A temporary barrack, pen, or enclosure
for slaves, sometimes fortified
BARRACOON
CAST
The entire play takes place inside the barracoon
Li Tong - Chinese man who works in a barracoon as an employee of foreign slave traders. Late 20's.
Armindo Cruz - Portuguese ex-seaman who rents barracoons and charters ships to make profit from the Chinese coolie trade to Peru and Cuba. Known and feared for his cruelty. Age: Middle-aged
Dr. Murray - dissipated and alcoholic English doctor well paid to certify that Chinese coolies are fit for their grueling sea voyage. Age: About 50
Captain Elliott - Once proud American clipper ship captain now reluctantly involved in the coolie trade. Age: Late middle age
James Turner - corrupt British harbour master. Age: 30's
Mr. Anderson - incorruptible emigration agent: late 20's, early 30's
Ah-fuk - chief Chinese crimp, one who specializes in kidnapping or otherwise inducing Chinese coolies into the barracoon
Brother - A Chinese from a scholar gentry family kidnapped and brought into the barracoon. Age: late teens/early 20's
Sister (Tiang-si) - Captured while trying to free her brother. Mid 20's
Three Chinese musical players - er-hu, gong, cymbals
Chinese male prisoners
Chinese and Eurasian male guards
(Musicians can double as prisoners, etc.)
.....................................
DOUBLE ISLAND, SWATOW, CHINA, LATE 1800'S
At rise the stage is completely dark. From the darkness is heard the sound of a two-stringed Chinese fiddle, an "er-hu." The pentatonic melody it is playing is almost painfully beautiful, melancholy, plaintive and heartbreaking. The pleasant sound is in direct contrast to the slight but unpleasant odor which is wafting across the stage and out to the audience.
Suddenly, as the music stops and a glimmer of light fades in, we hear a sound and even catch a glimpse of a naked or nearly naked CHINESE MALE running across the stage. In the style of the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911) most of his head has been shaved and the remaining hair at the back of his head has been braided into a long pigtail (queue). The CHINESE MALE performs in response to commands of an O.S. VOICE.
O.S. VOICE
Run!..Turn! Flap your arms! Bend over!..Jump about while turning!..Duck walk!..Stoop!..Jump about! Quickly! Do not make the foreign-devil angry!...Enough! Spin your queue!..Enough! Now sign the paper and rejoin the other coolies upstairs!
(The CHINESE MALE, panting heavily, then runs off the other side of the stage. After several seconds, a SECOND CHINESE MALE runs onto the stage)
O.S. VOICE (cont)
Hurry up! Flap your arms about and run!..All right, now jump up and down!..Now duck walk!..Stoop!..Enough! Now, spin your queue! Quickly, you coffin chisel, or else the red faced barbarians will whip you again!
(As the COOLIE spins his head sending his queue flying about, we hear the sound of
a coin fall to the floor)
O.S. VOICE (cont)
Hiding coins in your queue!? For that you will be beaten! All of you had better remember what I told you: If you cause trouble you will be beaten! Go to the back! Wait there!
(Also panting heavily, the COOLIE exits the stage)
(After the COOLIE runs off, we again hear the sound of the er-hu. Gradually,
a spotlight comes up on the MUSICIAN and his er-hu. The man is dressed in typical ragged Chinese jacket and baggy trousers and is barefoot. He is sitting on the stage)
(After at least 30 seconds pass, the ER-HU PLAYER stops playing and, still holding his instrument, looks out at the audience. He
smiles slightly. He is an elderly man and when he speaks there is an undertone of sorrow and melancholy in his voice)
ER-HU PLAYER
I am Li Tong, a Canton man of the clan Loi. This is a barracoon. I play music here; I will play music here until I die. That day will not be far off; but before I journey to the Land of the Yellow Springs I want you to know the truth about what happened when I was still young. When I worked in a barracoon as a free man. I neither sold coolie slaves nor was I a coolie who had been enslaved. I simply served the various foreigners who ran the barracoons and sailed the coolie ships. I had learned English well from missionaries and in my father's shop I had worked with numbers and an abacus. These skills made me valuable to the foreigners who derived their profit from the coolie trade.
(As LI TONG speaks the last sentence, two similarly dressed CHINESE MEN join him and sit on each side of him, one with a Chinese drum and one with a Chinese brass gong)
LI TONG (cont)
It was a time when China was in turmoil and many had little or no food. In that turmoil, my father lost everything, and I was content to make money as I could; I was not one of those known as a 'crimp,' a Chinese who kidnaped his own people and sold them to foreigners. And so I could live. And I could live with myself. Then, one day, everything changed. And yet, except for the storm, known today as The Great Storm, it was a day which began much as any other.
