ANIMELLIS ISLAND
PREQUEL
THE LONG JOURNEY
Copyright © 2011 A.T. Sorsa
Smashwords Edition
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The Journey
to
Animellis Island
in 1733
Prologue
Spanish Morocco, Africa
The year was 1733. The midday sun burned through the wispy clouds. The temperature was well over one hundred degrees, hot and humid. The indigo blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea were remarkably clear, and a steady afternoon breeze was building from the east, pestering the water with whitecaps, and eventually the tall waves broke on the rocky shores of Melissa, a port city in Spanish Morocco in North Africa. The massive breakwaters made out of stone blocks shielded the city against the high storm waves. The lone lighthouse watched over the city and its fortress like stone walls.
Most of the inhabitants wore white linen clothes in the hot and humid weather. Just a few bystanders hung around Melissa’s port area looking for a chance to make money with the Spaniards. A couple of weeks ago the Spanish fleet had sailed to Melissa’s port with plans to gather trading goods and slaves from Africa and to transport them to the Spanish colonies in the North America. The five fleet ships were Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion, Tres Puentes, El Aviso, San Felipe, and Herrera.
Finally, the fleet was almost ready to sail out. The last trading goods, the wild animals, the food supplies and the slaves were being hauled onboard. Few ships’ passengers were impatiently walking along on the hot, paved stones at Melissa port enjoying the occasional cool, eastern breeze and watching the ships being loaded.
It was a busy time on board the Spanish ships. A team of local workers were busy cutting and patching the large gash in the hull from mishandling Tres Puentes-ship while trying to reach the port. They had cracked the hull along the rough shores and rocky, shallow seas just outside Melissa’s harbor. Another team of sailors were checking the sails and their condition, and the local craftsmen were carrying food and fresh water supplies onto the ships. The local traders had caught four wild boars during their trip to Rif Mountains in North Morocco and sold them alive to the fleet captain, Don Ferdinand Gonzalez. These wild boars were kept for a special occasion (like the captain’s birthday) on the cargo hold of Tres Puentes. The captain had also purchased some famous Rif honey scented with thyme, cactus and lavender gathered from the Western Honey bee hives in the Rif-area.
On the cargo-quay beside the last fleet ship, namely Herrera, a slight man in black trousers and a loose-fitting white shirt observed the sailors and the cargo being rapidly loaded onboard. His dark eyes glared with intensity.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve,” the lieutenant, Alejo Arrendes, counted out loud, and ran to double check to make sure all the crates fit inside the cargo hold in their proper places according to the manifest. He sized the crates out, and marked the contents of the crates to the fleet’s manifest that he was holding on his hand. He had placed all the wild animals in Herrera’s cargo hold, the extra food and water supplies including the wild boars were placed inside the cargo hold of Tres Puentes, the slaves were in El Aviso’s cargo hold, the tapestries and the spices were in San Felipe’s cargo hold, and the jewelry, gold and silver were inside the cargo hold of Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion.
A strong animal smell wafted in the air around Herrera. Herrera was a first-rate trading ship and part of the Spanish fleet heading towards the Americas. The fleet’s crew with the help of the Spanish colonists had captured some wild animals and exotic birds in Africa to be sold to zoos. Twelve cargo crates holding exotic animals and birds were waiting to be lowered into Herrera’s cargo hold. You could hear the grunting and roaring of the captured, unhappy hippopotamuses and the booming barks of the angry baboons inside their cages.
The fleet’s captain, Don Ferdinand Gonzalez, walked by slowly, observing the cargo loading. He was pleased to see how smoothly the loading was going and how fast the broken hull was being repaired.
The captain wrinkled his nose when he smelled the animal sweat. He pulled out a white handkerchief from his pocked and covered his nose and mouth. Then he noticed the beautiful ostrich feathers sticking out through the gap of the nearest crate. He plucked one black and white feather off the bird, and decorated his hat with it. The ostrich hissed loud and angrily, and tried to kick the captain but only managed to kick the wooden planks of the cargo crate.
The cargo hold was dark, and the crates created long shadows on the walls.
For a few seconds the animals crouched there, silent and scared, low and motionless, sniffing at the stuffy air. Then they started talking among themselves.
“My feathers are all ruffled! I probably look awful!” An ostrich grunted. He was the one that had lost one of his fine feathers.
“Do you see if I have a bald spot on my tail?”
“No, I can’t see, it’s too dark here,” a female ostrich replied.
The male ostrich sighed.
“The captain was so brutal: pulling off my feather like that! Oh, I wish I could have managed to kick him!” He said revengefully.
“Where are we?” a soft flamingo voice whispered.
“Inside a cargo hold of a ship, I guess.” ...Sniff, sniff… “It smells salty,” a hippopotamus answered. “We must be going out to sea. I have never been sailing before,” he added thoughtfully. “I hope I don’t get sea sick.”
