No More Learning

But as
he could not prove it he kept silence, and resolved in his own
heart some day to have a census taken, so that he might know
the number of his people, and not be cheated out of more rice
than was just and reasonable.
But the difficulty was how to get this census. He could not
go himself into every village and every house, and count all the
people; and if he ordered it to be done by the regular officers,
they would quickly understand what it was for, and the census
would be sure to agree exactly with the quantity of rice he got
It was evident therefore that to answer his purpose,
one must suspect why the census was taken; and to make
sure of this, no one must know that there was any census taken
at all. This was a very hard problem; and the rajah thought
and thought, as hard as a Malay rajah can be expected to think,
but could not solve it: and so he was very unhappy, and did
nothing but smoke and chew betel with his favorite wife, and
eat scarcely anything; and even when he went to the cock-fight
did not seem to care whether his best birds won or lost. For
several days he remained in this sad state, and all the court
were afraid some evil eye had bewitched the rajah: and an un-
fortunate Irish captain, who had come in for a cargo of rice,
and who squinted dreadfully, was very near being krissed; but
being first brought to the royal presence, was graciously ordered
to go on board, and remain there while his ship stayed in the
port.
One morning, however, after about a week's continuance of
this unaccountable melancholy, a welcome change took place: for
the rajah sent to call together all the chiefs and priests and
princes who were then in Mataram, his capital city; and when
last year.
no


## p. 15521 (#475) ##########################################

ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
15521
(
they were all assembled in anxious expectation, he thus addressed
them:
“For many days my heart has been very sick, and I knew
not why; but now the trouble is cleared away, for I have had
a dream. Last night the spirit of the Gunong Agong '- the
great fire-mountain - appeared to me, and told me that I must
go up to the top of the mountain. All of you may come with
me to near the top; but then I must go up alone, and the great
spirit will again appear to me, and will tell me what is of great
importance to me, and to you, and to all the people of the island.
Now go, all of you, and make this known through the island; and
let every village furnish men to make clear a road for us to go
through the forest and up the great mountain. ”
So the news was spread over the whole island that the rajah
must go to meet the great spirit on the top of the mountain;
and every village sent forth its men, and they cleared away
the jungle, and made bridges over the mountain streams, and
smoothed the rough places for the rajah's passage.
And when
they came to the steep and craggy rocks of the mountain, they
sought out the best paths, sometimes along the bed of a tor-
rent, sometimes along narrow ledges of the black rocks; in one
place cutting down a tall tree so as to bridge across a chasm,
in another constructing ladders to mount the smooth face of a
precipice. The chiefs who superintended the work fixed upon
the length of each day's journey beforehand according to the
nature of the road; and chose pleasant places by the banks of
clear streams and in the neighborhood of shady trees, where they
built sheds and huts of bamboo, well thatched with the leaves of
palm-trees, in which the rajah and his attendants might eat and
sleep at the close of each day.
And when all was ready, the princes and priests and chief
men came again to the rajah to tell him what had been done,
and to ask him when he would go up the mountain. And he
fixed a day, and ordered every man of rank and authority to
accompany him, to do honor to the great spirit who had bid him
undertake the journey, and to show how willingly they obeyed
his commands. And then there was much preparation through-
out the whole island. The best cattle were killed, and the meat
salted and sun-dried, and abundance of red peppers and sweet
potatoes were gathered, and the tall pinang-trees were climbed
XXVI–971


## p. 15522 (#476) ##########################################

15522
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
for the spicy betel-nut, the sirih-leaf was tied up in bundles,
and every man filled his tobacco-pouch and lime-box to the brim,
so that he might not want any of the materials for chewing the
refreshing betel during the journey. And the stores of provis-
ions were sent on a day in advance. And on the day before
that appointed for starting, all the chiefs, both great and small,
came to Mataram, the abode of the King, with their horses and
their servants, and the bearers of their sirih-boxes, and their
sleeping-mats, and their provisions. And they encamped under
the tall waringin-trees that border all the roads about Mataram,
and with blazing fires frighted away the ghouls and evil spirits
that nightly haunt the gloomy avenues.
In the morning a great procession was formed to conduct the
rajah to the mountain; and the royal princess and relations of the
rajah mounted their black horses, whose tails swept the ground.
They used no saddle or stirrups, but sat upon a cloth of gay
colors; the bits were of silver, and the bridles of many-colored
cords. The less important people were on small strong horses
of various colors, well suited to a mountain journey; and all
(even the rajah) were bare-legged to above the knee, wearing
only the gay-colored cotton waist-cloth, a silk or cotton jacket,
and a large handkerchief tastefully folded round the head. Every
one was attended by one or two servants bearing his sirih and
betel boxes, who were also mounted on ponies; and great num-
bers more had gone on in advance, or waited to bring up the
rear. The men in authority were numbered by hundreds, and
their followers by thousands, and all the island wondered what
great thing would come of it.
For the first two days they went along good roads, and
through many villages which were swept clean, and where bright
cloths were hung out at the windows; and all the people, when
the rajah came, squatted down upon the ground in respect, and
every man riding got off his horse and squatted down also, and
many joined the procession at every village. At the place where
they stopped for the night, the people had placed stakes along
each side of the roads in front of the houses. These were split
crosswise at the top, and in the cleft were fastened little clay
lamps, and between them were stuck the green leaves of palm-
trees, which, dripping with the evening dew, gleamed prettily
with the many twinkling lights. And few went to sleep that


