Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 Part 5

One day at noon, which was the hour for halting, the eldest of these young ladies, exhausted with fatigue, withdrew to a solitary place to take some moments rest. She fell asleep upon the beach; to guard herself from the mosquitoes, she had covered her breast and face with a large shawl. While every body was sleeping, one of the Moors who served as guides, either from curiosity, or some other motive, approached her softly, attentively examined her appearance, and not content with this, lifting up the shawl, looked at her with fixed eyes, remained for a few moments like one profoundly astonished, approached her then very near, but did not venture to touch her. After having looked at her for some time, he let fall the veil, and returned to his place, where he joyfully related to his comrades what he had just seen. Several Frenchmen who had perceived the Moor, informed Mr. Picard, who resolved, on the obliging offers of the officers, to dress these ladies in a military dress, which, for the future, prevented all attempts of the inhabitants of the desert.

Before they arrived at the Senegal, the Irish officer, of whom we have already spoken, bought an ox: it was immediately killed; they collected such combustibles as they could find, and when the animal was divided into as many portions as there were persons, each fixed his portion to the end of his sabre or bayonet, and thus they prepared a repast which they found delicious.

During the whole time they remained in the desert, biscuit, wine and brandy, in very small quant.i.ties, had been their princ.i.p.al nourishment; sometimes they procured by money, from the Moors, milk and millet; but what most distressed them was, that in the midst of these sandy plains, it was absolutely impossible for them to shelter themselves from the rays of a burning sun, which inflames the atmosphere of these desert regions.

Scorched by insupportable heat, almost dest.i.tute of the first necessaries of life, some of them partly lost their senses; a spirit of mutiny even shewed itself for some moments, and two officers, whose conduct is, however, irreproachable, were marked as the first victims: happily they did not proceed to open violence. Many of those who crossed the desert, have a.s.sured us that there were moments when they were quite beside themselves.

An officer of the army in particular, gave signs of the most violent despair; he rolled himself in the sand, begging his comrades to kill him, because he could no longer bear up against so many sufferings. They succeeded in calming him; he arrived at St. Louis with the caravan.[B10]

The sixty-three who embarked near the Moles of Angel, had a longer series of fatigue to endure: they had to go between eighty and ninety leagues, in the immense desert of Zaara. After their landing, they had to cross downs that were extremely elevated, in order to reach the plain, in which they had the good fortune to meet with a vast pond of fresh water, where they quenched their thirst, and near which they lay down to rest. Having met with some Moors, they took them for guides, and after long marches, and the most cruel privations, they arrived at the Senegal, on the 23d of July, in the evening. Some of them perished for want: among this number was an unhappy gardener, and the wife of a soldier: this poor woman, exhausted with fatigue, told her husband to abandon her, for, that it was impossible for her to proceed; the soldier in despair, said to her in a rage: "well, since you cannot walk, to hinder you from being devoured alive by wild beasts, or carried into captivity among the Moors, I will run you through the body with my sabre;" he did not execute this threat, which he had probably conceived in a moment of despair; but the poor woman fell, and died under the most cruel sufferings.

Some persons having strayed from the main body, were taken by the natives of the country, and carried into the camp of the Moors; an officer remained above a month with them, and was afterwards brought to the Isle of St.

Louis. The naturalist, k.u.mmer, and Mr. Rogery, having separated from the troops, were forced to wander from one horde to another, and were at last conducted to Senegal. Their story, which we are now going to give, will complete the narrative of the adventures of our s.h.i.+pwrecked companions who traversed the desert.

After the stranding of the long-boat, Mr. k.u.mmer quitted the caravan, formed by the persons wrecked, and proceeded in an easterly direction, in the hope of meeting with some Moors, who would give him food, to appease the hunger and thirst which he had endured for two days. Shortly after his departure, Mr. Rogery took the same resolution as our naturalist, and followed a route parallel to that taken by Mr. k.u.mmer. This latter walked the whole day without meeting with any body; towards the evening he perceived, at a distance, some fires on the heights which generally lie round the ponds. This sight filled him with joy, and with hopes of meeting, at length, with some Moors who would conduct him to the Isle of St. Louis, and give him food of which he was much in need; he advanced with a firm and rapid step, went up to the Moors, who were under their tents, with much a.s.surance, p.r.o.nouncing as well as he could, a few words in Arabic, in which language he had taken some lessons while in France, and which he accompanied with profound salutations: "Receive," said he, "in your tents, the son of an unfortunate Mahometan woman, whom I am going to join in Upper Egypt; a s.h.i.+pwreck has thrown me on your coast, and I come in the name of the great prophet, to ask you for hospitality and a.s.sistance." At the name of the great prophet, Mr. k.u.mmer bowed his face to the earth, and made the customary salutation: the Moors did the same, and doubted not but that they saw, before them, a follower of Mahomet.

