I made signs again to tell him, that if he would make his men carry
them, we would not let him carry anything. We had secured all the
prisoners in a narrow place, where we had bound them with mat cords, and
set up stakes like a palisado round them; so, when we carried the prince
on shore, we went with him to them, and made signs to him to ask them if
they were willing to go with us to the country of lions. Accordingly he
made a long speech to them, and we could understand by it that he told
them, if they were willing, they must say, "Si, Seignior," telling
them what it signified. They immediately answered, "Si, Seignior," and
clapped their hands, looking up to the sun, which, the prince signified
to us, was swearing to be faithful. But as soon as they had said so, one
of them made a long speech to the prince; and in it we perceived, by his
gestures, which were very antic, that they desired something from us,
and that they were in great concern about it. So I asked him, as well as
I could, what it was they desired of us; he told us by signs that they
desired we should clap our hands to the sun (that was, to swear) that we
would not kill them, that we would give them chiaruck, that is to say,
bread, would not starve them, and would not let the lions eat them.
I told him we would promise all that; then he pointed to the sun, and
clapped his hands, signing to me that I should do so too, which I did;
at which all the prisoners fell flat on the ground, and rising up again,
made the oddest, wildest cries that ever I heard.
I think it was the first time in my life that ever any religious thought
affected me; but I could not refrain some reflections, and almost tears,
in considering how happy it was that I was not born among such creatures
as these, and was not so stupidly ignorant and barbarous; but this soon
went off again, and I was not troubled again with any qualms of that
sort for a long time after.
When this ceremony was over, our concern was to get some provisions,
as well for the present subsistence of our prisoners as ourselves; and
making signs to our prince that we were thinking upon that subject, he
made signs to me that, if I would let one of the prisoners go to his
town, he should bring provisions, and should bring some beasts to carry
our baggage. I seemed loth to trust him, and supposing that he would
run away, he made great signs of fidelity, and with his own hands tied a
rope about his neck, offering me one end of it, intimating that I should
hang him if the man did not come again. So I consented, and he gave him
abundance of instructions, and sent him away, pointing to the light of
the sun, which it seems was to tell him at what time he must be back.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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