"Do you have any idea, Jack, how many alchemists are numbered among the ruling cla.s.ses of Christendom?"
"I"ve heard rumors."
"If a rumor got out among those people-kings, dukes, and princes-that the Island of Solomon had been discovered, and gold taken from there-not just any gold, mind you, but gold that came from the furnaces of King Solomon himself, and was very close to being the pure stuff of the Philosopher"s Stone and the Philosophick Mercury-I should think that it would excite a certain amount of interest. Wouldn"t you say?"
"If rumor got out, why, yes-"
"It always gets out," Enoch explained flatly. "Does this help to explain why so many great men are so very angry with you?"
"I never thought it wanted explanation. But now that you mention it..."
"Good. And I hope it also explains why I must go and see these Solomon Islands myself. If the legends are true, then Newton will want to know all about it. Even if they are nothing more than legends, those islands might be a good place for a man to go, if he wanted to get away from the world for a few years, or a few centuries...in any event, that is where I am bound."
The yo-yo came up sharply into Enoch"s palm and stopped.
THE SEA-VOYAGE FROM J j.a.pAN to Manila had in common with all other sea-voyages that it was all about lat.i.tudes. Van Hoek, Dappa, and several others aboard knew how to find their lat.i.tude by observing the sun"s position in the sky. The sun came out at least once a day and so they always had a good idea of which parallel they were at. But there was no way to reckon longitude. Accordingly, van Hoek"s charts and records of Hazards to Navigation tended to be organized by lat.i.tude. Along certain parallels they had nothing to worry about, because in this part of the world (according to the doc.u.ments) no reefs or islands existed there. But along certain other parallels, hazards had been discovered, and so whenever to Manila had in common with all other sea-voyages that it was all about lat.i.tudes. Van Hoek, Dappa, and several others aboard knew how to find their lat.i.tude by observing the sun"s position in the sky. The sun came out at least once a day and so they always had a good idea of which parallel they were at. But there was no way to reckon longitude. Accordingly, van Hoek"s charts and records of Hazards to Navigation tended to be organized by lat.i.tude. Along certain parallels they had nothing to worry about, because in this part of the world (according to the doc.u.ments) no reefs or islands existed there. But along certain other parallels, hazards had been discovered, and so whenever Minerva Minerva was found to be in such lat.i.tudes the mood of the ship changed, sail was reduced, lookouts added, soundings taken. They might have been a hundred miles due east or due west of the Hazard in question; not having any idea of their longitude, there was simply no telling. Since the voyage from j.a.pan to Manila was a north-to-south one, their degree of lat.i.tude, and their degree of anxiety, were changing every moment. was found to be in such lat.i.tudes the mood of the ship changed, sail was reduced, lookouts added, soundings taken. They might have been a hundred miles due east or due west of the Hazard in question; not having any idea of their longitude, there was simply no telling. Since the voyage from j.a.pan to Manila was a north-to-south one, their degree of lat.i.tude, and their degree of anxiety, were changing every moment.
Other than reefs and islands, the chief hazards were typhoons, and the kingdom of Corsairs who had wrested Formosa from the Dutch some years previously, and through whose waters they had to sail in order to reach Luzon. On this voyage both of those hazards struck on the same day: Corsairs sighted them and fell into an intercept course, but before they could close with Minerva, Minerva, the weather began to alter in ways that suggested an approaching typhoon. The Corsairs broke off the pursuit and turned their energies to survival. By this point the weather began to alter in ways that suggested an approaching typhoon. The Corsairs broke off the pursuit and turned their energies to survival. By this point Minerva Minerva had ridden out several such storms, and her officers and crew knew how it was done; van Hoek could make educated guesses as to how the direction of the wind would change over the course of the next two days, and how its strength would vary according to their distance from its center. By setting some storm-sails and managing the tiller personally, he was able to arrange it so that they were not driven against the isle of Formosa. Instead the typhoon flung them out to the south and east, into the Philippine Sea, which was deep water with no obstructions. Later, when the weather cleared and they could shoot the sun again, they sought out a particular lat.i.tude (19 45" N) and followed that parallel west for two hundred miles until they had pa.s.sed through the Balintang Channel, which separated some groups of small islands north of Luzon. Turning to the south then, they made way with great care until the hills and headlands of Ilocos-the northwestern corner of Luzon-came into view. had ridden out several such storms, and her officers and crew knew how it was done; van Hoek could make educated guesses as to how the direction of the wind would change over the course of the next two days, and how its strength would vary according to their distance from its center. By setting some storm-sails and managing the tiller personally, he was able to arrange it so that they were not driven against the isle of Formosa. Instead the typhoon flung them out to the south and east, into the Philippine Sea, which was deep water with no obstructions. Later, when the weather cleared and they could shoot the sun again, they sought out a particular lat.i.tude (19 45" N) and followed that parallel west for two hundred miles until they had pa.s.sed through the Balintang Channel, which separated some groups of small islands north of Luzon. Turning to the south then, they made way with great care until the hills and headlands of Ilocos-the northwestern corner of Luzon-came into view.
At that moment the character of the voyage changed. Three hundred miles separated them from the point of Mariveles at the entrance to Manila Bay, and it would all be coastal sailing, which meant contending with weak and fickle winds, and taking frequent soundings, and dropping anchor at night lest they run aground on some unseeable hazard in the dark. Some days they made no progress whatever, owing to contrary winds-by day, they traded with locals for fresh fruit and meat brought out in long dual-outrigger boats, and by night they patrolled Minerva Minerva"s decks with loaded blunderbusses, waiting for those same locals to steal out in the same boats and creep over the gunwales with knives in their teeth.
At any rate, ten days of this sort of travel brought them, late one afternoon, to the point of Mariveles, where several rocks projected from the surf like daggers. The garrison on the nearby island of Corregidor caught sight of Minerva Minerva around sunset and lit some fires to prevent her from running aground. By triangulating against these they were able to bring the ship gingerly around the south side of the island and drop anchor in the bay there. The next morning the Spanish ensign in command of the garrison came out on a longboat for an hour"s visit; they knew him thoroughly, as around sunset and lit some fires to prevent her from running aground. By triangulating against these they were able to bring the ship gingerly around the south side of the island and drop anchor in the bay there. The next morning the Spanish ensign in command of the garrison came out on a longboat for an hour"s visit; they knew him thoroughly, as Minerva Minerva had pa.s.sed this way a dozen or so times on her triangular voyages among Manila, Macao, and Queena-Kootah. He gave them the latest jokes and gossip from Manila and they gave him some packets of spices and a few trinkets they"d picked up in j.a.pan. had pa.s.sed this way a dozen or so times on her triangular voyages among Manila, Macao, and Queena-Kootah. He gave them the latest jokes and gossip from Manila and they gave him some packets of spices and a few trinkets they"d picked up in j.a.pan.