They received him with joy, asked him to enter their tents, and to give a short account of his adventures. Milk, and flour of millet, were given him, and this food revived his strength. Then the Moors made him promise to conduct them to the place where the long-boat had stranded; they hoped to get possessions of the numerous effects, which they supposed the persons s.h.i.+pwrecked to have abandoned on the sh.o.r.e. Having made this promise, Mr.

k.u.mmer went to examine the tents, and the flocks of the chief of this tribe who conducted him himself, and boasted of his wealth and his dignity: he told him that he was the Prince Fune Fahdime Muhammed, son of Liralie Zaide, King of the Moors, called Trazas, and that, when he returned from the sea coast, he would take him to the King, his father, and that he would see there, his numerous slaves, and his innumerable flocks. While they were walking about the camp, Prince Muhammed perceived that Mr. k.u.mmer had a watch: he desired to see it; of course, he could not refuse to shew it; the prince took it, and told Mr. k.u.mmer that he would return it him when they should arrive at Andar, which promise he punctually performed. They arrived at last at the head of the flock, and our naturalist was astonished at the extraordinary care which these people take of their beasts. The horses and camels were in a separate place, and the whole flock was on the border of a large salt pond; behind them, the slaves had formed a line of fires of great extent, to drive away the mosquitoes and other insects, which torment these animals: they were all remarkably beautiful. While traversing, with the chief, the various quarters of the camp, Mr. k.u.mmer beheld with surprise, their manner of cleaning their beasts. Upon an order of the Prince, the men, charged with this employment, take the strongest oxen by the horns, and throw them down on the sand with astonis.h.i.+ng ease; the slaves then take the animal, and clear its whole body from the insects, which, notwithstanding the fires that surround the flocks, get among the hair of the cattle, which they torment cruelly. After this first operation, they are washed with care, particularly the cows, which are then milked.

These various operations generally employ the slaves, and even the masters, till eleven o'clock at night. Mr. k.u.mmer was afterwards invited to repose in the Prince's tent; but before, he could go to sleep, he was a.s.sailed with a mult.i.tude of questions. The history of the French Revolution has penetrated to these people; and they put questions to our naturalist which surprised him much; they afterwards asked him why our vessels no longer came to Portend.i.c.k and the Isles of Arguin; after this, they allowed him to take a few moments' repose; but the poor Toubabe, (the name which the Moors give to the whites) did not dare to indulge himself in sleep; he feared the perfidy of the Moors, and their rapacious spirit; however, exhausted by three days incessant fatigue, he fell asleep for a few moments; he had but a very disturbed slumber; during which, the barbarians took away his purse, which still contained thirty pieces of 20 francs each, his cravat, pocket handkerchief, great-coat, shoes, waistcoat, and some other things which he carried in his pockets: he had nothing left but a bad pair of pantaloons and a hunting jacket; his shoes were, however, returned to him.

The next morning, at sun-rise, the Moors made their salam, (a Mahometan prayer): then about eight o'clock, the Prince, four of his subjects, Mr.

k.u.mmer, and a slave, set out for the sea-coast, in order to look for the wreck of the long-boat. They proceeded first towards the _South_, then to the _West_, then to the _North_, which made Mr. k.u.mmer imagine that they were conducting him to Morocco. The Moors have no other method of finding their way, than to go from one eminence to another, which obliges them to take all sorts of directions; after they had proceeded five or six leagues to the East, they again turned to the _West_, then to the _South West_.

