“But I confess that while I am comfortable in the wilderness, I don’t want to cut myself from civilization indefinitely.” Henrique held up a second finger. “So the second possibility is that I can return to Europe.”
“Right,” agreed Maurício, “we need to find you a nice Jewish girl.”
Henrique gave him a quelling look. It had no discernible effect on Maurício’s smirk.
“We?”
At that, Maurício lost his smile. Henrique, logically, should board the next Dutch ship, and return to Europe. His family had longstanding plans to help them make a quick getaway if they had to, and Amsterdam was the preferred rendezvous point. And it was uncertain that the Dutch in Kykoveral would tolerate the permanent presence of a Portuguese Jew.
But that would mean Maurício would have to decide between crossing the Atlantic with Henrique or remaining on the Wild Coast with Kasiri.
* * *
Kasiri frowned. “What’s troubling you, Maurício?”
“Nothing.”
“Right. My darling Maurício barely speaks. He answers every question with a single word. It’s as commonplace as piranhas climbing trees.”
Kasiri and Maurício, of course, didn’t talk to each other precisely like that. They communicated in a weird mixture of Manau, Portuguese and sign language, with many circumlocutions.
“Henrique doesn’t think he can make his home here. He wants to cross the Great Sea to join his family.”
Kasiri had never seen the ocean. To her the Great Sea was some sort of extension of the Amazon. And her people, the Manao, traded all along the Rio Negro, down to its confluence with the Amazon. So she just shrugged. A young man of her tribe, like Coqui, might travel hundreds of miles to visit, and perhaps take a bride home from, another tribe.
“And I am his brother and servant. I feel honor-bound to accompany him.” Maurício sighed. “Besides, if I don’t, then I risk being re-enslaved by the Dutch. They are at war with the Portuguese, so they needn’t honor my letter of manumission.”
Kasiri smiled. “Fine, I will go with you across the Great Sea.” Her frown reappeared. “Unless perhaps you have tired of me?”
“Of course not! It would be wonderful to have you with me. It’s just . . . customs are different in Europe . . . For one thing, you’ll have to wear more clothes.”
“Hah! I am already wearing too much. Do I not see how you, and your brother, and these crazy Dutchmen suffer every day? You all need to wear less and bathe more.”
“Be that as it may, in Europe, in winter, it is too cold to dress lightly.”
“What is cold? And what is winter?”
Maurício abruptly gave Kasiri a hug. “Until a ship comes, we don’t have to make a decision. And perhaps we should take a canoe down to the mouth of the Essequibo, so you can see what the ocean looks like, before we decide anything. For now, let’s go swimming together.”
Clearly satisfied that she had restored Maurício’s spirits, Kasiri walked with him to the river. But she didn’t know that Maurício was, beneath his surface good humor, still in doubt. Kasiri would suffer in Europe, unless she was willing to wholly adopt the language and manners of a European, like a Amazonian Pocahontas. And even then, as an Indian married to an African, she could expect to suffer all sorts of slights.
Maurício wasn’t eager to see white sails billowing over the dark waters of the Essequibo.
Gustavus (Paramaribo), Suriname
Maria returned to Gustavus with rubber, cotton and tobacco from Marshall’s Creek, and Heyndrick told the colonists that it was time to do some trading with other Europeans on the Wild Coast. At the town meeting, they announced, “We are taking the Eikhoorn to Fort Kykoveral, on the Essequibo.” It was the principal Dutch colony in the Guianas, perhaps two hundred forty miles to the west. “We need samples of everyone’s products that might find a market there, whether among the traders, the Indians, or visiting ships. And we need your ‘wish list’ of what to try to get there that we don’t have here.”
It would, of course, be more than a mere trading voyage. This would be their first chance to explore the coast, and Maria looked forward to seeing and drawing new plants and animals. And perhaps, just perhaps, some of them would be of economic value to the Gustavus colony.
At any rate, it was a chance to escape the ennui of helping to administer the colony. Maria now understood why David de Vries, their nominal leader, spent most of his time at sea.
On the coast of Guiana
They had made camp on a sandy beach, between the Berbice and Demerara rivers. They were now perhaps fifty miles from the mouth of the Essequibo. The next day’s sail would be easy, with the trade winds broad on their starboard quarter. As, in fact, they had been every day on their trip westward. Getting back home to Gustavus would be more arduous, of course.