They weighed anchor and sailed across Manila Bay. The Spanish castle on the point of Cavite came into view first, and later they could make out, beyond it, the bell-towers and fortifications of Manila, and a thicket of masts and spars, shot through with furling silk banners, around the outlet of the Pasig River. It was the expectation of most aboard that they would make direct for there. But as they weathered the point of Cavite and entered into calmer water in the lee of the castle, van Hoek ordered most of the sails taken in. A banca banca-a sort of longboat hewn from the trunk of a single colossal tree-came toward them, and as it drew closer, Jack was able to recognize Moseh and Surendranath, who had stayed behind to settle some business affairs, and Jimmy and Danny, who had been acting as their bodyguards. One by one these men clambered up the pilot"s ladder and joined their brethren on the upperdeck. Moseh and Surendranath went back into van Hoek"s wardroom to confer with the captain and the other chief men of the enterprise. Jack could have partic.i.p.ated in this meeting but declined to because he could tell from the look on Moseh"s face that it had all gone more or less well, and that their next voyage would be eastbound.
This was the innermost harbor of Manila Bay: a hammock-shaped anchorage slung between two points of land several miles apart, each of which had been built up into a fortress by the Spaniards, or rather by their Tagalian minions, during the century and a half that they had held sway over these islands. The closer of the two forts, just off their starboard, was Cavite: a conventional square, four-bastioned castle thrust out into the water on a slender neck of land, so that the bay served as its moat. A ditch had been dug across that neck so that the landward approach could be controlled by a drawbridge. This ditch was situated at some distance from the castle proper, and the intervening s.p.a.ce had been covered with buildings: a crowd of cane houses with more substantial wood-frame dwellings rising out of it from place to place, and three stone churches that had been erected, or were being erected, by various Popish religious orders.
The opposite end of the harbor was the city of Manila proper. The Spaniards had taken a small peninsula framed on one side by the Bay and on two others by rivers: the Pasig, and a welter of p.i.s.sant tributaries that joined the Pasig just short of where it emptied into the Bay. They had enclosed this peninsula in a modern sort of slope-sided wall, a couple of miles in circuit, and erected n.o.ble bulwarks and demilunes at its corners, rendering it impregnable to land a.s.sault by Dutch, Chinese, or native legions. The outlet of the Pasig was dominated by a considerable fortress whose guns commanded the river, the Bay, and certain troublesome ethnic barangays barangays across the river. across the river.
From this point of view-or any point of view, for that matter-it did not look like a fabled citadel of inconceivable wealth. If the Spaniards had built Manila anywhere else, her church-spires and watch-towers would have reached into the clouds. As it was, even the n.o.blest buildings hugged the ground and had a stoop-shouldered look about them, because they had learned the hard way that anything more than two storeys high, and built of stone, would be brought down by an earthquake while the mortar was scarcely dry. So as Jack stood there on Minerva Minerva"s deck he perceived Manila as something very dark, low, and heavy, and overlaid with smoke and humidity, softened only a little by the high coconut palms that lined her sh.o.r.e.
This was just the sort of weather that culminated in a bracing thunder-shower-a fact Minerva Minerva"s crew knew well, for Manila had been their home port for most of the three years since the ship had made her maiden voyage out of Malabar, and at any rate half the crew had grown up along the sh.o.r.es of this bay. They also knew that this bay offered no protection from north winds, and that a big ship like Minerva Minerva would be cast away if she were caught between Cavite and Manila when the wind shifted round that way; she would run a-ground in the shallows and fall prey to Tagalians who would come out in their tree-trunk boats and Chinese would be cast away if she were caught between Cavite and Manila when the wind shifted round that way; she would run a-ground in the shallows and fall prey to Tagalians who would come out in their tree-trunk boats and Chinese sangley sangley s who would come out in their sampans to salvage her. So instead of being boisterous, as one might reasonably expect of sailors who"d just made a perilous and improbable voyage to j.a.pan and back, they were solemn as monks on Sunday, and angrily shushed anyone who raised his voice. Malabaris had suspended themselves in the ratlines like spiders in webs and were hanging there motionless with eyes half closed and mouths half open, waiting for meaningful stirrings in the air. s who would come out in their sampans to salvage her. So instead of being boisterous, as one might reasonably expect of sailors who"d just made a perilous and improbable voyage to j.a.pan and back, they were solemn as monks on Sunday, and angrily shushed anyone who raised his voice. Malabaris had suspended themselves in the ratlines like spiders in webs and were hanging there motionless with eyes half closed and mouths half open, waiting for meaningful stirrings in the air.
The sky and air were all white, and of a uniform brightness, so that it was impossible to get even a general notion of where the sun might be. According to the hour-gla.s.ses they used to keep track of watches, it must be an hour or so before sunset. The whole bay was as still and hushed as Minerva Minerva"s upperdeck; the only noise, therefore, came from the vast shipyard that spread along the sh.o.r.e below the sullen a.r.s.enal of Cavite. There five hundred Filipino slaves were at work under the whips and guns of helmeted Spaniards, constructing the largest ship Jack had ever seen. Which, considering the places he had been, meant that it was very likely the largest ship the world had seen since Noah"s Ark had run a-ground on a mountain-top and been broken up for firewood.
Piled on the sh.o.r.e in pyramids were the stripped boles of giant trees that these Filipinos, or others in the same predicament, had cut down in the bat-infested jungles that crowded in along the sh.o.r.es of Laguna de Bay (a great lake just inland of Manila) and floated in rafts down the Pasig. Some of the workers were cutting these into beams and planks. But the great ship was close to being finished and so the demand for huge timbers was not what it had been months ago when the keel and frames had stood out like stiff fingers against the sky. Most of the laborers were concerned with finer matters now: making cables (indeed, Manila made the finest cordage in the world), caulking joints between hull-planks, and doing finish carpentry on the cabins where the most ambitious merchants of the South Seas would dwell for most of the next year, or drown within weeks, depending on how it went.
"Dad, either my eyes play tricks, or else you"ve finally traded in that Mahometan spadroon for proper proper armaments," said Daniel Shaftoe, eyeing the armaments," said Daniel Shaftoe, eyeing the katana katana and and wakizashi wakizashi of Gabriel Goto, thrust into Jack"s belt. of Gabriel Goto, thrust into Jack"s belt.
"I"ve been trying to grow accustomed to "em," Jack allowed, "but it"s all for naught. One-handed is how I learned to fight, and it"s all I"ll ever know. I wear these to honor Goto-san, but when next I venture into some place where I might need to do some defensing, defensing, it"s the Janissary-sword I"ll be wearing." it"s the Janissary-sword I"ll be wearing."
