anchor coming home obliged them to stand off till about noon, waiting for smoother water upon the flood. Meanwhile our passions were differently agitated; our expectations of deliverance, and fears of miscarriage, hurried our weak and disordered spirits strangely.

I gave them an account of all our miseries, excepting the want of provisions, which I did not mention, lest the fear of being constrained by the weather to remain with us, might have prevented them from coming on shore. I earnestly entreated them to attempt our immediate deliverance, or at least to furnish us, if possible, with fire, which, with the utmost difficulty they at last accomplished, by sending a small canoe, with one man, who, after great exertion, got on shore.

After helping him up with his canoe, and seeing nothing to eat, I asked him if he could give us fire :-he answered in the affirmative, but was so affrighted by my thin and meagre appearance that, at first, he could scarcely return me an answer. However, recollecting himself, after several questions asked on both sides, he went with me to the tent, where he was surprised to see so many of us in such a deplorable condition. Our flesh was so wasted, and our looks were so ghastly and frightful, that it was really a very dismal spectacle.

With some difficulty we made a fire, after which, determin. ing to go on board myself with the man, and to send for the rest, one or two at a time, we both got into the canoe; but the sea immediately drove us against the rock with such violence that we were overset, and being very weak, it was a considerable time before I could recover myself, so that I had again a very narrow escape from drowning. The good man with great difficulty got on board without me, designing to return the next day with better conveniences, if the weather should permit.

It was an afflicting sight to observe our friends in the shallop, standing away for the shore without us. But God, who orders every thing for the best, doubtless had designs of preservation in denying us the appearance of present deliverance; for the wind coming about to south-east, it blew so hard that the shallop was lost, and the crew, with extreme difficulty, saved their lives. Had we been with them, it is more than probable that we should all have perished, not having strength sufficient to help ourselves.

When they had reached the shore they immediately sent an express to Portsmouth, in Piscataqua, where the good peo

ple made no delay in hastening to our deliverance as soon as the weather would allow. To our great sorrow, and as a farther trial of our patience, the next day continued very stormy, and though we doubted not but the people on shore knew our condition, and would assist us as soon as possible, yet our flesh being nearly consumed, being without fresh water, and uncertain how long the unfavorable weather might continue, our situation was extremely miserable. We, however, received great benefit from our fire, as we could both warm ourselves and broil our meat.

The next day, the men being very importunate for flesh, I gave them rather more than usual, but not to their satisfaction. They would certainly have eaten up the whole at once, had I not carefully watched them, with the intention of sharing the rest next morning, if the weather continued bad. The wind, however, abated that night, and early next morning a shallop came for us, with my much esteemed friends Captain Long and Captain Purver, and three more men, who brought a large canoe, and in two hours got us all on board, being obliged to carry almost all of us upon their backs from the tent to the canoe, and fetch us off by two or three at a time.

When we first came on board the shallop, each of us eat a piece of bread, and drank a dram of rum, and most of us were extremely sea-sick but after we had cleared our stomachs and tasted warm nourishing food, we became so exceeding hungry and ravenous, that had not our friends dieted us, and limited the quantity for two or three days, we should certainly have destroyed ourselves with eating.

Two days after our coming on shore my apprentice lost the greater part of one foot; all the rest recovered their limbs, but not their perfect use; very few, excepting myself, escaping without losing the benefit of fingers or toes, though otherwise all in perfect health.

THE SHIPWRECK OF M. DE BRISSON,

On the Coast of Barbary, and of his Captivity among the Moors.-Written by himself.

HAVING made several voyages to Africa, I received an order in June, 1785, from the Marshall de Castries, then minis

ter and secretary of state for the marine department to embark for the island of St. Louis, in the Senegal, in the St. Catharine, commanded by M. Le Ture. On the 10th of July we passed between the Canary isle and that of Palma, and the Captain having rejected my advice relative to the caution necessary to be observed in those seas, the ship soon afterwards struck upon shoals.

A dreadful confusion ensued. The masts being loosened by the shock, quivered over our heads, and the sails were torn in a thousand pieces. The terror became general; the cries of the sailors, mixed with the terrible roaring of the sea, irritated, as it were, by the interruption of its course between the rocks and the vessel, added to the horrors of the scene. In this dangerous state, such was the consternation of the crew, that no one thought of saving himself. "O my wife!" cried one: "O my dear children!" exclaimed a second; while others, extending their hands toward heaven, implored the divine protection. In the hope of saving the ship, the masts were cut away, but our exertions were of no avail, the hold being already filled with water.

66

We must inevitably have been lost, had not Mr. Yan, one of the lieutenants; Mr. Suret, a passenger; three English sai lors, and a few others, encouraged by my example, assisted me to haul out the shallop, and to prevent it afterward from being sunk or dashed to pieces against the sides of the ship. We were obliged to struggle the whole night against the fury of the sea, that when the day appeared we might be able to avoid the rocks, by which we were surrounded on all sides, and get, if possible, on shore.

