animals, pigs, boars, zebras, buffalo, deer, gazelles, antelopes, elephants, jackals, porcupines, flying squirrels, wildcats, to say nothing of the innumerable varieties of monkeys, chimpanzees, ostriches, peacocks, thrushes, partridges, red and gray, edible locusts, bees, mosquitoes, canzos, sattles, and cousins more numerable than desire. A wonderful country whose wonders Trigamene would have exhausted if he had time to study its natural history. Another Antifurid norzomucco could have told you if Luongo was peepled by whites or blacks. No, their eyes looked elsewhere. They were searching far away more to the north for an imperceptible point, a point unique in this world, a sort of enormous diamond with fascinating scintillations, weighing thousands of carats and worth millions of pounds. Ah, how impatient they were to set foot on island number two and reach the end of their adventurous campaign. On the 22nd of May, at sunrise, the vessel was ready to sail. The six elephants had arrived the night before and been embarked with the necessary precautions. They were magnificent animals that would not have disgraced Sam Lockhart's surface. It needs scarcely be said that they were stowed in the hold. Maybe it was not very prudent to load a vessel of 150 tons with such masses which might interfere with its equilibrium. Jule mentioned this to the bargemen. The vessel was, however, rather beamy and drew very little water, supposed to enable her to come close in over the shallows. She had two masts, rather far apart, and was of square rig. For a vessel of this kind only sails well before the wind, and she is not very speedy, she can at least be safely worked within sight of the coast. Besides, the wind was favorable. At Longo, as in all the countries of the Gulf, the rainy season, which begins in September, ends in May, under the influence of winds coming from the northwest. On the other hand, though it may be fine from May to September, how insupportable is the heat, which is only tempered a little by the abundant dew of the nights. Since they had landed, our travelers had melted and grown thinner visibly. More than ninety-three degrees in the shade, in this country, if we are to believe certain explorers, little worthy of faith, who also have been born in Boucherone or Gascony, the dogs were obliged to be continually on the move to prevent them from burning their paws on the incandescent soil, and while boars are found actually cooked in their skins, Trigamane was almost inclined to believe these stories. The Porto Legre set sail at eight o'clock in the morning. The passengers were all on board, men and elephants. The groups were as usual. Captain Antefur and Zimbogo more hypnotized than ever by this island number two. And what a weight would be lifted from them when the lookout sighted it on the horizon. Trigamane and Jewel, one forgetting the seas of Africa for the channel in the harbors of St. Malo, the other thinking of nothing but breathing the refreshing breeze. Sook and Barroso talking together. And what was there to be astonished at, as they spoke the same language, and it was owing to their meeting that Antefur had obtained a passage on the vessel. The crew consisted of a dozen sturdy fellows, mostly Portuguese, and a very unprepossessing appearance. The uncle was absorbed in his thoughts and did not notice this, but the nephew remarked it and communicated his impressions to the bargemen, who replied that in such temperatures it is hazardous to judge people by their looks, and that one must not be too particular with regards to the crew of an African vessel. With the prevailing win, the voyage of the coast promised to be delightful. Portentosa Africa, Trigamane would have said if he had known the pop's epithet, with which the Romans greeted his continent. In truth, their thoughts and up and elsewhere kept the Antefur and his companions in passing the factory of Chilu would have abandoned themselves to the just admiration which the natural beauties of the coast deserved. Alone among them, the bargemen gazed at it like a man who wished to carry away with him some remembrance of his journey. And what could he have more splendid than a succession of green forests covering the hillsides, dominated here and there by the heights of the Strauk Mountains, bathed with hot mists and her deep ravines. From mile to mile, the beach ran back to give passage to the watercourses coming from the thick woods, which the tropical heats could not dry up. It is true that all this water did not reach the sea. Flux of birds were gathered to drink of it. Peacocks, ostriches, pelicans, divers, animated the landscape with the beatings of their wings. Heards of graceful antelopes, troops of empalagas, or elons of the Cape, huge mammals capable of drinking a ton of this livid water as easily as the bargemen could have tossed off a glass. Heards of hippopotamuses, looking at a distance like pink pigs, whose flesh, it seemed, is not despised by the natives. Tregomane, finding himself near Antipher in the boughs, took occasion to remark, hey my friend, hippopotamus feet, ala santa mena mood, will that do for you? Antipher merely shrugged his shoulders and gave the bargemen one of those weary, vague looks which look at nothing. He no longer understands what is said to him, murmur Tregomane, using his handkerchief as a fan. On the edge of the shore were troops of monkeys, leaping from one tree to another, howling and grimacing when, by a movement of the rudder, the Port Allegrae approached the beach. The birds, the