## p. 15523 (#477) ##########################################

ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
15523
>
night till the morning hours; for every house held a knot of
eager talkers, and much betel-nut was consumed, and endless
were the conjectures what would come of it.
On the second day they left the last village behind them, and
entered the wild country that surrounds the great mountain; and
rested in the huts that had been prepared for them on the banks
of a stream of cold and sparkling water. And the rajah's hunt-
ers, armed with long and heavy guns, went in search of deer
and wild bulls in the surrounding woods, and brought home the
meat of both in the early morning, and sent it on in advance
to prepare the midday meal. On the third day they advanced as
far as horses could go, and encamped at the foot of high rocks,
among which narrow pathways only could be found to reach the
mountain-top. And on the fourth morning, when the rajah set
out, he was accompanied only by a small party of priests and
princes, with their immediate attendants; and they toiled wearily
up the rugged way, and sometimes were carried by their serv-
ants, till they passed up above the great trees, and then among
the thorny bushes, and above them again on to the black and
burnt rock of the highest part of the mountain.
And when they were near the summit the rajah ordered
them all to halt, while he alone went to meet the great spirit
on the very peak of the mountain. So he went on with two
boys only, who carried his sirih and betel; and soon reached the
top of the mountain among great rocks, on the edge of the great
gulf whence issue forth continually smoke and vapor. And the
rajah asked for sirih, and told the boys to sit down under a rock
and look down the mountain, and not to move till he returned
to them. And as they were tired, and the sun was warm and
pleasant, and the rock sheltered them from the cold wind, the
boys fell asleep. And the rajah went a little way on under an-
other rock; and he was tired, and the sun was warm and pleas-
ant, and he too fell asleep.
And those who were waiting for the rajah thought him a
long time on the top of the mountain, and thought the great
spirit must have much to say, or might perhaps want to keep
him on the mountain always; or perhaps he had missed his
way in coming down again. And they were debating whether
they should go and search for him, when they saw him coming
down with the two boys. And when he met them he looked
very grave, but said nothing; and then all descended together,


## p. 15524 (#478) ##########################################

15524
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
and the procession returned as it had come; and the rajah went
to his palace, and the chiefs to their villages, and the people to
their houses, to tell their wives and children all that had hap-
pened, and to wonder yet again what would come of it.
And three days afterward the. rajah summoned the priests
and the princes and the chief men of Mataram to hear what the
great spirit had told him on the top of the mountain. And when
they were all assembled, and the betel and sirih had been handed
round, he told them what had happened. On the top of the
mountain he had fallen into a trance, and the great spirit had
appeared to him with a face like burnished gold, and had said,
“O rajah! much plague and sickness and fevers are coming
upon all the earth, - upon men, and upon horses, and upon cat-
tle; but as you and your people have obeyed me and have come
up to my great mountain, I will teach you how you and all the
people of Lombok may escape this plague. ” And all waited
anxiously, to hear how they were to be saved from so fearful a
calamity. And after a short silence, the rajah spoke again, and
told them that the great spirit had commanded that twelve
sacred krisses should be made, and that to make them every vil-
lage and every district must send a bundle of needles,-a needle
for every head in the village. And when any grievous disease
appeared in any village, one of the sacred krisses should be sent
there: and if every house in that village had sent the right
number of needles, the disease would immediately cease; but if
the number of needles sent had not been exact, the kris would
have no virtue.
So the princes and chiefs sent to all their villages and com-
municated the wonderful news; and all made haste to collect the
needles with the greatest accuracy; for they feared that if but
one were wanting, the whole village would suffer.
So one by
one, the head-men of the villages brought in their bundles of
needles; those who were near Mataram came first, and those who
were far off came last: and the rajah received them with his
own hands, and put them away carefully in an inner chamber,
in a camphor-wood chest whose hinges and clasps were of silver;
and on every bundle was marked the name of the village, and
the district from whence it came, so that it might be known that
all had heard and obeyed the commands of the great spirit.
And when it was quite certain that every village had sent in
its bundle, the rajah divided the needles into twelve equal parts,


