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  [Illustration: THE QUEEN OF SHEBA.
  _Frontispiece & Page 309._]




    THE ADVENTURES
    OF
    CAPTAIN MAGO

    OR
    _A Phœnician Expedition_
    B.C. 1000

    BY
    LÉON CAHUN

    _ILLUSTRATED BY P. PHILIPPOTEAUX, AND TRANSLATED FROM
    THE FRENCH BY ELLEN E. FREWER_

    NEW YORK
    CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
    1889




    TROW'S
    PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY,
    NEW YORK.




PREFACE.


The following pages pretend to no original or scientific research. It
is their object to present, in a popular form, a picture of the world
as it was a thousand years before the Christian Era, and to exhibit,
mainly for the young, a summary of that varied information which is
contained in books, many of which by their high price and exclusively
technical character are generally unattainable.

       *       *       *       *       *

It would only have encumbered the fictitious narrative, which is the
vehicle for conveying the instruction that is designed, to crowd
every page with references; but it may be alleged, once for all, that
for every statement which relates to the history of the period, and
especially to the history of the Phœnicians, ample authority might
be quoted from some one or other of the valuable books which have
been consulted.

Of the most important of these a list is here appended:--

    1. F. C. MOVERS. Das Phönizische Alterthum.

    2. RENAN. Mission en Phénicie.

    3. DAUX. Recherches sur les Emporia phéniciens dans le Zeugis
    et le Byzacium.

    4. NATHAN DAVIS. Carthage and her Remains.

    5. WILKINSON. Manners and Customs of Ancient Egyptians.

    6. HŒCKH. Kreta.

    7. GROTE. History of Greece.

    8. MOMMSEN. Geschichte der Römischen Republik (Introduction and
    Chap. I.).

    9. BOURGUIGNAT. Monuments mégalithiques du nord de l'Afrique.

    10. FERGUSSON. Rude Stone Monuments.

    11. BROCA and A. BERTRAND. Celtes, Gaulois et Francs.

    12. ABBÉ BARGÈS. Interprétation d'une inscription phénicienne
    trouvée à Marseille.

    13. LAYARD. Nineveh and its Remains.

    14. BOTTA. Fouilles de Babylone.

    15. REUSS. New translation of the Bible, in course of
    publication.

A few foot-notes are subjoined by way of illustration of what might
have been carried on throughout the volume; and an Appendix will be
found at the end, containing some explanation of topics which the
continuity of the fiction necessarily left somewhat obscure.




CONTENTS.


    CHAP.                                                  PAGE

        I.--WHY BODMILCAR, THE TYRIAN SAILOR, HATES HANNO,
             THE SIDONIAN SCRIBE                              1

       II.--THE SACRIFICE TO ASHTORETH                       19

      III.--CHAMAI RECOGNISED BY THE ATTENDANT OF THE
             SLAVE                                           44

       IV.--KING DAVID                                       61

        V.--PHARAOH ARRIVES TOO LATE                         76

       VI.--CRETE AND THE CRETANS                            98

      VII.--CHRYSEIS PREFERS HANNO TO A KING                112

     VIII.--AN AFFAIR WITH THE PHOCIANS                     132

       IX.--THE LAND OF OXEN                                148

        X.--GISGO THE EARLESS RECOVERS HIS EARS             166

       XI.--OUR HEADS ARE IN PERIL                          175

      XII.--I CONSULT THE ORACLE                            196

     XIII.--THE SILVER MINES OF TARSHISH                    207

      XIV.--AN AMBUSCADE                                    219

       XV.--JUDGE GEBAL DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF               234

      XVI.--PERILS OF THE OCEAN                             243

     XVII.--JONO, THE GOD OF THE SUOMI                      260

    XVIII.--JONAH WAXES AMBITIOUS                           277

      XIX.--BODMILCAR AGAIN                                 287

       XX.--THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN                           295

      XXI.--THE QUEEN OF SHEBA                              307

     XXII.--BELESYS FINDS BICHRI SOMEWHAT HEAVY             314

    XXIII.--WE SETTLE OUR ACCOUNTS WITH BODMILCAR           327




LIST OF FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.