hippopotamuses, and monkeys would have done no harm to our travelers if they had had to walk from Luongo to Mayumba. No, what would have been a more serious danger was the presence of leopards and lions, which were seen bounding about the underwood, wonderfully supple brutes, anything but safe to meet with. When the night came, there were gruff howlings and lugubrious bangs to break the impressive silence, which followed the fall of the night. This concert reached the vessel, like the moaning that precedes a storm. Trouble and excited, the elephants became restive in the hold, replying by savage grunts and shaking to as make the vessel's timbers grown. Decidedly, the cargo was likely to cause uneasiness to the passengers. Four days elapsed, nothing occurred to break the monotony of the voyage. The fine weather continued, the sea was at dead calm, and Ben Omar felt no discomfort. There was no pitching, no rolling, and although the Port Allegrae was heavily laden, she was almost insensible to the long undulations of the surge, which died out in a light surf on the beach. For his part, the bargeman never imagined that a voyage at sea could be so quiet. Omar would think we were on the Charmante Amelie between the backs of the rants, he said to his young friend. Yes, objected jewel, with this difference, that there was not on the Charmante Amelie a captain like this Barroso, and a passenger like this Nazine, whose intimacy with the Portuguese seems to be more and more suspicious. And what do you think they are meditating, my boy? replied Trigamene. It will be too late, for we ought to be near our goal. In fact, at sunrise on the 27th of May, after doubling Cape Banda, the Port Allegrae was within 20 miles of Mayumba. This jewel ascertained from Ben Omar, who had his request as Saouk, who asked Barroso. They would arrive then, that very evening in his little port of the Longo country. Already, the coast began to curve in behind Point Matuti, describing a large bay at the end of which the town was hidden. If island number two existed, if it occupied the place indicated in the document, it ought to be somewhere in this bay. And consequently, Antifor and Zambuco kept their eyes at the telescope, the glass of which they rubbed again and again. Unfortunately, the wind was light, the breeze almost gone. The Port Allegrae was hardly making two knots an hour. About one o'clock she rounded Point Matuti. There was a shout of joy on board. The future brothers-in-law had simultaneously cited a series of islets in the bay. But surely the one they were in search of was one of the series? But which? That they would find out next day when they observed the sun. Five or six miles to the east, Mayumba appeared on a spit of sand between the sea and the benign brook, with its factories, its houses, luminous among the trees. In front of the beaches were a few fishing boats, like large white birds. How calm was the surface of the bay! A canoe could not have been more tranquil on the surface of a lake. What shall we say, on the surface of a pond, or even on a large bowl of oil? The rays of the sun poured vertically down, triggering stream like a fountain in a park on a festival day. The Port Allegrae drew nearer, thanks to a few intermittent puffs from the west. The islands in the bay became more distinct. There were six or seven of them, like baskets of verger. At six o'clock in the evening, the vessel was abreast of this archipelago. Antifurc and Zambuco remained standing in the bowels. Soouk, forgetting himself a little, could not hide his impatience, and justified by his manner the suspicions of jewel. These three men devoured with their eyes the first of these islands. Did they expect to see it spout up a shower of millions for its flanks, as from a crater of gold? If they had known that the island in which Camelik Pasha had buried his treasure was composed only of sterile rocks and bare stones, without a tree, without a shrub, no doubt they would have cried and despair. No, it is not that one yet. But since 1831, there had been 31 years in which nature had time to cover the island with masses of verger. The Port Allegrae approached it slowly, so as to round its northern point, her sails barely filled with a dying evening breeze. If the wind fell altogether, they would have to anchor and wait for the daylight. But, suddenly, a lamentable groaning was heard at the bargeman's side. He turned to see what it was. It was Ben Omar. The nori was pale. He was livid. His heart was in his lips. He was seasick. What? In such calm weather, in this sleepy bay, without furrow on its surface? Yes, and there was nothing surprising in the poor man being fearfully sick, for the vessel had begun to roll in a most absurd and inexplicable manner. She rolled to port, then to starboard, in the most violent fashion. The crew rushed forward and rushed aft. Captain Barasso also ran. What is it, as Jewel? What is the matter, as Tregamine? Was it some submarine eruption, the shocks of which threatened to sink the Port Allegrae? Another antefer, nor Zambuco, nor Saouk, seemed to notice what was happening. Ah, exclaimed Jewel, the elephants. Yes, it was the elephants who were making the ship roll. Under the influence of some inexplicable caprice, the idea encouraged them to bear all together, alternating on their hind feet and their fore feet. They made the vessel rock, and it seemed to please them, as it pleases the squirrel in his gyratory course and his revolving cage. But what squirrels, these huge pachyderms? The rolling increased, the