"Aw, it ain"t that hard, Dad," said Jimmy, coming up to shoulder past his brother. "By the time we reach Acapulco we"ll have you swingin" that katana katana like a Samurai." Jimmy patted the hilt of a j.a.panese sword, and now Jack noticed that Danny was armed in the same manner. like a Samurai." Jimmy patted the hilt of a j.a.panese sword, and now Jack noticed that Danny was armed in the same manner.
"Been broadening your horizons?"
"Manila is better than the "varsity, "varsity," Danny proclaimed, "as long as you remain a step ahead o" that pesky Spanish Inquisition Spanish Inquisition..."
"From the fact that Moseh is still alive, and has all his fingernails, I"m guessing you succeeded there."
"We fulfilled our obligations," Jimmy said hotly. "We took lodgings on the edge of the barangay barangay of the j.a.panese Christians-" of the j.a.panese Christians-"
"-an orderly place-" Danny offered "Perhaps a bit too too orderly," Jimmy said. "But we were hard up against the wicker walls of the orderly," Jimmy said. "But we were hard up against the wicker walls of the sangley sangley neighborhood, which is a perpetual riot, and so whenever the Inquisitors came after us we withdrew into that place for a while, and kept a sharp eye on one another"s backs until such time as Moseh could settle the matter." neighborhood, which is a perpetual riot, and so whenever the Inquisitors came after us we withdrew into that place for a while, and kept a sharp eye on one another"s backs until such time as Moseh could settle the matter."
"I did not appreciate that Moseh had any such influence with the Sons of Torquemada," Jack said.
"Moseh has let it be known, to a few of the Spaniards, what we are planning," said Danny. "Suddenly those Spaniards are our friends."
"They call off the Inquisitor"s dogs whenever Moseh lets out a squawk," Jimmy said airily.
"I wonder what their friendship will cost us," Jack said.
"They"d be more expensive as enemies, Dad," Danny said, and in his voice was a confidence that Jack had not felt about anything in about twenty years.
The teak deck was changing color from a weathered iron-gray to a warmer hue, almost as if a fire had been kindled belowdecks and was trying to burn its way through. Jack looked away toward the exit of the bay, and saw the cause: The sun, now a hand"s breath above the horizon, had bored a hole through the miasma of vapor over the bay. Wisps and banks that still lurked in pockets of shade and stagnant coves round the foundations of the a.r.s.enal were fleeing from its sudden heat like smoke driven before a gust. For all that, the air was still. But a faint rumble prompted Jack to turn around and look east. Manila stood out in the clear now, her walls and bastions glowing in the sunlight as if they had been hewn out of amber and lit from behind by fire. The mountains behind the city were visible, which was a rare event. By comparison with them, the highest works of the Spaniards were low and flat as paving-stones. But those mountains in turn were humbled by phantasmic interlocking cloud-formations that were incarnating themselves in the limitless skies above, somewhat as if the personages and beasts of the Constellations had become fed up with being depicted in scatterings of faint stars, and had decided to come down out of the cosmos and clothe themselves in the stuff of typhoons. But they seemed to be having a dispute as to which would claim the most gorgeous and brilliant vapors, and the argument showed every sign of becoming a violent one. No lightning had struck the ground yet, and the cataracts of rain shed by some clouds were swallowed by others before they descended to the plane of the mountain-tops.
Jack altered his focus to the yards of Minerva, Minerva, which compared to all of this were like broom-straws tangled together in a gutter. The men of the current watch were quietly making ready to be hit. Below, the head men of what had formerly been the Cabal had emerged from van Hoek"s cabin and were moving forward. Some of them, such as Dappa and Monsieur Arlanc, had gone to the trouble of changing into gentlemanly clothes: breeches, hose, and leather shoes had been broken out of foot-lockers. Vrej Esphahnian and van Hoek were wearing actual periwigs and tri-cornered hats. which compared to all of this were like broom-straws tangled together in a gutter. The men of the current watch were quietly making ready to be hit. Below, the head men of what had formerly been the Cabal had emerged from van Hoek"s cabin and were moving forward. Some of them, such as Dappa and Monsieur Arlanc, had gone to the trouble of changing into gentlemanly clothes: breeches, hose, and leather shoes had been broken out of foot-lockers. Vrej Esphahnian and van Hoek were wearing actual periwigs and tri-cornered hats.
Van Hoek stopped just in front of the mainmast, at the edge of the quarterdeck, which loomed above the broadest part of the upperdeck like a balcony over a plaza. Most of the ship"s complement had gathered there, and those who couldn"t find room, or who were too short to see over their fellows" heads, had ascended to the forecastledeck whence they could look aft and meet van Hoek"s eye from the same level. The sailors had grouped themselves according to color so that they could hear translations: the largest two groups were the Malabaris and the Filipinos, but there were Malays, Chinese, several Africans from Mozambique by way of Goa, and a few Gujaratis. Several of the ship"s officers were Dutchmen who had come out with Jan Vroom. To look after the cannons they had rounded up a French, a Bavarian, and a Venetian artilleryman from the rabble of mercenaries that hung around Shahjahanabad. Finally there were the surviving members of the Cabal: van Hoek, Dappa, Monsieur Arlanc, Padraig Tallow, Jack Shaftoe, Moseh de la Cruz, Vrej Esphahnian, and Surendranath. When Jimmy and Danny Shaftoe were added, the number came to a hundred and five. Of these, some twenty were active in the rigging, readying the ship for weather.
Jack ascended the stairs to the quarterdeck and took up a position behind van Hoek, among the other share-holders. As he turned round to look out over the upperdeck-facing in the general direction of Manila-one of those constellation-G.o.ds in the sky above the city, furious because he had ended up in possession of nothing more than a few shredded rags of dim gray-indigo stuff, flung a thunderbolt horizontally into the mid-section of a rival, who was dressed in incandescent coral and green satin. The distance between them must have been twenty miles. It seemed as if a sudden crack had spanned a quarter of Heaven"s vault, allowing infinitely more brilliant light to shine through it, for an instant, from some extremely well-illuminated realm beyond the known universe. It was just as well that the crew were facing the other way-though some of them noticed startled expressions on the faces of the worthies on the quarterdeck, and swiveled their heads to see what was the matter. They saw nothing except a blade of rain sinking into the black jungle beyond Manila.
"It must have been Yevgeny, throwing a coelestial Harpoon, to remind van Hoek that brevity is a virtue," Jack said, and those who had known Yevgeny chuckled nervously.
"We have lived through another voyage," van Hoek announced, "and if this were a Christian ship I would take my hat off and say a prayer of thanksgiving. But as it is a ship of no one particular faith, I shall keep my hat on until I can say my prayers alone later. Go you all to your temples, paG.o.das, shrines, and churches in Manila this night and do likewise."
There was a general muttering of a.s.sent as this was translated. Minerva Minerva had no fewer than three cooks, and three completely different sets of pots. The only group who did not have their own were the Christians, who, when it came to food, would balk at nothing. had no fewer than three cooks, and three completely different sets of pots. The only group who did not have their own were the Christians, who, when it came to food, would balk at nothing.
