F. HABAKUK JEPHSON'S STATEMENT. (From the Cornhill Magazine.) (CONTINUED.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1866, 21 June 1884, Page 1 (Supplement)

F. HABAKUK JEPH SON'S STATEMENT. (From the Cornhill Magazine.) (CONTINUED.)

AH this time, the voice 3 of the watch on deck, chatting and laughing at the other end of the ship, were distinctly audible, and I could Pee them gathered in a group, little dreaming of the dark doings which were going on within thirty yards of them. Oh I that I could have given them one word of warning, even though I had lost my life in doing it ! but it was impossible. The moon was Bhining fitfully through the scattered clouds, and I could ccc the silvery gleam of the surge, and beyond it the vast weird desert with its fantastic sand hills. Glancing down, I saw that the man who had been crouching on the deck was still lying there, and as I gazed at him, a nickering ray of moonlight fell full upon his upturned face. Great Heaven ! even now, when more thnn twelve years have elapsed, my hand trembles as I write that, in spite of distorted features and projecting eyes, I recognised the face of Harton, the cheery young clerk who had been my companion during the voyage. It needed no medical eye to see that he was quite dead, while the twisted handkerchief round the neck, and the gag in hia mouth, showed the silent way in which the hell-hounda had done their work. The clue which explained every event of our voyage came upon me like a Mash of light as I gazed on poor Harton's corpse. Much was dark and unexplained, but I felt a great dim perception of tho truth. I heard the striking of a match at the other side of the skylights, and then I saw the tall, gaunt figure of Goring standing up on the bulwarks and holding in his hands what appeared to be a dark-lantern. He lowered this for a moment over the side of the ship, and, to my inexpressible astonishment, I saw it answered instantaneously by a flash among the sand-hills on shore, which came and went so rapidly, that unless I had been following the direction of Goring's gaze, I should never have detected it. Again he lowered the lantern, and again it was answered from the shore. He then stepped down from the bulwarks, and in doing so slipped, making such a noise, that for a moment my heart bounded with the thought that the attention of the watch would be directed to his proceedings. It waa a vain hope. The night was calm and the ship motionless, so that no idea of duty kept them vigilant. Hyson, who after the death of Tibbs was in command of both watches, had gone below to snatch a few hour's sleep, and the boatswain who was left in charge was standing with the other two men at the foot of the foremast. Powerless, speechless, with the oords cutting into my flesh and the murdered man at my feet, 1 awaited the next act in the tragedy. The four ruffians were standing up now at the other side of the deck. The cook was armed with some sort of a cleaver, the others had knives, and Goring had a revolver. They were all leaning against the rail and looking out over the water as if watching for something. I saw one of them grasp another's arm and point as if at some object, and following the direction I made out the loom of a large moving mass making towards the ship. As it emerged from the gloom I saw that it was a great canoe crammed with men and propelled by at least a score of paddles. As it shot under our stern the watoh caught sight of it also, and raising a cry hurried aft. They were too late, however. A swarm of gigantic negroes clambered over the quarter, and led by Goring Bwept down the deok in an irresfstable torrent.'. AU opposition

was overpowered in a moment, the unarmed watch 1 ) were knocked over and bound, and the sleepers dragged out of their bunks and secured in the same manner. Hyson made an attempt to defend the narrow passage leading lo lm cabin, and I heard a scuffle, and hia voice shouting for assistance. There was none to assist, however, and he was brought on to the poop with the blool streaming from a deep cut in his forehead. He was gagged like the others, and a council was held upon our fate by the negroes. 1 saw our black seaman pointing towards me and making some statement, which was received with murmurs of astonishment and incredulity by the savages. One of them then came over to me, and plunging his hand into my pocket took out by blaok stone and held it up. Hg then handed it to a man who appeared to be a chief, who examined it as minutely as the light would permit, and muttering a few words passed it on to the warrior beside him, who also scrutinised it, and passed it on until it had gone from hand to hand round the whole circle. The chief then said a few words to Goring in the native tongue, on which the quadroon addressed me in English. At this moment I aeem to see the soene. The tall masts of the ship with the moonlight streaming down, Bilvering the yards and bringing the network of cordage into hard relief ; the group of dusky warriors leaning on their spears ; the dead man at my feet ; the line of white-faced prisoners, and io front of me the loathsome half-breed, looking in his white linen and elegant clothes a strange contrast to his associates. " You will bear me witness," ho said in his softest accents, " that I am no party to sparing your life. If it rested with me you would die as these other men are about to do. I have no personal grudge against either you or them, but I have devoted my life to the destruction of the white race, and you are the first that has ever been