taffrails nearly touched the water. The vessel was in danger of filling first on one side, then the other. Barasso and a few of the crew hurried down into the hold. They tried to calm the monster's animals. There were shouts and blows, but no result. The elephants, brandishing their trunks, raising their ears, waggling their tails, got more excited, and more and more, the point of delivery rolled, rolled, rolled, until the water came pouring into her. It did not take long. In ten seconds, the sea had reached the hold, and down she went, while the screams of the foolish elephants were drowning in the abyss. End of Chapter 24. Chapter 25 of Captain Antefer by Joel Zorn This little box recording is in the public domain. Recording by Joe DeNoya, summer-setting majority. Chapter 25 At last I have been shipwrecked, said Trigamane next morning. When the Port Allegrae had gone down, in fifteen or twenty fathoms, the island in Mayumba Bay, toward which she was nearest, became the refuge of those she carried. Nobody had perished in this extraordinary catastrophe. No one was missing from the roll call amongst the passengers or her crew. They had all helped each other. Antefer had held up Zambuco, so who could hold up Bedomor? They had only a few strokes to make to reach the rocks of the island. Only the elephants had disappeared amid the element for which nature had not created them. They were drowned. After all, it was their fault. It was not due to make a boat into a seesaw. Antefer's first remark on landing had been, In her instruments? In her charts? Unfortunately, and a loss was irreparable. Neither the sextant, nor the Atlas, nor the nautical almanac had been saved. The disaster had taken place in a few seconds. Fortunately, the banker and the notary and the bargemen carried in their belts the money required for the voyage, and there would be no difficulty in this respect. Neither had Trigamane had any difficulty in supporting himself in the water. The weight of the liquid displaced by his volume being greater than that of his body, and he had frankly drifted ashore on the surge of agitation. It was easy to get dry. The clothes had only to be laid out in the sun for half an hour to become as dry as a bone. But there was a rather disagreeable night to be passed under the trees, every man abandoning himself to his own reflections. A day had arrived in the neighborhood of island number two. There could be no doubt. But how were they to determine the exact spot, where three degrees, 17 minutes south latitude, crossed seven degrees, 23 minutes east longitude, now that Joel had no sextant or chronometer, and could not take an altitude? And so each of them, according to his character and aspirations, remarked to himself, Zambuco, this is sinking inside of port. Antifur, I shall not go away until I have ransacked every island in this bay, if it takes me 10 years to do it. So, well-laid scheme has failed, all into this absurd shipwreck. Barasso, and those elephants were not insured. Ben Omar, Allah protect us, my commission will have cost me dear if I ever get it. Jewel, there is nothing now to prevent me going back to Europe to Anakin. Tregomane. Moral, never go to Sian a ship with a cargo of facetious elephants. Nobody slept very much that night. The shipwrecked ones might not suffer from cold. In what way would they next morning at breakfast time reply to the cravings of their hungry stomachs? At least unless the trees were coconut trees laden with fruit, with which, for want of something better, they might support themselves until they reach Mayumba. But how were they to reach this town, which was five or six miles off? Make signals? Would they be seen? Swim five or six miles? Was there any one of the crew who'd do that? Anyhow, when daylight came, the matter would have to be considered. There was no appearance that this island was inhabited, by human creatures to be it understood. But there was no want of other living things, noisy, inconvenient, dangerous perhaps by their numbers. Tregomane had a notion that all the monkeys and creation had met on the island. Perhaps he had landed on the capital of the kingdom of Jakka, or Drakolia. And though the temperature was calm and the surf hardly rippling on the beach, there was not an hour of peace to be enjoyed on the island. The silence was continuously troubled, and it had been impossible to sleep. There was a curious uproar among the trees. It seemed as though a troop of congoies were playing on tomtoms. There was much running backwards and forwards under the branches and among the branches, with guttural cries from husky sentinels. The darkness of the night preventing anything being seen. When daylight came, the mystery was revealed. The island served as a refuge for a tribe of chimpanzees. And although they had trouble to sleep, Tregomane could not but admire these magnificent specimens of the Anthropoid family. They were the very jacos or buffon able to do many things ordinarily reserved for human hands and intelligence. Tall, strong, vigorous, prognothism of the face little marked, the ridges of the eyebrows almost normal. It was by distending their stomachs and rubbing them vigorously that they produced drumming noise. There were about 50 of these chimpanzees who had taken up their abode on the island. But how they had got there from the mainland, how they had found sufficient food there would leave the others to explain. Jule was not slow to discover that the island, measuring about two miles long and a mile wide, was covered with trees of a