Chapter 899: The Deceptive Profiteer
The Chatham Dockyard treated the discovery like a long-lost treasure, immediately launching an exhaustive inquiry into the origins of this miraculous timber.
Britain remained the world’s preeminent maritime power, boasting a nearly infinite roster of sailors with deep-sea experience. Within five or six days, a shipowner who had once traded in the Caribbean identified the plant—it was a fragrant wood native to Jamaica.
Sir Hope, the Director of the Chatham Dockyard, immediately dispatched agents to scour the markets for Lignum Vitae. However, they quickly discovered that only spice-grade samples were available across Europe. The thickest pieces were barely the width of a man’s arm, while a ship’s propeller shaft required timber thicker than a wine barrel and at least ten meters in length.
Seeing no other option, Hope reported the situation to the Navy Board.
The Board eventually decided to send a dedicated team to Jamaica to procure the wood. A round-trip journey to the Caribbean would take three months, which would just barely keep pace with the construction schedule of their new steam warships.
Five weeks later.
Dressed in the unassuming garb of a merchant, Major Robert Kane stepped onto the distant shores of Jamaica, followed by a small retinue of attendants.
Kane was of half-Spanish descent, possessing physical features that bore almost no resemblance to a typical Englishman. This was precisely why the Navy Board had selected him for the mission. Jamaica, a former British colony, had gained independence a year earlier following the slave liberation movement. The new regime was fiercely pro-French and virulently anti-British; an ordinary Englishman would find it impossible to even take a step on the island without facing hostility.
However, after Kane had scoured every major timber market on the island, he failed to find a single piece of Lignum Vitae that met the required specifications.
"You have arrived too late, Monsieur. At this time last year, someone bought up every piece of Lignum Vitae on the island thicker than two feet."
Indeed, Joseph was well aware that over four hundred workers at the Brest Shipyard had access to the propeller shafts of the steam warships. Among them were many Italians and Scandinavians, and over time, leaks were inevitable.
How could he possibly leave a strategic material like Lignum Vitae for the British to find?
Therefore, as soon as Jamaica gained its independence, he immediately ordered his agents to purchase every scrap of Lignum Vitae suitable for manufacturing propeller shafts and ship them back to France.
The price had been a pittance, barely covering the wages of the lumberjacks.
Although the island of Jamaica was covered in Lignum Vitae trees, those actually suitable for use as propeller shafts were rare. The trees had to be exceptionally old and grow perfectly straight.
Furthermore, the trunks had to be free of even the slightest pest damage. Even having too many branches was a defect, as it would result in an uneven wood grain.
In short, the Jamaican Parliament had mobilized the entire island’s population to search, yet they had only managed to find about three thousand qualified logs. France had promptly snatched them all up for a mere 120,000 francs.
By striking at the root of the problem, Joseph had effectively removed the firewood from under the British cauldron, severing their hopes at the source.
Of course, Lignum Vitae was not exclusive to Jamaica; it grew in small quantities on other Caribbean islands and along the coast of Mexico.
Because of this, Joseph had prepared a second move.
Just as Major Kane was sinking into despair, a "Venetian timber merchant" named Valdez approached him, claiming to possess a stock of thick Lignum Vitae logs.
Overjoyed, Kane immediately switched to Italian to inquire about the price.
"How many do you require?" Valdez asked, smiling at the "wealthy Spanish merchant."
"About fifty logs. They must be over two feet in diameter, thirty feet long, and absolutely flawless."
Valdez provided a quote without hesitation. "Four thousand pounds, or one hundred thousand francs."
As a former British colony, British pounds still circulated widely in Jamaica, though the new government had begun using francs after independence.
"Deal!" Kane exclaimed. "Please have the timber delivered to the Port of Kingston."
Valdez nodded. "Naturally. However, as you know, for a transaction of this magnitude, I must insist on a deposit."
"That is acceptable. How much do you require?"
"One-tenth of the total. Twenty thousand pounds, or five hundred thousand francs."
Kane froze. "Wait. I recall the total being four thousand pounds?"
Valdez shook his head with a chuckle. "I believe there is a misunderstanding. I meant four thousand pounds per log."
"Four thousand pounds for a single log?!" the British Major cried out in shock and fury. He glared at the "Venetian" and snarled, "This is nothing short of robbery!"
Valdez shrugged casually. "Now, now, don’t be like that. This is a fair trade. If you find the price too steep, you are perfectly free not to buy."
Kane turned on his heel and stormed out, his mind whispering, 'Wait for me to stop... come on, call me back and negotiate...'
However, the profiteer simply watched him leave with a calm gaze.
The following day.
Kane returned to Valdez’s shop, looking dejected and defeated. He had searched the entire island, and this was the only place that held what he needed.
Though he knew he was being extorted, the matter concerned the Navy’s ability to reclaim control of the Mediterranean. No matter the cost, he had to swallow his pride. If they could defeat the French, today’s investment would be repaid a thousand times over.
"Fine. Four thousand pounds per log. Get them loaded onto my ship as soon as possible."
Valdez shook his head again, smiling thinly. "My apologies. That was yesterday’s price. Today, it is five thousand pounds per log."
"You!" Kane’s face turned a sickly shade of green. If not for the dozen dark-skinned shop assistants watching him like hawks, he would have loved nothing more than to give this merchant a thorough thrashing.
He took several deep breaths, making a calming gesture with his hands. "How about this? I will take sixty logs at the original price of four thousand each. Is that acceptable?"
Valdez hesitated for a moment before replying, "If you purchase eighty logs at once, I can offer you a discount. Four thousand five hundred pounds per log."
He added a finishing touch:
"You must understand, in all of Jamaica—no, in the entire world—I am the only one who has Lignum Vitae of this size. I never offer discounts when I sell to the French."
The veins in Kane’s forehead throbbed, but the thought that the French were paying even more offered him a small, bitter sense of comfort.
He squeezed the words through gritted teeth. "Eighty logs. I... I need time to raise the funds."
"Of course."
More than a month later, after Valdez received a bank draft for 360,000 pounds from a Dutch bank, he finally allowed his men to load the eighty logs onto Kane’s ship.
Feeling he had finally accomplished his mission, Kane joyfully ordered the ship to set sail for home.
However, what he did not know was that over three-quarters of the logs on his ship had been sabotaged. Fine needles had been used to drill tiny holes along the natural grain of the wood, making it impossible to detect any flaw from the surface. But once they were fashioned into propeller shafts, the immense torque generated by a steam engine would cause these tiny imperfections to expand, eventually leading to the catastrophic shattering of the entire shaft.
Indeed, the so-called "Venetian timber merchant" was actually an operative of the French Intelligence Bureau.
He had spent over a year in Jamaica, contacting anyone who sought large-diameter Lignum Vitae and quoting them astronomical prices.
Anyone willing to pay such a ransom for the wood was undoubtedly British—as no other nation yet possessed the capability to develop steam warships. All that remained was to fleece them until they bled.
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