(At the sound of hammering, LI TONG pauses and looks up and back to where the sound is coming from)
(The light on him dims a bit and is now crossing him in streaks, suggesting prison bars. The hammering stops and HE again faces the audience)
LI TONG (cont)
Yes, that's right, I remember now - the wooden venetians at the windows had been nailed shut to prevent coolies from escaping. And so inside the barracoon daytime was hardly distinguishable from the night. There were about three hundred men in the barracoon. All Chinese coolies. Not counting their jailers, of course. They were as they are now - Portuguese and mixed-blood Chinese-Portuguese from Macau. And some, I am ashamed to say, were pure Chinese. The coolies thought they were waiting for a ship to take them to "Gum San - the Gold Country... California;" but they were not. And that is why the door was locked and barred and the venetians were nailed shut and the keepers had keys...and guns and knives and swords and rattan rods and leather whips...
(The ER-HU PLAYER is now clearly embarrassed)
LI TONG (cont)
I apologize for the odor. The only ventilation we had was through the crevices of the venetians and of the door when it was open. The only other door was upstairs; it opened onto a terrace and the terrace was all the coolies had for a privy. The terrace was, of course, too high for a coolie to jump down and escape...Although some tried.
(A CHINESE MAN appears and begins swishing lighted incense sticks about as he crosses the stage and exits during the next speech.
While he does this, one or two other CHINESE MEN light candles and turn up the oil lamps)
LI TONG (cont)
(slight smile)
Despite all that he was, Armindo was the only one who cared about the smell. So every day just before he arrived, one of the guards lit joss-sticks - sticks of incense; and soon the sandalwood aroma hid the offensive odors...as the music was used to hide the screams of coolies being whipped.
(A THIRD CHINESE MAN appears and takes the er-hu from LI TONG and takes his place in
between the other two MUSICIANS. LI TONG rises and walks a bit away from the THREE MUSICIANS)
LI TONG
(Cont)
(lost in memory)
Armindo was-
(Li Tong suddenly stares at the audience)
Armindo Cruz...Forgive me; I see from your lack of reaction that you do not know that name. Consider yourself fortunate. But, believe me, you would have known it then.
(There is the sudden and very loud sound of such pounding and the spotlight on LI TONG immediately goes out. The frightened CHINESE
MUSICIANS rise quickly - with the docile air of men desperately afraid of being beaten. The man with the drum stands over it ready to begin. The man with the gong holds out his stick and gong in preparation to beat it, and the er-hu player is also in readiness)
(Suddenly, there is an enormous crack of a whip on flesh and the sound of a blood-curdling scream. As lights come up on the
barracoon, the three MUSICIANS begin frantically playing their instruments. The music now is loud and discordant and cacophonous)
(The barracoon is lit by candles and oil lamps and only slightly by outside light seeping through the venetians. In addition to the one large room there are stairs leading to a cock-
loft above, where there are still more CHINESE COOLIES. The COOLIES milling about the back of the rooms are not shackled in any way but have obviously been told precisely what area of the barracoon is theirs to move about in. Their space has no lamps or beds but only a scattering of straw and gunny bags to serve as sleeping mats)
(Throughout the play we see the (often distorted) shadows of these men moving about in the background; emaciated apparitions flitting between lanterns and candles and absorbed by the darkness)
(A CHINESE coolie has his queue and thumbs and large toes bound up together and is hanging from a ceiling beam just inches from the floor's packed earth)
(ANOTHER COOLIE wearing nothing but a kind of loincloth stands against the far wall. His hands have been bound behind him and he is tied by his queue to a wooden wall peg. His queue has been shortened in length by being wrapped about the peg so that he cannot sit down without painfully pulling his hair)
(WELL-ARMED MEN - both Chinese and mixed blood Portuguese-Chinese - are observing
a furious PORTUGUESE whip a naked Chinese who is hanging by his thumbs from tropes tied to wall pegs. The COOLIE's back is crisscrossed with welts. Blood runs freely down his buttocks and legs. The long, black objects hanging from the Portuguese's belt are the severed queues of Chinese men)
(These CHINESE MEN also have their hair set in the fashion of the Ch'ing Dynasty and their queues are either wound around their heads or else down in back reaching to their calves. Non-Chinese and mixed Portuguese-Chinese are wearing mainly seamans' clothes of the mid-1800's: pea jacket, guernsey, bell-bottomed duck trousers, boots. The weapons at their belts are knives and flintlock pistols)
(Not far toward the rear of the room, a few Chinese CRIMPS and GUARDS are engaged in a game of dice for money, occasionally letting out groans of "Aiiyaahh!" when luck is against them. They take no interest in the beatings as the beatings are nothing new to them)
(A CHINESE GUARD opens the door and we hear the sound of wind and driving rain. A swarthy Portuguese somewhere in his 30s or 40s enters (ARMINDO). An ex-seaman and an expert at
surviving in a very dangerous world. His flat-brimmed tarpaulin hat, monkey jacket and boots are wet from the rain)
(After observing the whipping for just a few moments, he moves quickly to the MAN WITH THE WHIP, spins him about and grasps his wrist)
ARMINDO
What the devil you whipping him for?