After walking a considerable time longer, they arrived at the sh.o.r.e, where they found but few things. What particularly attracted their attention, was pieces of copper: they took them away, resolving to return and fetch the fragments of the long-boat, and several barrel, which the currents had driven on the coast. After taking whatever they could carry away, they set out towards the _East_, and at the end of about two leagues, they met some other Moors, also subjects of Prince Muhammed; they stopped and lay down under their tents: the Prince lay down under the finest, and ordered refreshments to be given to the _Toubabe_, who was worn out with fatigue and want of nourishment. Here Mr. k.u.mmer was tormented by the women and children, who came every moment to touch and feel the fineness of his skin, and to take away some fragments of his s.h.i.+rt, and the few things which he had left. During the evening, fresh questions were put to him respecting the cruel wars which desolated France; he was obliged to trace the account of them, on the sand in Arabic letters. It was this extreme complaisance, and his pretended quality of the son of a Christian and of a Mahometan woman, which caused him to be upon very good terms with Prince Muhammed, and in general, with all the Moors whom he met with, on his journey. Every moment of the day, the Prince begged Mr. k.u.mmer, to make the wheels of his watch go, the motions of which, much astonished the Moors; our traveller was on his side equally surprised, to see among the hordes, children five or six years of age, who wrote Arabic perfectly well.

The next day, July 8, at day-break, the Moors went and stationed themselves on the summit of a hill. There, prostrated with their faces turned towards the East, they waited for the rising of the sun, to perform their salam, which they begin the moment he appears in the horizon. Mr. k.u.mmer followed them, imitated them in all their ceremonies, and never failed in the sequel, to perform his devotions at the same time as they did. The ceremony being over, the prince and his suite, continued their route in the direction of the _South East_, which again frightened the poor _Toubabe_; he thought that the Moors were going to resume their course to the _North_, and that in the end they would take him to Morocco; then he endeavoured to impart his uneasiness to Prince Muhammed, who at last comprehended him; but to make it quite clear, Mr. k.u.mmer drew upon the sand, a part of the map of Africa; mean time, he heard them continually p.r.o.nounce the word _Andar_, which did not at all diminish his alarms; but by the lines which he traced, he soon understood that the Moors meant the Isle of St. Louis; of which he was convinced when he had written the name of the European factory, by the side of that of Andar. The Moors let him know that they had comprehended him; and shewed great joy that a white could understand their language.

At noon, they stopped on the side of a great pond or lake. Mr. k.u.mmer, who was extremely fatigued, lay down on the sand, and fell asleep immediately.

During his sleep, the Moors went to look for a fruit, produced by a tree which generally grows on the sides of these lakes (marigots). They are bunches of little red berries, and very refres.h.i.+ng: the Moors are very fond of them, and make great use of them.[34]

During this time, chance ordered it, that Mr. Rogery, who had also been taken by the Moors, stopped at the same place: he was brought by some of the natives, who were taking him also to their sovereign Zaide: he soon perceived Mr. k.u.mmer lying with his face to the earth, and thought he was dead; at this sight, a mortal chillness pervaded all the limbs of the unfortunate Rogery; he deplored the loss of a friend, of a companion in misfortune: he approached him trembling; but his grief was soon changed into joy, when he perceived that his friend still breathed; he took hold of him, and embraced him eagerly. These two unfortunate men were transported with mutual joy, at meeting in the midst of their distress, with a fellow countryman. Mr. Rogery had lost every thing; they had taken from him about forty pieces of 20 francs each, his watch, and all his effects: he had nothing left but his s.h.i.+rt, a very bad pair of pantaloons, and a hat. The wives of the Moors, and still more the children, had greatly tormented him; the latter, continually pinched him, and hindered him from taking a moment's sleep. His character was remarkably soured by this treatment, and his faculties rather impaired. These two unfortunate men, after having related their distresses to each other, fell asleep close together; some hours after, the Moors returned, and gave them some of the berries we have before mentioned. The caravan soon set forward again, and took a _South West_ direction, which led to the camp of King Zaide: they reached it in the evening, but the monarch was absent; the report of our s.h.i.+pwreck had reached his camp, and Zaide, who desires to see every thing himself, had gone to the sea-sh.o.r.e to have a.s.sistance given to such of the persons s.h.i.+pwrecked, as he should meet with. The King did not return till twenty-four hours after, which gave time for our travellers to repose, and for Prince Muhammed to make a bargain with the two whites: to conduct them to the Isle of St. Louis; the Prince demanded for his trouble, including the expences of provisions and travelling, 800 gourdes for each, and obliged them before they set out, to sign an agreement in the Arabic language: Mr. k.u.mmer consented to it, and said to Mr. Rogery, when we have once got to St. Louis, we will give them what we please. The latter hesitated, being much more scrupulous on that point, he would not at first accede to an agreement which he feared he should not be able to perform; but seeing that the Moors were resolved to keep him among them, he consented to accept the absolute proposal of the Prince, and the conventions were signed.

