The Book of Enterprise and Adventure Part 1

The Book of Enterprise and Adventure.

by Anonymous.

PREFACE.

The object of this Volume is that of inducing young people to read, to cultivate in them a habit of reading and reflection, and to excite the imagination, the feelings, and the better emotions of their nature in a pleasurable and judicious manner.

The pieces selected are such as will be likely to exert a beneficial influence upon the reader, to inspire him with heroic enthusiasm, and to lead him to despise danger.

In our perpetually migrating population, no one can tell who will not be called upon to brave the vicissitudes of "flood and field;" and to show how perils may be surmounted, and privations endured with energy and patience, is to teach no unimportant lesson.

Nothing whatever has been introduced into this Volume, but such subjects as will teach a dependence upon Divine Providence, in aid of self-reliance and self-sacrifice, while details of war and bloodshed have been studiously avoided.

THE EDITOR.

BOOK OF ENTERPRISE & ADVENTURE.

~Arabian Hospitality--African Warfare, &c.~

The following three extracts are from a work of considerable merit, int.i.tled "The Crescent and the Cross." It contains, not only much valuable matter relative to Egypt and Abyssinia, but many interesting anecdotes, of which we give a specimen.

HOSPITALITY OF THE ARAB.

In 1804, Osman Bardissy was the most influential of the Mameluke Beys, and virtually governed Egypt. Mehemet Ali, then rising into power, succeeded in embroiling this powerful old chief with Elfy Bey, another of the Mamelukes. The latter escaped to England, where he was favourably received, and promised a.s.sistance by our government against Osman, who was in the French interests. At this time a Sheikh of Bedouin stood high in Osman's confidence, and brought him intelligence that Elfy had landed at Alexandria. "Go, then," said the old Bey, "surprise his boat, and slay him on his way up the river; his spoil shall be your reward." The Sheikh lay in wait upon the banks of the Delta, and slew all the companions of the rival Bey: Elfy himself escaped in the darkness, and made his way to an Arab encampment before sunrise. Going straight to the Sheikh's tent, which is known by a spear standing in front of it, he entered, and hastily devoured some bread that he found there. The Sheikh was absent; but his wife exclaimed, on seeing the fugitive, "I know you, Elfy Bey, and my husband's life, perhaps at his moment, depends upon his taking yours. Rest now and refresh yourself, then take the best horse you can find, and fly. The moment you are out of our horizon, the tribe will be in pursuit of you." The Bey escaped to the Thebaid, and the disappointed Sheikh presented himself to his employer. Osman pa.s.sionately demanded of him if it was true that his wife had saved the life of his deadliest enemy, when in her power. "Most true, praised be Allah!" replied the Sheikh, drawing himself proudly up, and presenting a jewel-hilted dagger to the old Bey; "this weapon," he continued, "was your gift to me in the hour of your favour; had I met Elfy Bey, it should have freed you from your enemy. Had my wife betrayed the hospitality of the tent, it should have drank her blood; and now, you may use it against myself," he added, as he flung it at the Mameluke's feet. This reverence for hospitality is one of the wild virtues that has survived from the days of the patriarchs, and it is singularly contrasted, yet interwoven with other and apparently opposite tendencies. The Arab will rob you, if he is able; he will even murder you, if it suits his purpose; but, once under the shelter of his tribe's black tents, or having eaten of his salt by the wayside, you have as much safety in his company as his heart's blood can purchase for you.

The Bedouins are extortionate to strangers, dishonest to each other, and reckless of human life. On the other hand, they are faithful to their trust, brave after their fas.h.i.+on, temperate, and patient of hards.h.i.+p and privation beyond belief. Their sense of right and wrong is not founded on the Decalogue, as may be well imagined, yet, from such principles as they profess they rarely swerve. Though they will freely risk their lives to steal, they will not contravene the wild rule of the desert. If a wayfarer's camel sinks and dies beneath its burden, the owner draws a circle round the animal in the sand, and follows the caravan. No Arab will presume to touch that lading, however tempting. Dr. Robinson mentions that he saw a tent hanging from a tree near Mount Sinai, which his Arabs said had then been there a twelvemonth, and never would be touched until its owner returned in search of it.

HORRORS OF AFRICAN WARFARE.