                                                           PAGE

    THE QUEEN OF SHEBA                       Frontispiece & 309

    HANNO PROCEEDED TO DRAW UP THE ARTICLES                   8

    HANNO CAUGHT UP A LARGE PITCHER                          11

    MY SALUTE                                                45

    THE IONIAN COMMENCED ONE OF THE SONGS OF HER
      NATIVE LAND                                            52

    SHORTLY BEFORE SUNSET WE REACHED JERUSALEM               63

    WAITING FOR THE KING TO SPEAK                            67

    "DOWN, YOU PHŒNICIAN THIEVES!"                           85

    THE SOLDIERS RAPIDLY CROSSED THEIR LANCES                86

    PLEASED WITH HIS MORNING'S WORK                          99

    "THE MELKARTH!"                                         106

    BORNE TO ITS RESTING-PLACE                              121

    HOMER                                                   129

    UNAWARES IN AN AMBUSH                                   132

    HANNO AND CHRYSEIS BESPEAK THEIR ATTENTION              140

    "IF YOU ADVANCE ONE STEP BEYOND THIS LANCE"             152

    CLOSE TO ETNA                                           163

    UTICA                                                   187

    A HUGE ELEPHANT WAS BEING LED PAST                      191

    I PROSTRATED MYSELF THREE TIMES                         202

    AN AVALANCHE OF STONES                                  220

    NO QUARTER                                              222

    ON THE VERY POINT OF SLAYING THE CHILD                  228

    THE DESPICABLE SYRIAN                                   229

    I DID WHAT I COULD TO CONSOLE HASDRUBAL                 247

    JUDGE GEBAL                                             248

    BICHRI AND DIONYSOS BROUGHT THEM BOTH DOWN              258

    HE DASHED IT TO THE GROUND                              262

    SEVERAL OF THE SAVAGES ENTERED THE HUT                  267

    THE GOD JONO                                            275

    BLOWING HIS TRUMPET                                     284

    THE CHILD HAD FOUND THE LEAK                            293

    IT SNAPPED A PIKE-STAFF IN TWO                          301

    IN HONOUR OF THEIR GENERAL                              322

    WE WERE COMMANDED TO HALT                               324

    HIMILCO AND GISGO IN ANIMATED CONVERSATION WITH
      THE CHALDEAN SOLDIERS                                 327

    MY ACCOUNT WAS SETTLED WITH BODMILCAR                   335

    _And Thirty-six smaller Text Illustrations._




THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MAGO




CHAPTER I.

WHY BODMILCAR, THE TYRIAN SAILOR, HATES HANNO, THE SIDONIAN SCRIBE.


I am Captain Mago, and Hiram,[1] King of Tyre, was well aware that
my experience as a sailor was very great. It was in the third year
of his reign that he summoned me to his presence from Sidon,[2] the
city of fishermen, and the metropolis of the Phœnicians. He had
already been told of my long voyages; how I had visited Malta; how I
had traded to Bozrah,[3] the city founded by the Sidonians, but now
called Carthada[4] by the Tyrians; and how I had reached the remote
Gades in the land of Tarshish.[5]

  [1] Hiram I. reigned from 980 to 947 B.C.

  [2] Sidon, or Zidon, in the Phœnician tongue means "fishery."

  [3] Bostra, or Bozrah; hence Byrsa, the citadel.

  [4] Carthage, or Kart-Khadecht, the new city.

  [5] Tarshish, the Tartessus of the Greeks, Spain.

The star of Sidon was now on the wane. The ships of Tyre were fast
occupying the sea, and her caravans were covering the land. A
monarchy had been established by the Tyrians, and their king, with
the _suffects_[6] as his coadjutors, was holding sway over all the
other cities of Phœnicia. The fortunes of Tyre were thus in the
ascendant: sailors and merchants from Sidon, Gebal, Arvad and Byblos
were continually enlisting themselves in the service of her powerful
corporations.

  [6] Suffect, or _choupheth_ (plural _chophettim_), the Hebrew and
  Phœnician magistrates preceding the monarchy.

