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view, would have rendered unnecessary, any foreign publication on the subject; but it certainly does not in its present state, supply the want of Jameson's last work. 2. The foreign journals of France and England for this year and a half, contain valuable matter which might have been worth inserting. But we get these works so late in this country, that in all probability, the professor had not the opportunity of seeing them in time. We would take the liberty of suggesting, however, that it would be useful if he were to keep collecting matter to be published three or four years hence, as a supplement to the present volume:-to which we sincerely wish success; and believe it well deserves to succeed.

ART. V.-An authentic Narrative of the Loss of the brig Commerce, wrecked on the western Coast of Africa, in the month of August, 1815. With an Account of the Sufferings of the surviving Officers and Crew, who were enslaved by the wandering Arabs on the Great African Desert, or Zaharah; and Observations, historical, geographical, &c. made during the Travels of the Author, while a Slave to the Arabs, and in the Empire of Morocco. By James Riley, late master and supercargo. Preceded by a Brief Sketch of the Author's Life; and concluded by a Description of the famous city of Tombuctoo, on the river Niger, and of another large city, far south of it, on the same river, called Wassanah; narrated to the Author at Mogadore, by Sidi Hamet, the Arabian merchant. With an Arabic and English Vocabulary. Illustrated and embellished with ten handsome copperplate Engravings. New York. 1817. 8vo. pp. 551.

A BOOK of extraordinary adventures, among a strange

people, and in an unknown land, cannot fail to be read with very peculiar interest. We are all so impatient to get into the secrets of nature,-to have a look at new things, or at new continuations of old ones,-and to relieve the monotony of a life at home, by seeing how other people live abroad,—that whenever we light upon a book that enables us to do so, we seldom take off our eyes till we have read to THE END. Such a book is Captain Riley's Narrative. It is a circumstantial detail of adventures and sufferings, in a land which a foreigner can only be forced to visit,-but about which the whole civilized world have long been striving to learn something authentic. It is written in a plain, unambitious manner,--much better, indeed, than the pursuits of the author would naturally lead one to expect: and the performance is every where characterized by that good sense and good faith which effectually secures our confidence in the writer, and impresses a stamp of authen

ticity on the book. Before we proceed to justify this opinion by a review of its contents-we ought to state, that, by holding a conversation or two with Captain Riley, we have been enabled to supply a few deficiencies of narration, and to correct some little inaccuracies of chronology and of geographywhich, as he kept no journal, were the inevitable results of distant recollection. We shall, first, give a sketch of the author's own travels upon the Zahahrah;--and, then, proceed to those of Sidi Hamet, his master, into the interior of Africa.

On the 6th of May, 1815, Captain Riley sailed from Hartford, Connecticut, in the brig Commerce, with a crew of eight men; and, after no very disastrous voyage, he arrived at New Orleans, his place of destination, on the 1st day of the following June. Here he made some necessary changes in his cargo and crew; sailed again on the 24th of the same month; and landed at Gibraltar, on the 9th of the ensuing August. Here he turned his tobacco and flour into brandy and wines, and about 2000 dollars in silver; took on board an old man, by the name of Antonio Michel; and on the 23d of the month, set sail again for the Cape de Verd islands; where he was going to complete his lading with salt. Early on the 24th he passed cape Spartel; and steered off W.S. W. for the Canary Islands. The weather became so foggy, however, that he could not make the necessary observations for ascertaining the ship's place until the 28th; when he found himself considerably south of the Canaries, and north of the equator, 27 deg. 30 min. Towards evening the ship's course was changed to S. W.-a direction which, the Captain conjectured, would lead him to the easternmost of the Cape de Verds. At nine o'clock P. M. he ascertained that, according to the log, they were only about 30 miles north of Cape Bagador; and it was resolved to steer to the northwest at ten. Just as the helm was put to port, however, the crew were alarmed by the roaring of breakers: every exertion was made to get the vessel about; but she immediately struck; and, though the anchors were all thrown out, the surges very easily drove her towards the shore. The small boat was immediately got in, and the long boat hung in tackle. Five or six barrels of water, five or six of wine, three of bread, with about as many of salted provisions, were at length secured; and, as the vessel was now almost filled with water, the captain attached a rope to the small boat, and, along with Porter, one of the seamen, was let into the sea on the leeward side, where the violence of the waves was considerably broken. But no sooner had they shoved off, than the boat was overwhelmed with the surf; the captain and the seaman both plunged into the water; and all three very soon thrown together upon the shore. After taking a little breath,

and disgorging the sea water, they carried their boat-rope to the leeward of the vessel, and made it fast to some handspikes which had drifted on shore, and which they contrived to drive into the sand. A hawser was then attached to the other end; drawn on shore, and fastened in the same way. Two of the crew undertook to guide the long boat with the water and provisions; but she was wrenched from their hands and broken in pieces upon the beach. Three barrels of bread, however, along with two of salted provisions were brought on shore; and, about daylight on the 29th, the remainder of the crew conveyed themselves to land by means of the hawser.