in my power and escaped me. You may thank that stone of yours for your life. These poor fellows reverence it, and indeed i£ it really be what they think it is they have cause. Should it prove when we get ashore that they are mistaken, and that its shape and material is s. mere chance, nothing can save your life. In the meantime we wish to treat you well, bo if there are any of yeur possessions which you would like to take with you, you are at liberty to get them." As he finished he gave a sign and a couple of the negroes unbound me, though without removing the gag. I was led down into the cabin, where I put a few valuables into my pockets, together with a pocket compass and my journal of the yoyage. They then pushtd ma over the aide into a small canoa, which wa3 lying beside the large Oiie, and my guards followed me, and shoving off began paddling for the shore. We had got about a hundred yards or so from the ship when our &teersrnan held up his hand, and the paddlers paused for a moment and listened. Then on the silence of the night I heard a soit of dull, moaniny sound, followed by a succession of splashes in the water. That is all I kno*v of the fate of my poor shipmates. Almost immediately afterwards the lar^e c=uiog followed us, and the diverted bhip was left diiftlng about — a dieary, spectre-like hulk. Nothing was taken from her by the savages. The whole fiendish transaction was carried through as decorously and temperately as though it were a religious rite. The first gray of daylight was visible in the east as we passed through the surge and reached the shore. Leaving half a dozen men with the canoes the ieat of the negroes set off through the sand-hilh, leading me with them, but treating ma veiy gently and respectfully. It was difficult walking, as we Bank over our ankles into the loose, shifting sand at every step, and I wa3 nearly dead beat by the time we reached the native village, or town, rather, for it was a place of considerable dimensions. The houses were conical structures not unlike bee-hives, and were made of compressed seaweed cemented over with a rude form of mortar, there being neither stick nor stone upon the coaqt nor anywhere within many hundreds of miles. As we entered the town an enormous crowd of both sexes came swarming out to meet us, beating tom-toms and howling and screaming. On seeing me they redoubled their yells and assumed a threatening attitude, which was instantly quelled by a few words shouted by my escort. A buzz of wonder succeeded the war-cries and yells of the moment before, and the whole dense mass proceeded down the broad central street of the town, having my escort any myself in the centre. My statement hitherto may seem so strange as to excite doubt in the minds of those who do not know me, but it was the fact which I am now about to relate which caused my own brother-in-law to insult me by disbelief. [ can but relate the occurrence in the simplest words, and trust to chance and time to prove their truth. In the centre of this main street there was a large building, formed in the same primitive way as the others, but towering high above them ; a stockade of beautifully polished ebony rails was planted all round it, the framework of the door was formed by two magnificent elephant's tusks sunk in the ground on each side and meeting at the top, and the aperture was dosed by a screen of native cloth richly embroidered with gold. We made our way to this imposing-looking structure, but on reaohing the opening in the stockade the multitude stopped and squatted down upon their hams, while I was led through into the enclosure by a few of the chiefs and elders of the tribe, Goring accompanying us, and, in fact, directing the proceedings. On reaching the screen which closed the temple — for such it evidently was — my hat and my shoes were removed, and I was then led in, a venerable old negro leading the way carrying in his hand my stone, which had been taken from my pocket. The building was only lit up by a few long slit 3 in the roof, through which the tropical sun poured, throwing broad golden bars upon the clay floor, alternating with intervals of darkness. The interior was even larger than one would have imagined from the outside appearance. The walls were hung with native mats, shells, and other ornaments, but the remainder of the great space was quite empty, with the exception of a single object in the centre. This was the figure of a colossal negro, which I at first thought to be some_real king or high priest of titanic size, but as I approached it I saw, by the way in which the light was reflected from it, that it was a statue admirably cut in jet-black stone. 1 was led up to this idol, for such it seemed to be ; and, looking at it closer, I saw that though it was perfect in every other respect, ona of its ears had been broken short off. The grey-haired negro who held my relic mounted upon a small stool, and stretching up his arm fitted Martha's blaok stone on to the jagged surface on the side of the statue's head. There could not be a doubt that the one had been broken off from the other. The parts dovetailed together so accurately that when the old man removed his hand the ear stuck in its place for a few seconds before dropping into his open palm. The group round me prostrated themselves upon the ground at the sight with a cry of reverence, while the crowd outside, to whom the result was communicated, set up a wild whooping and cheering. In a moment I found myself converted from a prisoner into a demi-god. I was escorted back through the town in triumph, the people pressing, forward to touoh my clothing, and to gather up the dust on which my foot had trod. One of the largest huts was put at my disposal, and a banquet of -every native delicacy, was served me. I still *■<'- iV.« "?r" ";*-;„"? ,„ - -- - -,-...- '^'\ -- i< (J v :'- U( ?;,:> - f^ ,<, v -> ~ •-% - > <- , k '