"Never again will this group of men be all together in one place," said van Hoek. "Enoch Root has already bid us farewell. Within a fortnight Surendranath and some of you Malabaris will set sail for Queena-Kootah on the brig Kottakkal Kottakkal so that the rightful share of our profits may be conveyed to the Queen of the same name. In time Padraig will join them. He, Surendranath, and Mr. Foot will pursue happiness in the South Seas while the rest of us journey onwards. You sailors will disperse into Manila tonight. Some of you will return to this ship in one month"s time to prepare on our great voyage. Others will think better of it." so that the rightful share of our profits may be conveyed to the Queen of the same name. In time Padraig will join them. He, Surendranath, and Mr. Foot will pursue happiness in the South Seas while the rest of us journey onwards. You sailors will disperse into Manila tonight. Some of you will return to this ship in one month"s time to prepare on our great voyage. Others will think better of it."
Van Hoek now yanked out his cutla.s.s and aimed it at the t.i.tanic ship that was being finished before the a.r.s.enal of Cavite. "Behold!" he proclaimed. All heads turned toward the mountainous galleon, but only for a moment; then attention turned to the weather. A wind had finally been summoned up, and it came from the east but showed signs of swinging round to the north. But the watch had a sail ready on the maintop, and they raised it now and let the wind bite into it, and trimmed it so as to bring Minerva Minerva about and convey her toward deeper waters in the center of the bay. about and convey her toward deeper waters in the center of the bay.
"A great ship for a great voyage," van Hoek said, referring to the Spanish behemoth. "That is the Manila Galleon, and soon it will be laden with all the silks of China and spices of India and it will sail out of this bay and commence a voyage of seven months, crossing half of the terraqueous globe. When the Philippines fall away to aft her anchors will be brought up and stowed in the nethermost part of her hold, because for more than half a year they"ll not see a speck of dry land, and anchors will be as much use to her as bilge-pumps on an ox-cart. Northward she"ll sail, as far north as j.a.pan, until she reaches a certain lat.i.tude-known only to the Spaniards-where trade winds blow due east, and where there are no isles or reefs to catch them unawares in mid-ocean. Then they"ll run before the wind and pray for rain, lest they die of thirst and wash up on the sh.o.r.es of California, a ghost-ship crowded with parched skeletons. Sometimes those trade-winds will falter, and they"ll drift aimlessly for a day, then two days, then a week, until a typhoon comes up from the south, or Arctic blasts come down out of the polar regions and freeze them with a chill compared to which what made us shiver and chafe so in j.a.pan is as balmy as a maiden"s breath against your cheek. They will run out of food, and wealthy Epicureans, after they"ve eaten their own shoes and the leathern covers of their Bibles, will kneel in their cabins and send up delirious prayers for G.o.d to send them just one of the moldy crusts that earlier in the voyage they threw away. Gums will shrivel away from teeth, which will fall out until they must be swept off the deck like so many hailstones."
This similitude was apparently improvised by van Hoek, for a barrage of pea-sized hail had just sprayed out of a low swirling cloud and speckled the deck. All hands looked at the hail and dutifully imagined teeth. A gust came across the water, decapitating a thousand whitecaps and flinging their spray sideways through the air; it caught them upside their heads, and in the same instant the sail popped like a musket-shot and the whole structure of the ship heaved and groaned from the impact. A rope burst and began thrashing about on the deck like a living thing as the tension bled out of it and its lays came undone. But then this momentary squall subsided and they found themselves working into a bl.u.s.tery north wind, across the darkling bay. The sun had plunged meteorically into the South China Sea, and its light was now overmatched by the lightning over Manila, which had merged into a continuous blue radiance that a person could almost read by.
"One day, long after they"ve given up hope, one of these wretches-one of the few who can still stand-will be up on deck, throwing corpses over the rail, when he"ll see something afloat in the water below: a sc.r.a.p of seaweed, no bigger than my finger. Not a thing you or I would take any note of-but to them, as miraculous as a visitation by an angel! There"ll be a lot of praying and hymn-singing on that day. But it will all end in cruel disappointment, for no more seaweed will be observed that day, or the next, or the next. Another week they"ll sail-nothing! Nothing to do but run before the wind, and try with all their might to resist the temptation to cannibalize the bodies of the dead. By that point the most saintly Dominican brothers aboard will forget their prayers, and curse their own mothers for having borne them. And then another week of the same! But finally the seaweed will appear-not just a single bit of it, but two, then three. This will signify that they are off the coast of California, which is an island belted all around with such weeds."
Jack noticed at about this time, that the blue-green light had grown much brighter, and had become steady and silent as if some eldritch Neptunian sun had risen out of the water, casting light but no warmth. Fighting a powerful instinctive reluctance, he forced himself to look up into the spars and rigging of the mainmast. Every bit of it-every splinter of wood and fiber of cordage-was aglow with crackling radiance, as if it had been dipped in phosphorus. It was a sight worthy of a good long look, but Jack made himself look down at the crowd on the quarterdeck instead. He saw a pool of upturned faces, teeth and eyes a-gleam, a well of souls gazing up in wonder.
"First "twas Yevgeny-now Enoch Root is putting in his tuppence worth," he joked, but if anyone did so much as chuckle, the sound was swallowed up in the susurration of waves against the hull. Van Hoek turned and glanced at Jack for a moment, then squared off again to continue his terrible Narration. The weird Fire of Saint Elmo had crawled down the mast to dance round the fringes of his tri-cornered hat, and even the curls of his goat-hair wig had become infected by sparks that buzzed and rustled as if alive. The individual hairs of that long-dead goat were now re-animated as if by some voudoun voudoun chaunt, and began trying to get away from each other, which entailed straightening and spreading out-wards. The quivering tip of each hair was defended by a nasty corona. chaunt, and began trying to get away from each other, which entailed straightening and spreading out-wards. The quivering tip of each hair was defended by a nasty corona.
Van Hoek paid it no mind; if he was even aware of it, he evidently saw it as a way to add emphasis to his words. "Yet their ordeal is not finished, but only takes a different form; now they must endure the torment of Tantalus, for that land of milk and honey is the domain of savages, and no victuals are to be found on her sh.o.r.es-only sudden and violent death. Now they must sail for many long days down that coast, moving ever southeastward, making occasional desperate forays on to the land to scavenge fresh water or game. Finally one day they spy a Spanish watch-tower glowering down upon "em from a stony mountain-top above the sea. Signals are exchanged, letting those on the ship know that riders have been sent out, galloping down the King"s Highway to the City of Mexico to spread the news that this year"s Manila Galleon has not been cast away or sunk in a storm but, mirabile dictu, mirabile dictu, has survived. Several days more and then a Spanish town comes into view. Boats come out bearing the first fruit and vegetables that these travelers will have eaten in half a year. But, too, they bring tidings that both French and English pirates have rounded Cape Horn and are prowling the coast-many dangerous miles still separate them from their destination of Acapulco..." has survived. Several days more and then a Spanish town comes into view. Boats come out bearing the first fruit and vegetables that these travelers will have eaten in half a year. But, too, they bring tidings that both French and English pirates have rounded Cape Horn and are prowling the coast-many dangerous miles still separate them from their destination of Acapulco..."