When I had made my obeisance to King Hiram, he informed me that his
friend and ally, David, King of the Jews, was collecting materials
for the erection of a temple to his god Adonai (or _our Lord_) in the
city of Jerusalem, and that he was desirous of making his own royal
contribution to assist him. Accordingly he submitted to me that at
his expense I should fit out a sufficient fleet, and should undertake
a voyage to Tarshish, in order to procure a supply of silver, and
any other rare or valuable commodity which that land could yield, to
provide embellishment for the sumptuous edifice.

Anxious as I was already to revisit Tarshish and the lands of the
West, I entered most eagerly into the proposal of the King, assuring
him that I should require no longer time for preparation than what
was absolutely necessary to equip the ships and collect the crews.

It was still two months before the Feast of Spring, an annual
festival that marked the re-opening of navigation. This was an
interval sufficient for my purpose, for as the King directed me to
call first at Joppa, and to proceed thence to Jerusalem to receive
King David's instructions, I had no need for the present to concern
myself about anything further than my ships and sailors, knowing that
I could safely trust to the fertile and martial land of Judæa to
provide me with provisions and soldiers.

The King was highly gratified at my ready acquiescence in his
proposition. He instructed his treasurer to hand over to me at once
a thousand silver shekels[7] to meet preliminary expenses, and gave
orders to the authorities at the arsenal to allow me to select
whatever wood, hemp, or copper I might require.

  [7] The silver shekel was the standard money of the
  Phœnicians, and was worth about 2_s._ It was a tenth part of a
  shekel of gold.

I took my leave of the King and rejoined Hanno my scribe and Himilco
my pilot, the latter of whom had been my constant associate on my
previous voyages. They were sitting on the side-bench at the great
gate of the palace, and had been impatiently awaiting my return,
mutually speculating upon the reason that had induced the King to
send for us from Sidon, and naturally conjecturing that it must
relate to some future enterprise and adventure. At the first glimpse
of my excited countenance, revealing my delight, Hanno exclaimed:

"Welcome back, master; surely the King has granted you some eager
longing of your heart!"

"True; and what do you suppose it is?" I asked.

"Perhaps a new ship to replace the one you lost in the Great Syrtes;
and perhaps a good freight into the bargain. No son of Sidon could
covet more than this."

"Yes, Hanno; this, and more beside," I answered. "But our good
fortune at once demands our vows; let us hasten to the temple of
Ashtoreth,[8] and there let us render our thanks to the goddess, and
sue for her protection and her favour to guard our vessels as we sail
to Joppa. To Joppa we go; and onwards thence to Tarshish!"

  [8] Astarte. The Aphrodite of the Greeks; the goddess of
  navigation, and the national deity of the Sidonians.

"Tarshish!" echoed the voice of Himilco, with a cry of ecstasy; and
as he spoke he raised up his sole remaining eye towards the skies;
he had lost the other in a naval fight. "Tarshish," he said again:
"O ye gods, that rule the destinies of ships! ye stars,[9] that so
oft have fixed my gaze in my weary watch on deck! here I offer to
you six shekels on the spot; 'tis all my means allow. But take me
to Tarshish, and vouchsafe that I may come across the villain whose
lance took out my eye, so that I may make him feel the point of my
Chalcidian sword below his ribs, and I vow that I will offer you in
sacrifice an ox, a noble ox, finer than Apis, the god of the idiot
Egyptians."

  [9] The stars in the constellation of Ursa Major were also
  tutelary deities of navigation; the pole-star by the Greeks being
  called "the Phœnician."

Hanno was less demonstrative. "For my part," he said, "I shall be
satisfied if I can barter enough of the vile wine of Judæa, and the
cheap ware of Sidon, to get a good return of pure white silver.
I shall only be too pleased to build myself a mansion upon the
sea-shore where I can enjoy my pleasure-boat as it glides along with
its purple sails, and so to pass my days in ease and luxury."

"Remember, however," I replied, "that before you can get your lordly
mansion, we shall again and again have to sleep under the open sky
of the cheerless West; and before you arrive at all your luxury, you
will have to put up with many a coarse and meagre meal."

"All the more pleasant will be the retrospect," rejoined Hanno; "and
when we come to recline upon our costly couches it will be a double
joy to dwell upon our adventures, and relate them to our listening
guests."

