Sacred Hunger - Barry Unsworth [235]
‘They were not prepared to yield a single inch, sir, not one iota,’ Watson said, with solemn indignation. ‘The chiefs came to the rostrum one after the other, all of them in turn, Tallechea, Captain Aleck, Wioffke, Latchige, Chayhage, and all gave voice to the same sentiments.’
‘And what were they?’
‘They want to keep us to the tidewaters,’ Campbell said tersely. He was still in uniform, booted and spurred, with his cavalry sword at his side.
‘I am not clear what that means,’ Erasmus said.
‘Well, they are talking about the salt tide, of course. The saltwaters flow as far as Picolata and they are seeking to restrict English settlement to a line north of that as far as the mouth of the St John River.’
‘A meagre acreage indeed,’ Watson said, ‘and by no means offering scope for settlement on the scale we have in mind. By no means. It is quite unacceptable. And the tone of their speeches was threatening. Veiled threats, of course, but that is their way. They would be sorry, but they could not answer for the consequences if any cattle or white people strayed over the line. Yes, that was the sort of insolence they offered us, sir, the representatives of His Majesty in this new Colony of the Crown. It was all I could do to keep my countenance.’
‘I had no difficulty keeping mine, sir, by God,’ Campbell said with considerable asperity. Certain strains had begun to show between soldier and civilian. ‘A wrong word now and you are like to lose more than your countenance, Watson, you are like to lose your scalp, sir. Our intelligence gives their numbers at not less than five thousand. They know the ground, they have had years of fighting the Spanish over it; we oppose them with a few hundred men fresh from Europe, whose only training is to form a square in open ground and fire volleys.’
‘What grant of land are we demanding from them?’ Erasmus asked.
‘We must have the sweet waters too. We are asking for all the land east of the river from mouth to source. Also some portions on the west bank.’
‘That is a difference indeed. I cannot see why they should agree to such a thing.’
‘Well, we are now purposing to take a different tack with them.’ Campbell gave Erasmus a tight, cautious smile. ‘Have you ever sat at dinner with Indian chieftains?’ he said.
‘No, I can’t say I have.’
‘You will be doing so this evening, sir.’
‘What, you have invited them to dinner here?’
Watson chuckled suddenly, a rather startling and incongruous sound, seeming to rise from cavernous depths. ‘Not all of them,’ he said. ‘Nothing would be gained by that. We have asked two – Tallechea and Captain Aleck. They are the two most powerful men. These savages are so constituted, sir, the honour of an invitation to the governor’s house means a great deal, a very great deal, sir, both for those that are included and those that are left out. They will see that their threats of today have not had the effects intended, quite the reverse, in fact, quite the reverse, and it will puzzle them. I also have a little inducement of my own devising …’ He refused to say more than this, however, contenting himself with further chuckling sounds. ‘God willing,’ he said, restored to gravity, ‘we shall succeed by these means in creating discord and dissension among them.’
They parted on this, Erasmus to rest and refresh himself after his ride. When he descended again it was to find the two chiefs already at table, seated opposite the Governor and Superintendent, with the half-breed interpreter, whose name was Forrest, a little further down. Redwood entered at the same time as himself and they were introduced together. Erasmus found himself looking into two faces that seemed closely similar in their foreignness, mahogany-coloured, with a regard at once fiery and sombre under prominent brows. His hand,