Hashish: A Smuggler's Tale (18 page)

Since we had stopped in any case, I thought I might as well examine these great rocky plateaux which encumbered the sea in every direction, and which I had never been close to. I took the
pirogue
and set out. They were veritable gardens under the sea, pushed up to the surface for the moment. The strangest thing about them, however, was that their surface was covered with great tridacna, those enormous shells which pious sailors used to bring home to act as fonts in their village churches or the
chapels of their castles. Some of them were huge, measuring nearly three feet at the longest part. They were all half-open, letting the clear water wash over their inner mantles, on which the sun set curious shadows. Each one gave out a veritable glow of its own colour, as if the whole mollusc had been an electric lamp. There were shells of every shade from violet to dark red, but the colours most frequently seen were green, yellow and orange. As I glided silently in my
pirogue
over these submarine flower-beds, covered by about eighteen inches of water, I had the impression of moving over a very gaudy carpet. Every shell seemed to be the opening which led to the splendours of some fairy palace, and I believe that they must have inspired all those pretty legends told by sailors of old, of nymphs and meimaids which haunted grottoes of mother-of-pearl, jade and crystal. While I was dreaming of all these splendours and wonders which the imagination can create out of nothing, my men were thinking of something more practical. They took on board as many of the shells as possible, opened them and scooped out the flesh, which they hung in strips to dry in the sun. Alas, the enchanted palaces now looked like socks hung out to dry on washing day. Their beautiful phosphorescent lights had vanished.

During the night a land breeze came down, most exceptionally, from the mountains of Sinai; we who had just come from the burning tropics shivered under its chill caress. Although this wind was in our favour, we could not take advantage of it at once, for because of the rocks surrounding us we were obliged to wait until dawn. But this pretty east wind lasted all forenoon and took us up as far as Tor, a port in the neighbourhood of Sinai, which was a starting-point for pilgrimages to the Coptic monasteries. Really, when one looks at these lofty mountains, so arid and rocky, one can’t help wondering what possessed Moses to bring people here and make his laws in such a place. But the climate must have changed here too.

At noon the north-west wind established itself definitely, but no matter how violently it might blow, we could not loiter in anchorages any longer, we had lost a lot of time already and the 18th August was approaching. At all costs we must get on northwards. I could hardly hope to arrive in time, but at least I wanted to be as little late as possible. For four days and four nights we went from one side of the gulf to the other, tacking painfully, with the
boutre
constantly on her beam ends, in
spite of the fact that we changed the ballast over to the windward side every time in order to lessen the list so that I could keep all the sails spread to keep the
boutre
from drifting.

I was rash enough to pass over the Cheratib bank. There was quite enough water for our small vessel, but I did not know in what a witches’ dance the sea indulged when the north-west winds blew strongly, with the southern currents. For two hours I remained captive in this infernal spot, obliged to navigate with the lateen yard half-way up the mast to avoid smashing all the rigging. When we got out the
boutre
was leaking in a very alarming manner. We had to pump every hour, and each hour it took longer to empty her. Everybody listened in gloomy silence to the beating of the valve, and a general sigh of relief hailed the gurgling of the rose at the bottom of the hold. Seeing that the leak seemed to be getting worse, I thought it might be as well to find out where it was, and on examination I discovered that a piece of caulking-cord had been torn away, and the action of the water kept pulling more and more of it off, thus enlarging the leak. Once the hold was emptied, we could hear the water spurting in near the midship-beam. Just as this point there was a considerable weight of ballast consisting of a great coil of chain on which rested a two-hundred-litre barrel of water, the only one we had left. The ship was pitching so abominably that there could be no question of shifting this enormous weight. I steered for the shore. When a ship has sprung a leak, however small, instinctively one makes for land. I hoped, however, to find a sheltered place where we could try to shift the ballast. Of course I might have emptied the barrel, but where would we have got a fresh supply of water?