## p. 15525 (#479) ##########################################

ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
15525
ses
and ordered the best steel-worker in Mataram to bring his forge
and his bellows and his hammers to the palace, and to make the
twelve krisses under the rajah's eye, and in the sight of all men
who chose to see it. And when they were finished, they were
wrapped up in new silk, and put away carefully until they might
be wanted.
Now the journey to the mountain was in the time of the east
wind, when no rain falls in Lombok. And soon after the kris-
were made it was the time of the rice harvest, and the
chiefs of the districts and of villages brought in their tax to the
rajah according to the number of heads in their villages. And
to those that wanted but little of the full amount the rajah said
nothing; but when those came who brought only half or a fourth
part of what was strictly due, he said to them mildly, “The nee-
dles which you sent from your village were many more than
came from such a one's village, yet your tribute is less than
his: go back and see who it is that has not paid the tax. ” And
the next year the produce of the tax increased greatly, for they
feared that the rajah might justly kill those who a second time
kept back the right tribute. And so the rajah became very rich,
and increased the number of his soldiers, and gave golden jewels
to his wives, and bought fine black horses from the white-
skinned Hollanders, and made great feasts when his children
were born or were married; and none of the rajahs or sultans
among the Malays were so great or so powerful as the rajah of
Lombok.
And the twelve sacred krisses had great virtue. And when
any sickness appeared in a village, one of them was sent for;
and sometimes the sickness went away, and then the sacred kris
was taken back again with great honor, and the head-men of the
village came to tell the rajah of its miraculous power, and to
thank him. And sometimes the sickness would not go away;
and then everybody was convinced that there had been a mis-
take in the number of needles sent from that village, and there-
fore the sacred kris had no effect, and had to be taken back
again by the head-men with heavy hearts, but still with all
honor - for was not the fault their own ?


## p. 15526 (#480) ##########################################

15526
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
LIFE IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO
>
From «The Malay Archipelago
A Visit TO THE CHIEF (ORANG KAYA) OF A BORNEO VILLAGE
I
N THE evening the orang kaya came in full dress (a spangled
velvet jacket, but no trousers), and invited me over to his
house, where he gave me a seat of honor under a canopy
of white calico and colored handkerchiefs. The great veranda
was crowded with people; and large plates of rice, with cooked
and fresh eggs, were placed on the ground as presents for me. A
very old man then dressed himself in bright-colored clothes and
many ornaments, and sitting at the door, murmured a long prayer
or invocation, sprinkling rice from a basin he held in his hand,
while several large gongs were loudly beaten, and a salute of
muskets fired off. A large jar of rice wine, very sour, but with
an agreeable flavor, was then handed round, and I asked to see
some of their dances. These were, like most savage perform-
ances, very dull and ungraceful affairs; the men dressing them-
selves absurdly like women, and the girls making themselves as
stiff and ridiculous as possible. A11 the time six or eight large
Chinese gongs were being beaten by the vigorous arms of as
many young men; producing such a deafening discord that I
was glad to escape to the round-house, where I slept very com-
fortably, with half a dozen smoke-dried human skulls suspended
over my head.
THE DURION
The banks of the Sarawak River are everywhere covered
with fruit-trees, which supply the Dyaks with a great deal of
their food. The mangosteen, lansat, rambutan, jack, jambou, and
blimbing, are all abundant; but most abundant and most es-
teemed is the durion,-a fruit about which very little is known
in England, but which both by natives and Europeans in the
Malay Archipelago is reckoned superior to all others. The old
traveler Linschott, writing in 1599, says, “It is of such an excel-
lent taste that it surpasses in flavor all the other fruits of the
world, according to those who have tasted it. ” And Doctor
Paludanus adds, “This fruit is of a hot and humid nature. To
those not used to it, it seems at first to smell like rotten onions,
but immediately they have tasted it they prefer it to all other


## p. 15527 (#481) ##########################################

ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
15527
>
food. The natives give it honorable titles, exalt it, and make
verses on it. ” When brought into a house the smell is often so
offensive that some persons can never bear to taste it. This was
my own case when I first tried it in Malacca; but in Borneo I
found a ripe fruit on the ground, and eating it out of doors, I at
once became a confirmed durion eater.
The durion grows on a large and lofty forest-tree, somewhat
resembling an elm in its general character, but with a more
smooth and scaly bark. The fruit is round or slightly oval, about
the size of a large cocoanut, of a green color, and covered all
over with short stout spines, the bases of which touch each other,
and are consequently somewhat hexagonal, while the points are
very strong and sharp. It is so completely armed that if the
stalk is broken off, it is a difficult matter to lift one from the
ground. The outer rind is so thick and tough that from what-
ever height it may fall, it is never broken. From the base to
the apex five very faint lines may be traced, over which the
spines arch a little; these are the sutures of the carpels, and show
where the fruit may be divided with a heavy knife and a strong
hand. The five cells are satiny-white within, and are each filled
with an oval mass of cream-colored pulp, imbedded in which are,
two or three seeds about the size of chestnuts, This pulp is the
eatable part, and its consistence and flavor are indescribable. A
rich butter-like custard highly flavored with almonds gives the
best general idea of it; but intermingled with it come wafts of
flavor that call to mind cream cheese, onion sauce, brown sherry,
and other incongruities. Then there is a rich glutinous smooth-
ness in the pulp, which nothing else possesses, but which adds to
its delicacy. It is neither acid, nor sweet, nor juicy, yet one feels
the want of none of these qualities, for it is perfect as it is. It
produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of
it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat durions is a
new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience.
When the fruit is ripe it falls of itself; and the only way
to eat durions in perfection is to get them as they fall, and the
smell is then less overpowering. When unripe, it makes a very
good vegetable if cooked, and it is also eaten by the Dyaks raw.
In a good fruit season large quantities are preserved salted, in
jars and bamboos, and kept the year round; when it acquires a
most disgusting odor to Europeans, but the Dyaks appreciate it
highly as a relish with their rice. There are in the forest two


