Page:The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade.djvu/93

 in a bagne of his own. Emanuel d'Aranda, a Flemish gentleman, who was for some time Piqhellin'a slave, gives a curious account of bagne-life as he witnessed it. The bagne resembled a long narrow street, with high gates at each end, which were shut every evening after the slaves were mustered at sunset, and opened at sunrise every morning. Though the deylic slaves each received three loaves of bread per day for their sustenance, Fichellin never gave any loud whatever to his slaves, unless they were employed at severe labor; for he said that "a man was unworthy the name of slave, if he could not earn or steal between Al Aasar and Al Mag-rib," (the three hours before sunset allowed to the slaves,) "sufficient to support him for the rest of the day." We may observe here, that a Moor, Morisco, or Jew, if detected in a theft, was punished by the loss of his right hand, and by being opprobiously paraded through the streets mounted upon an ass. At the same time, neither Moor nor Jew dare even accuse a janizary of so disgraceful a crime. Slaves, however, might steal from Moor or Jew with open impunity; for even if caught in the act, neither dare strike a slave; and if complaint was made to the dey, he would merely order the restitution of the stolen goods, refusing to inflict punishment on the following grounds: "That as the Koran did not condemn a man who stole to satisfy his hunger, and as a slave was not a free agent, but compelled to depend upon his master for food, he could not legally be punished for theft." Under such circumstances, we may readily believe that the bagnes, and especially that of Pichellin, were complete dens of thieves. Every evening, as soou as the gates were closed, the plunder of the day was brought forth and sold by auction; the sale being conducted, to the great amusement of the slaves, with all the Turkish gravity and formality of the slave-market. Articles not thus disposed of were left in the hands of one of the captives, who made it his business, for a small commission, to negotiate between the loser and the thief, and accept ransom for the stolen property. An Italian in Pichellin's bagne, named Fontimana, was so expert and confident a thief, that without possessing the smallest fraction of money in the morning, he would invite a party of friends to sup with him in the evening, trusting to his success in thieving through the day to provide the materials for the feast. Of course no satisfaction was obtained when the sufferers complained to Pichellin. "The Christians," he would say, "are all pilfering rascals. I cannot help it. You must be more careful for the future. Have you yet to learn that all my slaves wear hooks at the ends of their fingers?" Indeed, he seems to have recognized the slaves' right of theft so fully, that he was not angry when he himself became the victim. On one occasion, Fontimana stole and sold the anchor of his master's galley. "How dare you sell my anchor, you Christian dog!" said Pichellin. "I thought," replied the thief, "that the galley would sail better without the additional weight." The master laughed at the impudent reply, and said no more on the subject. Another characteristic anecdote is recorded of Pichellin and a Portuguese slave, his confidential steward and chamberlain. One day, when cruising off the coast of Portugal," the Capitan