There appears to be a wild caprice amongst the inst.i.tutions; if such they may be called, of all these tropical nations. In a neighbouring state to that of Abyssinia, the king, when appointed to the regal dignity, retires into an island, and is never again visible to the eyes of men but once--when his ministers come to strangle him; for it may not be that the proud monarch of Behr should die a natural death. No men, with this fatal exception, are ever allowed even to set foot upon the island, which is guarded by a band of Amazons. In another border country, called Habeesh, the monarch is dignified with the t.i.tle of Tiger. He was formerly Malek of Shendy, when it was invaded by Ismael Pasha, and was even then designated by this fierce cognomen. Ismael, Mehemet Ali's second son, advanced through Nubia claiming tribute and submission from all the tribes Nemmir (which signifies Tiger), the king of Shendy, received him hospitably, as Mahmoud, our dragoman, informed us, and, when he was seated in his tent, waited on him to learn his pleasure. "My pleasure is," replied the invader, "that you forthwith furnish me with slaves, cattle, and money, to the value of 100,000 dollars."--"Pooh!" said Nemmir, "you jest; all my country could not produce what you require in one hundred moons."--"Ha! Wallah!" was the young Pasha's reply, and he struck the Tiger across the face with his pipe. If he had done so to his namesake of the jungle, the insult could not have roused fiercer feelings of revenge, but the human animal did not shew his wrath at once. "It is well," he replied; "let the Pasha rest; _to-morrow he shall have nothing more to ask_." The Egyptian, and the few Mameluke officers of his staff, were tranquilly smoking towards evening, entertained by some dancing-girls, whom the Tiger had sent to amuse them; when they observed that a huge pile of dried stalks of Indian corn was rising rapidly round the tent. "What means this?"

inquired Ismael angrily; "am not I Pasha?"--"It is but forage for your highness's horses," replied the Nubian; "for, were your troops once arrived, the people would fear to approach the camp." Suddenly the s.p.a.ce is filled with smoke, the tent-curtains shrivel up in flames, and the Pasha and his comrades find themselves encircled in what they well know is their funeral pyre. Vainly the invader implores mercy, and a.s.sures the Tiger of his warm regard for him and all his family; vainly he endeavours to break through the fiery fence that girds him round; a thousand spears bore him back into the flames, and the Tiger's triumphant yell and bitter mockery mingle with his dying screams. The Egyptians perished to a man. Nemmir escaped up the country, crowned with savage glory, and married the daughter of a king, who soon left him his successor, and the Tiger still defies the old Pasha's power. The latter, however, took a terrible revenge upon his people: he burnt all the inhabitants of the village nearest to the scene of his son's slaughter, and cut off the right hands of five hundred men besides. So much for African warfare.

CROCODILE SHOOTING.

The first time a man fires at a crocodile is an epoch in his life. We had only now arrived in the waters where they abound; for it is a curious fact that none are ever seen below Mineych, though Herodotus speaks of them as fighting with the dolphins, at the mouths of the Nile.

A prize had been offered for the first man who detected a crocodile, and the crew had now been two days on the alert in search of them. Buoyed up with the expectation of such game, we had latterly reserved our fire for them exclusively; and the wild-duck and turtle, nay, even the vulture and the eagle, had swept past, or soared above, in security. At length the cry of "Timseach, timseach!" was heard from half-a-dozen claimants of the proffered prize, and half-a-dozen black fingers were eagerly pointed to a spit of sand, on which were strewn apparently some logs of trees. It was a covey of crocodiles! Hastily and silently the boat was run in sh.o.r.e. R. was ill, so I had the enterprise to myself, and clambered up the steep bank with a quicker pulse than when I first levelled a rifle at a Highland deer. My intended victims might have prided themselves on their superior nonchalance; and, indeed, as I approached them, there seemed to be a sneer on their ghastly mouths and winking eyes. Slowly they rose, one after the other, and waddled to the water, all but one, the most gallant or most gorged of the party. He lay still until I was within a hundred yards of him; then slowly rising on his fin-like legs, he lumbered towards the river, looking askance at me, with an expression of countenance that seemed to say, "He can do me no harm; however, I may as well have a swim." I took aim at the throat of this supercilious brute, and, as soon as my hand steadied, the very pulsation of my finger pulled the trigger. Bang! went the gun! whizz!

flew the bullet; and my excited ear could catch the _thud_ with which it plunged into the scaly leather of his neck. His waddle became a plunge, the waves closed over him, and the sun shone on the calm water, as I reached the brink of the sh.o.r.e, that was still indented by the waving of his gigantic tail. But there is blood upon the water, and he rises for a moment to the surface. "A hundred piasters for the timseach," I exclaimed, and half-a-dozen Arabs plunged into the stream. There! he rises again, and the blacks dash at him as if he hadn't a tooth in his head. Now he is gone, the waters close over him, and I never saw him since. From that time we saw hundreds of crocodiles of all sizes, and fired shots,--enough of them for a Spanish revolution; but we never could get possession of any, even if we hit them, which to this day remains doubtful.

