The Port Folio.

BY OLIVER OLDSCHOOL.

DANGERS OF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA.*

It is impossible to direct the attention of maritime nations too often, or too generally, to the distress and horrible captivity of their mariners, resulting from being shipwrecked on that part of the western coast of Africa called Sahara, and particularly on the flat part of the coast named by the natives Sahel. This dangerous coast runs south-west from cape Noon to the latitude of the southern point of the island of Fortaventura, the southernmost of the Canary Islands, and the nearest to the African coast. The sea between that island and the continent has a current towards the African shore that is more fatal than Scylla or Charybdis. Besides this, which is the bane of mariners, particularly of the English, the atmosphere is so impregnated with the loose sand of the Sahara, impelled hither by the wind, as to obstruct the view of objects at a distance; and a tremendous surf breaking on the flat shore, adds to the delusion, insomuch that vessels often get into shallow water, and are irretrievably lost, ere the sailors imagine themselves in danger.

It was on this formidable coast, according to the Arabic letter of Hamed ben Solh, a fac simile of which is given in page 327 of the first volume of this interesting narrative, that the Sophia met her fatal catastrophe.‡

* Naufrage du Brick Français La Sophie, perdu le 30 moi 1819 sur la côte occidentale d' Afrique, et captivité d'une partie des Naufragés dans le désert de Sahara; avec de nouveaux renseignemens sur la ville de Timectou. Ouvrage orné d' une carte dressée par M. Lapie, et de planches dessinées par H. Vernet, et autres artistes distingues. Par Charles Cochelet, antien payeur general en Catalogne, l'une des Nau-. frages. En deux volumes 8vo. Paris, 1821.

The last English narrative relative to such a fact was by Alexander Scott, of the Montezuma of Liverpool, which was wrecked on the Sahel in 1810.

It is somewhat extraordinary that the translation of this document by M. Amedée Jaubert, given in the same page, does not detail this circumstance; the fact, however, is nevertheless indisputable, for the words in the letter are as follows: Enkassert assfinah fie ASSAHEL; assfinah France; khums Shaban, Aam 1234. " There has been wrecked a ship on the Sahel, a French ship, 5th of Shaban, year 1234."-About three JANUARY, 1823.-No. 249.

1

Before the attention of the public was first excited to these disastrous wrecks, by Mr Jackson's Account of the empire of Marocco, &c. published in 1809, two or three ships were wrecked on this coast every year. Among these there was generally one out of three English. The crews of these unfortunate vessels generally suffered a long and tedious captivity, if death or conversion to Muselmism did not intervene; and all arising, it would seem, from want of that regard and interest which it would have been honourable in the nations of Christendom to have devoted to this important subject. The dangers of this coast were exposed and eluci dated in the work before mentioned; and, in consequence, the sufferings of the British and other seamen, therein explained, engaged the attention of the Ironmongers Company with a zeal and energy that do credit to their feelings.* In a short time they so effectually turned their attention to this matter, that they established an agent at Mogador, provided with the necessary funds for the purpose of redemption: and, it may be hoped, therefore, the captivity of British mariners, at least will be in future somewhat meliorated, and very considerably shortened. Moreover, there is reason to believe, that the frequency of these wrecks has been remarkably diminished by the elucidation of the dangers of this fatal coast given in the work now named.

The brig La Sophie, Captain Scheult, on her course from Nantes to Rio de Janeiro, in May 1819, was wrecked on the Sahel, in Lat. North 26° 45'. On the 29th May, soon after sunset, land had been discovered to the eastward, bearing the appearance of the island of Lancerotta; when, however, the morning of the 30th dawned, the crew saw themselves on the shores of this barbarous and inhospitable coast. The boat was now lowered and several of the crew resolved to proceed to the Canary Islands; whilst the remainder, six in number, trusted their fate to the Arabs. After fighting with the natives, these had to sustain various disasters and hardships, which at last became so grievous, that the writer of the narrative, who was mistaken for the captain, determined to terminate his life by drowning himself; but this the vigilance of the Arabs prevented him from executing. The unfortunate party consisted of M. Scheult, the captain; M. Mexia, a portuguese priest, of nearly 60 years of age; M. Souza, the mate; Jacques Affile, a sailor; M. Chalumeau, lieutenant; and M. leagues from this flat shore, of Wedinoon, or the river Akassa, a bank of sand, near the level of the water, extends southward, towards Cape Bojador, which it is extremely dangerous to approach. See Jackson's enlarged Account of Marocco, p. 271.