Conversation of this character engaged us till we reached the
cypress-grove, from which the temple of Ashtoreth upreared its
silver-plated roof. The setting sun was all aglow, and cast its
slanting rays upon the fabric, illuminating alike the heavy gilding
and the radiant colours of the supporting pillars. Flocks of
consecrated doves fluttered in the sacred grove, alighting ever and
again upon the gilded rods that connected one pillar with another.
Groups of girls were frequently met, dressed in white, embroidered
with purple and silver, either hastening, pomegranates in their
hands, to make a votive offering at the shrine, or sauntering
leisurely in the sacred gardens. Ever and again, as the temple-doors
were opened, there was caught the distant melody of the sistra,
flutes, and tambourines, upon which the priests and priestesses
were celebrating the honour of their goddess. Such were the sounds,
the modulated measures of the music mingled with the soft cooings
of the doves and the joyous laughter of the heedless maidens, that
combined to make a mysterious murmur that could not fail to impress
the minds of such as us, rough mariners unaccustomed to anything
more harmonious than the groanings of the waves, the creaking of our
ships, and the howling of the wind.

I went with Himilco to consult the tariff of the sacrifices, which
was exhibited, engraven on a tablet and affixed to the feet of a
huge marble dove at the right-hand entrance to the precincts of the
temple. As my own offering, I selected some fruit and cakes, the
value of which did not exceed a shekel, and was just turning back
to call Hanno, when I encountered a man in a dirty and threadbare
sailor's coat, who was hurrying along, muttering bitter curses as he
went.

"Help me, Baal Chamaim, Lord of the heavens!" I involuntarily
exclaimed; "is not this Bodmilcar, the Tyrian?"

The man paused, and recognised me in a moment; and we exchanged the
warmest greetings.

Bodmilcar, whom I had thus unexpectedly met, had been one of my
oldest associates. Many a time, alike in expeditions of war and
commerce, he had commanded a vessel by my side. He was likewise
already acquainted with Himilco, who consequently shared my surprise
and regret at meeting him in so miserable a plight.

"What ill fate has brought you to this?" was my impatient inquiry.
"At Tyre you used to be the owner of a couple of gaouls[10] and four
good galleys; what has happened? What has brought it about that you
should be here in nothing better than a ragged kitonet?"[11]

  [10] Gaoul, a round ship, employed in merchant service.

  [11] Kitonet, a short tunic, worn by Phœnician sailors.

"Moloch's[12] heaviest curses be upon the Chaldeans!" ejaculated
Bodmilcar. "May their cock-head Nergal[13] torture and burn and roast
them all! My story is soon told. I had a cargo of slaves. A finer
cargo was never under weigh. The hold of my Tyrian gaoul carried
Caucasian men as strong as oxen, and Grecian girls as lissome as
reeds; there were Syrians who could cook, or play, or dress the hair;
there were peasants from Judæa who could train the vine or cultivate
the field. Their value was untold."

  [12] Baal Moloch, the sun god.

  [13] Nergal, the Chaldean god of fire and war, always represented
  with a cock's head.

"And tell me, friend Bodmilcar," I inquired, "where are they now? Did
they not yield you the countless shekels on which you reckoned?"

"Now! where are they now?" shrieked out the excited man; "they are
every one upon their way to some cursed city of the Chaldeans, on the
other side of Rehoboth. Instead of shekels I have got plenty of kicks
and plenty of bruises, of which I shall carry the marks on my body
for a long time to come. The naval suffect gave me a few zeraas,[14]
just to relieve my distress, and had it not been for that, I should
not have had a morsel of bread to keep life in me. It is now three
days since I arrived in Tyre, and to get here I have been continually
walking, till my feet are so swollen I can hardly move."

  [14] Zeraas, small copper coin.

"You mean you have walked here?" said Himilco, compassionately. "But
surely you might have found a boat of some sort to bring you?"

