The covenant - James A. Michener [381]
Queen Victoria, herself of German extraction, and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha were naturally concerned about what might happen to their young compatriots and were delighted when plans were announced whereby the entire contingent was offered passage to the Cape as military settlers, to establish homes and secure posts along the recently disrupted Xhosa frontier. A strategy somewhat like this had been advocated in 1820 with English colonists, and there was no reason why it could not be duplicated in 1857 with Germans.
A vast scheme was initiated whereby nine thousand of the mercenaries, plus such new wives as they could acquire, would be shipped to the same port used by the English when they landed. But now a snag developed. The Germans had such an excellent reputation for soldiering that numerous other nations were eager to employ them; they received offers from the King of Naples, the Dutch in Java, the Argentinian government and seven revolutionary juntas across Europe, who felt that if only they could enroll these crack troops, they could overthrow reactionary governments. About a quarter of the recruits, 2,350 officers and men, were left over to emigrate to the Cape.
Since Queen Victoria and her husband were most eager that this settlement prove successful, they wrote to South Africa, asking that Major Richard Saltwood, who had distinguished himself during the cattle killing, come to London to supervise the emigration. He was delighted with this opportunity to visit with his brother Sir Peter, and within two days of receiving the invitation, was on his way.
To his astonishment, when he disembarked at Tilbury, he was whisked immediately to Buckingham Palace, where the queen herself discussed the emigration. She was a shortish, round woman with no chin, and when meeting strangers, liked to defer to her husband's judgment; they both displayed a keen interest in her South African coloniesCape and Natal and were enchanted by the various stories told of Saltwood's life on the frontier. They said that he must hurry to Southampton to make certain that the German embarkation moved smoothly, and Victoria added that she would hold Richard personally responsible.
She was in the process of adding that she preferred only married emigrants, for this ensured family stability, when a charming boy of thirteen burst into the room, stopped in embarrassment, and started to withdraw. 'Alfred, come here,' the queen said, 'this gentleman is from the land of lions and elephants.' The lad stopped, turned, and bowed low like a Prussian officer.
'I am most pleased to meet you, sir,' he said, whereupon Major Saltwood extended his hand, took the boy's, and drew him back into the room.
'You must come to my farm one day, and see the animals.'
'That I should like to do,' Alfred said, and the brief meeting ended.
In Southampton the authorities were mustering the mercenaries for the voyage to the Cape, and they found themselves with a sterling group of husky young men, but they were not having much success with getting wives. This omission worried Saltwood, since the queen had specifically stated that she preferred complete families in her colonies, so he made a special effort to visit all the nearby towns, seeking women for the young Germans. He was not successful, and when the last of the ships was ready to sail, the rickety old Alice Grace, he informed the captain that it must not depart until a final effort had been made to find more brides.
'Who am I?' the captain demanded. 'Cupid?'
'No,' Saltwood replied evenly, 'but you do have a commission to perform.'
'My commission is sailing this ship,' the captain replied. 'Not finding wives,' and the adventure would have ended poorly had not Saltwood been a man of ingenuity and humanity.
'You have over two hundred fine young men aboard this ship,' he told the captain. 'I want them all on deck. Now!'
When they assembled on the afterdeck he told them bluntly, 'Men, it would be most improvident to travel