MAN WITH THE WHIP
What?!
ARMINDO
(to the musicians)
Stop that infernal noise, you heathen devils!
(The light on the THREE MUSICIANS immediately blacks out as the music stops)
ARMINDO
I said, what the devil you whipping him for?
MAN WITH THE WHIP
Bloody heathen's still refusin' to sign his contract!
(ARMINDO grasps the man's face with both hands and pushes it near the face of the
COOLIE on the wall)
ARMINDO
The Chinaman is dead, you damn fool!
MAN WITH THE WHIP
...What's one coolie more or less?
(ARMINDO draws his sheath knife and shoves him)
ARMINDO
That's thirty Spanish dollars I lost! I ought to cut your heart out! If you don't know how to whip coolies without killin' 'em, get the hell out!
(ARMINDO tosses his knife from hand to hand with obvious skill and sneers malevolently)
ARMINDO (cont)
Unless you'd like to try me.
(The MAN hesitates, then moves quickly away. ARMINDO gestures to his CHINESE
EMPLOYEES who cut the COOLIE down and prepare to take the body out. He replaces his knife, takes off his
jacket and hat, and looks about)
ARMINDO
Li Tong...Li Tong!
(LI TONG appears from out of the darkness, makeup removed, now a much younger man. He rushes to ARMINDO and takes his hat and jacket. He
hangs them up carefully on wall nails)
ARMINDO
I'm chilled to the bone. Hurry up with the tea.
LI TONG
Yes, sir. I'm sorry. I overslept.
(LI TONG obediently begins preparing tea while ARMINDO removes his two pearl-handled pistols from his belt)
(As he speaks, he carefully examines the powder in the pistols' priming pans, then changes the flint in each cock. He might also clear the barrels with his ramrod, etc.)
ARMINDO
And how many times have I told you: when we got a storm, we don't need the damn heathen music! Nobody out there can hear anybody screamin' in here during a typhoon! Tell the buffle-headed musicians not to play except when they're needed or I'll ship them out!
LI TONG
I am sorry, sir. It won't happen again.
(The door opens and a BRITISH PHYSICIAN enters. We again hear the sounds of the storm outside. The CHINESE carrying the coolie's body move past him and out the door.)
(The PHYSICIAN removes his peacoat and LI TONG immediately takes it from him and hangs it up)
(He is a rotund man, about 50, rather shabbily dressed, whose red face shows unmistakable signs of a life of dissipation. He attempts to retain his dignity but appears a bit unsteady on his feet and has difficulty repressing a bad cough)
DR. MURRAY
Mornin', Li Tong. Glad to see you here. The other so-called interpreters know about as much English as I know Chinese.
LI TONG
Thank you, Dr. Murray. I decided to stay here because of the storm. You'd better dry off.
(LI TONG hands him a towel. DR. MURRAY rubs his face and arms)
DR. MURRAY
I wager this weather'll be the death of me yet.
(He takes his bowler hat out of a leather sack. He examines the hat for damage while speaking)
DR. MURRAY (cont)
The rains loosened the sand. Bones of Chinamen are exposed all along the north shore of the island. The lucky ones had coffins. But now their coffins are bein' swept out into the river. Poor bastards had no peace in life and now-
ARMINDO
You're late, Dr. Murray.
DR. MURRAY
I was detained.
ARMINDO
By a bawdy house bottle and a more-than-willing chick-a-biddy, I'll wager.
DR. MURRAY
Chick-a-biddy?
(He carefully places his hat on his head)
DR. MURRAY (cont)
At my age I consider myself fortunate if I manage to enjoy a few moments pleasure with a wrinkle-bellied hedge whore. But, no, my dear Armindo, I was in point of fact detained by the emigration agent.
ARMINDO
What the bloody 'ell does 'e want?
DR. MURRAY
He boarded the clipper and ordered your crew to reland the pork.
ARMINDO
Reland the- What the hell is wrong with the pork?
(ARMINDO replaces the pistols in his belt and stands up)
DR. MURRAY
Maggots. Small maggots, to be sure, but it seems he has discovered them in the deepest recesses of the joints and he wishes me to remind you that according to the Chinese Passenger Act-
(While he speaks the following, ARMINDO snatches an iron-handled whip from the wall)
ARMINDO
I don't want to hear about the bloody Chinese Passenger Act! Of course the bloody pork has maggots: The chuckle-headed Chinamen dry salt it instead of keeping it in brine.
(The PHYSICIAN places his leather doctor's bag on a table and sits in a chair behind it. LI TONG approaches him with a cup of tea but DR. MURRAY waves it away)
DR. MURRAY
I gave up that scandal broth years ago, Li Tong. Give it to your boss.
(While LI TONG gives the cup of tea to ARMINDO, DR. MURRAY pulls out a flask of Brandy and a glass. He polishes the glass with a small towel then carefully pours the brandy. He holds up the glass)
DR. MURRAY (cont)
To those dear friends who refuse nothing: the gallows and the sea.