different kind common in tropical latitudes. No doubt these trees produced edible fruit which gave the chimpanzees their means of existence. But the fruits, the roots, the vegetables on which the chimpanzees fed, man could feed them also. Of this, Jule, the bargemen, and the sailors all once took advantage. After a shipwreck, after a night without food, it is pardonable to be hungry and to seek for something to eat. The ground produced in their wild state a quantity of these fruits and roots. To eat them raw, however, is not very satisfying, unless you have the stomach of a chimpanzee. But you are not forbidden to cook them if you have the means of doing so. When you have a few matches, that is possible, if not easy. Fortunately, Mazeem had renewed his supplies at Luongo. And the brass box in which he kept them had not got wet inside. And consequently, almost as soon as the day broke, a wood fire was crackling under the trees of the encampment. The company was gathered around this fire. Antifa and Zambuco were as angry as ever. Doubtless, anger is nourishing, for they refused to share in the rudimentary breakfast, to which were added a few handfuls of the nuts the Guinyans thought so much of. The chimpanzees also regaled themselves, and probably did not look kindly on these invaders on their island, these strangers who were attacking the reserves. Soon they began to draw in, and some of them keep bring about. The others at rest, but all grimacing violently, formed a circle around Captain Antifa and his companions. We must be on our guard, said Jewel to his uncle. These chimpanzees are powerful fellows, ten times more numerous than we are, than we are without arms. Antifa was not likely to care much about chimpanzees. You are right, my boys at the bargemen. These fellows do not seem to be acquainted with the laws of hospitality, and their attitude is threatening. Is there any danger, asked Ben Omar? The danger of being knocked to pieces, replied Jewel seriously. At this reply the notary would have fled, but it was impossible. Barrasso, however, placed his men so as to repel any attack. Then Saouk and he began to talk privately, while Jewel watched them. The subject of their conversation may be guessed. Saouk could not disguise his irritation at the thought of his unexpected shipwreck, having wrecked his plan. Another must be devised. As they had arrived in the vicinity of island number two, no doubt the treasure of Kamalikpasha would be found on one of the islands in Mayumba Bay, either this or another one. But nothing could be done as yet. This was clear enough to the two scoundrels, so worthy of understanding each other. Of course, Barrasso would be well paid by his accomplice for the losses he had undergone, and the value of the vessel, her cargo, and the elephants would be restored to him. The main point was to get to Mayumba as soon as possible. A few fishing boats had just come away from the coast. They could be easily distinguished. The nearest was being sailed within three miles of the island. The wind was light, and she would not be in sight of the encampment for three or four hours when they could signal for her. Before the day was over, they could all be installed in one of the factories of the town, but they could but receive a hearty welcome and liberal hospitality. Jewel! Jewel! This appeal suddenly interrupted the conversation between Saouk and the Portuguese. It was Captain Antifur who had made it, and it was followed by another. Guildus! Guildus! Jewel and the bargemen, who had gone to the beach to watch the maneuvers of the fishing boats, returned and replied to Antifur. Sambuca was with him, and Ben Omar, at a sign, approached. Leading Barrasso to return to his men, Saouk came gradually nearer to the group, so as to hear what was being said. As he had to be careful to let it be supposed that he did not understand French, nobody took much notice of his presence. Jewel! said Captain Antifur. Listen, for the time has arrived to come to a decision. He spoke in a harsh, jerky voice, like a man in a paroxysm of irritability. The last document tells us that island number two is situated in Mayumba Bay. Now, we are in Mayumba Bay. Are we not? There is no doubt of it, but we have no longer our sextant and chronometer, for this clumsy Tregomane, doing whom I was fool enough to trust them, had lost them. My friend, said the bargemen, I would rather have got drowned and lost them, replied Antifur harshly. And so would I, added the banker. Indeed, Mr. Sambuca retorted Tregomane with a gesture of ignition. Well, they are lost, continued Captain Antifur, and for one of the instruments, it would be impossible, Jewel, to determine the position of island number two. Impossible, Uncle, and in my opinion, the only wise thing to do is go to Mayumba in one of those boats, return to Luongo by land, and embark on the first steamer that puts in. That, replied Antifur, never. And the banker, like a faithful echo repeated, never. Ben Omar, looking from one to the other, shook his head, as idiots do. And so Euk listened, without seeming to understand. Yes, Jewel, we will go to Mayumba, but we will stay there instead of returning to Luongo. We will stay there as long as it is necessary, understand me well, to visit the islands in the bay, every one of them. What? There are not many of them, five or six. If there were a hundred or a thousand, I would search them one after the other. Uncle, that is not reasonable. Most reasonable, Jewel, one of them contains the treasure. The document indicates the position