Our two travellers pa.s.sed a part of their time in examining the customs of these people; we shall mention some circ.u.mstances which particularly struck them. They observed, that the children imperiously command their fathers and mothers: but especially the latter, who never oppose their inclinations; hence, doubtless comes that despotic spirit, which is carried to the extreme; a refusal, or a delay, in the executions of their orders irritates them, and their anger is so violent that in the first transport, the unhappy slave who may have excited their fury, runs the risk of being stabbed on the spot. Hence, too doubtless the manly boldness which characterises them, and which seems to inspire those who surround them, with respect and submission. The Moors are, in every respect, much superior to the Negroes: braver than they are, they reduce them to slavery, and employ them in the hardest labour; they are, in general, tall and well made, and their faces are very handsome, and full of expression.

However, it may also be observed that the Moors of both s.e.xes, appear at the first sight, like a people composed of two distinct races, which have nothing in common, except, the extremely brown, or tanned colour of their skin, and the s.h.i.+ning black of their hair. The greater part of them, it is true, are endowed with the stature, and the n.o.ble, but austere features, which call to mind some of the great Italian painters, but there are several, (indeed the smaller number) whose cranium and profile form a singular contrast with the others. Their head is remarkably elongated, the ears small: the forehead, which, in the first, is very high and finely formed, is contracted in the latter, and becomes at the top disagreeably protuberant; their eyes are sunk, and placed as it were obliquely, which gives them the savage look with which they are reproached, and their lower jaw has a tendency to be elongated. Some of them have, it is true, the high forehead of the former: but it always differs by being sunk in at the base.

These latter are, perhaps, the descendants of the aborigines of this country, whose characteristic features are still discernible, notwithstanding their alliance with so many strangers? History has, indeed, transmitted to us some of the customs of the Numidians, who were by turns, the enemies, and the allies of the Romans; but it has not condescended to draw their portrait. Juvenal somewhere speaks of the withered hands of the Moors: _ma.n.u.s ossea Mauri_. But, besides, that this is general in hot countries, this description may be understood of ill-fed slaves.

The travellers remarked that there was no difference between the very frugal diet of the slaves, who are all blacks, and that of their masters.

The fathers and mothers, as well as the marabous, (a kind of priests) pa.s.s their leisure moments in teaching the principles of their religion, as well as instructing them in reading and writing on the sand; the wives of King Zaide, the number of whom is considerable, pa.s.sively obey Fatima, who is the favourite, or chief wife of the sovereign.

Our travellers estimated the number of men, women, children and slaves, at seven or eight hundred persons; their flocks appeared to them very numerous: they const.i.tute part of the wealth of Zaide, who possesses a great many besides, in different parts of the kingdom, the extent of which is pretty considerable; it has about sixty leagues of coast, and stretches to a great depth in the interior of the desert. The people, as we have said, call themselves _Trasas_, and profess the Mahometan religion; they hunt lions, tigers, leopards, and all other ferocious animals, which abound in this part of Africa. Their commerce is in furs or skins, and ostrich feathers: they manufacture the leather called basil, in french, basane, which they prepare very well;[A11] they make this leather into pocketbooks, to which they give different forms, but in general, that of a _sabretache_.

They also dress goats skins, and join several together to give them more breadth; they are known under the name of _peaux de maures_, are excellent, and afford a complete defence against the rain: in form, they nearly resemble the dress of a Capuchin; they sell all these articles in the interior, as well as goldsmiths work, which they manufacture with only a hammer, and a little anvil; but their chief commerce, which is very extensive, is in salt, which they carry to Tombuctoo, and to Sego, large and very populous cities, situated in the interior of Africa. Sego is built on both sides of the river Niger, and Tombuctoo not far from its banks, the former about five hundred, and the latter about six hundred leagues East of the Island of Goree. The Marabous, who are almost all traders, frequently extend their journeys into Upper Egypt. The Moors and the Negroes, have an extraordinary respect for these priests, who manufacture leather, into little etuis, perfumed bags, and pocketbooks, to which they give the name of _gris-gris_. By means of magic words spoken over the _gris-gris_, and little notes written in Arabic, which they enclose in them, he who carries such a one about him, is secure against the bite of wild beasts; they make them to protect the wearer against lions, crocodiles, serpents, &c. They sell them extremely dear, and those who possess them set a very high value on them; the king and the princes are not less superst.i.tious than those whom they command. There are some who wear as many as twenty of these _gris-gris_ fixed to the neck, the arms, and the legs.