(He drinks it down and clears his throat. DR. MURRAY looks about for a spittoon and LI TONG quickly moves the spittoon closer to DR. MURRAY'S feet. DR. MURRAY expectorates into the spittoon, then primly wipes his mouth)
ARMINDO
The whole blooming lot of them get the mulligrubs from their own addle-pated stupidity and some beetle-browed emigration agent relands my pork!
DR. MURRAY
Be that as it may, as your designated ship surgeon, I concurred that we have no choice but to replace the pork or else-
ARMINDO
Replace thirty casks of pork!? Over my dead body! You can doctor it up by runnin' pickles over it. That'll take care of the bloody maggots.
DR. MURRAY
Temporarily.
ARMINDO
Long enough until we get out to sea!
(ARMINDO places his face close to the PHYSICIAN's and speaks in a threatening manner)
ARMINDO (cont)
You best not be forgettin' you work for me, Doctor Murray.
DR. MURRAY
I...never...forget I work for you. And you should never forget that without my attestation as to the good health of the coolies, you don't receive permission to sail.
(ARMINDO stares at the PHYSICIAN for several seconds, then moves away. LI TONG refills his tea cup)
ARMINDO
Replace the pork?! Next they'll be demandin' we provide every Chinaman wot goes on board with his own concubine!
DR. MURRAY
An interesting thought. But I dare say we may have some trouble with this particular agent.
ARMINDO
I never met an emigration agent that a stack of silver dollars couldn't buy.
DR. MURRAY
This one-
ARMINDO
This one won't be any different. One way or another, I always bring them to their bearings. And what about Captain Elliott? Did he say the ship is ready to sail?
DR. MURRAY
Oh, yes. The clipper is all shipshape and Bristol fashion. The ship isn't the problem. It's the acting harbour master. Elliott's on his way over with him now.
ARMINDO
Doesn't he know the arrangement we had with Nicholson?
DR. MURRAY
We'll soon find out. And, if I were you, I'd cut those Chinamen down and get them out of sight.
ARMINDO
What the bloody hell for?!
DR. MURRAY
Because the acting harbour master is a fellow named James Turner and I heard when he was at Ningpo he was the sort who worried about how Chinamen are treated.
ARMINDO
Turner. Aye. I know that name. Damn his eyes! Li-tong! Untie those Chinamen and put 'em with the others. And get Ah-fuk over here.
(As other CHINESE begin untying the COOLIES, LI TONG walks to a group of armed CHINESE CRIMPs and GUARDS absorbed in a game of dice)
LI TONG
Where is Ah-fuk?
(ONE of the MEN points to a sleeping figure. LI TONG walks over to him and lowers his voice)
LI TONG
Ah-fuk...Ah-fuk! Wake up! Armindo wants you.
(The man rolls over)
LI TONG (cont)
Did you take care of that thing we discussed?
AH FUK
Don't worry. It is done. But the storm-
ARMINDO
Ah-fuk!
LI TONG
The storm what?
AH FUK
We will talk later.
(AH-FUK hurries over to ARMINDO)
ARMINDO
You bring the new coolies?
AH-FUK
Hab got. First chop coolies. Number one.
ARMINDO
First chop?! You bracket-faced, buffle-headed loon, half the bloomin' coolies you bring me are so sick they die before they reach Peru. I'm within an ames ace of buyin' all my Chinamen from somebody else.
AH-FUK
Ga la! First chop! You looksee! You catchee plenty dolla'!
ARMINDO
That better be right. Bring 'em out!
(As the CRIMP obeys, ARMINDO sits in a chair beside the BRITISH PHYSICIAN. He places his pistols on the table and wraps his whip around his wrist. He brings out a snuff box from
inside his jacket and smears a pinch of snuff on his nostrils and sniffs. He sneezes)
(LI TONG brings over a pot of tea, tray of cups, sheaf of paper, quill pens, an abacus, and an ink container. HE sits beside ARMINDO, uses a small knife to sharpen the point of the quill pen, then dips it into the ink)
(The light of an oil lamp reflects on the foolscap and on the barrels of ARMINDO's two flintlock pistols lying beside it)
(AH-FUK and his ASSISTANTS bring four frightened CHINESE COOLIES from out of
the darkness. They lead them out by walking behind them and holding their queues. The COOLIES are naked or nearly naked)
LI TONG
(to the first enslaved Chinese)
Move about to show the outside barbarians that you are healthy. Otherwise, you will be taken outside and left to starve on the island. And don't think anyone will take you to the mainland. They are too afraid to interfere with the foreign-devil business. So do as I say. Run!..Jump!..Turn!..Bend over!
(ARMINDO and DR. MURRAY watch closely as the first CHINESE is forced to run about and flap his arms and leap and stoop and jump)
ARMINDO
'E looks strong enough to me. 'Ave 'im duck walk again.