felt, however, that I was not a free man, a<s several spearmen were placed &s a guard at the entrance of my hat. All day my mind was occupied with plans of escape, but none seemed in any way feasible. On the one side was the great arid desert stretching away to Timbuctoo, on the other was a sea untraversed by vessels. The more I pondered over the problem the more hopeless did it seem. I little dreamed how near I was to its solution. Night had fallen, and the clamor of the negroes had died gradually away. I was stretched on tho couch of skins which had been provided for me, and was still meditating over my future, when Goring walked stealthily ints the hut. My first idea was that he had come to complete his murderous holocaust by making away with me, the last survivor, and I sprang up upon my feet, determined to defend myself to the last. He smiled when he saw the action, and motioned me down again while he seated himself upon the other end of the couoh. "What do you think of me?" was the astonishing question with which he commenced our conversation. "Think of you?" I almost jelled. "I think you the vilest, most unnatural renegade that ever polluted the earth. If we were away from these black devils of yours I would strangle you with my hands J " " Don't speak so loud," he said, without the slightest appearance of irritation. " I don't want our chat to be cut short. So you would strangle me, would you ? " he went on, with an amused smile. " I suppose I am returning good for evil, for I have come to help you to escape." " You ! " I gasped, incredulously. " Yes, I," he continued. " Oh, there is no credit to me in the matter. lam quite consistent. There i 3 no reason why I should not be perfectly candid with you. I wish to be king over these fellows— not a very high ambition, oertainly, but you know what Os3sar said about being first in a village in Gaul. Well, this unlucky stone of yours has not only saved your life, but has turned all their heads, so that they think you are come down from heaven, and my influence will be gone until you are out of the way. That is why I am going to help you to escape, since I cannot kill you " — this in the most natural and dulcyt voice, as if the desire to do so were a matter of course. " You would give the world to ask mo a few questions," he went on, after a pause ; " but you are too proud to do it. Never mind, I'll tell you one or two things, because I want your fellow white men to know them when you go back — if you are lucky enough to got back. About that cursed stone of yours, for instance. These negroes, or at least so the legend goes, were Mahometans originally. While Mahomet himself was still alive, tke^e was a schism among his followers, and the smaller party moved away from Arabia and eventually crossed Africa. They took away with thorn, in their exile, a valuable relic of their old faith in the shape of a large piece of the black stone of Mecca. The otone was a meteoric one, as you may have heard, and in its fall upon the earth it broke into two pieces. One of these pieces is still at Mecca. The smaller piece was carried away to Barbary, where a skilful worker modelled it into the fashion which you saw to-day. These men are the descendants of the oiigiaal seceders from Mahomet, and they have brought their relic safely through all their wanderings until they settled in this strange place, where the desert protects them from their enemies." "And the ear?" I asked, almost involuntarily. " Oh, that was the same story over again. Some of the tribe wandered away to the south a few hundred years, and one of them, wishing to have good luck for the enterprise, got into the temple at night and carried off one <si the ears. There has been a tradition among the negroes ever since that the ear would come back some day. The fellow who carried it was caught by some slaver, no doubt, and that was how it got into America, and so into your hands — and you have had the honor of fulfilling the propheoy." He paused for a few minutes, resting his head upon his hand 3, waiting apparently for me to speak. When he looked up again, the whole expression of his face had changed. His features were firm and set, and he changed the air of half levity with which he had spoken before for one of sternness and almost ferocity. " I wish you to carry a message back," he said, " to the white race, the great dominating race whom I hate and defy. Tell them that I have fattened on their blood for twenty years, that I have slain them until even I became tired of what had once been a joy, that I did this unnoticed and unsuspected in the face of every precaution which their civilisation could suggest. There is no satisfaction in revenge when your enemy does not know who has struck him. lam not sorry, therefore, to have you as a messenger. There is no need why I should tell you how this great hate became born in me. See this," and he held up his mutilated hand ; " that was done by a white man's knife. My father was white, my mother was a slave. When he died she was said again, and I, a child then, saw her lashed to death to break her of some of the little airs and graces which her late master had encouraged in her. My young wife, too, oh, my young wife ! " a