The Saint Elmo"s Fire was dying down now, and the miraculous pocket of calm in which they had drifted for the last several minutes was giving way to something a bit more like a thunderstorm. A big roller got under the hull, and the faces on the upperdeck undulated like a field of grain as every man sought his balance.
"As I said, we will be departing a few weeks after the Galleon, and we require sailors..." van Hoek began.
"Er, excuse me there, Cap"n," Jack said, "your description of the voyage"s terrors was most affecting, and I"m sure every man jack has s.h.i.ted his breeches now...but you have forgotten to include any countervailing countervailing material. Having aroused the material. Having aroused the fear, fear, you must now stimulate the you must now stimulate the avarice, avarice, of these sailors or else they will jump overboard and of these sailors or else they will jump overboard and swim swim to sh.o.r.e right now, and will to sh.o.r.e right now, and will never never enlist again." enlist again."
Van Hoek now got a contemptuous look which Jack was only able to see with the help of a convenient triple lightning bolt. "You sorely underestimate their intelligence, sir. It is not necessary to come out and state everything everything so directly. A well-formed Narration says as much by what is left so directly. A well-formed Narration says as much by what is left out out of it as by what is put of it as by what is put in in."
"Then perhaps you should have left more out out. I have some experience in matters theatrickal, theatrickal, sir," Jack said, "which is applicable here insofar as this quarterdeck resembles nothing so much as a stage, and sir," Jack said, "which is applicable here insofar as this quarterdeck resembles nothing so much as a stage, and those, those, to my eye-notwithstanding your very generous estimate of their intelligence-look like nothing so much as groundlings, knee-deep in hazelnut sh.e.l.ls and gin-bottles, waiting- to my eye-notwithstanding your very generous estimate of their intelligence-look like nothing so much as groundlings, knee-deep in hazelnut sh.e.l.ls and gin-bottles, waiting-begging-to be hit over their heads with some direct and unambiguous message. message."
A lightning-bomb detonated over Manila.
"There is your message," van Hoek said pointing toward the city, "and your groundlings will go into it tonight, and dwell in that Message for the next two months. You have dwelt there, too, Jack-did the Message not reach your ears?"
"I may have heard faint whisperings-could you amplify amplify it?" it?"
"Of all the enterprises to which a man can devote his energies," van Hoek began grudgingly, raising his voice, "long-distance trade is the most profitable. It is what every Jew, Puritan, Dutchman, Huguenot, Armenian, and Banyan aspires to-it is what built the Navies and palaces of Europe, the Court of the Great Mogul in Shahjahanabad, and many other prodigies besides. And yet in the world of trade, it is common knowledge that no circuit-not the slave trade of the Caribbean, not the spice trade of the Indies-exceeds the Manila-to-Acapulco run in sheer profit. The wealthiest Banyans in Surat and bankers in Genoa lay their perfumed heads on silken pillows at night, and dream of sending a few bales of cargo across the Pacific on the Manila Galleon. Even with all the dangers, and the swingeing duty that must be sh.e.l.led out to the Viceroy, the profits never fall below four hundred percent. That That city is founded upon such dreams, Jack. We are all going to go there now." city is founded upon such dreams, Jack. We are all going to go there now."
Van Hoek finally shut up at this point, and in the silence that followed he realized that, down below him on the upperdeck, his rant was being dutifully translated into diverse heathen tongues. The translators took more or less time to relate it, depending on the wordiness of their several languages and how much they edited out or how freely they embellished. But when the last of them finally wound up his oration, a light pattering started up. Jack flinched, thinking it was more hail. But then it grew into a heavy, stomping roar, and he recognized it as applause. Dappa thrust both index fingers into his mouth and emitted a piercing noise. Van Hoek seemed startled at first; then understanding dawned, and he turned to Jack, removed his hat, and bowed.
Book 5
The Juncto
Berlin JANUARY 1700.
At bottom, all our experience a.s.sures us of only two things, namely, that there is a connection among our appearances, which provides us the means to predict future appearances with success, and that this connection must have a constant cause.-LEIBNIZ G. W. Leibniz, President G. W. Leibniz, President Berlin Academy Berlin Academy Berlin, Prussia Berlin, Prussia To Mr. Daniel Waterhouse, Chancellor To Mr. Daniel Waterhouse, Chancellor Ma.s.sachusetts Bay Inst.i.tute of Technologickal Arts Ma.s.sachusetts Bay Inst.i.tute of Technologickal Arts Newtowne, Ma.s.sachusetts Bay Colony Newtowne, Ma.s.sachusetts Bay Colony Dear Daniel, Dear Daniel, The appearance of your letter on the doorstop of my Academy brought unlooked-for cheer to an otherwise frosty Berlin day, which developed into pleasure when I read that your Inst.i.tute now has a roof over its head, and joy when you expressed your continued desire to collaborate with me. I confess that when two years pa.s.sed without word from you, I thought you had been killed by Indians or hanged for a witch! The appearance of your letter on the doorstop of my Academy brought unlooked-for cheer to an otherwise frosty Berlin day, which developed into pleasure when I read that your Inst.i.tute now has a roof over its head, and joy when you expressed your continued desire to collaborate with me. I confess that when two years pa.s.sed without word from you, I thought you had been killed by Indians or hanged for a witch!Much has happened since we last exchanged letters. You have probably noticed that I have a new address (Berlin) and what is more, it is in a new kingdom (Prussia). The monarch you knew by the name Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg is now called King Frederick I of Prussia. He is the same chap, still joyfully married to the same Sophie Charlotte, living in and ruling from the same palace that he built for her in Berlin, but he has (through machinations that would only disfigure this letter) persuaded the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna (still Leopold I, in case you have not been keeping up) to suffer him to use the t.i.tle of King. His family (the Hohenzollerns) have been the Dukes of Prussia as well as Electors of Brandenburg for so many generations that it made sense to merge the two countries. The result is called Prussia but still ruled out of Brandenburg.Sophie is as vigorous and crafty as always. She and her daughter have deemed it unwise to give the appearance of being too close, as this would give the idea, to friends and foes alike, that Sophie was now controlling an immense German state stretching from Konigsberg in the east almost all the way west to the Rhine. For various reasons she prefers to seem instead like a contented elderly widow; so she lets her son George Louis think that he rules Hanover, and she travels to Berlin only occasionally, to pinch the cheeks of her grandchildren and put on a great show of harmlessness.I shuttle back and forth between Hanover and Berlin all the time, to the point where the more b.l.o.o.d.y-minded Berlin courtiers were beginning to whisper that I must be acting as a secret conduit for Sophie"s influence. The problem being that I could not point to any official reason why I should be in Berlin so frequently. The real reasons (to have interesting conversations with Sophie Charlotte and her brilliant circle of friends, and to tutor Princess Caroline) are scoffed at by that sort of person.Hence the Berlin Academy, of which I am the first president. It seems like the sort of inst.i.tution