Under Cape Safrana the sea became calm and the wind seemed to slacken; when we were a cable’s length from shore I was able to lower the sails. For a few minutes Abdi had been busy preparing a sennet of oiled cotton; I realized what he wanted to do. First of all, a man dived and passed a rope under the ship. He attached it to each side about where we supposed the leak to be. Then Abdi muttered a prayer, took a deep breath, and dived with all his materials for caulking. The rope which had been passed under the keel supported him while he worked. After diving several times, he managed to stop up the whole length of the opening with his sennet of cotton. This was enough to keep out the water. We went out to sea again, a heavy load off our minds.

I was awakened during the following night by the crew, in a great state of excitement. A white light gleamed on the horizon before us, and from time to time a bright beam crossed the clouds. We had reached Suez. It was the 16th August; we had been thirty-six days at sea. I had promised Alexandros to be here on the 18th. As I have already said, I gave this date quite at random, in order to appear business-like, but really without having the slightest idea if I could keep the appointment. I don’t think he had taken me very seriously either, and yet here I would be exact to the minute. It was rather amusing.

Now that the end of the voyage was in sight I felt much more at ease. Up till now the constant worries of navigation, the ever-renewed wonders of these coasts I had not known before, had made me forget the practical aim of the voyage. But now I was obliged to turn my mind to it. The sporting side of the enterprise, the adventurous attraction it had had for me – all that faded into the background. Now for business. I had put my holy all into this speculation; these eight cases represented my entire fortune. If I failed it meant ruin. Good-bye to the sea and the open air, good-bye to the life of freedom I so loved. I should be obliged to accept the slavery of some dreary job and become a domestic animal. This prospect revived all my courage and energy, which had faltered a moment before the painful necessity of mixing with men who lived for filthy lucre, and fighting them with weapons I hated to use.

I thought of those Greek cafés of which I had had a glimpse at Suez, and of the bar at the Piraeus. It seemed to me now that all the men in them had had sinister and evil faces. Had I been dreaming, and would I have a painful awakening? The real dangers were now about to begin, and I feared them infinitely more than those of the perilous voyage I had just made. I should have to struggle now against cowardice, cupidity, trickery… a crooked fight amid the filth of a sewer.

At dawn the white lights of Suez faded before the golden glory of the sun, and the town suddenly appeared out of the desert in dazzling clearness. The mountains of Ataqa to the north-west of the bay turned to a vivid rose, and the gulf, smooth as a mirror in the calm of the transparent air, gleamed with delicate mother-of-pearl reflections under the fairy-like delicacy of the sunrise hues. Gradually sky and sea became blue, the land merely ochre, and the north wind began to blow.

At this moment I noticed a small white sail leaving the coast of Asia. A fishing-boat, I thought, which had been waiting for the wind. I was still more than thirty miles from Suez, and could see nothing clearly yet. The crew took it in turns to climb to the mast-head, each one wanting to be the first to have a good view of this town of which we had been speaking so long, the goal of our voyage, reached after so many struggles. I had decided long before that I would not go into the harbour with my cargo. Though I had passed through the customs at Kosseir, that was no guarantee against a visit from the customs at Suez. In all countries which have only a venéer of civilization, the officials imagine that they establish their prestige in making themselves as much of a nuisance as possible. So I thought I would imitate the turtles, find a deserted beach, and deposit my riches in the sand. The sail I had seen upset my plans; but for it I should have been near the coast already. The best thing to do was to let it pass; after that I should see. I hugged the wind in order to advance as slowly as possible until these tiresome fishermen should have disappeared.

But, alas, my
boutre
appeared to interest them, for they came nearer and nearer until they were only two cables’ length off. It was a simple bark with a lateen sail such as I had seen round the liners when we had called in at Suez. I could see the men squatting on the after-deck, their eyes fixed on us. There were six of them, all dressed in blue
guellabias
, with tight little white turbans on their heads. Then the bark continued towards the north-west, while I let my
boutre
bear away to get as far as possible in the opposite direction. When she was out of sight I steered for the coast of Asia. The wind was favourable, so I reckoned we should have time to deposit my cases somewhere before darkness fell.

