Sordid interest, brutal lust, and fanatic superstition all join to make them sport with the miseries they inflict on their victims. Such is the retribution which one race of Africans' unconsciously exact for the injustices committed by Christians against another race of their brethren of the same continent, a race more inoffensive, and therefore oppressed!

The Tunisian privateers at that epoch cruized only against the vessels of Sicily and Sardinia, because those two helpless countries and their exiled sovereigns had not the means of making their flags respected. A short time previously to my visit to Barbary, the Tunisian fleet had effected a landing on the coast of Sardinia, and had carried off the whole population of the little island of Sant Antioco, amounting to several hundred persons of both sexes, the whole of whom the king of Sardinia shortly after redeemed out of his exhausted treasury.. This was the good Victor Emmanuel, now dead, and it is pleasing to record this trait of his real affection for his subjects.

The poor Moors, the indigenous race of Barbary, however, are not to be charged with the horrors of this traffic in human' flesh. The country Moor is a harmless, industrious, frugal creature, himself oppressed by a horde of miscreants from all parts of the Levant, the refuse of Smyrna, Constantinople, Candia, and other places in the east, who proceed to the several states of Barbary in quest of fortune, enlist into the militia, and make the Beys themselves, who are generally of Moorish families, tremble before them. This assemblage is increased by bad characters of every sort, amongst whom are Christian renegadoes. They exert their power equally over the natives, the few Greeks, and the Christian captives. The Jews are the men of business, and money being their sole object, they are often concerned in the nefarious traffic of piracy. The privateers are fitted out either by the government, or by some of the ministers, or by a few unprincipled speculators. We should not therefore attribute to the whole population a crime of which most of them are guiltless.

The last rays of the setting sun were palely reflected by the sandy shores of Biserta when we arrived on board. I saw without regret that luminary sink behind the western hills, a tributary chain of the Atlas. We dined upon fish; captain, sailors, and passengers, all together sitting round on the deck, a pleasing sort of familiarity which seems natural to Mediterranean seafaring people when far from their native countries. Then they feel more closely the links which attach Christians to one another; the sympathy of a common faith is revived. But, alas! when from Paynim shores they return to Cristianitá (this is their emphatic expression for all countries

under the religion of the cross, in opposition to those under the dominion of the crescent,) those bonds of fraternity are relaxed again, and interest, selfishness, and envy resume their sway.

The chill and heavy dew of night succeeded to the burning heat of the day. The sensation produced is agreeable, but it is dangerous to indulge in it, for the rapid change of temperature may be injurious to a stranger. However, as our cabin was small and confined, and, like that of most Mediterranean vessels, infested with vermin, I found it absolutely impossible to sleep in it, and I did, as I had done during the voyage, lie down on deck, wrapped in a blanket. Awaking after midnight, I felt my blanket was completely wet, as if it had been exposed to rain. But at the same time a splendid sight presented itself to me. I never had seen the sky so pure, so deep in its hue, the stars so bright, their perpetual sparkling motion so vivid, too vivid for the eyes to be long fixed on them; and in the midst of them, in the immensity of space, shone the lovely queen of the heavens, the silvery moon; its calm lustre unstained by either cloud, or mist, or halo; the outline of its full broad disk detaching itself from the dark vault of the sky. I had seen the moon in Italy, seen it at Naples, where it is admired for its brilliancy; but I had never seen it in its full splendour before that night. It is in southern latitudes that the great works of nature appear in all their glory, and speak most intelligibly of their Maker. We therefore find the eastern poets most eloquent and grand upon those subjects. On the plains of Chaldea, in the vast solitudes of Arabia, or on the mountains of Syria and Palestine, there the language of the heavens is most intelligible; there in the silence of night man holds, as it were, converse with the stars; there he feels penetrated with the greatness of One Being, and with his own nothingness; and from these strong sensations that rich vein of poetical melancholy is derived which pervades eastern writers, the melancholy of contemplation and solitude, the melancholy of the heart, passionate and religious, very different from the melancholy of the mind, which is generally sceptical and misanthropical.

The most profound tranquillity reigned all around, hardly interrupted by the rippling of the water against the bow of our vessel. The pale low coast appeared to the leeward, but I could hardly distinguish the houses of Biserta from the surrounding sands.

Dawn appeared, and we prepared for our land journey. Our parcels being ready, the captain, myself, and two other passengers went on shore to the custom-house, a large building near the Tunis gate, where the caravan meets. Our goods

and trunks were quickly examined by the officers, who levy a moderate duty upon merchandise, and take it often in kind rather than in money. By and bye the caravan began to assemble; it consisted of about twenty Moorish carriers with their mules, two Barbary Jews with their wives, a janizary or soldier, and four Christians.