LI TONG
Walk like a duck again! Quickly! Before the foreign-devil is angry!
(The COOLIE obeys. ARMINDO looks toward DR. MURRAY who nods)
ARMINDO
All right! Sign.
(LI TONG employs his quill to make notes on sheets of foolscap before him and noisily slams beads on his abacus)
LI TONG
Sign the contract.
(The COOLIE walks forward and LI TONG roughly grabs the COOLIE's finger and pushes it onto a kind of ink pad then presses it down onto the contract. He then places a cord around the COOLIE's neck which has a number on a bamboo tag)
LI TONG (cont)
This is your number. Number two-nine-zero. When you go on board the black-sided coolie ship, a foreign-devil will call out your number. You will walk forward and he will ask you if you go on the voyage willingly. You say 'yes,' understand? Anyone who says 'no' will be beaten and dragged in the water from the rowboat! You understand?!
(The COOLIE nods)
LI TONG (cont)
Now go upstairs! If you cause trouble you will be whipped and left to hang by your thumbs.
(the COOLIE obeys)
(Much the same action is carried out with the second COOLIE)
LI TONG (cont)
Jump! Squat! Flap your arms...Duck walk...Now, the other way.
(LI TONG looks to ARMINDO and DR. MURRAY. Both men nod)
LI TONG (cont)
Enough! You are number two-nine-one. You heard what I said. When you are asked if you want to go, you say, 'Yes.' Otherwise you will regret it.
(The COOLIE walks forward and LI TONG places the cord with number around his neck)
COOLIE
Please, I am a charcoal seller. Some men told me where I might find better employment. But when I went with them I was gagged and tied and taken here.
LI TONG
Be quiet! (grasping the coolie's arm) You were burned by joss-sticks before. Do not cause more trouble or you will receive even worse! Here! Sign!
(LI TONG dips his finger in ink and presses it to the contract. The COOLIE moves off and the next COOLIE attempts to move about as ordered)
LI TONG (cont)
Jump! Run! Squat!..Duck walk and flap your arms!
(While the third coolie is leaping and duck-walking and flapping his arms, he begins to cough and stumble. DR. MURRAY rises and looks into his eyes and mouth and runs his hands along the man's body as if checking the health of an animal)
DR. MURRAY
This man is sick.
AH-FUK
No sick. It too much laining. Him hab cold.
DR. MURRAY
No, not a cold. The man's at death's door.
(ARMINDO walks to the CRIMP and slaps his face. The CRIMP reaches for his knife but then thinks better of it)
AH-FUK
You no 'cassion makee so-fashion!
ARMINDO
I warned you not to bring me anymore like that. One more time and I'll find another crimp. You savvy?!
AH-FUK
...I savvy.
ARMINDO
Take him out.
DR. MURRAY
He'll die out there.
ARMINDO
He'll die where 'e's goin', so what's the bloody difference?
(DR. MURRAY reaches for his doctor's bag)
DR. MURRAY
I might be able to save him with-
ARMINDO
He'd be shark meat before we were three days sail out of Swatow. (to the CHINESE) Take 'im out!
(As the CHINESE ASSISTANTS take the COOLIE to the door the man begins shouting to the other COOLIES)
COOLIE
At least I will die with my bones in Chinese soil! You are not going to the Gold Country. You are going to hell! Escape while you can!
ARMINDO
What did he say?
LI TONG
(hesitating)
He...he just said his life is hell and he knows he will die soon.
ARMINDO
That's it?
LI TONG
Yes.
(ARMINDO makes a very fast movement, grabbing LI TONG behind his head, pulling it down by his queue, very close to the candle. LI TONG
is very much afraid)
ARMINDO
The missionaries taught you good English. And you're smart. All that makes you useful to me. But, so help me God, you lie to me one more time, and I'll ship you out on the next coolie ship! You savvy?
LI TONG
I savvy! I savvy!
ARMINDO
Now. What did he say?
LI TONG
He...he told these men they are not going to the Gold Country. They are going to hell and they should try to escape.
ARMINDO
(releasing LI TONG)
That's better.
ARMINDO
(to his ASSISTANTS)
Bring him back.
(The ASSISTANTS force march the COOLIE to stand in front of ARMINDO. ARMINDO puts down his whip and picks up a pistol)
ARMINDO (cont)
Ask him if he's afraid to die.
LI TONG
The foreign-devil wants to know if you are afraid to die.
COOLIE
The next world will be much better than this. My spirit will rise to the Jade Heaven in the Western Paradise. I will be with the immortals. Heaven will not endure men such as these and you - for helping such men - you will go to the Land of the Yellow Springs!
LI TONG
He says the next world will be better. And he damns me for helping foreigners.
ARMINDO
But is he afraid to die?
LI TONG
He says he is not.
(ARMINDO stares at the COOLIE for a few moments then stands up)
ARMINDO
A man who's not afraid to die deserves a chance to cheat death.
