Captain Canot | Page 8

A---- to a slaver--I part on bad terms with the British--Game at
Cape Mount--Adventure of a boy and an Ourang-outang--How we
killed leopards, and saved our castle--Mode of hunting
elephants--Elephant law 437
CHAP. LXXIII.--Fana-Toro's war, and its effect on my
establishment--I decline joining actively in the conflict--I allow
captives to be shipped by a Gallinas factor--Two years of blockade by
the British--A miraculous voyage of a long-boat with thirty-three slaves
to Bahia--My disasters and mishaps at Cape Mount in consequence of
this war--Exaggerations of my enemies--My true character--Letter from
Rev. JOHN SEYS to me--My desire to aid the missionaries--CAIN and
CURTIS stimulate the British against me--Adventure of the
Chancellor--the British destroy my establishment--Death of
Fana-Toro--The natives revenge my loss--The end 442

THEODORE CANOT.
CHAPTER I.
Whilst Bonaparte was busy conquering Italy, my excellent father,
Louis Canot, a captain and paymaster in the French army, thought fit to
pursue his fortunes among the gentler sex of that fascinating country,
and luckily won the heart and hand of a blooming Piedmontese, to
whom I owe my birth in the capital of Tuscany.
My father was faithful to the Emperor as well as the Consul. He
followed his sovereign in his disasters as well as glory: nor did he falter
in allegiance until death closed his career on the field of Waterloo.
Soldiers' wives are seldom rich, and my mother was no exception to the
rule. She was left in very moderate circumstances, with six children to
support; but the widow of an old campaigner, who had partaken the
sufferings of many a long and dreary march with her husband, was
neither disheartened by the calamity, nor at a loss for thrifty expedients
to educate her younger offspring. Accordingly, I was kept at school,
studying geography, arithmetic, history and the languages, until near
twelve years old, when it was thought time for me to choose a
profession. At school, and in my leisure hours, I had always been a
greedy devourer of books of travel, or historical narratives full of
stirring incidents, so that when I avowed my preference for a sea-faring
life, no one was surprised. Indeed, my fancy was rather applauded, as
two of my mother's brothers had served in the Neapolitan navy, under
Murat. Proper inquiries were quickly made at Leghorn; and, in a few
weeks, I found myself on the mole of that noble seaport, comfortably
equipped, with a liberal outfit, ready to embark, as an apprentice, upon
the American ship Galatea, of Boston.
It was in the year 1819, that I first saluted the element upon which it
has been my destiny to pass so much of my life. The reader will readily
imagine the discomforts to which I was subjected on this voyage. Born
and bred in the interior of Italy, I had only the most romantic ideas of

the sea. My opinions had been formed from the lives of men in loftier
rank and under more interesting circumstances. My career was
necessarily one of great hardship; and, to add to my misfortunes, I had
neither companion nor language to vent my grief and demand
sympathy. For the first three months, I was the butt of every joker in
the ship. I was the scape-goat of every accident and of every one's sins
or carelessness. As I lived in the cabin, each plate, glass, or utensil that
fell to leeward in a gale, was charged to my negligence. Indeed, no one
seemed to compassionate my lot save a fat, lubberly negro cook, whom
I could not endure. He was the first African my eye ever fell on, and I
must confess that he was the only friend I possessed during my early
adventures.
Besides the officers of the Galatea, there was a clerk on board, whom
the captain directed to teach me English, so that, by the time we
reached Sumatra, I was able to stand up for my rights, and plead my
cause. As we could not obtain a cargo of pepper on the island, we
proceeded to Bengal; and, on our arrival at Calcutta, the captain, who
was also supercargo, took apartments on shore, where the clerk and
myself were allowed to follow him.
According to the fashion of that period, the house provided for our
accommodation was a spacious and elegant one, equipped with every
oriental comfort and convenience, while fifteen or twenty servants were
always at the command of its inmates. For three months we lived like
nabobs, and sorry, indeed, was I when the clerk announced that the
vessel's loading was completed, and our holiday over.
On the voyage home, I was promoted from the cabin, and sent into the
steerage to do duty as a "light hand," in the chief mate's watch.
Between this officer and the captain there was ill blood, and,