“Clang! Clang!” A rattling of metal locks banging against the wood echoed across the cargo hold.
“Oooh! You almost gave me a heart attack! Don’t do that again!” The same male ostrich with disheveled feathers complained.
“Hee-heee-hee!” An eerie laughter ricocheted.
“Did they capture hyenas, too?” A flamingo asked surprised.
“Sure! There are two of us here: Let me introduce my wife, Mrs. Hyacinth Hyena, the prettiest lady hyena that you’ll ever see, and my name is Gerhard Hyena,” Gerhard Hyena replied. “We are all going to have a great sea vacation. Let’s get acquainted.”
“Clink! Clank! Clunk!” the sound of a metal clinking and clunking against metal and wood continued.
“What are you banging and clinging?” The male ostrich asked.
“I’m just testing these locks and chains. Maybe I can get them open…” Someone answered behind the ostriches’ cargo crate. “I might get claustrophobic being cooped up in a cramped prison crate like this.”
‘Who else is here?” Gerhard Hyena’s voice asked.
“Two hippopotamuses, Matt and Maria Hippopotamus,” the male hippopotamus replied with a booming voice. He was the one banging, clunking, and testing the crate locks.
“And two giraffes and two zebras!” a male zebra voice informed. “Abram and Barb Giraffe, and Tina and Tony Zebra.”
“And two dik diks!” a faint antelope voice replied. “Lewis and Tess Dik-dik.”
“And two ostriches: Chester and Clover Ostrich, two ground hornbills: Garrett and Gabriella Hornbill, two flamingos: Fiona and Aaron Flamingo, two albatrosses: Derek and Belle Albatross, two grey herons: Adrien and Asta Heron, and two spoonbills: Niko and Nina Spoonbill,” a low-pitched bird voice introduced the bird flock.
“And two baboons: Augustin and Angel Baboon, two chimpanzees: Charlotta and Charlie Chimpanzee, and two Red Colobus monkeys: Cecile and Craig Monkey!” a male baboon introduced their group.
“And you have the honor of having the company of the two black mambas, too,” a slithering voice said oozing with poison. It was the male mamba introducing himself and his wife. “Lily and Elmer Mamba.”
A silence fell inside the cargo hold. Nobody liked to hear that they had the worst of the worst snakes travelling with them: the deadly poisonous black mambas.
“Nice to meet you all,” Mr. Matt Hippopotamus said. “Does anyone know what those tiny crates by the stairs have inside?”
“I think there are just some bugs that the captain acquired on shore.”
“Where are they taking us?” Mr. Chester Ostrich hissed.
“I heard that we are going to the Americas, to the Spanish colonies,” Mr. Augustin Baboon replied.
“It sure is dark here,” Mr. Chester Ostrich sighed.
“And dusty,” Mr. Augustin Baboon added.
“And salty,” Mr. Craig Monkey said.
“Do you think we will get any food soon? I’m hungry?” Mr. Matt Hippopotamus asked. They heard his belly growling loud.
“Grooooooooooowwwl…….”
***
“All cargo is loaded now and accounted for,” Alejo Arrendes said. “We are ready to sail, Captain.”
The Spanish fleet’s captain Don Ferdinand Gonzalez nodded approvingly and walked up the stairs to the bridge and commanded his fleet to sail out. They headed towards the Canary Islands.
The captured animals and birds were inside Herrera-ship’s cargo hold, each in their own crate. The animals felt the ships left the harbor because the ship started swaying and rocking against the waves and the crates shifted a little bit when the ship continued sailing towards the Canary Islands. It did not take long before the darkness and the rocking movement of the ship made the animals seasick.
“I feel dizzy,” Mrs. Giraffe said, her face turning first gray and then green. When she heard a retching sound somewhere behind her in the dark, she started feeling sick, too.
“I-I can’t help it,” a faint whisper came from the dik dik’s crate. Mrs. Dik-dik was puking her guts out. “I’m not used to this darkness and movement without being able to move myself,” Mrs. Dik-dik complained.
The smell was awful.
“Please, ... Can someone just let me out of my misery?” Mrs. Ostrich said pleaded feebly.
“Just try to keep your eyes closed and think about Savannah,” Mr. Hippopotamus tried to help his travel companions.
But it was of no use. Nothing helped. All the animals got seasick on the way to the Canary Islands.
Chapter one
The Spanish Fleet
The fleet had sailed past the Canary Islands and headed towards the Americas. The humid night air caressed the Spanish fleet with a gentle breeze. The waves played around the ship’s bows and dashed against her sides. The weather felt warm and tropical. In the absence of the moon, the bridge lantern light made a solid bar athwart the bridge, casting some faint light across the restless waves invigorated by the light wind.
On deck, the night watch crew performed their duties with timely precision under the keen watch of the captain and his lieutenant, his right hand man, Alejo Arrendes. Below decks, most of the crew was either sleeping or finishing eating their supper and getting ready to rest before the dawn.