"Boat!" growled Bodmilcar, almost angrily; "when did boats begin to
journey overland? Did I not tell you I came from Rehoboth in the land
of those cursed Chaldeans? But hear me out, and you will sympathise
with my misfortune. I started first of all along the coast, buying
slaves from the Philistines, and corn and oil from the Jews. I went
across to Greece, and made some profitable dealings there. I chanced
upon a few wretched little Ionian barques, and secured some plunder
so. Then I conceived the project of going through the straits, and
I succeeded beyond my hopes in getting iron, and, what is more, in
getting slaves from Caucasus. My fortune was made. I was proceeding
home, when just as we neared the Phasis, on the Chalybean coast, some
alien gods--for sure I am that neither Melkarth nor Moloch would
so have dealt with a Tyrian sailor--some alien gods, I say, sent
down a frightful storm. With the utmost peril I contrived to save
my crew and all my human cargo; but the bulk of my goods was gone,
and my poor vessels were shattered hopelessly. There was but one
resource; I had no alternative but to convey my salvage in the best
way I could across Armenia and Chaldea by land, consoling myself with
the expectation of finding a market for the slaves along the road.
But once again the gods were cruelly adverse. We were attacked by a
troop of Chaldeans; fifty armed men could not protect a gang of four
hundred slaves, who, miserable wretches as they were, could not be
induced by blows or prayers to lift up a hand in their own defence.
The result was that we were very soon overpowered, and that, together
with all my party, I was made a prisoner. The Chaldeans proposed to
sell us to the King of Nineveh, and I had the pleasure of finding
myself part and parcel of my own cargo."

"But, anyhow, here you are. How did you contrive to get out of your
dilemma?" I asked my old comrade.

Bodmilcar raised the skirt of his patched and greasy kitonet, and
displayed a long knife with an ivory handle hanging from his belt.

"They forgot to search me," he said, "and omitted to bind me. The
very first night on which there was no moonlight I was entertaining
a couple of rascals who had charge of me, by telling them wonderful
tales about Libyan serpents, and about the men of Tarshish who had
mouths in the middle of their chests, and eyes at the tips of their
fingers; openmouthed, they were lost in amazement at the lies I was
pouring into their ears, and were entirely off their guard. I seized
my opportunity; and having first thrust my knife into the belly of
one of them, I cut the throat of the other and made my escape. I took
to my heels, and, Moloch be praised! the rascals failed to find a
trace of me. But now that I am here, the gods only know what is to
become of me. If I fail to get service as a pilot, I must enter as a
common sailor in some Tyrian ship."

"No need of that, Bodmilcar," I exclaimed; "you have made your
appearance just at a lucky moment. All praise to Ashtoreth! you are
just the man I want. I have a commission from the King to fit out
ships for Tarshish; I am captain of the expedition, and here at once
I can appoint you my second in command. My pilot is Himilco; and here
is Hanno, my scribe; we are on our way to the temple of the goddess,
and are going in her presence to draw up the covenants."

"Joy, joy, dear Mago!" ejaculated Bodmilcar; "may the gods be
gracious to you, and repay your goodness! I shall not regret my
disaster at the hands of the Chaldeans, if it ends in a voyage to
Tarshish with you. Only let Melkarth vouchsafe us a good ship, and
with Himilco to guide our course, we cannot fail to prosper, even
though our voyage be to the remotest confines of the world."

Hanno, who meanwhile had joined us, took out from his girdle some
ink and some reeds, with a little stone to sharpen them, and having
seated himself upon the temple steps, proceeded to draw up the
articles which appointed me admiral of the expedition, Bodmilcar
vice-admiral, and Himilco pilot-in-chief. Himilco and myself both
affixed our seals to the document, and Bodmilcar was proceeding to do
so likewise, feeling mechanically for his seal, which he remembered
afterwards that the Chaldeans had stolen. I gave him twenty shekels
to buy another, and to provide him with a new outfit of clothes.
Then, with Himilco, I proceeded to make my oblation of fruits and
cakes to Ashtoreth; and in the highest spirits we made our way to the
harbour, where our light vessel, the _Gadita_, was awaiting us.

  [Illustration: HANNO PROCEEDED TO DRAW UP THE ARTICLES.
  _To face page 8._]

Early next morning we set vigorously to work. I drew out the plans of
my vessels upon papyrus sheets. My own _Gadita_ was to be kept as a
light vessel; but I resolved to have a large _gaoul