boarded the merchant to inspect its offerings before sailing and was amazed anyone would actually wish to purchase such defective equipment.
Warner re-assured him. “These old muskets will be sold or traded to itinerate herdsmen who will hope to use them on raiding parties against their neighbors. Those neighbors probably have weapons in the same stage of disrepair as these. In any case, we do not want to furnish these people with arms they may be able to use successfully against ourselves.”
A pair of Moorish raiders investigated them as they approached the African coast. There was no way of knowing the intentions of these people, but it was safe to assume they would attack violently if they thought they could succeed. Seeing the guns Valkyrie showed in her ports, the raiders sheared off and went on their way. Mullins would have liked to pursue but knew he could never catch them. If there was a chance one might be overtaken, all it would need to do to escape would be to turn into the wind, drop the sails and go on oars.
Approaching their destination, the ruined breakwater was readily apparent off the village of mud-brick hovels. Using the lead line, Valkyrie approached as close as Mister Ralston dared, then two boats led the way into the area behind the breakwater. People began to gather in substantial numbers on shore. Since there were numerous boats of various sizes on the beach, Mullins thought it wise to keep his guns showing, to prevent any misunderstandings.
Some of the people on-shore got into a boat and pulled out to the merchant. Guessing these were their businessmen, Mullins decided to take a party of armed seamen over and monitor the discussions. Leaving Mister Danton in charge of the ship, he took a party of seamen over to the merchant.
The principals had all adjourned to the main cabin. The first mate ushered Mullins to the conference, leaving the seamen on deck, to glare at the similarly armed boat crew from shore. Captain Warner and a robed and turbaned individual with an impressive growth of beard were sitting on the deck around a strange looking apparatus.
Warner stopped his presentation and introduced Mullins to the Moor, switching from English to Arabic with apparent ease. He invited Mullins to make use of the hookah, explaining it was a water pipe, that burned tobacco. The smoke passed through a water bath which cooled it, before being inhaled. Both men were sharing a single tube to draw in the smoke.
Not impressed, Mullins declined. The emir was an enormously grimy individual. His face and beard were equally stained, making it difficult to determine the actual color. He was not at all enthused to put that tube, which had just left the emir’s mouth into his own. For much of the discussion, he sat there, listening to the Arabic discussion without understanding a word. Occasionally, Warner gave a synopsis of the matters they were discussing.
Finally, Warner gave a shout and a pair of hands brought in a heavy wooden crate, opening it before leaving. Inside were a half dozen French Charleville pattern muskets. These weapons had seen hard usage and had obviously been out in the weather before being crated.
These weapons, despite their flaws, appeared to be functional, unlike many others Mullins had seen in the same cargo.
The bargaining resumed in earnest, with the Moor expressing his disgust with the offerings. Finally, Warner gave another shout, and a box full of paper cartridges was brought into the cabin. At length, Warner told Mullins they were going to adjourn to the deck where the emir wished to fire the weapons.
Mullins was not at all sure about this wisdom. Most of the weapons he had seen were battlefield relics, collected after days or weeks laying out in the weather after a battle. However, Warner was the trader, not himself, so he remained quiet.
On deck, the party stood by the taffrail while Warner asked the Moor to select a weapon to fire. Grinning, the Moor bent over the pile of
Warner re-assured him. “These old muskets will be sold or traded to itinerate herdsmen who will hope to use them on raiding parties against their neighbors. Those neighbors probably have weapons in the same stage of disrepair as these. In any case, we do not want to furnish these people with arms they may be able to use successfully against ourselves.”
A pair of Moorish raiders investigated them as they approached the African coast. There was no way of knowing the intentions of these people, but it was safe to assume they would attack violently if they thought they could succeed. Seeing the guns Valkyrie showed in her ports, the raiders sheared off and went on their way. Mullins would have liked to pursue but knew he could never catch them. If there was a chance one might be overtaken, all it would need to do to escape would be to turn into the wind, drop the sails and go on oars.
Approaching their destination, the ruined breakwater was readily apparent off the village of mud-brick hovels. Using the lead line, Valkyrie approached as close as Mister Ralston dared, then two boats led the way into the area behind the breakwater. People began to gather in substantial numbers on shore. Since there were numerous boats of various sizes on the beach, Mullins thought it wise to keep his guns showing, to prevent any misunderstandings.
Some of the people on-shore got into a boat and pulled out to the merchant. Guessing these were their businessmen, Mullins decided to take a party of armed seamen over and monitor the discussions. Leaving Mister Danton in charge of the ship, he took a party of seamen over to the merchant.
The principals had all adjourned to the main cabin. The first mate ushered Mullins to the conference, leaving the seamen on deck, to glare at the similarly armed boat crew from shore. Captain Warner and a robed and turbaned individual with an impressive growth of beard were sitting on the deck around a strange looking apparatus.
Warner stopped his presentation and introduced Mullins to the Moor, switching from English to Arabic with apparent ease. He invited Mullins to make use of the hookah, explaining it was a water pipe, that burned tobacco. The smoke passed through a water bath which cooled it, before being inhaled. Both men were sharing a single tube to draw in the smoke.
Not impressed, Mullins declined. The emir was an enormously grimy individual. His face and beard were equally stained, making it difficult to determine the actual color. He was not at all enthused to put that tube, which had just left the emir’s mouth into his own. For much of the discussion, he sat there, listening to the Arabic discussion without understanding a word. Occasionally, Warner gave a synopsis of the matters they were discussing.
Finally, Warner gave a shout and a pair of hands brought in a heavy wooden crate, opening it before leaving. Inside were a half dozen French Charleville pattern muskets. These weapons had seen hard usage and had obviously been out in the weather before being crated.
These weapons, despite their flaws, appeared to be functional, unlike many others Mullins had seen in the same cargo.
The bargaining resumed in earnest, with the Moor expressing his disgust with the offerings. Finally, Warner gave another shout, and a box full of paper cartridges was brought into the cabin. At length, Warner told Mullins they were going to adjourn to the deck where the emir wished to fire the weapons.
Mullins was not at all sure about this wisdom. Most of the weapons he had seen were battlefield relics, collected after days or weeks laying out in the weather after a battle. However, Warner was the trader, not himself, so he remained quiet.
On deck, the party stood by the taffrail while Warner asked the Moor to select a weapon to fire. Grinning, the Moor bent over the pile of
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