They got on shore a compass, and some other naval instruments; which, with the provision and water, were carried up the beach about fifty yards, and placed under a tent, which the captain had contrived to erect by means of some oars and two steering sails. He was in hopes of being able to refit his boats; and, by taking advantage of a smooth sea, either to reach one of the Cape de Verds, or to fall in with some friendly vessel. While the crew were employed for this purpose, a human being of about five feet seven inches in height, with a complexion between an Indian and a Negro--a head of hair resembling a sailor's pitch-mop; a pair of red and fiery eyes; and a beard depending to the breast---was seen at a little distance approaching the articles of the ship, which lay scattered for a mile along the beach. He was soon joined by two old women, and five or six children, as hideous as himself; and they all very soon began to break open and plunder the trunks and chests and boxes which they came within reach of. As cloth was the article which they wanted most, they emptied the beds of their contents; and amused themselves with seeing the feathers borne before the winds. The crew were for getting rid of those visitors by force of arms; but the captain reasoned like the fox in the swarm of flies; and it was soon discovered, too, that, while the natives had learned to run like the wind over the sand, those who had not been accustomed to such terra infirma could make scarcely any head-way at all. As a last resource, therefore, the greater part of the crew broached a cask of wine, and got drunk; leaving the captain, Mr. Savage, the second mate, Horace, the cabin-boy, and Porter, one of the seamen, to patch up, as well as they could, the pieces of the long boat. As the wind went down a little in the afternoon, Porter was enabled to gain the wreck, and bring back to shore a few nails and a marlinespike; with which they at length succeeded in putting the crazy thing together. During the night, although a watch was kept up about the tent, the natives contrived to get away one of the sails; and early in the morning, the above

mentioned old man again made his appearance; balancing in his hand a twelve-feet spear with an iron head,--and accompanied by his two old women, and two young men. He pointed first to the wreck, and then to a drove of camels that were advancing from the east: the women began to yell, and throw the sand into the air; and it was pretty unequivocal, that a retreat on board of the brig was the only way in which our castaways could preserve their lives. The captain ran to the beach for a spar; and, at the same time, the old man came like a fury to the tent; pricked one or two of the men, and frighted them from their property. The small boat was dragged into the water; but the crew huddled into her so eagerly that she immediately sunk and bilged; while the captain, in the meantime, was parrying the old man's thrusts, and keeping him at a distance. They now attempted to escape, first to the east and then to the west: but the old man intercepted them in both directions: the camels were not far off; and the poor fellows were driven, at last, to the necessity of trying their fortune in the long boat. She took in water so rapidly, that by the time they had reached the brig she was about half filled.

The natives seized on all the cloth and provisions; stove in the heads of all the water and wine casks; and made a bonfire of the trunks, sea instruments, books, and charts. All at once, too, they became very hospitable; made signs to the captain that they would do him no wrong; and, to make their professions seem sincere, they carried all their arms over the sand hills. When they found this would not do, they placed a goatskin of water on the beach; and, retiring to a considerable distance, invited some of the crew to come and take it. The captain, at last, concluded to hazard the experiment; and was not indeed, molested in any way while he went on shore and returned. The old man next signified his disposition to go on board of the wreck; and persuaded the captain to come and stay on shore as a hostage for his safe return. When the captain took his seat on the beach, the natives made every possible expression of friendship;-interlaced their own fingers with his; put his hat on their heads and returned it again; stroked down his trowsers; felt of his head and hands; and, last of all, investigated his shoes and his pockets-which we take to be a marvellous sign of brotherly love. He had neglected, before he left the brig, to guard his crew against suffering the old man to return until he should himself be released; and he found it impossible to make them take his meaning from the shore. Accordingly, after the old man had satisfied his curiosity, and found there were no fire-arms or money on board, he disembarked for the shore. When he was near the land, the

captain rose to meet him, but was instantly seized by two young men who were by his side. His new friends immediately assumed their wonted malignity of expression; gnashed their teeth at him; and stuck their daggers within an inch of every part of his body; while the old man seized him by the hair, snatched up a sharp scimitar, and drew it lightly across the collar of his shirt.' The captain understood him; and accordingly made signs to his crew, that they should put into a bucket all the money there was on board, and have it brought on shore by means of the hawser; adding, at the same time,what none of them comprehended,--that it should not be put in possession of the natives till he was effectually set free.

The old man counted out the money into three heaps; one for himself, one for the two old women, and the other for the two young men. When the distribution was completed, the whole family rose; and guarding their prisoner with suspended daggers, began to take their way very leisurely for the interior. In order to have one more opportunity of escape, the captain made them understand, that there was still some money on board of the brig. They wheeled immediately; and, coming within a hundred yards of the beach, made him sit down, and bid him to have the said money brought on shore. He had got an idea, that his escape depended upon the disembarkation of Antonio Michel; and, after a little negotiation, the poor old fellow was persuaded to go on shore. The natives immediately surrounded him; stripped off his clothes, pricked him with their knives, and beat him with their fists. The captain told him to make his tormentors understand, that there was money buried near the tent; and indeed about $400 had actually been embowelled there. They immediately hastened to the spot; and had not been digging long before their hopes were realized in the sight of the wished-for treasure. The noise occasioned by the discovery, drew off, for a moment, the attention of the two who had remained to guard the captain:--he seized this opportunity; got a little the start; and before they could overtake him---plunged into the sea. The old man rushed in after him; but the captain swam under water till he was nearly out of reach; and after almost superhuman exertion,' (as he says), was fortunate enough to gain the lee of the brig. He was taken in completely exhausted; and recovered just in time to see the natives dragging across the sandhills the lifeless trunk of poor Antonio.

He was now resolved to try the sea, in the long boat---as leaky and crazy as she was. The jib and mainsail of the small boat were transferred to her. By diving into the hold, the captain found water enough to fill a four-gallon cask. A few

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