that a King ought to found (the fashion having been established, of course, by your Charles II with his Royal Society) and so doing it makes Frederick"s new t.i.tle seem that much more richly deserved. And being its president gives me an excuse to be in Berlin whenever I wish.And it is well that I have something something to belong to other than the Royal Society! By now you have probably received copies of the dreadful publications of last year: volume three of Wallis"s work, in which my twenty-five-year-old correspondence with Newton is exposed to the whole world, and made to seem like something other than what it really was, and Fatio"s to belong to other than the Royal Society! By now you have probably received copies of the dreadful publications of last year: volume three of Wallis"s work, in which my twenty-five-year-old correspondence with Newton is exposed to the whole world, and made to seem like something other than what it really was, and Fatio"s Lineae Brevissimi Descensus, Lineae Brevissimi Descensus, which is yet another bitter a.s.sault on me. A school of thought seems to be developing, according to which I had no inkling of the calculus until I stole the whole thing from Newton around 1677. Apparently my years of toil in Paris under the tutelage of Huygens count for nothing! which is yet another bitter a.s.sault on me. A school of thought seems to be developing, according to which I had no inkling of the calculus until I stole the whole thing from Newton around 1677. Apparently my years of toil in Paris under the tutelage of Huygens count for nothing!I had best not begin to rant and rave about this. Let me instead turn to some of your questions.Yes, I still correspond with Eliza. How could I not? But, as many people do when they have children, she settled, at some point, into a more steady kind of life, and since has not written to me as frequently. When the peace treaty was signed between France and the allies three years ago, her t.i.tle as d.u.c.h.ess of Qwghlm was recognized by the French court, and she began to travel frequently to England-though almost never with her husband. She keeps a town-house near St. James"s and has even journeyed to Qwghlm occasionally to renew her ties to the place of her birth. Once or twice a year she journeys to my part of the world to spend time with her b.a.s.t.a.r.d son and to pay a call on Sophie. Her husband, with his long-standing connexions to the Navy, is more fond of Qwghlm than she is, and seems to phant"sy that the ma.s.sive Castle there has the makings of a country house-though it is difficult to think of a more outlandish and wretched setting for one! And so he is there several months this last year overseeing a project to rebuild one part of that ruin, and make it over into a villa and a proper seat for the nascent Duchy of Arcachon-Qwghlm. Some in London grumble that he is getting ready to turn Qwghlm into a French naval base, a la Dunkerque. But I cannot imagine Eliza allowing any such thing to happen.As a way of making a name for herself in London society she supports a charity for Vagabond-soldiers, which has been a pet cause of hers for some years. After the peace treaty was signed and the Tories came into power, the size of England"s army was drastically reduced, many regiments disbanded, and out-of-work soldiers have been roaming around the country making trouble ever since. Eliza"s obvious concern for them is an implicit criticism of Tory policies, which should put her in a good position if the Juncto ever returns to power.Concerning her opposition to Slavery, she is not as outspoken, even though her feelings run deeper. She knows that to make a pest of herself on this topic would cause her to be ejected from society altogether, and to lose any hope of effecting change. Those in the legal profession are well aware of the work she has done in the last few years to secure freedom for some of the Taunton maids who were enslaved by Jeffreys after Monmouth"s Rebellion.It is well that she maintains good relations with the Whigs. As you must know if you get any letters from London at all, they are close to Princess Anne, who will probably reign over England sooner or later. And they are the party of active foreign policy-or, setting aside euphemisms, of war. That wretch, King Carlos II (the Sufferer) of Spain, who has been on his death-bed for something like thirty-five years now, cannot possibly live much longer-no, really!-and when he dies there will certainly be another great war. For make no mistake. Louis XIV covets Spain, with her Empire and her mines and her mints. It must be admitted that the duc d"Anjou has as good a claim to the throne as anyone else. Never mind that he happens to be the loyal and obedient grandson of Louis XIV!If you do not get a lot of mail, you might be saying, wait! I thought the matter had been settled by treaty, and that the Electoral Prince of Bavaria was going to be King of Spain. But he has died, suddenly and strangely. The Empire has nominated its own candidate: Archduke Charles, the younger son of the Holy Roman Emperor. There is public talk of negotiations and part.i.tion-treaties, but private preparation for war. And as the stakes of that war will be Spain, the beating heart that circulates silver and gold through the world"s markets, we may expect that it will be harder-fought even than the last one.But on to more interesting matters.You say you would collaborate with me. I will try to dissuade you by mentioning two facts. First, it is now clear that you will be ostracized from the Royal Society if you a.s.sociate your name with mine. Second, we will be working for a chap who has his minions broken on the wheel if they incur his displeasure. No, I am not talking about my new King of Prussia, but about a taller monarch who lives farther to the east and owns about half of the planet.If I have not scared you away yet, then consider the nature of the work. The thing I want to make embodies very little that is beautiful or elegant mathematically. It will consist of two components: a mechanical system for performing arithmetickal and logical operations upon numbers, and a vast compendium of data data that will inform the operations of that machine. Much work remains to be carried out on both of these fronts. The former promises more satisfaction, in that it is a practical pursuit, akin to Hooke"s watch-making, and one may see the machine take shape on the workbench, and point to this gear or that shaft with a measure of pride. But I fear it is not what really demands our attention now. Think of how the art of watch-making has advanced during our lifetimes alone, beginning with Huygens"s pendulums, &c., and extrapolate this into the future, and you will readily agree that arithmetickal engines will only get better with time. On the other hand-with due respect for the work that you and Wilkins did on the Philosophical Language-we have only just embarked upon the ama.s.sing of the that will inform the operations of that machine. Much work remains to be carried out on both of these fronts. The former promises more satisfaction, in that it is a practical pursuit, akin to Hooke"s watch-making, and one may see the machine take shape on the workbench, and point to this gear or that shaft with a measure of pride. But I fear it is not what really demands our attention now. Think of how the art of watch-making has advanced during our lifetimes alone, beginning with Huygens"s pendulums, &c., and extrapolate this into the future, and you will readily agree that arithmetickal engines will only get better with time. On the other hand-with due respect for the work that you and Wilkins did on the Philosophical Language-we have only just embarked upon the ama.s.sing of the data data and the writing-out of the logical rules that will govern the machine"s workings. and the writing-out of the logical rules that will govern the machine"s workings.You are the protege of Wilkins and the only man still living