Retro Reads discussion

"There had been a great many callers at the Consulate...."

Chapter 13
Meet the real life characters featured in Trade Wind



Said bin Sultan Al-Said (5 June 1797 – 19 October 1856) was Sultan of Muscat and Oman from 20 November 1804 to 4 June 1856. Known as "The Lion of Oman"

The real Salme



Born in Zanzibar as Sayyida Salme, Princess of Zanzibar and Oman. She was the youngest of the 36 children of Sayyid Said bin Sultan Al-Busaid, Sultan of Zanzibar and Oman.

The real Barghash



Sayyid Barghash bin Said Al-Busaid (1837 – March 26, 1888), son of Said bin Sultan, was the second Sultan of Zanzibar. Barghash ruled Zanzibar from October 7, 1870 to March 26, 1888.

The real Majid



Majid bin Said Al-Busaid (1834 - October 7, 1870) was the first Sultan of Zanzibar. He ruled Zanzibar from October 19, 1856 to October 7, 1870.

Chapter 11

...and facing it stood an old, pink-washed Arab house, four storeys high and boasting an imposing door studded with the big conical bronze nail-heads that were a relic of the long-ago days when Arabs of the coast protected their doors from the assaults of war elephants.




I tried to find a Zanzibari door with "a frieze of carved dolphins" gambolling above it, but no such luck :(

Heard the princess published a memoir. Did anyone manage to get a copy?

Amy C.C. wrote: "Heard the princess published a memoir. Did anyone manage to get a copy?"

by Sayyida Salme

This one?
Here on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=mU2w...

Sorry to be so slow commenting on this read--I've had a bad cold. But meanwhile, back in Zanzibar and Chapter 11, the dilemma of what would happen to the freed slaves was all too real and terribly sad.

Eventually, when Zanzibar became a British protectorate in 1890, the colonial authorities had to deal with the slave trade. The 'official' end of slavery (but not concubinage) created a labor shortage on the clove plantation as freedmen migrated to Kenya to work on the railroads or took casual jobs at the port; many simply took up subsistence farming, squatting on plantation land. The clove plantation owners eventually worked out a system of tolerating the squatters and creating a shortened work-week.

It would have worked fairly well except that the British decided to enforce Victorian moral standards, arresting and flogging men for crimes such as adultery and drunkenness. They also were determined to maintain the Arab planter class and provided schooling and advancement largely to Arabs rather than Blacks (Islam's Black Slaves: The Other Black Diaspora, p. 190-195)

I'm finding the friendship between Hero and Cressy and the women in the Sultan's harem a bit of a stretch. Would American or European women of that era have gotten involved in this sort of relationship--or this kind of plot?

Kathy wrote: "Amy C.C. wrote: "Heard the princess published a memoir. Did anyone manage to get a copy?"

[bookcover:An Arabian Princess Between Two Worlds: Memoirs, Letters Home, Sequels to the Memoirs, Syrian C..."

That's exactly the one I referred to. Thanks! :D

Hana wrote: "I'm finding the friendship between Hero and Cressy and the women in the Sultan's harem a bit of a stretch. Would American or European women of that era have gotten involved in this sort of relation..."

I believe girls still behave like this nowadays. Despite being women supposedly, both Hero and Cressy were kind of childish for their age, it seems, though in different ways.

From page 138 in my copy, here's this bit of foreign policy advice from Uncle Nat.

"Moral nothing! The only reason we're here is because there's a whole heap of our whalers in these waters, and our responsibility is to look after our own interests and lend a hand to any of our nationals who may be in need of help. We aren't out for grabbing bits of Africa like all these Britishers and Dutchmen, and it's none of our business if the people around here choose to put up with at hereditary ruler who's go nothing to recommend him 'cept that he's the son of his father."

Thoughts, anyone?

I didn't know there was whaling in the Indian Ocean. I found this from National Geographic and Kaye is correct that the US had large numbers of whaling ships in the region. http://education.nationalgeographic.c...

The US at the time did not see itself as an international military power like the Europeans, so Nat's comments make sense in the historic context; America's 19th century foreign policy generally emphasized mercantilism rather than colonialism.