Already the big petroleum tanks at Port Tewfik could be seen above the horizon, and soon the tops of the masts of the ships in the roads were outlined against the sky. Finally, the white town itself came into view. We had gone as far as was prudent. I steered due east. The coast of Asia was barely ten miles away; we should reach it in an hour and a half. Suddenly a multitude of white sails like a cloud of butterflies born by the wind appeared from the north. They were fishing-boats. Every day they left Suez about midday, as soon as the wind had steadied, and came down to fish on the shores of the gulf fifteen or twenty miles south of the town. In less than three-quarters of an hour they were opposite us, between us and the coast of Asia, and already several of them had lowered their sails and begun fishing. There was no use thinking any more of seeking a hiding-place on this coast. These fishers would not move before the next morning. If I was imprudent enough to start any manoeuvre which might attract their attention, they would realize that my
boutre
did not belong to the ordinary flotilla of Suez, and next day we should be the staple subject of conversation in all the native cafés frequented by sailors. So I had to go back to where I was. I steered westward in the direction which had been taken by the first boat we had seen that morning. I realized now that this vessel was not like those I had just seen. She differed in form and in tonnage, and her manoeuvres had been rather odd. These boats really were fishing-boats.

In these countries routine is a law; everything is done in accordance with changeless traditions. Originality is wholly unknown. This applies even to the fishing; each man does not fish according to his own ideas, but according to a local method followed by everybody. I had just had the proof of this in the great number of little boats which had all remained near the coast of Asia. So this solitary vessel had had other business than catching fish. While I fled westward, I reflected: Alexandros was expecting me on the 18th and it was now the 17th. Knowing that I was coming by sea with my precious cargo, he must be thinking that I should soon be putting in an appearance. Could I guess what plots might not have been hatched, if he had babbled to the
habitués
of those strange cafés he frequented? These idle people had all the time in the world to plot, for they did nothing else. They knew the country, they were in touch with accomplices all over the place, and if they knew my secret, I must seem a ludicrously easy prey.

In the end, I was quite sure that this ship had been sent to look out for me. But just why? She had undoubtedly been waiting for me, she had come close enough to identify me, and after taking a good look, she had disappeared. Had she gone to warn the coast-guards? No, that would be ridiculous and wouldn’t put anything in Alexandros’ pocket, for the reward given by the customs for information was on the scale of a thaler per
oke
of hashish captured, whereas if he bought my merchandise, he would have a profit of three or four pounds sterling per
oke
, that is twenty or thirty times as much. I went off into a long series of suppositions, each as absurd as the rest – a dangerous exercise because it induces auto-suggestion, and often leads to irreparable blunders. Here were the facts:

A bark had been watching for me and had just ascertained that I was in the gulf. That could not be altered. But this bark supposed that I had my merchandise on board; that I could change, and I should lose no time in doing it. I went on my way, making more or less for the north, so that from a distance I should seem to be heading for Suez, if, as was very probable, I was being watched. But as soon as darkness fell, I crowded on sail and dashed for the coast of Egypt. I did not know the first thing about the nature of this coast. I merely presumed it was deserted, at least at night.

After the fading of the twilight, a little young moon lingered in the sky, then vanished behind the great range of Ataqa and left us in darkness but for the stars. I kept sounding in order to know when we approached the shore, for we couldn’t make out the low-lying coast at the foot of the mountains. The water grew gradually shallower, and at ten feet we lowered the sails. All the manoeuvres were carried out in the most absolute silence. I had oiled all the pulleys so as to avoid the creaking and rattling which generally accompanies the lowering of sails. Ahmed’s exuberant nature caused him to make enthusiastic exclamations on every occasion, and it needed a resounding box on the ear to silence him. The anchor was cautiously lowered, it dipped under water, found the sand, and there we were motionless, in the midst of a dead calm. We were towing the
houri
after us. I had had it lowered that afternoon, as it is practically impossible to lower a boat silently. In it I embarked with Abdi and Ali Omar, the only two on whose coolness and courage I could absolutely rely. Abdi always ignored danger, and believed himself invulnerable
when he was with me. Ali Omar was genuinely brave, and used his courage with intelligence.