of the point where it is buried by Camelik Pasha. Confound the fellow, murmured Tregomain. With the will and the patience continued Antifur, we shall end by discovering the spot marked by the double K. And if we do not find it as Jewel, do not say that Jewel exclaimed Antifur, for the sake of heaven, do not say that. And in the paroxysm of indescribable fury, his teeth ground the pebble between his jaws. Never had he been nearer in attack of congestion in the brain. Jewel did not think worthwhile to say any more, in the face of such obscenity. The search, which he thought would end in nothing, could not take much more than a fortnight. When Antifur convinced himself that there was nothing to hope, he would, whether elected or not, have to return a year. So he replied, let us be ready to embark on that fishing boat as soon as it comes ashore. Now, without searching this island, replied Antifur, why should we not begin with this one? The observation was logical, who knew if the treasure seekers had not reached their goal without the aid of sextant and chronometer. Not very likely, you say. Perhaps so. But considering all the disappointments and fatigues and perils, why should not the goddess of fortune have shown herself propitious to her adorers? Jewel did not venture an objection. The best thing to do was to lose no time. The island might be searched before the fishing boat breached them. As soon as she came near the rocks, it was feared that the crew of the Port Allegrae would want to go on board in their haste to get a substantial meal in the factories of Mayumba. Why should it compel these men to submit to a delay, the cause of which could not be explained to them? To inform them of the existence of the treasure would be to put them in possession of the secret of Camelik Pasha. Nothing could be more reasonable, but when Antifur and Zambuco, accompanied by Jewel and Tregomain, the Notary and Nazim, were leaving the camp, would not Barasso and his men be rather surprised, and would they not be tempted to follow them? This was a serious difficulty. In case the treasure was discovered, what would this crew do at the exhumation of the casks containing millions in gold, diamonds, and other precious stones? Might not lead to scenes of violence and robbery, with this mob of adventurers, not one of whom was worth the rope to hang him? Double as numerous as Antifur and his companions, they could soon overpower them, knock them about, and murder them. Certainly their captain would not try to restrain them. He would be more likely to lead them on, and claim the lion's share in the business. But to oblige Captain Antifur to act only with extreme prudence, to make him understand it would be better to wait a few days, to first reach Mayumba with his ship or crew, and to return next day with a boat especially engaged for the trip, after getting rid of these suspicious fellows, was anything but easy. Jewel's uncle would refuse to listen to reason. Never would they get him away until he had ransacked the island. No consideration would stop him. The bargeman was promptly sent to the right about when he offered these very observations to his intractable friend. The only reception he got was a broadside in two words. Come on. I entreat you. Remain if you like. I can do without you. A little prudence. Come, Jewel. And he had to obey. Antifur and Zambuco left the camp. Treadomain and Jewel followed them. The men made no attempt to move, but also did not seem to take any interest in the reason for the passengers walking off. How was this? It was because Seouk had heard all that past, and having no wish to delay or hinder the search, had simply given the Portuguese the word. Peroso turned to his crew and ordered them to wait at the point for the fishing boats, and not move away from the camp. And when this was done, Ben Omar, as assigned from Seouk, started after Antifur, who was not surprised at seeing the notary flanked by his clerk Nazim. End of Chapter 25 Chapter 26 of Captain Antifur by Jules Verne This Libervox recording is in the public domain, recorded by Joe De Noia, Somerset, New Jersey. Chapter 26 It was about eight o'clock in the morning to judge by the height of the sun above the horizon, and about, with which we must be contented, owing to the watches having stopped on account of the immersion. If Peroso's men had not followed the explorers, it was not so with the chimpanzees. A dozen of them left the troop with the evident intention of escorting the intruders. The others remained around the encampment. As he walked, the bargemen looked sideways at the savage bodyguard, who answered him with abominable grimaces and threatening gestures and gruff exclamations. Evidently, he thought, these brutes are talking amongst themselves. I am sorry I cannot understand them. It would be a pleasure to converse in their language. An excellent opportunity this to make philological observations and ascertain if, as Garner the American says, the higher apes have vocal sounds expressive of their different ideas, such as, whew, for food, shee, for drink, yeek, for take care. In fact, if in the Simeon Tongue, A and O are missing, I is rare, E little used, and U and OU are the fundamental vowels. It would not have been forgotten that the document found on the island in the Gulf of Oman gave the particulars of the island in Mayuma Bay, and mentioned the position in which the sign of the double K marked the site of the treasure. On the first island, it was on a promontory to the south that the search had to be made