shudder ran through his whole frame. "No matter ! I swore my oath and I kept it. From Maine to Florida, and from Boston to San Francisco, you could track my steps by sudden deaths which baffled the police. I warred against the whole white race as they for centuries had warred against the black one. At last, as I tell you, I sickened of blood. Still the sight of a white face was abhorrent to me, and I detsrmined to find some bold free black people and to throw in my lot with them, to cultivate their latent powers, and to form a nucleus for a great colored nation. This idea possessed me and I travelled over the world for two years seeking for what I desired. At last I almost despaired of finding it. There was no hope of regeneration in the slave-dealing Soudanee, the debased Fantee, or the Americanised negroes of Liberia. I was returning from my quest when chance brought me in oontaot with this magnificent tribe of dwellers in the desert, and I threw in my lot with them. Before doing so, however, my old instinct of revenge prompted me to make one last visit to the United States, and I returned from it in the " Marie Celeste." " As to the voyage itself, your intelligence will have told you by this time that, thanks to tny manipulation, both compasses and chronometers were entirely untrustworthy. I alone worked out the course with correct instruments of my own, while the steering was done by my black friends under my guidance. I pushed Tibbs's wife overboard. What'! You look surprised and shrink away. Surely you had guessed that by this time. . I would have shot you that day through the partition, but unfortunately you were not there. I tried again afterwards, but you were awake. I shot Tibbs. I think the idea of suicide was carried out rather neatly. Of course when once we got on the coast the rest was simple. I had bargained that all on board should die; but that stone of yours upset my plans. I alao bargained that there should be no plunder. No one can say we are pirates. We have acted from principle, not from any sordid motive." -I listened in amazement to the summary of his crimes which this strange man gave me, all in the quietest" and most composed of voice's, as though detailing incidents of .everyday opcurren^e. . I still seem to see him sitting like v a hidabus nightmare at the end of

my couch, with the single rude lamp flickering over his cadaverous features. " And now," he continued, " there is no difficulty about your escape. These stupid adopted children of mine will say that you have gone back to heaven from whence you came. The wind blows off the land. I have a boat all ready for you, well stored with provisions and water. I am anxious to be rid of you, so you may rely that nothing is neglected. Eise up and follow me." I did what he commanded, and he led me through the door of the hut. The guards had either been withdrawn or Goring had arranged matters with them. We passed unchallenged through the town and aoross the sandy plain. Once more I heard the roar of the sea, and saw the long white line of the surge. Two figures were standing upon the shore arranging the gear of a small boat. They were the two sailors who had been with us on the voyage. " See him safely through the surf," said Goring. The two men sprang in and pushed off, pulling me in after them. With mainsail and jib we ran out from the land and passed safely over the bar. Then my two companions without: a word of farewell sprang overboard, and I saw their heads like black dots on the white foam as they made their way back to the shore, while I scudded away into the blackness of the night. Looking ! back I caught my last glimpse of Goring. He was standing upon the summit of a sandhill, and the rising moon behind him threw his gaunt angular figure into hard relief. He was waving his arms frantically to and fro ; it may have been to encourage me on my way, but the gestures seamed to me at the timo to be threatening ones, and I have often thought that it was more likely that his old savage inatinot had returned when he realised that I was out of his power. Be that as it may, it was the last that I ever saw or ever shall of Septimius Goring. There is no need for me to dwell upon my solitary voyage. I steered as .well as I could for the Canaries, but was pioked up upon the fifth day by the British and Afrioan Steam Navigation Company's boat Monrovia. Let me take this opportunity of tendering my sincerest thanks to Captain Stornoway and his officers for the great kindness they showed me from that time till they landed me in Liverpool, where I was enabled to take one of the Guion boats to New York. From the day on which I found myself ence morean the bosom of my family I have said little of what I have undergone. The The subject is still an intensely painful one to me, and the little which I have dropped has been discredited. I now put the facts before the public as they occurred, careless how far they may be believed, and simply writing them down because my lung is growing weaker,- and I feel the responsibility of holding my peace longer. I make no vague statement. Turn to your map of Africa. There above Cape Blanco, where the land trends away north and south from the westernmost point of the continent, there it is that Septimius Goring still reigns over his d&rk subjects, unless retribution has overtaken him ; and there, where the long green ridges run swiftly in to roar and hiss upon the hot yellow sand, it is there that Harton lies with Hyson and the other poor fellows who were done to death in the Marie Celeste. THE END.