## p. 15528 (#482) ##########################################

15528
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
varieties of wild durions with much sinaller fruits, one of them
orange-colored inside; and these are probably the origin of the
large and fine durions, which are never found wild. It would
not, perhaps, be correct to say that the durion is the best of all
fruits, because it cannot supply the place of the subacid juicy
kinds, such as the orange, grape, mango, and mangosteen, whose
refreshing and cooling qualities are so wholesome and grateful;
but as producing a food of the most exquisite flavor it is unsui-
passed. If I had to fix on two only as representing the perfec-
tion of the two classes, I should certainly choose the durion and
the orange as the king and queen of fruits.
The durion is however sometimes dangerous. When the fruit
begins to ripen, it falls daily and almost hourly, and accidents
not unfrequently happen to persons walking or working under
the trees. When the durion strikes a man in its fall, it produces
a dreadful wound, the strong spines tearing open the flesh, while
the blow itself is very heavy; but from this very circumstance
death rarely ensues, the copious effusion of blood preventing the
inflammation which might otherwise take place. A Dyak chief
informed me that he had been struck down by a durion falling on
his head, which he thought would certainly have caused his death,
yet he recovered in a very short time.
Poets and moralists, judging from our English trees and
fruits, have thought that small fruits always grew on lofty trees,
so that their fall should be harmless to man, while the large
ones trailed on the ground. Two of the largest and heaviest
fruits known, however,- the Brazil-nut fruit (Bertholletia) and
durion, - grow on lofty forest-trees, from which they fall as soon
as they are ripe, and often wound or kill the native inhabitants.
From this we may learn two things: first, not to draw general
conclusions from a very partial view of nature; and secondly,
that trees and fruits, no less than the varied productions of the
animal kingdom, do not appear to be organized with exclusive
reference to the use and convenience of man.
CAT'S-CRADLE IN BORNEO
I Am inclined to rank the Dyaks above the Malays in mental
capacity, while in moral character they are undoubtedly superior
to them. They are simple and honest, and become the prey
of the Malay and Chinese traders, who cheat and plunder them


## p. 15529 (#483) ##########################################

ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
15529
continually. They are more lively, more talkative, less secretive,
and less suspicious, than the Malay, and are therefore pleas-
anter companions. The Malay boys have little inclination for
active sports and games, which form quite a feature in the life
of the Dyak youths; who, besides outdoor games of skill and
strength, possess a variety of indoor amusements.
One wet
day in a Dyak house, when a number of boys and young men
were about me, I thought to amuse them with something new,
and showed them how to make cat's-cradle with a piece of
string. Greatly to my surprise, they knew all about it, and more
than I did; for after Charles and I had gone through all the
changes we could make, one of the boys took it off my hand, and
made several new figures which quite puzzled me. They then
showed me a number of other tricks with pieces of string, which
seemed a favorite amusement with them.
(C
THE TRIAL OF A THIEF IN JAVA
One morning as I was preparing and arranging my speci-
mens, I was told there was to be a trial; and presently four
or five men came in and squatted down on a mat under the
audience-shed in the court. The chief then came in with his
clerk, and sat down opposite them. Each spoke in turn, telling
his own tale; and then I found out that those who first entered
were the prisoner, accuser, policemen, and witness, and that the
prisoner was indicated solely by having a loose piece of cord
twined round his wrists, but not tied. It was a
case of rob.
bery; and after the evidence was given and a few questions had
been asked by the chief, the accused said a few words, and then
sentence was pronounced, which was a fine. The parties then
got up and walked away together, seeming quite friendly; and
throughout there was nothing in the manner of any one present
indicating passion or ill-feeling,-a very good illustration of the
Malayan type of character.
ARCHITECTURE IN THE CELEBES
MY HOUSE, like all bamboo structures in this country, was
a leaning one, the strong westerly winds of the wet season hav-
ing set all its posts out of the perpendicular to such a degree


## p. 15530 (#484) ##########################################

15530
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
as to make me think it might some day possibly go over alto-
gether. It is a remarkable thing that the natives of Celebes
have not discovered the use of diagonal struts in strengthening
buildings. I doubt if there is a native house in the country, two
years old, and at all exposed to the wind, which stands upright;
and no wonder, as they merely consist of posts and joists all
placed upright or horizontal, and fastened rudely together with
rattans. They may be seen, in every stage of the process of
tumbling down, from the first slight inclination to such a dan-
gerous slope that it becomes a notice to quit to the occupiers.
The mechanical geniuses of the country have only discovered
two ways of remedying the evil. One is, after it has commenced,
to tie the house to a post in the ground on the windward side
by a rattan or bamboo cable. The other is a preventive; but
how they ever found it out and did not discover the true way is
a mystery. This plan is to build the house in the usual way,
but instead of having all the principal supports of straight posts,
to have two or three of them chosen as crooked as possible. I
had often noticed these crooked posts in houses, but imputed it
to the scarcity of good straight timber; till one day I met some
men carrying home a post shaped something like a dog's hind
leg, and inquired of my native boy what they were going to do
with such a piece of wood. “To make a post for a house,” said
«
he. “But why don't they get a straight one? there are plenty
here,” said I. «Oh,” replied he, “they prefer some like that in
a house, because then it won't fall;" evidently imputing the effect
to some occult property of crooked timber. A little considera-
tion and a diagram will, however, show that the effect imputed
to the crooked post may be really produced by it. A true square
changes its figure readily into a rhomboid or oblique figure; but
when one or two of the uprights are bent or sloping, and placed
so as to oppose each other, the effect of a strut is produced,
though in a rude and clumsy manner.