~Remarkable Instance of Courage in a Lady.~

In the Life of Thomas Day, Esq., an anecdote is related of Miss B----, afterwards Mrs. Day, shewing with what remarkable effect presence of mind and courage can tame the ferocity of the brute creation.

Miss B. was, on one occasion, walking in company with another young lady through a field, when a bull came running up to them with all the marks of malevolence. Her friend began to run towards the stile, but was prevented by Miss B., who told her, that as she could not reach the stile soon enough to save herself, and as it is the nature of these animals to attack persons in flight, her life would be in great danger if she attempted to run, and would be inevitably lost if she chanced to fall; but that, if she would steal gently to the stile, she herself would take off the bull's attention from her, by standing between them.

Accordingly, turning her face towards the animal with the firmest aspect she could a.s.sume, she fixed her eyes steadily upon his. It is said by travellers, that a lion itself may be controlled by the steady looks of a human being; but that, no sooner a man turns his back, than the beast springs upon him as his prey. Miss B., to whom this property of animals seems to have been known, had the presence of mind to apply it to the safety of her friend and of herself. By her steady aspect she checked the bull's career; but he shewed the strongest marks of indignation at being so controlled, by roaring and tearing the ground with his feet and horns. While he was thus engaged in venting his rage on the turf, she cautiously retreated a few steps, without removing her eyes from him.

When he observed that she had retreated, he advanced till she stopped, and then he also stopped, and again renewed his frantic play. Thus by repeated degrees she at length arrived at the stile, where she accomplished her safety; and thus, by a presence of mind rarely seen in a person of her youth and s.e.x, she not only saved herself, but also, at the hazard of her own life, protected her friend. Some days afterwards, this bull gored its master.

~Indian Field Sports.~

We give a few anecdotes ill.u.s.trative of the above, from a work int.i.tled "Sketches of Field Sports, as followed by the Natives of India," from the reading of which we have derived much pleasure. The authority is Dr.

Johnson, East India Company's Service.

He begins by informing his readers, that the "Shecarries" (or professed hunters) are generally Hindoos of a low caste, who gain their livelihood entirely by catching birds, hares, and all sorts of animals; some of them confine themselves to catching birds and hares, whilst others practise the art of catching birds and various animals; another description of them live by destroying tigers.

METHOD OF CATCHING BIRDS.

Those who catch birds equip themselves with a framework of split bamboos, resembling the frame of a paper kite, the shape of the top of a coffin, and the height of a man, to which green bushes are fastened, leaving two loop-holes to see through, and one lower down for their rod to be inserted through. This framework, which is very light, they fasten before them when they are in the act of catching birds, by which means they have both hands at liberty, and are completely concealed from the view of the birds. The rod which they use is about twenty-four feet long, resembling a fis.h.i.+ng-rod, the parts of which are inserted within one another, and the whole contained in a walking-stick.

They also carry with them horse-hair nooses of different sizes and strength, which they fasten to the rod: likewise bird-lime, and a variety of calls for the different kinds of birds, with which they imitate them to the greatest nicety. They take with them likewise two lines to which horse-hair nooses are attached for catching larger birds, and a bag or net to carry their game.

Thus equipped, they sally forth, and as they proceed through the different covers, they use calls for such birds as generally resort there, which from constant practice is well known to them, and if any birds answer their call they prepare accordingly for catching them; supposing it to be a bevy of quail, they continue calling them, until they get quite close; they then arm the top of their rod with a feather smeared with bird-lime, and pa.s.s it through the loop-hole in their frame of ambush, and to which they continue adding other parts, until they have five or six out, which they use with great dexterity, and touch one of the quail with the feather, which adheres to them; they then withdraw the rod, arm it again, and touch three or four more in the same manner before they attempt to secure any of them.

In this way they catch all sorts of small birds not much larger than quail, on the ground and in trees. If a brown or black partridge answers their call, instead of bird-lime, they fasten a horse-hair noose to the top of their rod, and when they are close to the birds, they keep dipping the top of their rod with considerable skill until they fasten the noose on one of their necks; they then draw him in, and go on catching others in the same way. It is surprising to see with what cool perseverance they proceed. In a similar manner they catch all kinds of birds, nearly the size of partridges.

THE HYENA.

A servant of Mr. William Hunter's, by name Thomas Jones, who lived at _Chittrah_, had a full grown hyena which ran loose about his house like a dog, and I have seen him play with it with as much familiarity. They feed on small animals and carrion, and I believe often come in for the prey left by tigers and leopards after their appet.i.tes have been satiated. They are great enemies of dogs, and kill numbers of them.