The Ironmongers Company in London had a fund in hand left by a Mr Betton, for the redemption of British wrecked mariners on the African coast, which sum, for want of a proper elucidation of the circumstances attending these disastrous wrecks, had never been sufficiently applied to this philanthropic purpose. Ibid. p. 274.

Charles Cochelet, the narrator and passenger, who, after detailing the calamities they suffered, gives the following account of their daily occupations.

"Every morning, at break of day, whilst the Arabs were prostrated on the sands, addressing their prayers to God and to the prophet, we went in quest of shell fish, on the sea-shore, which during eighteen days constituted almost our only food; about six o'clock in the morning, they called us to work, and this work, so long as the division of our plunder continued, was the same. At low water we were employed in transporting the various packages from the ship to the shore, at other times we were employed in spreading linens (part of the cargo) on the burning sand to dry, having been wet with the sea-water. The divisions of the property took place every evening, under the inspection of Fairry, our captor, amidst such howlings and disputes as frequently made him lose his authority. Every individual proprietor of the divided plunder retired with it at a distance, during the night, buried it in the sand, and left a sign whereby to recognise it. The daily arrivals of camels from various parts of the desert served to convey these hidden goods to the respective encampments of the plunderers.

"We were sometimes obliged to make holes in the sand, big enough to bury twenty or thirty barrels of flour. This laborious work, under a vertical sun, and in the ignited atmosphere of the Sahara, was more painful than can be described. Our masters were reposed under their tents during the heat of the day, and the small number of animals which surrounded us, oppressed with heat, appeared immoveable. These camels and goats, with their heads inclined towards the burning and barren sand, were nourished by dried roots, which here and there appeared on the surface of the sands.-As for ourselves, strangers to this life of abstinence and drought, we found no relief to our unparalleled exertions, but in the cool of the evening, which, however, with our scanty supply of shell-fish, was hardly sufficient to support us.

"On the 9th June, after the work of the day had terminated, Fairry made us all advance to the middle of the circle of Arabs, which was forming around us, and told us that they were going to separate us. We expostulated, but in vain. M. Mexia,Souza, and Chalumeau, remained the property of Fairry. M. Scheuit became the property of an Arab called Mohammed, and myself and the sailor fell into the power of him whom I feared the most, that Hamet who had always shown so much hatred to me. Hamet had seen a fowl fall into the sea, which the Arabs, who were plundering the ship, had let fly out of the coop. The desire of getting this fowl took possession of him. Go and fetch it, Christian,' cri ed he with fury. I represented, that, not knowing how to swim, I could not execute his order without the risk of my life. Hamet's dagger, with which I was immediately threatened, rendered my observation useless. I went after the fowl, and after swallowing

a great quantity of sea-water, I succeeded in getting it, and brought it to him, half drowned; he took it, and turning to the east (the tomb of Muhamed) he killed it with his knife.* Faithful to his law he would not suffer a Christian to kill it. But having dispatched it himself, he threw it contemptuously in my face, making a sign to me to pluck it. It would appear that the Koran is less severe as to this second operation, and I performed it with such attention, that I forgot for the time my strange condition."

Several traits, characteristic of the Arabs, are related, but they so much resemble what has been reported by other travellers, that it is unnecessary to take up the time of the intelligent reader with a detail of them. The description of the arrival of a party of Bedoweens is interesting.