and was made. On the second island, on the contrary, it was on one of the northern capes that one of the rocks bore the monogram. It was on the southern side that the shipwreck had occurred. Consequently, the exploring party had to march northward a distance of about a couple miles. There is nothing surprising in the two legates being in advance of the group. They walked quickly, without exchanging a word, and would have allowed none of their companions to get in front of them. Every now and then, the notary gave an uneasy look at Saouk. He had no doubt, but that he had arranged some villainy with the Portuguese captain. There was one thought he could not get rid of, that if Antfor had lost the treasure, his commission would probably go the same way. Once or twice he tried to talk to Saouk, but Saouk, with gloomy eye and angry look, feeling himself perhaps watched by Jewel, did not reply. In fact, Jewel's mistrust was greatly increased when he noticed how Ben Omar treated Nazim. Even in an Alexandrian office, it is not customary for the clerk to command and the notary to obey. There could be no doubt that it was with these two personages. The bargeman thought of nothing but the chimpanzees. Now and then his good-looking face would respond to their grimaces. His eye would close, his nose turned up, his lips protrude. The nun in Enogate would certainly not have recognized him when he abandoned himself to these simian distortions. Enogate, poor child, assuredly at this moment she was thinking of Jewel, for she was always thinking of him. But that this very day he had been shipwrecked, and was marching amid an escort of chimpanzees. Never, no, never could she have imagined that. In this latitude at this time of year, the sun describes a semicircle from east to west as it passes near the zenith. Consequently, the rays it projects in these countries are not oblique, but perpendicular. The torrid zone is well named, for the zone is literally torrified from dawn to eve. And these jokers do not seem to be warm to the bargemen looking at the chimpanzees. It is enough to make you wish you were in aim. To avoid the solar rays, it might have been worthwhile to advance under the trees. But their trunks began to branch so low down that the forests seemed impenetrable. Unless you were in aim, as Trigaman wished to be, and could travel among the branches, it would have been impossible to have found a passage. And so it was along the shore that Antipher went, skirting the creeks, avoiding the high rocks rising here and there like manhirs, and stumbling over the stones where you cannot find any on the sandy beach clear the rising tide. Is it not a difficult road, hard to defeat, and rough to travel, which leads to fortune? He might sweat blood and water if necessary, but it would not be too much if he was to be eventually paid at the rate of a thousand pounds for every step he took in approaching his goal. An hour after they left camp, they had only got a mile. That is, half as far as they wanted. From this place, the northern points on the island were visible. Three or four ran out from the rest. Which was the right one? Unless they were exceptionally fortunate, they would probably have to search them all under the terrific meridian heat. The bargeman was quite done up. Let us rest a moment, he entreated. Not a moment, replied Captain Antipher. But Uncle said, Jewel, Trigaman is visibly melting. Let him melt. Thank you, my friend. And at this reply, Trigaman, who did not want to remain behind, resumed his march. It took another half hour before they reached a place where the four points branched out. The difficulties of the road increased. Some of the obstacles appeared insurmountable. What an indescribable chaos of shingle and ridges of quartz. Really, the place had been well chosen, and Camelik had had a happy knack of hiding treasure which might have been envied by the monarchs of Basora, Baghdad, and Samarkand. Here ended the wooded part of the island. Evidently the chimpanzees had no intention of going further. They did not willingly leave the shelter of trees, and the sound of roaring waves has no attraction for them. When the escorts stopped at the edge of the trees, it was not without manifesting intentions that there were anything but conciliatory with regards to the strangers who were pursuing their explorations toward the extremity of the island. What howls they uttered? One of them picked up some stones and threw at them. As the others followed his example, there was some danger of Anifer and his companions being stoned to death. And this is probably what would have happened if they had been improved enough to reply, as they were not equal to their aggressors either in strength or number. Do not reply. Do not reply, shouted Jewel, seeing Tregobain and Saouk picking up some stones. Nevertheless, said the parchment, whose head had been knocked off by a stone. No, Tregobain, no. Come further away, and we shall be safe. They will not come any further after us. This was the best to do. Fifty yards more, and they'd be out of range of the stones. It was then half past ten. To the north, three points ran out into the sea for a hundred and fifty or two hundred yards. It was the longest one to the northwest that Antifer and Zambucco decided to visit first. Nothing could be more barren than this massive rocks, some of them firmly buried in the sand, others scattered and rolled about by the sea during the bad weather. No trace of vegetation, not even of lichens coating the human blocks, not even a scrap