MONSIEUR VIOLET (FISCLE PART-IV) - FREDERICK MARRYAT (books to read this summer txt) 📗

Chapter I

The Revolution Of 1830, Which Deprived charles The Tenth Of The Throne

Of France, Like All Other Great And Sudden Changes, Proved the Ruin Of

Many Individuals, More Especially Of Many Ancient Families Who Were

Attached to The Court, And Who Would Not Desert The Exiled monarch In

His Adversity. Among The Few Who Were Permitted to Share His Fortunes

Was My Father, A Noble Gentleman Of Burgundy, Who At A Former Period And

During a Former Exile, Had Proved his Unchangeable Faith And Attachment

To The Legitimate Owners Of The Crown Of France.

 

 

 

The Ancient Royal Residence Of Holyrood Having Been Offered, As A

Retreat, To His Unhappy Master, My Father Bade An Eternal Adieu To His

Country; And With Me, His Only Son, Then But Nine Years Of Age, Followed

In The Suite Of The Monarch, And Established himself In edinburgh.

 

 

 

Our Residence In scotland Was Not Long. Charles The Tenth Decided upon

Taking Up His Abode At Prague. My Father Went Before Him To Make The

Necessary Arrangements; And As Soon As His Master Was Established there,

He Sought By Travel To Forget His Griefs. Young As I Was, I Was His

Companion. Italy, Sicily, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, And The Holy Land Were

All Visited in the Course Of Three Years, After Which Time We Returned

To Italy; And Being Then Twelve Years Old, I Was Placed for My Education

In The Propaganda At Rome.

 

 

 

For An Exile Who Is Ardently Attached to His Country There Is No Repose.

Forbidden To Return To His Beloved france, There Was No Retreat Which

Could Make My Father Forget His Griefs, And He Continued as Restless And

As Unhappy As Ever.

 

 

 

Shortly After That I Had Been Placed in the Propaganda, My Father Fell

In With An Old Friend, A Friend Of His Youth, Whom He Had Not Met With

For Years, Once As Gay And As Happy As He Had Been, Now Equally

Suffering and Equally Restless. This Friend Was The Italian Prince

Seravalle, Who Also Had Drank Deep Of The Cup Of Bitterness. In his

Youth, Feeling Deeply The Decadence, Both Moral And Physical, Of His

Country, He Had Attempted to Strike A Blow To Restore It To Its Former

Splendour; He Headed a Conspiracy, Expended a Large Portion Of His

Wealth In pursuit Of His Object, Was Betrayed by His Associates, And For

Many Years Was Imprisoned by The Authorities In the Castle Of

San Angelo.

 

 

 

How Long His Confinement Lasted i Know Not, But It Must Have Been A Long

While, As In after-Times, When He Would Occasionally Revert To His

Former Life, All Incidents He Related were For Years "When He Was In his

Dungeon, Or In the Courtyard Prison Of The Capitol," Where Many Of His

Ancestors Had Dictated laws To Nations.

 

 

 

At Last The Prince Was Restored to Freedom, But Captivity Had Made No

Alteration In his Feelings Or Sentiments. His Love For His Country, And

His Desire For Its Regeneration, Were As Strong As Ever, And He Very

Soon Placed himself At The Head Of The Carbonari, A Sect Which, Years

Afterwards, Was Rendered illustrious By The Constancy And Sufferings Of

A Maroncelli, A Silvio Pellico, And Many Others.

 

 

 

The Prince Was Again Detected and Arrested, But He Was Not Thrown Into

Prison. The Government Had Been Much Weakened and The Well-Known

Opinions And Liberality Of The Prince Had Rendered him So Popular With

The Trasteverini, Or Northern Inhabitants Of The Tiber, That Policy

Forbade Either His Captivity Or Destruction. He Was Sentenced to Be

Banished for (I Think) Ten Years.

