Pirates of the Caribbean: How Many Miles to Babylon?

An Island That Cannot Be Found

An Island That Cannot Be Found

The pirates' cave lay at the heart of Isla de Muerta, surrounded by a labyrinth of dark, watery tunnels through which the longboats were slowly rowed in single file. The only light came from lanterns fixed to poles that dangled over each boat's bow. Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly as the boat glided past a skeleton half-buried in sand near the water's edge. Barbossa and the other pirates looked neither left nor right, but peered ahead eagerly as their boats were steered in the direction of a golden glow that was dimly visible before them.

As the boats rounded a last corner, the glow was seen to be shining through a rocky arch that led to the treasure chamber. The boats were brought ashore, and Barbossa jumped down from the bow at once. He strode through the arch without waiting for any of the others and made his way rapidly into the cavern. As he marched forward, he surveyed the scene around him with a deep sense of fulfilment as he took in the magnitude of his achievement.

He remembered his first sight of this very cave, when they had claimed the treasure without understanding the price they would pay. It had been illuminated by soft, filtered beams of sunlight slanting through the sinkholes overhead, and the shadowy air had been cool and damp with little drafts that moved across his skin. Water had dripped from huge stalactites, and meandered lazily in shallow rivulets about the flat stones that made up the cave floor.

On that first day, there had been nothing in the cave that was not placed there by the hand of Nature---save for the carved stone chest in the very centre of the chamber. A bright shaft of daylight from one of the limestone sinkholes had poured down directly upon the chest, surrounding it with unearthly light.

The chest still stood beneath that very same sinkhole, but now it rested on the summit of a mountain of gold. A king's ransom, ten times over.

Everywhere he looked, Barbossa gazed upon masses of treasure rising in peaks beside the shallow waters, like great golden islands emerging from the sea. Some were dotted with enormous candelabra whose towering branches made them look like silver trees growing on the slopes of glittering hills. Countless chains and necklaces of silver and gold had spilled carelessly down these steep hillsides. They trailed into the water like serpentine rivers streaming off the volcanic peaks of tropical islands.

There were still a dozen or so of Barbossa's crew carrying trunks and baskets, pouring out precious coins and jewels, adding to the golden landscape. Barbossa ignored them, and began to climb toward the stone chest where the final ritual would take place. With each step, the gold crunched under his boots, almost making him slip once or twice, as the coins slid away like scree down a hill.

When he reached the summit, he walked restlessly to and fro, musing over the plunder, the work of ten years. Ten years of his life, but he gloried in the thought that his life had been successful. Acres of gold under his feet. Who could count it all? A lifetime to collect it, and now a lifetime to spend it.

He smiled to himself at the thought of the shining future that lay before him. What sublime delights might await beyond the curse! His mind was filled with fantastic dreams of wealth, pleasure, power and renown that would be his at last.

Barbossa looked around him at the men assembled below and felt an intense glow of pride: he had kept them together. He had brought them this far, and now he was about to deliver them from their curse.

"Gentlemen!" he began in a commanding voice. "The time has come! Our salvation is nigh! Our torment is near an end."

Ten years of desperation found voice in their answering cheers, and moved Barbossa to speak a few moments longer, so that all his men might savour the victory that they had won against all odds. He praised their sacrifices and their boldness. He pronounced their punishment unjust, and then he turned to the chest.