of seaweed, so abundant on the shores of the temperate zones. There was nothing to fear with regard to the monogram of Kamalik Pasha. They could have been inscribed on one of these rocks thirty-one years before. It would certainly be found intact. Our explorers began their search exactly as they had done that on the island in the Gulf of Oman. It may hardly be believed, but the two legates were so possessed by their passion that they seemed to suffer no fatigue from their trying march under the burning sun. And Saouk, in the interest of his master, for who would have imagined it was for his own sake, set the work with indefatigable zeal. The notary sat between two rocks and neither moved nor spoke. If they discovered the treasure, there would be time enough for him to intervene and claim the commission to which, being present, he was entitled by the provisions of the will, and he certainly would not be overpaid considering the tribulation he had undergone during three long months. We need hardly say that by Captain Antevar's orders, dual remained near him, and began a methodical examination of every foot of the ground. It is not very likely, said to himself, that we shall find the millions here. First, it is necessary that the treasure is buried on this island and not on one of the other islands of the bay. Secondly, it must be buried on this point. Thirdly, we have got to find among the mass of rocks one that bears double K. But if all these circumstances combine, if it is not a hoax in the part of the Abdominable Pasha, if I put my hand on the monogram, would it not be better to say nothing about it? My uncle would then give up this deplorable idea of marrying me to a duchess and adogate to a duke. Well, no. My uncle would never recover from such a blow. He would go out of his mind. My conscience would tell me I had acted dishonorably. I must go on with this thing. And while Jewel was indulging in these reflections, the bargeman was seated on a piece of rock with his arms swaying, his legs hanging down, his cheeks streaming, puffing like a seal coming to the surface after prolonged immersion. The investigations proceeded without result. Antifur, Zambuco, Jewel, and Saouk hunted about, patting all the rocks which by their position might bear the precious monogram. In vain were two worrisome hours devoted to this operation, up to the very end of the point. Nothing. Nothing. And indeed, was it likely that a place would have been chosen exposed to the beatings of the surf and the violence of the waves? No. As the search was over, on this promontory, would they resume it on the others? Yes, they would resume them the next day, and Antifur would recommend his work on another island if he failed on this one. Having found no trace, the group returned from the point, examining the rocks and the sand as they came. But there was nothing. At present, the only thing to do was to get back to the camp, and bark on one of the boats, and cross to Mayumba. As Antifur, Zambuco, Jewel, and Saouk came back from their search. They saw the bargemen in the notary, still where they had left them. Antifur and Zambuco, without uttering a word, went toward the edge of the forest, where the chimpanzees were waiting for them. Jewel rejoined Tregomane. Well, asked the bargemen. Not a sign of a double, or even a single K. Did we must get back? Just so. Get up, let us be off to the camp. Get up. Yes, if I can. Come, give me a hand, my boy. And with a vigorous haul from Jewel, Tregomane rose to his feet. Ben Omar was already upright near Saouk. Antifur and Zambuco were twenty yards in front. From gestures and clamors, the chimpanzees took to action. A number of stones were thrown, and it became necessary to stand on the defensive. Evidently, these wretched chimpanzees intended to prevent Antifur and his companions rejoining Barrasso and his men at camp. Suddenly a shout was heard. It came from Ben Omar. Had the notary even been hit by a stone and some sensitive part of his person? No. It was not a cry of grief that escaped him. It was a cry of surprise. Almost a cry of joy. They all stopped. The notary, with his mouth open and his eyes shut, stretched out his hand at Tregomane. There, he said, there. What do you mean, asked Jewel? Have you gone mad, Ben Omar? No. There. The K. The double K, replied the notary, and a voice choked with emotion. The K. The double K, they exclaimed. Yes. Where? They looked at a rock toward which Ben Omar seemed to be pointing, but they saw nothing. But where, you animal? asked Antifur, and a voice of fury. There, replied the notary, his hand pointed at the bargeman who turned and shrugged his shoulders. See it, said Ben Omar? On his back. In fact, on Tregomane's jacket, there was a clear enough impression of the double K. Probably the rock against which he had been leaning bore the monogram, of which the worthy man had taken an impression on his back. Antifur gave a great leap, seized the bargeman by his arm, and ordered him to return to the place where he had been sitting. The rest followed, and in less than a minute they were in front of a block of stone, on which the much-software monogram was perfectly legible. Not only had Tregomane sat with his back up against the rock, but he had sat right down on the place where the treasure was hidden. No one spoke a word. They set the work. For one of tools, the task would be difficult. Could they clear away these rocks with their pocket knives? Fortunately the stones eroded by the weather could be pulled asunder without much difficulty. In an hour