 

 

 

During His Long Banishment, The Prince Seravalle Wandered over Various

Portions Of The Globe, And At Last Found Himself In mexico. After A

Residence At Vera Cruz, He Travelled into The Interior, To Examine The

Remains Of The Ancient Cities Of The Western World; And Impelled by His

Thirst For Knowledge And Love Of Adventure, He At Last Arrived on The

Western Coast Of America, And Passing Through California, Fell In with

The Shoshones, Or Snake Indians, Occupying a Large Territory Extending

From The Pacific To Nearly The Feet Of The Rocky Mountains. Pleased

With The Manners And Customs And Native Nobility Of This Tribe Of

Indians, The Prince Remained with Them For A Considerable Time, And

Eventually Decided that He Would Return Once More To His Country, Now

That His Term Of Banishment Had Expired; Not To Resettle In an

Ungrateful Land, But To Collect His Property And Return To The

Shoshones, To Employ It For Their Benefit And Advancement.

 

 

 

There Was, Perhaps, Another Feeling, Even More Powerful, Which Induced

The Prince Seravalle To Return To The Indians With Whom He Had Lived so

Long. I Refer To The Charms And Attraction Which A Wild Life Offers To

The Man Of Civilization, More Particularly When He Has Discovered how

Hollow And Heartless We Become Under Refinement.

 

 

 

Not One Indian Who Has Been Brought Up At School, And Among The

Pleasures And Luxuries Of A Great City, Has Ever Wished to Make His

Dwelling among The Pale Faces; While, On The Contrary, Many Thousands Of

White Men, From The Highest To The Lowest Stations In civilization, Have

Embraced the Life Of The Savage, Remaining With And Dying among Them,

Although They Might Have Accumulated wealth, And Returned to Their

Own Country.

 

 

 

This Appears Strange, But It Is Nevertheless True. Any Intelligent

Traveller, Who Has Remained a Few Weeks In the Wigwams Of Well-Disposed

Indians, Will Acknowledge That The Feeling Was Strong Upon Him Even

During So Short A Residence. What Must It Then Be On Those Who Have

Resided with The Indians For Years?

 

 

 

It Was Shortly After The Prince'S Return To Italy To Fulfil His

Benevolent Intentions, That My Father Renewed his Old Friendship-A

Friendship Of Early Years, So Strong That Their Adverse Politics Could

Not Weaken It. The Prince Was Then At Leghorn; He Had Purchased a

Vessel, Loaded it With Implements Of Agriculture And Various Branches Of

The Domestic Arts; He Had Procured some Old Pieces Of Artillery, A Large

Quantity Of Carabines From Liege, Gunpowder, &C.; Materials For Building

A Good House, And A Few Articles Of Ornament And Luxury. His Large

Estates Were All Sold To Meet These Extraordinary Expenses. He Had Also

Engaged masons, Smiths, And Carpenters, And He Was To Be Accompanied by

Some Of His Former Tenants, Who Well Understood The Cultivation Of The

Olive-Tree And Vine.

 

 

 

It Was In the Autumn Of 1833 When He Was Nearly Ready To Start, That He

Fell In with My Father, Told Him His Adventures And His Future Plans,

And Asked him To Accompany Him. My Father, Who Was Tired and Disgusted

With Everything, _Blase Au Fond_, Met The Prince More Than Half-Way.

 

 

 

Our Property In france Had All Been Disposed of At A Great Sacrifice At

The Time Of The Revolution. All My Father Possessed was In money And

Jewels. He Resolved to Risk All, And To Settle With The Prince In this

Far-Distant Land. Several Additions Were Consequently Made To The Cargo

And To The Members Composing The Expedition.

 

 

 

Two Priests Had Already Engaged to Act As Missionaries. Anxious For My

Education, My Father Provided an Extensive Library, And Paid A Large Sum

To The Prior Of A Dominican Convent To Permit The Departure With Us Of

Another Worthy Man, Who Was Well Able To Superintend My Education. Two

Of The Three Religious Men Who Had Thus Formed our Expedition Had Been

Great Travellers, And Had Already Carried the Standard Of The Cross East

Of The Ganges In the Thibetian And Burman Empires.

 

 

 

In Order To Avoid Any Difficulties From The Government, The Prince

Seravalle Had Taken The Precaution To Clear The Vessel Out For

Guatemala, And The People At Leghorn Fully Believed that Such Was His

Object. But Guatemala And Acapulco Were Left A Long Way South Of Us

Before We Arrived at Our Destination.

 

 

 

At Last Everything Was Prepared. I Was Sent For From The Propaganda--The

Stock Of Wines, &C., Were The Last Articles Which Were Shipped, And The

_Esmeralda_ Started on Her Tedious; And By No Means Certain Voyage.