The Spanish fleet’s captain, Don Ferdinand Gonzalez, came out from his cabin and walked up the stairs to the deck and then wandered restlessly back and forth on the deck of his fleet flagship, namely Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion. He observed the ship and the fleet’s current situation with his own eyes, because he liked to manage every aspect of his long trade journey. His heart was in his work, and he loved to sail. He was always excited of the next new adventure and the next new journey with his fleet. A bad day of sailing was still a good day for him.
It was a cloudy night. Captain Don Ferdinand Gonzalez was not able see the guiding star constellations above him. He sighed. He had hoped to have a clear night sky so that he could see if there was any danger approaching his fleet at the night time. The bridge had only one lit lantern. They did not want to light up any more oil lanterns in case there were any enemies, French or British ships, or pirates lurking, nearby. Intently, he stared towards the horizon and all around his ship on the alert of attackers. He was disappointed that he did not have more light to see further away. The little lantern did not provide much light to observe the fleet’s surroundings. Gonzales was afraid of the pirate attacks more and more as they approached the Americas. So far, the trading journey had been successful. He was delighted that the weather had been favorable to his trading journey. He remembered much worse weathers on the way to India to purchase spices a couple of years ago: He had been hit by a huge tsunami wave and barely managed to survive with his crew that time.
Captain Don Ferdinand Gonzalez was a dark-bearded man. Tonight, at bridge, he was wearing black breeches above his knees, white stockings, grey-colored, knee-length coat, a silver-threaded waistcoat and a white ruffled shirt under it. His black wide-brim hat was decorated with plumy ostrich feathers. He had a dark curly wig like the court fashion required. He always carried his gilt-handed sword on his belt. Captain Don Ferdinand Gonzalez was a strict leader and a loyal subject to his King Philip V. He was tough but he also respected by his officers and the crewmen. He knew he could get more done with a word than with the tip of his sword.
Captain Don Ferdinand Gonzalez expected to venture port to port trading his cargo products when they reached their next destination: the Spanish colonies in the Americas. He had commanded his fleet with an air of confidence since they left the port of Malaga in Spain towards the Spanish colonies in North Africa to reach out their trading partners. The fleet had gathered slaves, tapestries, wild animals, birds, jewelry, and wooden ornaments in the ships’ holds from the Africa. Then the fleet had sailed towards the Canary Islands for a short stop, before setting their course towards their final destination: the Americas.
The Canary Islands are a beautiful and popular archipelago located just off the northwest coast of the mainland Africa. It was the most important layover for fleets and war galleons on their way to the Americas or to war against the other European countries. The volcano Teide on Tenerife Island had greeted the Spanish fleet with a puff of steam when the fleet had approached the harbor of Santa Cruz. Tenerife was filled with merchandisers, Spanish soldiers, adventures, and missionaries from all over the Europe on their way to the Americas. The frequent trading and visitors had brought prosperity to the island, and the wealth of the islanders could be seen in the beautiful architecture of the castles, mansions, and churches all over the island. Captain Don Ferdinand Gonzalez had bought wine and sugar to be transported to the Spanish colonies in the Americas. Gonzalez was well aware of the excellent quality of the Canary Islands’ wine, and he knew that the wine would be an easy product to sell when he would reach his final destination. While he had been doing his final purchases on the local wineries and sugar cane farms, his sailors had spent the last two days off on shore before sailing towards the Americas.
Captain Don Ferdinand Gonzalez did not trust any bookkeepers, and therefore, his lieutenant, Alejo Arrendes, had taken that task during this important trading journey to the Americas. The captain had experienced trouble with his bookkeepers during his earlier journeys to Asia, and when he had noticed that the bookkeepers were not the most honest workers, and that his cargo was missing valuable items, he had let the bookkeepers go by making them walk the plank in shark infested waters.
The captain was often heard mentioned, “Honesty is a much desired trait these days.”
* * *
Seven weeks of sailing had passed by uneventfully. The five fleet ships, namely Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion, Tres Puentes, El Aviso, San Felipe, and Herrera, were beginning to show wear from the long voyage, and some were kept together by having their hulls bundled up with cables. Supplies of fresh food and water were running short. It had not rained for many days. The captain had given the order to begin rationing food and water because they were not sure how many days it would take for them to reach their final destination, the Spanish colonies of the Americas.
Captain Don Ferdinand Gonzalez missed his family back home. The wars of power balance at the continental Europe had been ongoing for years when he had sailed out this last time. He had not heard any news because they had been travelling for several weeks now without any contact to Spanish colonies or other Spanish ships. He remembered that the poverty and plague had been bothering his family and friends back home. The fresh fruits, meat, and medicine were already short on supply because of the raging wars. He hoped his fleet would be successful in trading the cargo products and animals, so that they could help the suffering at home and also finance the king’s wars back in Europe and also in the Americas.