After a day's stay, King Zaide arrived: he had no ornament which distinguished him; but he was of a lofty stature, had an open countenance, and three large teeth in the upper jaw, on the left side, which projected at least two lines over the under lip, which the Moors consider as a great beauty. He was armed with a large sabre, a poniard and a pair of pistols; his soldiers had zagayes or lances, and little sabres in the Turkish fas.h.i.+on. The King has always at his side, his favourite negro, who wears a necklace of red pearls, and is called Billa. Zaide received the two whites kindly, ordered that they should be well-treated, and that Mr. Rogery should not be molested, he being continually tormented by the children. Mr.

k.u.mmer was much more lively, and did not mind his misfortunes; he wrote Arabic, and had pa.s.sed himself off for the son of a Mahometan woman; all this greatly pleased the Moors, who treated him well; while Mr. Rogery, deeply affected by his misfortunes, and having just lost his last resources, did not much rely on the good faith of the Moors.

In the course of the day, the King ordered Mr. k.u.mmer to relate to him the events of the last French revolution; he was already acquainted with those of the first. Mr. k.u.mmer did not exactly comprehend what the king wanted of him. Zaide ordered his chief minister, to draw upon the sand, the map of Europe, the Mediteranean, and the coast of Africa, along that sea: he pointed out to him the Isle of Elba, and ordered him to relate the circ.u.mstances which had taken place in the invasion of 1815, from the moment that Buonaparte left it. Mr. k.u.mmer took advantage of this favorable moment, to ask for his watch; and the King ordered his son to return it to the _Toubabe_, who then commenced his narrative; and as in the course of it he called the Ex-Emperor, sometimes Buonaparte, and sometimes Napoleon, a Marabou, at the name of Buonaparte, interrupted him, and asked if he was the general whose armies he had seen in Upper Egypt, when he was going on his pilgrimage to Mecca, to which Mr. k.u.mmer answering in the affirmative, the king and his suite were quite delighted; they could not conceive how a mere general of army had been able to raise himself to the rank of Emperor: it seems that these people had, till then, believed that Napoleon and Buonaparte were two different persons. Mr. k.u.mmer was also asked if his father belonged to the army of Egypt; he said no, but that he was a peaceable merchant, who had never borne arms. Mr. k.u.mmer continued his narrative, and astonished more and more, the King of the Trasas, and all his court. The next day, Zaide desired to see the two whites again, from whom he always learnt something new. He sent away the Moors, his subjects, who had brought Mr. Rogery, and ordered his son, Prince Muhammed, accompanied by one of his ministers, two other Moors of his suite, and a slave, to conduct the two whites to Andar. They had camels to carry them, as well as their provisions. Zaide, before he dismissed them, made them take some refreshments, gave them provisions, for a part of the journey, and advised Mr. k.u.mmer to entrust his watch to his son; because, by that means, he would be secure from its being taken from him by the Moors; and that it would be returned to him at Saint Louis. Mr. k.u.mmer immediately obeyed. The prince faithfully executed his father's orders.

Before the departure of the two Frenchmen, the King wished to shew them his respect for the laws which govern his dominions; knowing that this quality is that which nations always desire to find in those who govern them; he therefore thought, with reason, that he could not give a higher idea of his virtues, and show his character in a more honorable light, than by convincing them that he was the protector and most faithful observer of the laws: to prove it, he related the following anecdote:

"Two princes, my subjects, had had an affair, for a long time, in litigation: to terminate it, they resolved to ask me to be arbitrator between them; but the proposals which I made, though I thought them reasonable, were not approved by them; so that after my proposals, a violent quarrel arose between the two parties: a challenge ensued, and the two princes left my tent to decide their cause by arms. In fact, they fought in my presence; one of them, the weakest, who was my friend, was thrown down by his adversary, who stabbed him immediately. I had the grief to see my friend die, and notwithstanding all my power, it was impossible for me, as our laws allow duelling, and on account of the respect which I have for them, to avenge the death of the prince whom I esteemed. You may judge, by this, how scrupulously I observe the laws by which I govern my dominions, and which regulate the rights of the princes, as well as those of the citizens, and of the slaves."