(He moves one of his flintlock pistols closer to the COOLIE, and places the other near himself on the table)
ARMINDO (cont)
Tell him the pistols are loaded. If he can kill me I order that he be let go.
DR. MURRAY
Armindo, what-
ARMINDO
And returned to the mainland. Unharmed.
DR. MURRAY
Armindo-
ARMINDO
Clap a stopper on your tongue!
LI TONG
The foreign-devil has told the others that if you can kill him, you are free to go. No one will harm you.
(The COOLIE stares at the flintlock nearest him. There is no sound in the room except for a few moans in the darkness from Chinese
who have been whipped or beaten. ARMINDO steps away from the table, tempting the COOLIE)
ARMINDO
(whispering)
Go ahead. Grab it. Maybe you're faster than me.
(After several seconds the COOLIE quickly reaches for the pistol and grabs it. He rapidly points it at ARMINDO and pulls the trigger. There is only a flash in the pan holding the powder. The COOLIE stares at the the flintlock, then lowers it)
ARMINDO (cont)
Well, look at that. The Chinaman had the nerve, after all. When that happens, powder only flashes. A flash in the pan.
(He walks forward and reaches for the other pistol)
ARMINDO (cont)
This one, though, I expect the rain didn't get to quite so much.
COOLIE
You are a turtle's egg!
ARMINDO
What'd he say?
LI TONG
He said you are the egg of a turtle.
ARMINDO
What the hell's that mean?
LI TONG
The turtle lays its eggs, then leaves. The turtle baby...does not savvy who is its baba.
(ARMINDO laughs uproariously)
ARMINDO
Do you hear that, Dr. Murray? The Chinaman called me a love-begotten child! A bastard!
(DR. MURRAY chuckles)
ARMINDO
Li-tong, tell him I'm not going to kill him.
LI-TONG
You're not?
ARMINDO
Hell, no.
(ARMINDO throws the pistol to LI-TONG who fumbles it, but manages to hold on)
ARMINDO (cont)
You are.
LI-TONG
...I cannot kill someone.
ARMINDO
Sure you can. Killing a man is just a question of what's in it for you. In this case, it's your life or his. You don't take his, I'll take yours.
DR. MURRAY
Armindo, there's no call to-
ARMINDO
Shut your trap! (To Li-tong) I'll count to ten. You use that barking iron on him, or, by Christ, I'll load this one and use it on you. One! Two! Three! Four!
(Li-tong hesitates and then points the pistol at the coolie. His hand is shaking)
ARMINDO (cont)
Five! Six!
LI-TONG (desperate)
I cannot kill someone!
ARMINDO
You've been killing men for years! Helping me send them to the Chinchas to work themselves to death. We're one and the same kind, Li Tong. Haven't you figured that out yet? (beat) What is it? You can send men to a slow death but you can't give a brave man a quick one? Seven! Eight!
(Li-tong pulls back the cock from the safety position)
ARMINDO (cont)
Nine!
(Li-tong pulls the trigger. There is another flash in the pan)
(Li-tong stares at the pistol, then slowly hands it to ARMINDO)
ARMINDO
Well, I'll be damned! You see that, Dr. Murray? Our interpreter has what it takes to kill another man. That beats the Dutch and the Dutch beats the devil! I better bear that in mind.
(Li-tong starts to walk away)
ARMINDO (cont)
Li-Tong, Get me the cleanin' oil! Ah-fuk! This heathen celestial has guts. Have your men take him the hell out of here. Into town. No harm is to come to him.
(Armindo reaches into his pocket and pulls out several Mexican dollars)
(He hands the dollars to the surprised coolie)
ARMINDO (cont) (to Ah-fuk)
And I better not find out later that this money found its way into your pocket. Savvy?
AH-FUK
I savvy.
(The CHINESE ASSISTANTS comply. ARMINDO again sits down. LI-TONG hands him
the gun-cleaning oil. ARMINDO begins cleaning and reloading his flintlock pistols. Li Tong stands nearby staring at the pistols)
DR. MURRAY
No guarantee his pistol's powder was too damp to fire. You took a hell of a chance.
ARMINDO
We take a hell of a chance the day we're born.
DR. MURRAY
I never thought I'd live to see the day you be giving silver to John Chinaman.
ARMINDO
That John Chinaman has as much hate inside him as me. Why kill one of my own kind? He knew what he was made of; Li Tong here is just finding out what he's made of, isn't that right, Li Tong?
(Li-Tong continues staring at the pistols)
(When the CHINESE ASSISTANTS open the door and take the COOLIE out, we hear - in addition to wind and rain - the loud sounds of horns,
cymbals and drums)
ARMINDO (cont)
What in damnation is that infernal noise?
(Dr. Murray pours himself another drink)
DR. MURRAY
Tonight'll be a full moon. The seventh of the year. The Chinamen believe hell opens up and the spirits of the dead are allowed to visit earth. Starting tonight. That's their welcome.
(to LI TONG)
That right?