who worked on that project; on his deathbed he pa.s.sed his mantle on to you. It follows that you are the man best suited to a.s.semble and organize the data data that our machine shall require, and to place it in a form that may be read and understood by a machine. This is a matter of a.s.signing prime numbers to the symbols and then encoding them in some medium, probably as binary digits. The medium needs to be something enduring, for it may be many generations before machines can be constructed that are capable of doing the work. Best would be thin sheets of gold. that our machine shall require, and to place it in a form that may be read and understood by a machine. This is a matter of a.s.signing prime numbers to the symbols and then encoding them in some medium, probably as binary digits. The medium needs to be something enduring, for it may be many generations before machines can be constructed that are capable of doing the work. Best would be thin sheets of gold.For my part, I confess I have a thousand distractions, which conspire to make me a poor collaborator indeed. Any work that demands a vast amount of un-interrupted time is impossible for me-which is why I have suggested that you, alone in your quiet Ma.s.sachusetts cabin, are better qualified to draw up the immense symbol-tables.Setting aside political entanglements, calculus-controversies, and the three Ladies (Sophie, Sophie Charlotte, and Princess Caroline) who never stop asking me to explain things to them, my chief project, at the moment, is the monadology.At any rate, what it comes down to is that my life for the next several years will consist of flying back and forth between Hanover and Berlin (with perhaps the occasional excursion to St. Petersburg!) trying to work out a beautiful set of logical rules. That matches well with the other part of the arithmetickal engine project, namely, writing down the set of rules that will govern how it processes symbols. As a matter of fact I should like to think that these two sets of rules-the one governing monads, the other governing the mechanical mind-will turn out to be one and the same. So I propose to take on this part of the undertaking myself, as it is so similar to what I am doing anyway.That is my proposal for how we might collaborate, Daniel, and I hope it pleases you. The Tsar is fearsome it"s true, but he is far away from you, and extremely distracted putting down the Raskolniki and the Streltsy and making war on the Swedes. I do not think you need to fear him. Hard as it might be to believe, there is no monarch in the world more committed to advancing what you call the Technologickal Arts. I believe that if I were to ask him for a ton of gold, explaining that we wanted to use it to store data, data, he would hand it over in a moment. But first you and I need to come up with some he would hand it over in a moment. But first you and I need to come up with some data data so that those plates will not remain as blank as Mr. Locke"s so that those plates will not remain as blank as Mr. Locke"s tabula rasa. tabula rasa. Yours affectionately, Yours affectionately,Leibniz
Book 4
Bonanza
The Pacific Ocean LATE 1700 AND EARLY 1701.
Such are the Diseases and Terrors of the long Calms, where the Sea stagnates and corrupts for Want of Motion; and by the Strength of the Scorching Sun stinks and poisons the distrest Mariners, who are rendered unactive, and disabled by Scurvies, raging and mad with Calentures and Fevers, and drop into Death in such a Manner, that at last the Living are lost, for Want of the Dead, that is, for want of Hands to work the Ship.-DANIEL DEFOE, A Plan of the English Commerce M INERVA INERVA DROPPED ANCHOR DROPPED ANCHOR below the burning mountain of Griga in the Marian Islands on the fifth of September. The next day the Shaftoe boys and a squad of Filipino sailors went ash.o.r.e and ascended to the rim of a secondary cinder-cone on the western slope of the mountain proper. They established a watch-post there, within sight of below the burning mountain of Griga in the Marian Islands on the fifth of September. The next day the Shaftoe boys and a squad of Filipino sailors went ash.o.r.e and ascended to the rim of a secondary cinder-cone on the western slope of the mountain proper. They established a watch-post there, within sight of Minerva Minerva. For two days they flew a single flag, which meant We are here, and still alive. We are here, and still alive. The next day it was two flags, which meant The next day it was two flags, which meant We have seen sails coming out of the west, We have seen sails coming out of the west, and the day after that it was three, meaning and the day after that it was three, meaning It is the Manila Galleon. It is the Manila Galleon.
Van Hoek had the crew make preparations for departure. The next morning the Shaftoe boys struck their camp and came down, still coughing and rubbing their eyes from the fumes that hissed out of that cinder-cone day and night, and after splashing around gleefully in the cove for a few minutes, washing off dust and sweat, they came out to Minerva Minerva in the longboat and announced that the Galleon had commenced her long northward run at dawn. in the longboat and announced that the Galleon had commenced her long northward run at dawn.
For two days they wove a course among the Marian Islands-a chain that ran from about thirteen degrees at its southern end, to about twenty degrees at the north. Some of the islands were steep-sided volcanoes with deep water all around, but most were so flat that they did not rise more than a yard or two above the level of the ocean, be they never so large. These were belted all round with dangerous shallows, and yet they were easy to overlook in darkness or weather. So for a few days their energies were devoted to simply not disembowelling themselves on coral-reefs, and they did not see the Manila Galleon at all.
Some of the islands were populated by stocky natives who came and went in outrigger canoes, and one or two even had Jesuit missions on them, built of mud, like wasps" nests. The sheer desolation of the place explained why they"d chosen it as a rendezvous point. If Minerva Minerva had set out from Cavite on the same tide as the Galleon, it would have been obvious to everyone in the Philippines that some conspiracy had been forged. Almost as bad, it would have added several weeks to the length of had set out from Cavite on the same tide as the Galleon, it would have been obvious to everyone in the Philippines that some conspiracy had been forged. Almost as bad, it would have added several weeks to the length of Minerva Minerva"s voyage. The Manila Galleon was such a wallowing pig of a ship, and had been so gravely overloaded by Manila"s officialdom, that only a storm could move it. The exit from Manila Bay, which took most ships but a single day, had taken the Manila Galleon a week. Then, rather than taking to the open sea, she had turned south and then east, and picked her way down the tortuous pa.s.sages between Luzon and the islands to the south, anchoring frequently, and occasionally pausing to say a ma.s.s over the wrack of some predecessor; for the pa.s.sage was marked out, not with buoys, but with the remains of Manila Galleons from one, ten, fifty, or a hundred years past. Finally the Galleon had reached a sheltered anchorage off a small island called Ticao. She had dropped anchor there and spent three weeks gazing out over twenty miles of water at the gap between the southern extremity of Luzon, and the northern cape of Samar, which was called the San Bernardino Strait. Beyond it the Pacific stretched all the way to Acapulco. Yet Luzon might as well have been Scylla and Samar Charybdis, because (as the Spaniards had learnt the hard way) any ship that tried to sally through that gap when the tides and the winds were not just so would be cast away. Twice she had raised anchor and set sail for the Strait only to turn back when the wind shifted slightly.