The third and fourth day, after they had quitted the camp of King Zaide, our travellers were reposing as usual, till the greatest heat of the day should be pa.s.sed. During the repast, the minister, who had the contracts between the Prince and the two Frenchmen, took from his great _gris-gris_, or pocket book, that of Mr. Rogery, who s.n.a.t.c.hed it from him, and tore it into a thousand pieces; immediately one of the Moors rushed upon him, seized him by the throat, with one hand threw him on the ground, and was going to stab him with a dagger which he held in the other; happily, the Prince, out of regard for Mr. k.u.mmer, whom he particularly esteemed, pardoned him who had dared, so seriously, to insult one of his ministers.

But, during the four or five days that the journey continued, they incessantly tormented him; and did not give him a fourth part of what was necessary for his support, so that the unfortunate man was frequently obliged to gnaw the bones which the Moors had thrown away; they also forced him to make the whole journey on foot; it was pretty long; for these gentlemen, on their arrival at St. Louis, estimated it at a hundred and forty leagues at the least, because the Moors made them go so much out of their way.

The respectable Mr. Rogery, a man of rare probity, was disturbed by the recollection of the agreement which he had made with Muhammed, in a moment of difficulty, knowing very well that he could never fulfil it; he thought his honor implicated, and strictly bound by this contract, though he had destroyed it. This recollection, and his inability to pay, affected his nerves; to this was added fear, lest the contract should be known to his countrymen; and this was what induced him to that act of desperation which had nearly cost him his life, and deprived humanity of one of the most zealous partisans of liberty, and of the abolition of the slave trade.

On the 19th, in the morning, they arrived at a village situated on the bank of one of the arms of Senegal, which is called _Marigot of the Maringouins_, and which appears to have been the ancient mouth of the river, when it flowed directly to the sea, before it turned aside and flowed to the South. This position may one day become important, if Senegambia should ever be colonised.

The gentlemen remarked, that the banks of this arm of the river, are very well cultivated; the fields are covered with plantations of cotton-trees, with maize[35] and millet; one meets, at intervals, with tufts of wood, which render it agreeable and healthy. Mr. k.u.mmer thinks that this country could be adapted to the cultivation of colonial productions. Here begins Nigritia, and one may say, the country of good people; for, from this moment, the travellers were never again in want of food, and the negroes gave them whatever they wanted.

In the first village, which is called Vu, they met with a good negress, who offered them milk and cous-cous, (flour of millet). She was affected, and shed tears when she saw the two unhappy whites almost naked, and particularly when she learned that they were Frenchmen. She began by praising our nation; it is the custom of these people; and then, she gave them a short account of the misfortunes she had experienced. This good negress had been made a slave by the Moors, who had torn her from the arms of her mother; she consequently detested them, and called them the banditti of the desert; she said to the two whites, in very good French: "are they not very villainous people?" "Yes," answered our unhappy countrymen.

"Well," continued she, "these robbers carried me off, notwithstanding the efforts of my unhappy father, who defended me with courage; they then carried desolation into our village, which a moment before enjoyed tranquillity and happiness; on this sad day we saw whole families carried off, and we were all conducted to that horrible market at St. Louis, where the whites carry on the execrable trade of dealers in men; chance favored me, and saved me from being sent to find death in America, amidst the tempests which cover the ocean that separates it from Africa. I had the good fortune to fall into the hands of the respectable General Blanchot,[37] whose name and memory will be ever dear to the inhabitants of St. Louis. This worthy governor kept me some years in his service; but seeing that I always thought of my country and my relations, and that, in short, I could not habituate myself to your customs, he gave me my liberty, and from that moment I have vowed eternal friends.h.i.+p to everything that bears the French name." Our two whites were much affected by this interesting meeting; from that moment they fancied themselves among their own countrymen.

After some hours repose they continued their journey, and in fact, they had every reason to praise the negroes, who did not let them want for anything.

In proportion, as they approached the town, the Moors became much more civil, and when they were going to pa.s.s the river, to enter St. Louis, Prince Muhammed returned Mr. k.u.mmer his watch. The French governor received the Prince and his suite, very well; he caused them to be paid about sixty francs in two sous-pieces; this sum seemed enormous to them; for they were extremely satisfied with it: this gives ground to suppose that they were not acquainted with the value of the gourde, when they demanded eight hundred for the ransom of each of the two travellers. It was on the 22nd of July, that they arrived, after having wandered sixteen days in the burning desert of Zaara, and having endured all the horrors of hunger and thirst, particularly the unfortunate Mr. Rogery, who had to bear all the caprices of the Moors.