they might have the barrels in sight, then they will only have to take them to the camp and then to Mayumba. This transport might probably be difficult, and how could it be carried out without a wickening suspicion? Bah! Who was going to think about that? The treasure first. The treasure from the tomb where it had been buried for a third of a century. They could see about the other things afterward. Antifa worked till his hands bled. He would not abandon to another the delirious joy of feeling, of patting the precious casks. At last he cried as his knife snapped against the metallic surface. And then what a yell there was. Good heavens! Not joy, but stupefaction, disappointment. Did his white face show? Instead of the barrels mentioned in Kamalikpash's will, there was an iron box, a box like that found on island number one, with the monogram as usual. Again, joy could not help exclaiming. It must be a hoax, murmured Dragomane. The box was pulled out of the hole and Antifa opened it savagely. A document appeared, an old parchment, yellow with age, on which were traced these lines which kept the Antifa red in a loud voice. Longitude of island number three, 15 degrees, 11 minutes east. After being noted by the colegates Antifa and Zamboko, this longitude is to be taken and communicated in the presence of the notary ben Omar to Mr. Turcomel of Edinburgh, Scotland, who possessed the latitude of the third island. Then it was not in Mayumba Bay that the treasure was buried. They would have to search elsewhere on the globe by combining this new longitude with the latitude of said Turcomel of Edinburgh. And there were not two to share Kamalikpash's legacy, but three. And why, exclaimed Jewel, should we not be sent from this third island to twenty others, to a hundred others? Come, Uncle, are you so obstinate, so foolish to run about all over the world? Without reckoning, said Dragomane, that if Kamalikpash had made legatees by the hundred, his legacy will not be worth troubling about. Antifa looked down on his friend and his nephew, gave him a pebble to grind in his jaw, and replied, Silence in the ranks. We have not got to the end yet. And straightening out the document, he read as follows. Up to the present, at some compensation for their trouble and expenses, the colegates are to each take one of the two diamonds deposited in this box, the value of which is insignificant compared with that of the other precious stones they are asked to search for. Zamboogle threw himself on the box, which he snatched from Antifa's hands. Diamonds, he shouted. And there were in fact two magnificent diamonds, worth, so the banker said, four thousand pounds of the pair. It is quite that, said he, taking one of the diamonds and handing the other to his colegatee. A drop of water in the ocean, said Antifa, slipping the diamond into one pocket and the document into another. Ahem, said the bargeman shaking his head. This is becoming more serious than I thought. We shall see. We shall see. But Jewel merely shrugged his shoulders, and so he clenched his hands into thought that never again would he have such a favorable opportunity. As to Ben Omar, who had not had the smallest brilliant for his share, in spite of the obligation laid on him by this third document, he stood there with his features drawn, his arms limp, his knees shaking just like a half-empty sack about to flatten out on the ground. It is true that Sue and he were not in the same position as they were where they left St. Molo, ignorant that they were going to Muscat, or when they had left Muscat, ignorant that they were going to Luongo. Carried away by regrettable excitement, Antifa had less slip to secret he should have rigorously concealed. They had all heard the new longitude, fifteen degrees eleven minutes east, and they had all heard the name of Mr. Turk O'Mell, resounding at Edinburgh in Scotland. We may be certain that if Ben Omar had not done so, Sue had already engraved these figures and his address in his memory until they could write them in his pocketbook. And Antifa and the banker would have to be careful not to lose sight of the notary, or his clerk put the mustaches, if they did not want them to outstrip them on their journey to Edinburgh. There might be some reason for thinking that the Zeme had not understood, as he did not understand French, but there was no doubt that Ben Omar would reveal the secret to him. And besides, Jewel had noticed that the Zeme had not concealed a feeling of satisfied curiosity when the figures of the longitude and the name of Turk O'Mell had so imprudently escaped the lips of Captain Antifa. After all, what did it matter? In his opinion, it would be madness to submit again for the third time to the posthumous fancies of Camelink Pasha. What ought to be done was to return to Luongo and take the first steamer on the way to the good town of St. Molo? Such was the wise and logical proposition that Jewel made to his uncle. Never, replied Captain Antifa, the Pasha sends us to Scotland. We will go to Scotland, and if I devote the rest of my life to this search, my sister Talisman added that the banker loves you too well not to wait for you, even for ten years. Goodness, thought Tregomane, young lady will be nearly sixty. Observations were useless, and for Antifa had made up his mind. He would continue in pursuit of the treasure, although the legacy was reduced to a third by the participation of Mr. Turk O'Mell. Well, Antigate would have to be content to marry an Earl, and Jewel a Countess. End of chapter twenty-six.