LI TONG
Yes. The spirits are allowed to stay for one month. But many of these spirits are the restless ones.
ARMINDO
Why restless?
LI TONG
Because they died violently and cannot rest until the person responsible is punished.
ARMINDO
Just like a Chinaman to risk his life in a storm to welcome dead spirits.
(DR. MURRAY holds out his glass, says his toast and drinks his brandy down)
DR. MURRAY
All hands forward to splice the main brace!
ARMINDO
Easy on that! I don't want you full as a fiddler's bitch before Turner even gets 'ere.
DR. MURRAY
(saluting with his glass)
Aye, aye, sir!
ARMINDO
(to AH-FUK)
Bring the last one.
(The last coolie is a YOUNG MAN. His clothes and manner suggest he is from a higher class than the other coolies. He is sobbing)
(DR. MURRAY's speech is slightly slurred as he speaks to the boy)
DR. MURRAY
Here, here, lad. The more you cry, the less you'll piss!
ARMINDO (cont)
Tell the Chinaman to shut his bone-box or 'e'll end up in 'is eternity box.
LI TONG
Keep quiet or the foreign-devil will make it worse for you!
YOUNG MAN
My father was taken by crimps and sent on board a foreign ship. He never returned. My mother has no other sons. If I am taken abroad who will burn incense before our ancestral shrine?
ARMINDO
What's 'is problem?
LI TONG
He says he is his mother's only son. If he is sent away who will carry out his duties to his ancestors?
ARMINDO
Bad luck, that. But if 'e don't shut 'is rice-trap, she won't 'ave any son!
(Prodded by AH-FUK's threatening gestures, the MAN goes through the standard degrading routine)
LI TONG
Run! Flap your arms! Faster!..Duck walk!..Bend over! Squat!..Enough! Sign the contract!
(The MAN looks at the contract)
YOUNG MAN
I can't read it in this poor light.
LI TONG
You don't have to read it! Just sign it!
(LI TONG roughly presses the MAN's finger down on the contract. AH-FUK leads the
MAN away)
(The door suddenly opens, and TWO CAUCASIANS enter. The American clipper ship captain (CAPTAIN ELLIOTT) is tall, bewhiskered and in late middle-age. The acting British harbour master (JAMES TURNER) is about forty)
(We again hear the sounds of a storm. If anything, the squall is worsening)
(The men remove their dripping pea jackets while adjusting their eyes to the dim interior light. As LI TONG places their jackets and flat-brimmed rain hats on wall nails, the men walk toward the table)
(ARMINDO rudely shoves a CHINESE CRIMP off a chair to make room for the acting HARBOUR MASTER. The CAPTAIN stands nearby)
ARMINDO
Anchor your ass to a chair, Mr. Turner. I'm Armindo Cruz. You already know Dr. Murray. Li Tong will get you tea.
(TURNER does not immediately respond to ARMINDO as he is still stunned by the sight outside. He begins rubbing his shoulder)
ARMINDO
You hurt?
TURNER
I've never seen anything like it.
DR. MURRAY
Like what, Mr. Turner?
TURNER
All the sand is being blown away by the storm and the bones of the Chinamen are coming to the surface. They're swirling about like leaves. One of them hit my shoulder. It felt as if I'd been clubbed.
ARMINDO
Let Dr. Murray have a look at your-
TURNER
I saw a dog with the bones of a human hand in his mouth. And the way some of the bones were being blown along the ground, it almost looked like...like-
DR. MURRAY
White birch twigs. That's what they looked like to me. I never saw so many-
(The CHINESE playing dice suddenly grow loud and argumentative)
ARMINDO
Goddamn ye! Stop your heathen gabble or I'll cut your heathen tongues out! You got nothing better to do, go check the Chinamen to see what they're hiding in their pigtails. And check their mouths and assholes!
LI TONG
Quiet down and earn your pay! Inspect the Coolies closely for anything hidden! Queues! Mouths! Ears! Assholes!
(LI TONG serves tea and busies himself about the area)
(The CHINESE move off into the darkness to carry out the order. Meanwhile, the
CAPTAIN is tamping down the tobacco in his pipe prior to lighting it. TURNER takes tea, ELLIOTT does not)
TURNER
The wind is blowing them here.
ARMINDO
Blowin' what 'ere?
TURNER
The bones of the Chinamen. They're being blown about like chain-shot. And there's a flotilla of coffins rushing down the river, like some kind of well rehearsed water-borne procession: each coffin stays perfectly in its place as if it was being expertly guided.
ARMINDO
Dead men at the helms, is it? Sounds much like a well-spun galley yarn to my ears.
TURNER
This is no galley yarn, sir. A devilish night, is what it is.
ARMINDO
Well, it's some squall, all right. Anyway, do sit down. I'm real sorry to hear about Mr. Nicholson. Cholera, was it?
(TURNER sits, but refuses Dr. Murray's offer of a drink. Dr. Murray takes the drink. Turner looks about as if he's never been in a barracoon before)
TURNER
(nods)
He lingered between wind and water for a few days but then he passed on.