## p. 15531 (#485) ##########################################

15531
LEWIS WALLACE
(1827-)
-
ENERAL LEW WALLACE is an American of whom his native
State, Indiana, is justly proud. In the army and in diplo-
matic service he has an honorable record; as an author,
one of his books has been, with the single exception of Mrs. Stowe's
(Uncle Tom's Cabin,' the most popular romance written in the
United States. Ben-Hur' is a striking production, known and en-
joyed far beyond the limits of General Wallace's own land; and it
has qualities sure to commend it to all who like fiction that with a
historical setting, is dramatic and pictur-
esque.
Lewis Wallace is the son of David Wal-
lace,- a distinguished Indiana lawyer who
was once governor and twice lieutenant-
governor of the State. Lewis was born in
Brookville, on April toth, 1827. The family
homestead is at Crawfordsville, where Gen-
eral Wallace now resides. His family has
fighting blood in it, several of his kin hav-
ing been soldiers. Lew Wallace — he has
taken the more familiar form of the Christ-
ian name — studied law and practiced it
until the breaking out of the Civil War in LEWIS WALLACE
April of 1861; when he was made adjutant-
general on the governor's staff, organized the Eleventh Indiana, and
was made its colonel. Good service at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and,
other notable engagements, brought him promotion in turn to the
rank of brigadier-general and major-general. He was a member of
the commission appointed to try Lincoln's assassins, was given a
diplomatic mission to Mexico in 1866, and made governor of New
Mexico in 1880. From 1881 to 1885 he was United States minister to
Turkėy: it is interesting to note that “Ben-Hur) was written before
General Wallace went to that country, the verisimilitude being pro-
duced by careful study and the exercise of sympathetic imagination.
It will be seen from these biographical details that his life has
been one of varied activity, such as to furnish a writer with excellent



## p. 15532 (#486) ##########################################

15532
LEWIS WALLACE
once
romantic material. His work shows what good use he has made of
it. General Wallace's stories are vivid in foreign color, brisk with
action, and exhibit the instinct for broadly effective scenes and
strongly marked characters. Few fictionists offer so many episodes
and situations that stand by themselves and lend themselves readily
to quotation. His first work was “The Fair God in 1873, a story of
the conquest of Mexico: a story in which, as in the case of Ben-
Hur,' he made a novel before he came to live in the land in which
his scenes were laid. Some years later (1880) came what is unques-
tionably his masterpiece, Ben-Hur,' which at became and
remained a very great favorite. The book was sold by the hundred
thousand. As the sub-title indicates, it is a tale of the Christ. The
Israelite hero of the romance is a well-conceived figure; his life is
eventful, both in love and adventure, and his relation to the Savior
affords the author the opportunity to delineate graphically the incom-
ing religion in contrast with the faiths that came before it. The
Oriental panorama moves before the reader with vivid reality. Gen-
eral Wallace deserves praise for this reproduction of the historic
past, and his avoidance of the pitfall of mere archæological detail,
into which writers like the German Ebers so often fall.
The only other work to be compared with “Ben-Hur' is 'The
Prince of India' (1893); another historical novel on a large scale,
dealing with the capture of Constantinople by the Turks,- a theme
finely adapted to the uses of romantic fiction. The story has vigor-
ous character creation and some stirring scenes, while it is perhaps
less successful in its construction as a whole. The prince, whose
career is a variant on the Wandering Jew motive, is a splendid bit
of character-making; and the mistake is in not keeping him through-
out the story the dominant and central figure.
General Wallace has also written a Life of Ex-President Harrison);
and The Boyhood of Christ,' a biographical study. In 1889 he pub-
lished Commodus,' a blank-verse tragedy which uses an incident
in the Roman wars. This was republished in 1897 in a volume con-
taining the Oriental narrative poem in blank verse, The Wooing of
Malkatoon, depicting with considerable grace and skill the love for-
tunes of a young Moslem chief.
General Wallace's wife, Susan Arnold Elston, a native of Craw-
fordsville, is a popular author; she has written a number of well-
known stories and sketches, and her poem 'The Patter of Little
Feet) has been widely quoted.
a
(


