The covenant - James A. Michener [136]
But Amsterdam was a world away from the raw settlement in Table Valley, and its restrictions had the opposite effect from those intended: practically everyone at the Cape became a secret huckster, dealing directly with passing ships, hoarding clandestine stores in their homes, selling, bartering, smuggling until they became so skilled that they earned their entire living at the business. Corruption was also rife among Compagnie officials, as poorly paid as they were resentful of service at this insignificant and forsaken outpost; venality reached to the top, as proved by the vast private estates operated by some Compagnie men.
The Lords XVII had never sought a proper settlement here and constantly proclaimed that free burghers were to keep within the bounds established by the authorities in Amsterdam. Physical and spiritual lives alike were minutely prescribed, for the truth was that the Lords were both perplexed and frightened by the vastness of Africa. Holland was a small, hemmed-in country and provided the scale by which their Cape entrepot would always be judged. The Lords believed that if, through their Council of Policy at the Cape, they were able to dictate what could be read, or spoken in church, or discussed publicly, they would retain control; so they instructed the farmers how to conduct their leisure hours, their wives how to dress, and all citizens when to go to bed at night.
But Willem had the Lords XVII to thank for providing him with an opportunity to purchase a carpenter; the Lords had ordered: 'No homeward-bound official may bring his slaves with him to Holland.' So Willem picked up a bargain and hurried to the Castle, as the new five-bastioned fort was now called, to register his property, but he found the officials more interested in Paul de Pre than in the deed of sale.
'Tell us, does De Pre still converse in French?'
'Not with us. We don't speak it.'
'But with his children?'
'When his boys are with us, they speak Dutch.'
'Is he circulating any more petitions?'
'He's too busy with the grapes.' Had De Pre been manufacturing grenades, Willem would not have betrayed him.
With visible reluctance the Compagnie granted permission to buy the young Malay carpenter, Bezel Muhammad, whose name betrayed his mixed originthe first deriving from his black Madagascan mother, the second from his brown Malaccan father. He spoke five pidgin languages, none well, and was a master of saw and hammer. He was reluctant to leave a town which contained other Coloureds, with whom he liked to associate, but he saw advantages in moving closer to where trees grew. He preferred the timber of Africa to the mahogany of Mauritius or the heavier imported woods from Java. He also liked the forthright manner of Van Doorn, and promised, 'I build good.'
As they were leaving the Castle an official called out after them, 'Remember, you're responsible for that slave! See that he doesn't run away!' Willem agreed, thinking: How men change. When Jango wanted to run, I helped him. But for this slave I paid my own money, so I must guard him.
Willem could not have foreseen the effect that Bezel Muhammad would have upon the valley. The children loved helping him with his tasks, accompanying him into the forest in search of stinkwood, that heavy dark wood which smelled so foul if a tree rotted, but looked so grand when planed down and polished. Annatjie, now in sole charge of the house, appreciated his helpfulness, but it was Paul de Pre who was affected most deeply.
He quickly discovered that Bezel was an artist, not only in wood but in all building, and it was he who argued Willem into allowing the slave to refinish the west facade of the house, the side facing Table Mountain: 'What we should do, Willem, is make the long house not only a little bigger, but a little more pleasant.'