ARMINDO
'E was a fine 'arbour master. Fine as they come.
TURNER
Yes. He was.
ARMINDO
Many fine men I've known have slipped their cables in Swatow or Macau, Mr. Turner. My own brother lies in Hong Kong's Colonial Cemetery.
TURNER
Colonial fever?
ARMINDO
Bloody pirates tortured him and chopped 'is 'ead off to get the reward for foreign devils' 'eads. One 'undred silver dollars. Paid by the viceroy of Canton hisself. One day I hope to meet up with that heathen.
(Glares at the Chinese)
Until then, I do what I can to pay them back.
(suddenly noticing the Captain) Captain! (positioning a chair) Bring your ass to an anchor and tell me the clipper is ready to sail.
(The CAPTAIN remains standing and lights his pipe with a friction match. Sparks fly; smoke wreaths curl about his head)
CAPTAIN ELLIOTT
Aye, the clipper is as sweet as a nut and clean as a dairy, but she won't be sailin' anywhere just yet.
ARMINDO
Why in blazes not?!
CAPTAIN ELLIOTT
You better ask Mr. Turner.
TURNER
You're not ready to sail.
ARMINDO
Not ready?! We loaded rice, salt, tea, biscuit, firewood, lard, tobacco-
TURNER
Your provisions you can discuss with the emigration agent. I'm talking about the windsails.
ARMINDO
We've fixed up a windsail!
TURNER
The new regulations specify that there should be a windsail for every hatchway; and scuttles and air funnels.
ARMINDO
Bloody hell!
TURNER
And twelve feet per coolie is the minimum. As you're planning on placing three hundred coolies on board, that means each coolie will get only about eight feet.
ARMINDO
We housed over the upper deck from the mizzen forward! That way we can carry nearly as many coolies on the upper deck as on the 'tween deck.
TURNER
I already took that into account, Mr. Cruz.
ARMINDO
So what are you sayin'?
TURNER
I'm afraid you'll just have to ship fewer coolies.
ARMINDO
And how am I supposed to make a profit if I ship coolies below cost?
TURNER
Coolies are very much in demand in the Chinchas, are they not, sir? For mining?
ARMINDO
Not mining. Digging! The islands are covered with guano. Bird shit.
DR. MURRAY
They say it's thirty times more effective than ordinary manure. The best fertilizer for agriculture ever known.
ARMINDO
And it's makin' men wealthy beyond their dreams!
TURNER
Well, then, I would think that at the going rate men are willing to pay for them, three hundred coolies would bring you a fine profit.
ARMINDO
Aye. That they would if I didn't have to allow for twenty percent dyin' on the way there.
TURNER
Twenty percent?!
ARMINDO
Aye. And that's only if all goes well: No diseases. You explain it to him, Dr. Murray. 'E's new here.
DR. MURRAY
Very well, sir. My last voyage from Swatow was to Havana. The coolies weren't used to the heat of the Tropics. And in the ship's close confinement they grew weak. Then apathetic. Then they started to cough. Their skin became red and blotched. Then the eye diseases started spreading. When I saw the fever and nausea I knew the intestinal worms had arrived. And the worms started the diarrhea. And the diarrhea became dysentery.
TURNER
Didn't you disinfect?
DR. MURRAY
We did. And when we had nothing left to disinfect with we fumigated the 'tween-decks with boiling pitch. But nothing slowed it. There wasn't anything I could do for the poor bastards. By the time they died they were just bones covered by loose folds of shrivelled skin.
TURNER
How many did you lose?
DR. MURRAY
One hundred and thirty-four Chinamen.
TURNER
My God. So what did you do with them?
DR. MURRAY
What we always do. When a man died we sewed him up in a rice sack and tossed him overboard. (laughs) Why do you think sharks follow ships in the coolie trade, Mr. Turner?
ARMINDO
Aye! John Chinaman loves the taste of soup with shark fins and the sharks love the taste of John Chinaman!
(TURNER does not join in the laughter)
TURNER
I think I'll have that drink now.
(TURNER takes the glass offered by DR. MURRAY. DR. MURRAY says his toast, which TURNER ignores)
DR. MURRAY
Never dance with the mate when you can dance with the captain!
(DR. MURRAY gulps his down. TURNER swigs some brandy down, then returns the glass upside down. ELLIOTT immediately walks over and turns the glass upright)
CAPTAIN ELLIOTT
(somewhat upset)
Never place anything upside down before a voyage, sir! It suggests a ship capsizing.
TURNER
I beg your pardon. I didn't-
ARMINDO
So you can understand, sir, why I have to ship at least three hundred coolies just to ensure a small profit.
TURNER
Well, I'm sorry, but I can't issue port clearance papers the way things are now.
(ARMINDO rises and gestures for MR. TURNER to follow him off to the side. The MEN lower their voices)