All the s.h.i.+pwrecked persons who had escaped these disasters being a.s.sembled at St. Louis, we thought we should immediately take possession of our establishments. But the English governor, Mr. Beurthonne, having learned our s.h.i.+pwreck, either of his own authority, or having received orders to that effect, from his government, refused to give up the colony. This difficulty obliged the commander of the French expedition to take measures, to wait for fresh orders from France. He was enjoined to send away immediately all the s.h.i.+pwrecked persons who arrived in the town of St.

Louis.

Every thing induces us to believe that the delay in the rest.i.tution of these settlements depended on the English governor, who threw obstacles in the way, whenever circ.u.mstances permitted him. He alledged at first, that he had not received orders to give up the colony, and that besides he was in want of vessels to remove his troops, and all the effects belonging to his nation. This last allegation of wanting vessels is, of itself, sufficient to shew, that he was not much inclined to retire from the Isle of St. Louis; for the French governor, in order to remove all difficulties, proposed the _Loire_ to serve as a transport, and this offer was refused.

We think we have guessed the cause of this delay in the rest.i.tution of the colony, for two reasons, which seem to us the better founded, as they take their origin in the British policy, which is constantly to follow no other rule than its political or commercial interest. We give them, however, only as suppositions; but these suppositions seem so well confirmed by the events to which they relate, that we do not hesitate to lay them before our readers.

We think then that Mr. Beurthonne had received orders to give up the Islands of St. Louis and Goree, to the French squadron, which should come to take possession of them; but we think also, that he was desired to evacuate them as late as possible, in case the English merchants or government could derive any advantage from a delay.

In fact, if Mr. Beurthonne had not received any instructions to deliver up the colony, it was certainly, useless to alledge that he was in want of vessels. To the desires of the French governor, he had only to make the plain and unanswerable objection, that his government had not given him any orders. It is therefore, by the kind of vacillation which appears in his answers, that himself, leads us to the opinion which we have formed. But it will be said, what advantage could the English government derive from this delay? The following, is what we conjecture on this subject.

The gum trade was on the point of commencing; it was very just that the English merchants, who were in Senegal, should carry off this crop, which would have belonged to the French merchants if the colony, had been restored.

A second motive, not less powerful, is, that we were just at the entrance of the bad season, and that the English settlements, on the river Gambia, (to which, a part of the English, garrison were to go) are extremely unhealthy: diseases that are almost always mortal, prevail during the winter-season, and generally carry off two thirds of the Europeans, who are newly arrived. Every year the mortality is the same; because, every year it is necessary to send fresh garrisons: those who have the good fortune to resist these terrible epidemics, come, to recover, to the Isle of Goree, where the air is salubrious. Such are the reasons which, as we think, caused the delay in the rest.i.tution of our settlements on the coast of Africa.

Without losing ourselves farther in conjectures, we will conclude with one remark: namely, them on this occasion the English governor was influenced more by the usual policy of his government than by local and particular considerations. Let us remember what pa.s.sed on the rest.i.tution of our colonies at the peace of 1802 and that of 1814; and it will be seen that the British Government, without giving itself much trouble to a.s.sign reasons, has adopted and faithfully followed the principle, of not willingly giving up what it possessed.[38]

The s.h.i.+pwreck of the Medusa favoured the designs of the governor; for, what sensation could be produced by the arrival of an expedition, of which the princ.i.p.al vessel no longer existed, and the three others appeared one after the other? If the English had had the intention to restore the colony on our arrival, the disorder in which we appeared, would alone have sufficed; to make them conceive the idea of delaying as much as possible to withdraw from the Island of St. Louis. But what we cannot conceive is, that the governor, after giving the French a good reception for some days, should have required their troops to be sent away from the colony: and what were these troops? wretches almost naked, worn out by the long fatigues and privations which they had had to bear in the deserts; they were almost all without arms. Did he fear the spirit of the colonists, and even that of the negroes, which was not in his favor, and who saw with the greatest pleasure the arrival of the French? This is not at all probable.

