Enterprise and Adventure/Adventures of Giovanni Finati
THE ADVENTURES OF GIOVANNI FINATI.
The adventures of Giovanni Finati, an Italian, as related by himself in a narrative of his life, translated and published some years since by Mr. Bankes, the Oriental traveller, have hardly been surpassed in romantic interest by any work of fiction. Finati had accompanied Mr. Bankes in his travels in Nubia and Syria, and that gentleman had had frequent opportunities of ascertaining the truth of the main incidents of his adventures, which, indeed, bear every appearance of authenticity. He was born at Ferrara, and was educated for the church; but the Italian states being then practically under the sway of Napoleon, he was drawn in the conscription, and called on to serve in the French army. A substitute, whom his parents had provided at considerable expense, after a few months' service deserted; and Finati, by the rules of the army, was compelled to take his place. Detesting a military life he
endeavoured by every means to escape from his harsh fate, and for a time acting under the advice of friends, he secreted himself in the neighbourhood of Ferrara. But this was of little avail. The French military tribunal ordered his father and younger brother to be seized as a punishment to the family, and they were thrown into prison, and their property confiscated; steps which compelled Finati to declare himself, and thus saved them from ruin. He was then sent to Milan to be trained and exercised, and in 1806 was despatched with the army to the Tyrol. Here his disgust for the military life again tempted him to seek an opportunity to desert, which he at length accomplished. By day it was impossible to show himself in his uniform without being detected; but all his nights were passed in traversing the deep wilds and forests of that country, until at last he found himself again within his native state. The thought of being now once more near his native home affected him so strongly that he determined to risk the danger of discovery, and to visit his parents in the night. The probable consequences of detection after a second desertion were so serious that he dared not remain in their house, but was compelled to conceal himself in places the least frequented of the country round; sometimes lying in the sheepfolds and outhouses with the animals and cattle, and sometimes in ditches and holes in the earth, so that a life of wretchedness and privation was all that he gained by his escape.
Meanwhile the news of his desertion had reached Ferrara, and the unhappy Finati had the misery of knowing that his persecutors had again begun to wreak their vengeance on his family. The confiscation of their property was renewed, and his younger brother, a mere youth, was peremptorily required to serve in his stead. To surrender himself was almost certain death, so severe were the French military laws against obstinate deserters. But at last the French soldiers discovered his lurking place, and suddenly made him their prisoner. Chained to twenty other deserters he was then ordered to march, their destination being Venice, where it was fully expected that he would be brought to a military tribunal and condemned to death. It happened, however, that the Emperor Napoleon had just arrived in that city on a short visit, and to this fortunate coincidence Finati attributed the general act of grace under which his life was spared, though condemned for some time to submit to a degrading punishment. This punishment ended, the young student of theology finally relinquished all hope of being able to follow his original profession, and, though hating still the oppression of his French masters, determined to make the best of a military life; but dreams of escape from his present position haunted him, and his parents being now beyond the reach of their persecutors, he resolved to watch for another opportunity. The regiment in which he served being ordered to join the army in Montenegro under General Marmont, this opportunity at length presented itself. A conspiracy was formed for the purpose among the Italians in the regiment, and at a preappointed time the party, numbering sixteen in all, and including the sergeant and his wife, contrived to slip away unperceived by their comrades and betook themselves to the mountains. By midnight they had reached the frontier of Albania, where, passing a French outpost, they had a narrow escape of being arrested. On the following day, they reached the Turkish town and castle of Antivari, where their numbers and their armed appearance created so much distrust, that they were in great danger of being attacked by the guard before they could give an explanation; but by throwing down their arms, and making signs of submission, they were hospitably received. Indeed, the soldiers who had deserted from the infidel army in Dalmatia caused a great excitement in the town, where the people of every rank crowded forward to see them as they passed along. But the unfortunate Italians soon found that their troubles were not yet at an end. The governor had determined that they should embrace the Mohammedan religion, and enlist in the Turkish army; and to this end he assailed them incessantly with coaxing and menaces. Finding them obstinate, he sent them to work in the quarries, where, under a hot sun, they performed daily tasks, which were generally assigned to convicts. Having dragged on this wretched existence for more than three months, their spirit was broken, and their strength exhausted, so that it seemed impossible for them to persevere and live. Wearied out at last, the sergeant of the party one day addressed his fellow-prisoners, pointing out to them (which there was little need to do) the wretchedness of their present situation, and that to continue in it must inevitably shorten their lives. After some further remarks of this kind, his hearers appear to have been convinced, and, outwardly at least, consented to conform to the wishes of their oppressors.