Boats had come out to the Galleon at all hours to replenish her stocks of drinking water, fruit, bread, and livestock, which were being drawn down at an appalling rate by the merchants and men of the cloth who were packed into her cabins. Indeed this had been the whole point of taking the route through the San Bernardino Strait, for by going that way they had been able to get two hundred and fifty miles closer to the Marianas without pa.s.sing out of sight of the Philippines.
When finally she had broken out on the tenth of August-a month and a half after departing Manila-she had done so fully provisioned. Almost as important, the officials, priests, and soldiers who had stood by at the foot of Bulusan Volcano to witness and salute the great ship"s departure had seen her venture forth into the Pacific alone alone.
Minerva had sailed out of Manila Bay two weeks after the Galleon and had gone for a leisurely cruise round the northern tip of Luzon, then had looped back to the south and taken shelter in Lagonoy Gulf, which emptied into the Pacific some sixty miles to the north of the San Bernardino Strait. There, by trading with natives and making occasional hunting and gathering forays, they had been able to keep their own stocks replenished while they had waited for the Galleon to escape from the Philippine Islands. Padraig Tallow had been among the crowd at the foot of Bulusan watching that event, and he"d thrown his peg-leg over the saddle of a horse and ridden northward until he had come to a high place above the Gulf of Lagonoy whence he could signal had sailed out of Manila Bay two weeks after the Galleon and had gone for a leisurely cruise round the northern tip of Luzon, then had looped back to the south and taken shelter in Lagonoy Gulf, which emptied into the Pacific some sixty miles to the north of the San Bernardino Strait. There, by trading with natives and making occasional hunting and gathering forays, they had been able to keep their own stocks replenished while they had waited for the Galleon to escape from the Philippine Islands. Padraig Tallow had been among the crowd at the foot of Bulusan watching that event, and he"d thrown his peg-leg over the saddle of a horse and ridden northward until he had come to a high place above the Gulf of Lagonoy whence he could signal Minerva Minerva by building a smokey fire. by building a smokey fire. Minerva Minerva had fired the Irishman a twenty-gun salute and hoisted her sails. Padraig Tallow"s doings after that were unknown to them. If he"d stayed in character, he"d have stood where he was until the tip of had fired the Irishman a twenty-gun salute and hoisted her sails. Padraig Tallow"s doings after that were unknown to them. If he"d stayed in character, he"d have stood where he was until the tip of Minerva Minerva"s mainmast had sunk below the eastern horizon, weeping and singing incomprehensible chanties. If things had gone according to plan, he"d then ridden his horse through the bundok, bundok, following the tracks from one steamy mission-town to the next, until he"d reached Manila, and he and Surendranath, and the one son of Queen Kottakkal who"d survived the last years" voyaging, and several other Malabaris were now making their way down the long coast of Palawan to join Mr. Foot in Queena-Kootah. following the tracks from one steamy mission-town to the next, until he"d reached Manila, and he and Surendranath, and the one son of Queen Kottakkal who"d survived the last years" voyaging, and several other Malabaris were now making their way down the long coast of Palawan to join Mr. Foot in Queena-Kootah.
For her part Minerva Minerva had sailed almost due east for fifteen hundred miles to the Marianas, pa.s.sing the Manila Galleon somewhere along the way. had sailed almost due east for fifteen hundred miles to the Marianas, pa.s.sing the Manila Galleon somewhere along the way.
Now they sailed north out of those islands without ever catching sight of her. This was just as well for all involved in the conspiracy-including all of the Galleon"s officers. The bored Jesuits and soldiers scattered among those islands would see the Galleon, and would see Minerva, Minerva, but would never see them but would never see them together together.
Weather made it impossible to observe the sun or look for the Galleon"s sails for two days after they put the Marianas behind them. Then the sun came out, and they traversed the Tropic of Cancer and sighted the Galleon"s topsails, far to the east, at almost the same moment. It was the fifteenth of September. Even before the northernmost of the burning islands of the Marianas had sunk below the southern horizon, they had gone off soundings, which meant that their sounding-lead, even when it was fully paid out, dangled miles above the floor of an ocean whose depth was literally unfathomable. After several days had gone by without sighting land they had brought Minerva Minerva"s anchors up on deck and stowed them deep in the hold.
They traversed the thirtieth parallel, which meant that they had reached the lat.i.tude of southern j.a.pan. Still they continued north. They could not keep the Galleon in sight all the time, of course. But it was not necessary to follow in her wake. They had only two requirements. One was to discover the magic lat.i.tude, known only to the Spanish, that would take them safely to California. The other was to arrive in Acapulco at about the same time as the Galleon, so that certain officers aboard that ship could smooth the way for them. With her narrow hull Minerva Minerva could not carry as many provisions as the Galleon, but she could sail faster, and so the general plan was to speed across the Pacific and then tarry off California for a few weeks, surviving on the fresh water and game of that country, while keeping a lookout for the Galleon. could not carry as many provisions as the Galleon, but she could sail faster, and so the general plan was to speed across the Pacific and then tarry off California for a few weeks, surviving on the fresh water and game of that country, while keeping a lookout for the Galleon.
But they could not bolt east until they were sure of the right lat.i.tude, and so every day they posted lookouts at the top of Minerva Minerva"s foremast and had them scan the horizon for the sails of the Manila Galleon. Having sighted her, they would plot a converging course, and creep closer until they could see how her sails had been trimmed. The winds almost always came from the southeastern quarter of the compa.s.s rose, and every time they caught sight of the Galleon she seemed to be going free, which was a way of saying that the wind was coming in from behind her and from one side-in this case, the starboard. In other words the Galleon"s captain was still bending all his efforts to gain lat.i.tude, and seemed not to know or care that he had five thousand miles to cover eastwards; or that every degree he went north was a degree he"d later have to go south (Manila and Acapulco lying at nearly the same lat.i.tude).
They spent a few days becalmed at thirty-two degrees, then advanced due north to thirty-six degrees, then encountered weather. At the beginning this came out of the east, which made van Hoek extremely nervous that they would be cast away on the sh.o.r.es of j.a.pan (they were at the lat.i.tude of Edo, which Gabriel Goto had claimed was the largest city in the world, and so it wasn"t as if the wreck of their ship would go unnoticed). But then the wind shifted around to the northwest and they were forced to put up a storm-sail and scud before it. The weather was not nearly as threatening as the waves, which were mountainous.
It happened sometimes that when a wind shifted violently, or a ship was miserably handled, or both, the wind would blow in over the head and strike a ship"s sails directly in the face, plastering the canvas back over the rigging, and frequently slamming crew-members off of their perches. The ship would be flung into disarray. She"d go dead in the water, making her rudder quite useless, and would drift and spin like a stunned fish until she was brought in hand a