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LEWIS WALLACE
15533
THE GALLEY FIGHT
VERY
E
From Ben-Hur. Copyright 1880, by Harper & Brothers
soul aboard, even the ship, awoke. Officers went to
their quarters.
The marines took arms, and were led out,
looking in all respects like legionaries. Sheaves of arrows
and armfuls of javelins were carried on deck. By the central
stairs the oil-tanks and fire-balls were set ready for use. Addi-
tional lanterns were lighted. Buckets were filled with water.
The rowers in relief assembled under guard in front of the chief.
As Providence would have it, Ben-Hur was one of the latter.
Overhead he heard the muffled noise of final preparations, - of
the sailors furling sail, spreading the nettings, unslinging the
machines, and hanging the armor of bull-hide over the side.
Presently quiet settled about the galley again - quiet full of vague
dread and expectation, which interpreted, means ready.
At a signal passed down from the deck, and communicated
to the hortator by a petty officer stationed on the stairs, all at
once the oars stopped.
What did it mean?
Of the hundred and twenty slaves chained to the benches, not
one but asked himself the question. They were without incent-
ive. Patriotism, love of honor, sense of duty, brought them no
inspiration. They felt the thrill common to men rushed help-
less and blind into danger. It may be supposed the dullest of
them, poising his oar, thought of all that might happen, yet
could promise himself nothing: for victory would but rivet his
chains the firmer, while the chances of the ship were his; sink-
ing or on fire, he was doomed to her fate.
Of the situation without, they might not ask. And who were
the enemy? And what if they were friends, brethren, country-
men? The reader, carrying the suggestion forward, will see the
necessity which governed the Roman when, in such emergencies,
he locked the hapless wretches to their seats.
There was little time, however, for such thoughts with them.
A sound like the rowing of galleys astern attracted Ben-Hur, and
the Astræa rocked as if in the midst of countering waves. The
idea of a fleet at hand broke upon him,-a fleet in maneuvre,-
forming probably for attack. His blood started with the fancy.


