Chapter 14: 146-157
Page 146
blessing each with a Pistole... "spend it wisely. Prudently invested, it could provide you a tidy Fund"
Reference to the Parable of the Gold Coins found in Matthew 25:14-30.
"Our idea, actually... is for one of us to run away and pretend to lead a Wastrel's Life, whilst the other applies himself diligently to the Law,-"
Reference to the Parable of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15:11-32.
Frikkadel
A traditional Afrikaner dish comprising usually baked, but sometimes deep-fried, meatballs prepared with onion, bread, eggs, vinegar and spices.
Page 147
Eurydice... Orpheus
Eurydice in Greek mythology, was an oak nymph or one of the daughters of Apollo (the god of light). She was the wife of Orpheus. Orpheus loved her dearly; on their wedding day, Orpheus played songs filled with happiness as his bride danced through the meadow. One day, a satyr saw and pursued her. Eurydice stepped on a snake and fell to the ground. The venomous snake had bitten her, leaving Eurydice dead. Distraught, Orpheus played and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and gods wept. In their saddened states, they told him to travel to the Underworld and retrieve her. Orpheus did so, and by his music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone, his singing so sweet that even the Erinyes wept. In another version, Orpheus played his lyre to put the guardian of Hades, Cerberus, to sleep. It was then granted that Eurydice be allowed to return with him to the world of the living. But the condition was attached that he should walk in front of her and not look back until he had reached the upper world. Nevertheless, Orpheus in his passion for her, and just at the portals of Hades when they had reached daylight and climbed up all through hell together, could not help but turn around to gaze on her face. Eurydice then vanished again from his sight—this time forever. From WIKI
Page 148
Soupkie
A soupkie is a glass for drinking gin.
Page 152
...the cell at Fort William, Calcutta
Quoted from Wikipedia, The Black Hole of Calcutta was a small dungeon where troops of the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, held British prisoners of war after the capture of Fort William on June 20, 1756. John Zephaniah Holwell claimed that following the fall of the Fort, British and Anglo-Indian soldiers and civilians were held overnight in conditions so cramped that a large proportion of those held died from suffocation, heat exhaustion and crushing. He claimed that 123 prisoners died out of 146 prisoners held.
Page 157
Jacob [Le Maire]
Dutch mariner, who circumnavigated the earth in 1615-16. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honor. See WIKI.
Isaac [Le Maire]
Merchant for the VOC, and later for the Australian Company. He has been known for his continuous fight with the VOC, which eventually led to the discovery of Cape Horn. See WIKI.