And whaling was big money at the time.

It was oil!

I guess what probably saved the whales from extinction were European and Canadian discoveries in the 1850s that made it possible to distill paraffin and kerosene from coal, crude oil and bitumen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_...

I don't like Hero at the end of chapter 11. Her reaction when she found out that Amrah was Rory's child of feeling dirty and wanting to cleanse herself of the filth made me want to slap her silly. I can't even....

I think that Hero's reaction was probably typical for an upper class lady at that time. But don't worry about it too much; a lot is going to change . . .

I hope so.
I still have that sneaky feeling about Clayton. I don't know. I imagine him to look like this guy on the left.



This picture is from the movie "The sleeping dictionary". The character's name is Neville and he is a violent and sneaky b****rd who beats women. I might be wrong since I'm only at chapter 12 but that's the vibe I'm getting.

*zipping mouth* Keep reading . . .

Kathy wrote: "Amy C.C. wrote: "Heard the princess published a memoir. Did anyone manage to get a copy?"

She seems to be writing as Emily Ruete, Memoirs of an Arabian Princess.

Wait! So Chole started to plot against her brother Majid because he refused to give her a piece of jewelery?! Oh, wow! No wonder there are so many unpleasent stereoypes about women and material things :sigh:

Also, it was not very nice of her (to put it mildly) to make Salme choose a side. That is downright horrible...lives are at stake. And in such situations usually innocent people suffer and not the instigators.

Samanta wrote: "Wait! So Chole started to plot against her brother Majid because he refused to give her a piece of jewelery?! Oh, wow! No wonder there are so many unpleasent stereoypes about women and material thi..."

Great read isn't it.

Somebody needs to read Salme's autobiography and tell the rest of us how many of the details from Trade Wind are in her story. Any volunteers?

I'll do it if I find the book

Samanta wrote: "I'll do it if I find the book"

I am here to help! Can you view this? https://archive.org/details/memoirsof...

There are online copies at several websites, but this seems to be one of the better ones.

Yes! I am downloading the pdf version of the book. Thank you! :)

It might take me some time because I'm not really fond of reading on PC but I'll start it just as soon I finish Trade Wind.

Hana might be interested in this too. She is a history junkie just like me. :D

You've got me figured out Samanta! Hana the History Junkie is definitely interested :D

I'll see if I can dig up a paper copy.

Oh, I would love a paper copy! I'm reading this on my PC and it's killing me.

Hana wrote: "It was oil!

I guess what probably saved the whales from extinction were European and Canadian discoveries in the 1850s that made it possible to distill paraffin and kerosene from coal, crude oil ..."

I was very interested in whaling industry for a while, despite it was extremely brutal. Sire Conan Doyle used to be the doctor on a whaling ship for a year, and his journal is very informing and entertaining at the same time for those who are curious about the industry of whaling. It's a industry doomed to fall for they're really butchering too many animals...not only whales, but also seals and walrus. Tens of thousands seals were killed each year, and judging from the number, it's hardly surprising the industry only prospered for less than a decade.


Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure

That looks like a wonderful book, Amy. Thanks for the tip.

Very interesting comments, Amy. I had no idea that the heyday of the whaling (+seals & walrus) industry only lasted less than 10 years. Good thing! I'm no expert, but considering how massive it was, I'm sure there are still repercussions today.

Thanks so much for photographs at the start of this section, Hannah. It makes it so much more interesting to be able to put faces to the characters.

Samanta wrote: "I don't like Hero at the end of chapter 11. Her reaction when she found out that Amrah was Rory's child of feeling dirty and wanting to cleanse herself of the filth made me want to slap her silly. ..."

It reminded me of the musical South Pacific, which pre-dated Trade Wind by a decade or so; I was shocked when I first saw it (probably in the '80s) that any "heroine" could be so incredibly bigoted.

So, Chole and Hero, are both know-it-alls - and both bigoted, to boot! I do appreciate that Kaye is showing us that human behavior isn't bounded by race.