Finati now took the name of Mahomet, and thenceforth imbibed more and more the habits of a Turkish soldier; but a restless love of adventure had taken possession of him; and by the aid of a friendly merchant, whom he had known in Montenegro, he found means to escape aboard a vessel bound to Egypt. Here he enlisted in the army of the famous Mehemet Ali, and was a witness of the famous destruction of the Mamelukes. Finati, or Mahomet, as he now called himself, was then drafted into the army for service in Arabia, where a sect of Mohammedans, called the Wahabees, defied the power of the Sultan, and forbade the pilgrims to visit Mecca without paying them tribute. In his first campaign for the recovery of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, Finati's old ill-fortune pursued him. The army under Jossoon Pasha was routed, and of those who were not slain by the enemy, the greater number perished before they could reach the coast where the Egyptian vessels awaited them. Although Finati escaped, his position was one of extreme peril: the heat of the country being intolerable, and water not to be found. Fortunately, however, he remembered a spring at about five miles' distance, and thither he contrived to make his way. At the well he found a little knot of his comrades, sitting despondently around the brink, the well being too deep for them to reach the water by any contrivance they could devise, though expiring with thirst; and one of the number, in the agony of despair occasioned by it, threw himself in, and perished before them all. It was now daylight, and many tracks were found by this well, so that there was a great difference of opinion as to which should be taken, and some of them separated; but that which Finati had chosen fortunately soon brought him into sight of the sea and of the shipping, which was coasting very near the beach. Weary and exhausted, he still found strength to run down to the shore, and there, in his impatience, threw himself into the water, and swam aboard one of the largest of the vessels, which happened to be that in which the Turkish commander was embarked.
Finati now returned to Cairo, but soon afterwards returned to the army, which was again fitted out for the expedition against the Wahabees, under the command of Mehemet Ali himself. Misfortune, however, still pursued him. The army was frequently defeated, and their sufferings were so great, that he determined to escape from it altogether. Having wandered about the country for some time, suffering great hardships, he was fortunate in falling in with a company of Bedouin Arabs, who were making the journey to Mecca. These people treated him kindly, and in their company he arrived at that city, so sacred in the eyes of the Mohammedans. Finati gives many curious details of his observations in the city, where he stayed for some time. After a variety of adventures, he rejoined the Egyptian army, which he accompanied throughout the campaign.
Returned again to Cairo, the war being ended, Finati was engaged by Mr. Bankes to accompany him in his travels and researches upon the Nile and in Nubia, his knowledge of the Oriental languages and of Oriental customs rendering him a useful guide to that gentleman. Returned from this journey, he again accompanied Mr. Bankes to Jerusalem, and spent a considerable time in travelling with him and examining the famous sites of the Holy Land. Finati was then engaged by the British Consul to accompany Mr. Beechey and the famous Belzoni to Upper Egypt, and he took a part in the explorations of that remarkable traveller. He was present at the opening of the great temple of Abousombal, of which he gives a spirited account. "While fresh clamours and new disputes were going on with our crew (he says), I, being one of the slenderest of the party, without a word said, crept through into the interior, and was thus the first who entered it, perhaps, for a thousand years. Unlike all the other grottoes in Egypt and Nubia, its atmosphere, instead of presenting a refreshing coolness, was a hot and moist vapour. It was, however, a consoling and almost an unexpected circumstance that the run of sand extended but a very little way within the aperture, and the remainder of the chambers were all unencumbered. With this favourable intelligence I came out again, still creeping flat upon my face, and assisted the rest in extending the orifice."
Finati spent many years in accompanying explorers in this way both in Africa and Syria, and in taking an active part in their researches, which he describes with great intelligence. Being at length invited by Mr. Bankes to visit him in England, he spent a considerable time in this country, where, in 1830, he published, for the first time, his narrative of his adventures.