We had scarcely made two strokes with our oars when they were swept from the hands of the rowers by the violence of the waves; the shallop was overset; we were separated in an instant, and all, excepting Mr. Devoise, brother to the Consul at Tripoli, cast upon a sand bank; I, however, immediately threw myself into the water, and was fortunate enough to save him from destruction.

Our unfortunate companions, who had remained on board, now saw themselves deprived of every assistance from us; but I soon revived their hopes, by plunging into the waves, accompanied by Mr. Yan, whose zeal and activity seconded my efforts. He prevailed upon the rest to join in our endea vors to get the shallop afloat again, which we accomplished with great difficulty; but we found ourselves amply repaid for our labor when we set the rest of the crew on shore. We,

however, escaped this first danger only to become the victims of a second, still more terrible.

When the wretched crew had reached the shore, I persuaded them to climb the surrounding rocks, on the summit of which we discovered an extensive plain, terminated by some small hills, covered with a kind of wild fern. On these hills we saw some children collecting a flock of goats. As soon as they beheld the strangers, they set up such outcrys as instantly alarmed and brought together the neighboring inhabitants. These, after viewing the crew, began to dance and caper, at the same time uttering the most horrid cries and yells.

When these savages came up, some of my companions, among whom were the first and second lieutenants, separated from us. They were immediately surrounded and seized by the collar, and it was then that, by the reflection of the sun's rays from the polished blades of their poniards, we first discovered them to be armed. As I had not perceived this before, I had advanced without fear.

Our two unfortunate companions having disappeared, I could not make the men stop even for a short time. Fear got such possession of their hearts, that, giving vent to cries of despair, they all fled different ways. The Arabs, armed with cutlasses and large clubs, fell upon them with incredible fury, and I had the mortification of soon seing some of them wounded, while others, stripped naked, lay extended and expiring on the sand.

I was so fortunate as to obtain a promise of good will from an unarmed Arab, who afterward proved to be a talba, or priest, by giving him two watches, a gold stock-buckle, two pair of sleeve-buttons, a ring set with diamonds, a silver goblet, and two hundred and twenty livres in specie. The latter article afforded him most pleasure.

The news of our shipwreck being spread through the country, we saw the savages running in great haste from all quarters; their numbers naturally increased the jealousy of the others, so that they soon came to blows, and several lives were lost in the contest. The women, enraged that they could not pillage the ship, fell upon and tore from us the few articles of dress we had left; but their attention was principally attracted by mine, which seemed to be more worthy of their notice.

My master, who was by no means of a warlike disposition, perceiving that the number of Arabs increased every moment,

called aside two of his friends, whom he cunningly admitted as partners with him in the property of twelve of the crew who had surrendered themselves to him. After making his arrangements he retired from the crowd, that he might shelter us from insult. The place which he chose for that purpose was a wretched hut, covered with moss, at the distance of more than a league from the sea; here we lodged, or rather were heaped one upon the other.

Our patron's first care was to pay us a visit, and to search us, lest we should have concealed some of our property. Unluckily for them my companions had preserved nothing, on which account he was in a very ill humor, and shewed them no mercy. He took from them even their shirts and handkerchiefs, intimating, that if he did not do them that favor, others would. He likewise attempted to pay me the same compliment, but upon my observing that I had already given him enough, I experienced no farther molestation.

Being as yet ignorant among what tribe we had fallen, I addressed myself to our master for information; and partly. by words, and partly by signs, I put the following questions to him: "What is thy name, and that of thy tribe; and why didst thou fly from those crowds who advanced toward the shores of the sea?" He replied, "My name is Sidy Mohammed, of Zowze; my tribe is that of Lebdesseba, and I fled from the Ouadelims, because we are not on good terms with one another." I was much affected to find that we had fallen into the hands of the most ferocious people who inhabit the deserts of Africa.

While the talba repaired to the shore for more plunder, a company of Ouadelims discovered and pillaged our retreat, and beat us most unmercifully. I was almost at the last gasp, when one of the associates of the talba came and rescued me, and before a large assembly, afterward claimed me, as the reward of his valor. The priest made the strongest objections to this claim, threatening to chastise the claimant, who replied to the talba: "Since this is thy pretension, as he cannot be mine, he shall perish by my hand." He had scarcely pronounced these words, when he drew his poignard to stab me. I trembled under the threatening dagger of this barbarian; but my master, without losing a moment, threw over me a kind of chaplet, formed of a long piece of cord, upon which are strung a great number of small black balls, and then took in his hand a small book which hung in his girdle. The women, at the same instant, rushed toward me,