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15534
LEWIS WALLACE
Another signal order came down from deck. The oars dipped,
and the galley started imperceptibly.
No sound from without,
none from within, yet each man in the cabin instinctively poised
himself for a shock; the very ship seemed to catch the sense,
and hold its breath, and go crouched tiger-like.
In such a situation, time is inappreciable; so that Ben-Hur
could form no judgment of distance gone. At last there was a
sound of trumpets on deck, - full, clear, long-blown. The chief
beat the sounding-board until it rang; the rowers reached for-
ward full length, and deepening the dip of their cars, pulled
suddenly with all their united force. The galley, quivering in
every timber, answered with a leap. Other trumpets joined in
the clamor — all from the rear, none forward; — from the latter
quarter only a rising sound of voices in tumult heard briefly.
There was a mighty blow: the rowers in front of the chief's
platform reeled, some of them fell; the ship bounded back,
recovered, and rushed on more irresistibly than before. Shrill
and high arose the shrieks of men in terror; over the blare of
trumpets, and the grind and crash of the collision, they arose:
then under his feet, under the keel, pounding, rumbling, breaking
to pieces, drowning, Ben-Hur felt something overridden. The
men about him looked at each other afraid. A shout of triumph
from the deck, the beak of the Roman had won! But who
were they whom the sea had drunk? Of what tongue, from
what land were they?
No pause, no stay! Forward rushed the Astræa; and as it
went, some sailors ran down, and plunging the cotton balls into
the oil-tanks, tossed them dripping to comrades at the head of
the stairs: fire was to be added to other horrors of the combat.
Directly the galley heeled over so far that the oarsmen
the uppermost side with difficulty kept their benches. Again
the hearty Roman cheer, and with it despairing shrieks. An
opposing vessel, caught by the grappling-hooks of the great crane
swinging from the prow, was being lifted into the air that it
might be dropped and sunk.
The shouting increased on the right hand and on the left;
before, behind, swelled an indescribable clamor, . Occasionally
there was a crash, followed by sudden peals of fright, telling of
other ships ridden down, and their crews drowned in the vor-
texes.
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LEWIS WALLACE
15535
was
Nor was the fight all on one side. Now and then a Roman
in armor was borne down the hatchway, and laid bleeding, some-
times dying, on the floor.
Sometimes also puffs of smoke, blended with steam, and foul
with the scent of roasting human flesh, poured into the cabin,
turning the dimming light into yellow murk. Gasping for breath
the while, Ben-Hur knew they were passing through the cloud
of a ship on fire, and burning up with the rowers chained to the
benches.
The Astræa all this time in motion. Suddenly she
stopped. The oars forward were dashed from the hands of the
rowers, and the rowers from their benches. On deck, then, a
furious trampling, and on the sides a grinding of ships afoul of
each other. For the first time the beating of the gavel was lost
in the uproar.
Men sank on the floor in fear, or looked about
seeking a hiding-place. In the midst of the panic a body
plunged or was pitched headlong down the hatch way, falling
near Ben-Hur. He beheld the half-naked carcass, a
mass of
hair blackening the face, and under it a shield of bull-hide and
wicker-work,-a barbarian from the white-skinned nations of the
North whom death had robbed of plunder and revenge. How
came he there? An iron hand had snatched him from the
opposing deck — no, the Astræa had been boarded! The Romans
- ,
were fighting on their own deck ? A chill smote the young Jew:
Arrius was hard pressed, - he might be defending his own life.
If he should be slain! God of Abraham forfend! The hopes
and dreams so lately come, were they only hopes and dreams?
Mother and sister -house - home — Holy Land - was he not to
see them, after all ? The tumult thundered above him: he looked
around; in the cabin all was confusion: the rowers the
benches paralyzed; men running blindly hither and thither, only
the chief on his seat imperturbable, vainly beating the sounding-
board, and waiting the order of the tribune,- in the red murk
illustrating the matchless discipline which had won the world.
The example had a good effect upon Ben-Hur. He controlled
himself enough to think. Honor and duty bound the Roman
to the platform; but what had he to do with such motives then ?
The bench was a thing to run from; while if he were to die a
slave, who would be the better of the sacrifice? With him living
was duty, if not honor. His life belonged to his people. They
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15536
LEWIS WALLACE
arose before him never more real: he saw them, their arms
outstretched; he heard them imploring him. And he would go
to them. He started — stopped. Alas! a Roman judgment held
him in doom. While it endured, escape would be profitless. In
the wide, wide earth there was no place in which he would be
safe from the imperial demand; upon the land none, nor upon
the sea.
Whereas he required freedom according to the forms
of law, so only could he abide in Judea and execute the filial
purpose to which he would devote himself: in other land he
would not live. Dear God! How he had waited and watched
and prayed for such a release! And how it
And how it had been delayed !
But at last he had seen it in the promise of the tribune. What
else the great man's meaning? And if the benefactor so belated
should now be slain! The dead come not back to redeem the
pledges of the living. It should not be - Arrius should not die.
At least, better perish with him than survive a galley-slave.
Once more Ben-Hur looked around. Upon the roof of the
cabin the battle yet beat; against the sides the hostile vessels
yet crushed and grinded. On the benches, the slaves struggled
to tear loose from their chains, and finding their efforts vain,
howled like madmen; the guards had gone up-stairs: discipline
was out, panic in. No, the chief kept his chair, unchanged, calm
as ever-except the gavel, weaponless. Vainly with his clangor
he filled the lulls in the din. Ben-Hur gave him a last look,
then broke away, - not in flight, but to seek the tribune.
A very short space lay between him and the stairs of the
hatch way aft. ' He took it with a leap, and was half-way up the
steps — up far enough to catch a glimpse of the sky blood-red
with fire, of the ships alongside, of the sea covered with ships
and wrecks, of the fight closed in about the pilot's quarter, the
assailants many, the defenders few — when suddenly his foothold
was knocked away, and he pitched backward. The floor, when
he reached it, seemed to be lifting itself and breaking to pieces;
then in a twinkling, the whole after-part of the hull broke
asunder, and as if it had all the time been lying in wait, the
sea, hissing and foaming, leaped in, and all became darkness and
surging water to Ben-Hur.
It cannot be said that the young Jew helped himself in
this stress. Besides his usual strength, he had the indefinite extra
force which nature keeps in reserve for just such perils to life;
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LEWIS WALLACE
15537
yet the darkness, and the whirl and roar of water, stupefied him.
Even the holding his breath was involuntary.
The influx of the flood tossed him like a log forward into the
cabin, where he would have drowned but for the refluence of
the sinking motion. As it was, fathoms under the surface the
hollow mass vomited him forth, and he arose along with the
loosed débris, In the act of rising, he clutched something, and
held to it. The time he was under seemed an age longer than
it really was: at last he gained the top; with a great gasp he
filled his lungs afresh, and tossing the water from his hair and
eyes, climbed higher upon the plank he held, and looked about