Chapter II

I Was Very Young Then--- Not Thirteen Years Old; But If I Was Young, I

Had Travelled much, And Had Gained that Knowledge Which Is To Be

Obtained by The Eye--Perhaps The Best Education We Can Have In our

Earlier Years. I Shall Pass Over The Monotony Of The Voyage Of Eternal

Sky And Water. I Have No Recollection That We Were In any Imminent

Danger At Any Time, And The Voyage Might Have Been Styled a

Prosperous One.

 

 

 

After Five Months We Arrived off The Coast, And With Some Difficulty We

Gained the Entrance Of A River Falling Into Trinity Bay, In lat. 41 Deg.

North And Long. 124 Deg. 28' West.

 

 

 

We Anchored about Four Miles Above The Entrance, Which Was On The Coast

Abreast Of The Shoshones' Territory, And Resorted to By Them On Their

Annual Fishing Excursions. In memory Of The Event, The River Was Named

By The Indians--"Nu Eleje Sha Wako;" Or, The Guide Of The Strangers.

 

 

 

For Many Weeks It Was A Strange And Busy Scene. The Prince Seravalle

Had, During His Former Residence With The Shoshones, Been Admitted into

Their Tribe As A Warrior And A Chief, And Now The Indians Flocked from

The Interior To Welcome Their Pale-Faced chief, Who Had Not Forgotten

His Red children. They Helped our Party To Unload The Vessel, Provided

Us With Game Of All Kinds, And Under The Directions Of The Carpenter,

They Soon Built A Large Warehouse To Protect Our Goods And Implements

From The Effect Of The Weather.

 

 

 

As Soon As Our Cargo Was Housed, The Prince And My Father, Accompanied

By The Chiefs And Elders Of The Tribe, Set Off On An Exploring Party, To

Select A Spot Fit For The Settlement. During Their Absence, I Was

Entrusted to The Care Of One Of The Chief'S Squaws, And Had Three

Beautiful Children For My Play-Mates. In three Weeks The Party Returned;

They Had Selected a Spot Upon The Western Banks Of The Buona Ventura

River, At The Foot Of A High Circular Mountain, Where Rocks Covered with

Indurated lava And Calcined sulphur, Proved the Existence Of Former

Volcanic Eruptions. The River Was Lined with Lofty Timber; Immense

Quarries Of Limestone Were Close At Hand, And The Minor Streams Gave Us

Clay Which Produced bricks Of An Excellent Quality.

 

 

 

The Spaniards Had Before Visited this Spot, And Had Given The Mountain

The Name Of St. Salvador; But Our Settlement Took The Indian Appellation

Of The Prince, Which Was--"Nanawa Ashta Jueri E;" Or, The Dwelling Of

The Great Warrior. As The Place Of Our Landing Was A Great Resort Of The

Indians During The Fishing Season, It Was Also Resolved that A Square

Fort And Store, With A Boat-House, Should Be Erected there; And For Six

Or Seven Months All Was Bustle And Activity, When An Accident Occurred

Which Threw A Damp Upon Our Exertions.

 

 

 

Although The Whole Country Abounds In cattle, And Some Other Tribes, Of

Which I Shall Hereafter Make Mention, Do Possess Them In large Herds,

The Shoshones Did Not Possess Any. Indeed, So Abundant Was The Game In

This Extensive Territory, That They Could Well Dispense With Them; But

As The Prince'S Ambition Was To Introduce Agriculture And More Domestic

Habits Among The Tribe, He Considered it Right That They Should Be

Introduced. He Therefore Despatched the _Esmeralda_ To Obtain Them

Either At Monterey Or Santa Barbara. But The Vessel Was Never More Heard

Of; The Mexicans Stated that They Had Perceived the Wreck Of A Vessel

Off Cape Mendocino, And It Was But Natural To Suppose That These Were

The Remains Of Our Unfortunate Brig.

 

 

 

All Hands On Board Perished, And The Loss Was Very Heavy To Us. The Crew

Consisted of The Captain, His Son, And Twelve Men; And There Were Also

On Board Five Of Our Household, Who Had Been Despatched upon Various

Commissions, Giuseppe Polidori, The Youngest Of Our Missionaries, One Of

Our Gunsmiths, One