All the s.h.i.+pwrecked persons being a.s.sembled at St. Louis, as we have already said, the governor, two days before his departure for Cape Verd, thought of sending a vessel on board the Medusa, to look for a sum of 100,000 francs,[39] which was intended to form the treasure of the colony, as well as provisions, which were in abundance on board, and of which there was some scarcity in the colony. Very little was said about the men, who had remained on board, and to whom their companions had solemnly promised to send for them as soon as they should arrive at St. Louis; but these unfortunate men were already hardly thought of any more. Mr. Correard says that the first day that he took a walk in the town, he went to pay a visit to the family of the governor. During the conversation, the vessel was mentioned, that was going to be sent to the Medusa, as also the possibility of recovering the 100,000 francs, provisions, and effects. Seeing that they said nothing of the seventeen men who had remained on board the frigate, he said, "but a more precious object, of which nothing is said, is the seventeen poor men who were left!" "Pooh," answered somebody, "seventeen!

there are not three left." "And if there remained but three, but one,"

replied he, "yet, his life is more valuable than all that can be recovered from the frigate;" and left the company in anger.

When in the first part of this work, we represented Mrs. and Miss Schmalz, as alone unmoved when the frigate ran aground; and seeming to rise above the general consternation, our readers may have given them credit for uncommon greatness of soul, and more than manly courage. Why are we obliged to destroy this honorable illusion which we may have caused? Why, when these ladies, have carried indifference so far as to dispense themselves from the most common duties of humanity, by refraining from paying the smallest visit to the poor wretches, placed in the hospital at St. Louis, have they themselves discovered to, us that their composure on board the frigate was nothing but profound insensibility?

We could, however, if not excuse, at least explain this last mark of their hard-heartedness: what sight, in fact, awaited them in this melancholy abode, on the new theatre, where the sad victims of a first act of inhumanity, had to struggle with the fresh miseries prepared for them by the indifference, the inattention of their fellow-creatures? The sight of men, who all bore in their hearts, the remembrance of the faults, of a husband, of a father, could not be an object which they would be desirous of seeking, or meeting with; and in this point of view, the care, which they took to avoid the hospital, seems to us almost pardonable. But what is not, what cannot be excused, what we have not learned without the greatest surprise is, that Miss Schmalz, judging of us doubtless, after a manner of thinking which was not ours, and not supposing it possible that the faults of her father, and the inhuman conduct of herself and her mother, should not be one day known in France, should have hastened to antic.i.p.ate this publication, by writing to her friends at Paris, a letter justifying her relations with the s.h.i.+pwrecked persons belonging to the raft, and trying to devote these unfortunate men to public hatred and contempt. In this singular letter, which has been circulated in Paris, she confessed that the sight of the s.h.i.+pwrecked persons inspired her with a degree of horror, which she could not suppress. "It was really impossible for me," said she, "to endure the presence of these men, without feeling a sentiment of indignation."

What then was our crime in the eyes of Miss Schmalz? Doubtless that of knowing too well the persons really guilty of our misfortunes. Yes, on this account, whenever Miss Schmalz saw us, which was extremely seldom, our presence must have been a thunder-bolt to her. She could say to herself, "these men have in their hands the fate of my father. If they speak, if they utter complaints which they suppress here, if they are listened to, (and how should they not be listened to in a country, where a charter, the n.o.ble present of our august Monarch, causes justice and the law to reign,) instead of being the daughter of a governor, I am but a wretched orphan; instead of these honors, with which it gives me so much pleasure to be surrounded, I fall into the degradation, and the oblivion which generally await the unhappy family of a great criminal."

It is certain that, if we had listened to our griefs, if we had called to legal account, the authors of our misfortunes, it is difficult to believe that they would have escaped the inflexible rigour of justice. But we have been generous, and it is we who are oppressed! Thus, as the historians of the human heart, have but too often observed, "_It is more easy to pardon the injury we have received, than that we have inflicted_."

The little vessel chosen to go to the frigate, was a schooner, commanded by a lieutenant of the navy; the crew was composed of some black-drivers, and some pa.s.sengers. It sailed from St. Louis, on the 26th, of July, and had on board, provisions for eight days: so that having met with contrary winds, it was obliged to return to port, after having, in vain, endeavoured for seven or eight days, to get to the Medusa.

This schooner sailed again after having taken in provisions for about twenty-five days; but, as the sails were in a very bad condition, and the owner would not change them, till they were wholly unfit for service, she was obliged to sail again, with a few repairs only. Having experienced at sea, a pretty heavy gale, the sails were almost entirely destroyed, and she was obliged to return to port after having been a fortnight at sea, without having been able to accomplish her purpose. She was then furnished with new sails, which cost about ten days labour. As soon as she was ready, they sailed for the third time, and reached the Medusa, fifty-two days, after she had been abandoned.