him.
Death had pursued him closely under the waves; he found it
waiting for him when he was risen - waiting multiform.
Smoke lay upon the sea like a semi-transparent fog, through
which here and there shone cores of intense brilliance. A quick
intelligence told him that they were ships on fire. The battle
was yet on; nor could he say who was victor. Within the
radius of his vision now and then ships passed, shooting shadows
athwart lights. Out of the dun clouds farther on he caught the
crash of other ships colliding. The danger however was closer
at hand. When the Astræa went down, her deck, it will be recol-
lected, held her own crew, and the crews of the two galleys which
had attacked her at the same time, all of whom were ingulfed.
Many of them came to the surface together; and on the same
plank or support of whatever kind continued the combat, begun
possibly in the vortex fathoms down. Writhing and twisting in
deadly embrace, sometimes striking with sword or javelin, they
kept the sea around them in agitation, - at one place inky-black,
at another aflame with fiery reflections. With their struggles he
.
had nothing to do: they were all his enemies; not one of them
but would kill him for the plank upon which he floated. He
made haste to get away.
About that time he heard oars in quickest movement, and
beheld a galley coming down upon him. The tall prow seemed
doubly tall, and the red light playing upon its gilt and carving
gave it an appearance of snaky life. Under its foot the water
churned to flying foam.
He struck out, pushing the plank, which was very broad and
unmanageable. Seconds were precious— half a second might save
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LEWIS WALLACE
or lose him. · In the crisis of the effort, up from the sea, within
arm's reach, a helmet shot like a gleam of gold. Next came
two hands with fingers extended, - large hands were they, and
strong, — their hold once fixed might not be loosed. Ben-Hur
swerved from them appalled. Up rose the helmet and the head
.
it incased; then two arms, which began to beat the water wildly;
the head turned back, and gave the face to the light. The
mouth gaping wide; the eyes open but sightless, and the blood-
less pallor of a drowning man, — never anything more ghastly!
Yet he gave a cry of joy at the sight; and as the face was
going under again, he caught the sufferer by the chain which
passed from the helmet beneath the chin, and drew him to the
plank.
The man was Arrius, the tribune.
For a while the water foamed and eddied violently about
Ben-Hur, taxing all his strength to hold to the support, and at
the same time to keep the Roman's head above the surface. The
galley had passed, leaving the two barely outside the stroke of
its oars.
Right through the floating men, over heads helmeted
as well as heads bare, she drove; in her wake nothing but the
sea sparkling with fire. A muffled crash, succeeded by a great
outcry, made the rescuer look again from his charge. A certain
savage pleasure touched his heart. The Astræa was avenged.
After that the battle moved on. Resistance turned to flight.
But who were the victors? Ben-Hur was sensible how much his
freedom and the life of the tribune depended upon that event.
He pushed the plank under the latter until it floated him, after
which all his care was to keep him there. The dawn came
slowly. He watched its growing hopefully, yet sometimes afraid.
Would it bring the Romans or the pirates ? If the pirates, his
charge was lost.
At last morning broke in full, the air without a breath. Off
to the left he saw the land, too far to think of attempting to
make it. Here and there men were adrift like himself. In spots
the sea was blackened by charred and sometimes smoking frag-
ments. A galley up a long way was lying to with a torn sail
hanging from the tilted yard, and the oars all idle. Still farther
away he could discern moving specks, which he thought might
be ships in flight or pursuit, or they might be white birds
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LEWIS WALLACE
15539
An hour passed thus. His anxiety increased. If relief came
.
not speedily, Arrius would die. Sometimes he seemed already
dead, he lay so still. He took the helmet off, and, then, with
greater difficulty, the cuirass; the heart he found fluttering. He
took hope at the sign, and held on. There was nothing to do
but wait, and after the manner of his people, pray.
The throes of recovery from drowning are more painful than
the drowning. These Arrius passed through; and at length, to
Ben-Hur's delight, reached the point of speech.
Gradually, from incoherent questions as to where he was, and
by whom and how he had been saved, he reverted to the battle.
The doubt of the victory stimulated his faculties' to full return, a
result aided not a little by a long rest such as could be had on
their frail support.
After a while he became talkative.
"Our rescue, I see, depends upon the result of the fight. I
see also what thou hast done for me. To speak fairly, thou hast
saved my life at the risk of thy own. I make the acknowledg.
ment broadly; and whatever cometh, thou hast my thanks. More
than that, if fortune doth but serve me kindly, and we get well
out of this peril, I will do thee such favor as becometh a Roman
who hath power and opportunity to prove his gratitude. Yet-
yet it is to be seen if, with thy good intent, thou hast really
done me a kindness: or rather, speaking to thy good will," — he
hesitated, -"I would exact of thee a promise to do me, in a cer-
tain event, the greatest favor one man can do another; and of
that let me have thy pledge now. "
“If the thing be not forbidden, I will do it,” Ben-Hur re-
plied.
Arrius rested again.
"Art thou indeed a son of Hur, the Jew ? ” he next asked.
“It is as I have said. ”
"I knew thy father
Judah drew himself nearer, for the tribune's voice was weak;
he drew nearer, and listened eagerly; at last he thought to hear
of home.
"I knew him, and loved him," Arrius continued.
There was another pause, during which something diverted
the speaker's thought.
"It cannot be,” he proceeded, “that thou, a son of his, hast
not heard of Cato and Brutus. They were very great men, and
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15540
LEWIS WALLACE
(c
“I have prop-
never as great as in death. In their dying, they left this law:
A Roman may not survive his good fortune. Art thou listen.
ing? ”
“I hear. ”
" It is a custom of gentlemen in Rome to wear a ring. There
is one on my hand. Take it now. ”
He held the hand to Judah, who did as he asked.
"Now put it on thine own hand. ”
Ben-Hur did so.
« The trinket hath its uses,” said Arrius next.
erty and money. 'I am accounted rich even in Rome. I have
no family. Show the ring to my freedman, who hath control in
my absence: you will find him in a villa near Misenum. Tell
him how it came to thee, and ask anything, or all he may have:
he will not refuse the demand. If I live, I will do better by
thee. I will make thee free, and restore thee to thy home and
people; or thou mayst give thyself to the pursuit that pleaseth
thee most. Dost thou hear ? »
« I could not choose but hear. ”
«Then pledge me. By the gods --
Nay, good tribune, I am a Jew. ”
"By thy God, then, or in the form most sacred to those of
thy faith, pledge me to do what I tell thee now, and as I tell
thee: I am waiting; let me have thy promise. ”
“Noble Arrius, I am warned by thy manner to expect some-
thing of gravest concern. Tell me thy wish first.
"Wilt thou promise then ?
« That were to give the pledge, and - Blessed be the God of
• my fathers! yonder cometh a ship! ”
“In what direction ? »
From the north. ”
"Canst thou tell her nationality by outward signs ? »
My service hath been at the oars. ”
“Hath she a flag ? ”
“I cannot see one. ”
Arrius remained quiet some time, apparently in deep reflec-
tion.
“Does the ship hold this way yet ? ” he at length asked.
«Still this way. ”
« Look for the flag now. ”
(
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