February 13th
One of the Germans died. The sailors wrapped his body in canvas and tied a sack of rocks to his feet. Then they laid him on a plank, sprinkled him with dirt, and rolled the corpse into the sea. Almost all the men on board removed their hats, but not all. Manfredi had been wondering why we had rocks on board. One of the sailors said: Now you have your answer.
When the weather is nice we dine on deck with the French. After dinner they sing the Marseillaise or other songs. We sing a song that Paolo wrote. The chorus goes: We’re sailing to where they roast coffee, where they roast coffee, where they boast coffee. Elisabetta has a nice voice.
The Southern Cross is a four-master with no steam engine; the masts and bridges are mostly still made of wood. There are two sails on the first mast and one each on the others.
Some of the Germans are so poor that they’ve begun asking us for the potato peels we’ve been tossing into the sea.
February 15th
Most of us Italians are anarchists, but most of the French are communists and are constantly calling meetings. They argue among themselves more than us Italians or the Germans and the Austrians, but every time an argument breaks out, five minutes later they’re all hugging each other again and singing the Marseillaise. They look down a little on us Italians, since there aren’t very many of us who have been in prison or had entanglements with the police, although Tranquillo Agottani was supposedly with the Carbonari. They call a meeting whenever someone has an argument, almost every day. They call their meetings “assemblies” and invite all the other settlers on the ship, except for the Germans, who don’t understand French, not many people go. Of us Italians the ones who go most often are Decio, Umberto, Giacomo, and Zeffirino. Decio got in an argument with one of the Frenchmen there whose name is Gorand, but they call him African, because he was in Africa and got a Legion of Honour there. Supposedly Gorand said that the nonexistence of marriage and the sharing of women in our settlement was not intended to gratify our desires, but to cultivate a new generation of children who would combine all their parents’ optimal qualities in themselves. Supposedly Umberto said in reply that his optimal quality was that he loves women, and that that was the most important thing for men, otherwise there was no point in establishing a settlement. Gorand said that that was a typical Italian anarchist attitude, at which point Decio inserted himself into the conversation, saying that anarchy was not quite what Gorand imagined it, and that communism was always trying to tell people what to do. Gorand said he had been a communist for eight years and no anarchist was going to tell him what communism was. And he said communism meant love, but not the way Italians and anarchists imagine it. And the first communist was actually Jesus Christ, who was a virgin. Decio said he didn’t know Jesus Christ personally, he had only heard about him in church, but from everything he’d heard, Jesus was a downright fool. Wasn’t he the one who turned the other cheek when somebody hit him? Gorand said that wasn’t the point, they were talking here about love. Then another Frenchman, named Haymard, stepped in, and said Friends, friends, why don’t we leave this for another time?
February 16th
The Madeira mountains appeared on the starboard side today. All day long there were birds flying around us. The weather is calm and getting warmer all the time.
February 17th
We crossed paths with a ship. Everyone was shouting and waving their hats and scarves.
Even among us Italians there are disputes over how things should look in the settlement, and gradually three groups have emerged. One led by Zeffirino, one by Decio, and one by no one really — maybe Giacomo. Zeffirino is the richest one of us, or was, anyway, since soon everything will be shared. He pals around with Gorand a lot, since he was in Africa also, and when he returned home after six years, he enrolled in the school of agronomics and worked at the economic commune in Lazio for three years. He was the one who first spread Older Brother’s ideas in our country and began talking people into moving away to Brazil. But he doesn’t agree with all of Older Brother’s ideas. He says it’s a mistake for the settlement to be open to anyone, since there are hangers-on and ne’er-do-wells in every group of people, and if our settlement is to be the forerunner of a new world, it should only admit truly capable and motivated individuals. Decio says people aren’t born as hangers-on and ne’er-do-wells but become that way through the utter debasement of human labor, and that’s the fault of religion and the capitalist system. Giacomo says religion isn’t in and of itself counter to freedom, it’s possible to believe in a Higher Being and at the same time be a free and full-fledged member of human society. Domenico said a new religion had sprung up in America called the Church of Latter-Day Saints, and that they were establishing settlements and the women were shared, or almost. And that in America they’d found a holy book even older than the Gospels were. Decio replied that everything in America’s always the oldest or the newest or the biggest or the greenest, which is typical for fanatics who think they’ve swallowed Solomon’s dung. And as long as people believe in religious claptrap, they’ll never be free.
February 19th
We entered the Canary Islands. Most of the ships heading for America stop here to replenish their supplies. The captain said that that would needlessly detain us and it was better to wait for the islands of Cape Verde, and besides, the prices were cheaper there. We crossed paths with two ships.
February 20th
Mrs. Crisson, who is often ill, was given an unoccupied cabin in first class. Giacomo and most of the Italians and the French say that it’s normal and correct. But others say it’s a manifestation of individualism and it isn’t normal and correct for these sorts of matters to be decided by the husband alone (Mr. Crisson asked the captain about it). Umberto said it was a typical aristocratic move. Elisabetta said that if Mrs. Crisson was sick all the time, she shouldn’t have come on the trip in the first place.
February 21st
We decided with a majority of 30 votes that participation in meetings would be mandatory for everyone, since matters were discussed there that affected all of us. Zeffirino said it wasn’t good to let the French discuss everything on their own. We sent a delegation to the Germans and the Austrians, who agreed with our decision, even though almost none of them understand French. Tranquillo Agottani said he would translate into German whatever Decio or Zeffirino or Paolo interpreted into Italian for him. Elisabetta said: Why couldn’t Bruno interpret into Italian? Everyone looked at me. We also decided, with a majority of twenty-eight votes, to hold meetings regularly every other evening with the agenda available for participants to look at by 4:00 p.m. at the latest. If there’s nothing important to discuss, the agenda will consist of “Singing and Improvised Entertainment.” Meetings will be held on deck. Zeffirino asked the captain for a waxed sail for meeting-goers to hide under in case of rain.
February 23rd
Today we had our first meeting. Most of the discussion was about food supplies. The oranges, which are beginning to rot, will be distributed to all the settlers equally, even the Germans, who haven’t paid their fees. The sugar will be weighed out and distributed to each as he is owed, but only to those who have turned in their fees. This applies to us Italians, the French, the Austrians, and about a third of the Germans. The motion was submitted by Manfredi, who had noticed some settlers taking advantage of the shared sugar to pour themselves three times more than anyone else.