"On the 10th June, whilst the rays of the morning sun were reflected on the sand hills, we perceived on their summits, at a distance, a troop of Bedoween Arabs, who, in descending, directed themselves towards us. The brilliant brightness of their arms reflected by the sun's rays, discovered them in the distance, and the quickness of their camels soon brought them among us. Every camel carried two Arabs.-The first seated on a little saddle, like the women in Europe, who guided the camel by means of a cord, fixed to a ring through one of the nostrils of the animal; the second in the ordinary position of a man on horseback, behind the first, and separated from him only by his gun, which he rested on the camel's back horizontally before him. All those camels arrived successively, in a long trot, and stopping suddenly, gently kneeling, suffered their riders easily to dismount, who immediately put cords round one of the fore-legs with the knee bent, so as to prevent them from straying far off.

"Of these different troops there were about a dozen; each, consisting of about ten or twelve Arabs, took their position one after the other. The camels of burden arrived soon after, and, before the day was over, the place had the appearance of a camp. The appearance of these men, excited our curiosity: their exterior was noble and imposing, which was increased by the white and loose drapery of the hayk. This people were distinguished by regular features, handsome beards, and hair like our own; what was most surprising was their complexion, which was not so tanned as that of the inhabitants of Andalusia (in Spain) whom I had seen.

Our narrator informs us, that these Arabs were the Monselmines,† a race quite different in manners and appearance from

*Because the Muhamedans have an opinion that the English twist the necks of fowls or strangle them, which is contrary to the law of Muhamed, as well as to that of Moses, both of which direct that the blood be allowed to run out of the animal.

The proper term is Muselmine, and the Ouadlims are the Woled Deleim. Vide a dissertation on this subject, in a letter from Mr. Jackson

the Ouadlims. They were returning home from Cape Bojador, but hearing of the wreck, had altered their course; and being too strong to be resisted, they shared with the Ouadlims that part of the plunder that was not already buried or removed. When the ship was quite unloaded, it was set fire to, in order to prevent her from being a mark or beacon to warn other vessels, against sharing a similar fate.

"Whilst the ship was still burning, a vessel hove in sight, with all her sails set, making directly for the Cape; when within two leagues of us, she suddenly turned, and with a fair wind proceeded on her course, not without discovering to the eyes of the crew the deplorable state, both of the wreck on the beach, and the wrecked."

After the arrival of the Monselmines, our author and his comrades were stunned with the continual repetition of the word Souerah; but it was always uttered with such fury that they could not derive any hope from its use. Nevertheless this word was the subject of various interpretations, and among these was that of M. Souza, who, supposing an analogy between this language and the French, assured the rest very seriously, that it meant "ce soir" i. e. nous partirons ce soir, [we shall depart this evening.] Soon after this, as our travellers were passing through the desert, driving three camels, which had been committed to their charge, " M. Mexia, weak and exhausted with continual fatigue, exclaimed, Leave me my friends, it is impossible for me to proceed further.' They stopped, and looking back found this poor and patient man fallen on the sand expressing the signs of the utmost despair. I cannot rise,' said he, I have no strength, and suffer the most unaccountable pains.' Then laying himself at his length upon the sand, with a melancholy resignation he added, Go, my friends, I see that this desert will be my tomb, leave me, go on; avoid, if you can, my wretched state, which I can no longer endure. How frightful it is to perish on such a spot!"

It was impossible for his companions thus to leave him. They spoke to Sidy Hamet, who had proceeded in the caravan; but he would listen to no plan of accommodation, except that of lightening the burden of the camel that carried the wine, by emptying it, and putting M. Mexia in its place. To this the travellers readily agreed, and they continued their journey with M. Mexia riding on the camel.

An interesting account is given of the caravan's passage through a desert of moving sands, which are compared to the perfidious abysses of snow on the upper regions of the Alps. At the beginning of this traverse, and when the caravan was preparing to descend, the usual prayers of Sidy Hamet and his companion seem to have acquired a greater degree of fervency, to which they to Sir Joseph Banks, inserted in the proceedings of the African Association; see also Shabeeny's account of Timbuctoo. &c. page 512.