The arrangements were soon made, under the direction of the head of the caravan. The Jewesses, wrapped up and muffled like two mummies, were mounted upon camels; and the male passengers were accommodated with mules and donkeys. The rest of the cattle were loaded with goods, and the Moors and janizary walked alongside of them, armed with cutlasses, pistols, and one or two rusty guns, in order to defend themselves from the Bedouins, or robbers, who infest the country. We were warned by the janizary to keep together, and not remain in the rear; for the Bedouins, who are on the watch concealed in ambuscade, often fall upon the stragglers, and not only plunder them, but carry them to the interior, and either kill them or sell them as slaves. This memento shewed the wrong side of the police of Barbary, and I naturally cast my eyes on our Moorish companions, under whose care and protection we were going to intrust ourselves. Their physiognomies were little prepossessing, and they appeared to me to be as much to be feared as the Bedouins themselves. This surmise was, however, ill founded. These Moors, especially those of the lower class, have a wild expression in their looks, bordering on ferocity; but unless provoked they are harmless, and even honest to strangers. They are revengeful against their enemies, they are contemptuous towards Christians, but yet faithful to their engagements with them.

We left Biserta at five in the afternoon. The sun was declining and had lost its insufferable heat, but the wind of the desert had, unfortunately for us, began to blow that very afternoon. This southern wind is the same as the well known sirocco, whose influence is so overpowering on the coast of Italy; but the sirocco of Naples may be considered as a refreshing breeze compared to the same wind in Barbary. We now received it in its first strength from the great wastes of Lybia and Sahara, carrying with it all the burning vapours of those frightful regions. The horizon long after sunset appeared of a dusky red, and I felt as if I could hardly breathe through the suffocating atmosphere.

The effects of this wind in Northern Africa are very prompt. The skin of the face and hands becomes dry; the lips, tongue, and palate, are parched; and the sensations of continual

thirst and general lassitude extremely painful. This wind lasts generally three days, but returns frequently during summer. Further south, and in the Great Desert, where it takes the name of simoom, its effects are much more dreadful; but travellers have described them so often, that I need not say any more on the subject.

The environs of Biserta present some traces of cultivation, such as a few gardens and some date-trees; the road or path is bounded by Indian fig-trees, which grow here to a gigantic size. This monstrous unseemly plant, with its thick shape-less leaves, if leaves they can be called, grafted in lumps one upon another, seems congenial to the other features of the country, huge, uncouth, exciting sentiments of surprise, disgust, and a sort of vague terror.

After two hours' journey we passed a miserable hamlet, called El Feineine, consisting of a few ruinous houses, in the midst of a thick plantation of Indian fig-trees. The wretched looking inhabitants seemed to scout us Christians as we passed. After this we entered into a plain totally deserted and uncultivated, bounded on one side by the sea, and on the other by a chain of hills. This plain is sandy, but strewed with dwarfish plants and shrubs; the path through it is hardly traced. The sun had set, but still the heat produced by the wind was oppressive. I felt the pains of thirst during this short journey more keenly than I ever did before or after.

On the road between Biserta and Tunis there are but two places where travellers can get water. The Jews had furnished themselves with jars and calabashes; but we Europeans, unacquainted with the country, were unprovided with these useful utensils. At last, after five hours' journey, we arrived at a well, where we halted. A well in Africa is the resting-place of the traveller, far more welcome than our splendid inns in luxurious Europe; and yet how often we complain of the accommodations of the latter, think them miserable, and grumble about them, while here the utmost extent of our wishes was to fill our hands and our mouths with water, and to sit ourselves down on the cool ground! Even the dripping noise of the water was a great luxury.

After a few minutes we resumed our march.

Our Moors

having refreshed themselves began to sing some of their native songs, which, although full of guttural sounds, had a pleasing melody, plaintive like most of the simple music of all countries. They expressed to us again by signs rather than by words, for they were unacquainted even with the wretched jargon spoken in the cities on the coast, the necessity of keeping together; as, favoured by the darkness of the

night, the Bedouins come sometimes close to the road, and conceal themselves, waiting an opportunity to fall upon the solitary traveller. The caravan does not stop for any one, and leaves stragglers to their fate. The government of the country is either too weak or too careless to extirpate these bands of robbers; however, the then reigning sovereign, Hamuda Bey, a just, sensible, and spirited man, had lately taken measures against them; a few had been apprehended and hung, and this had had a salutary effect; murders and robberies had become less frequent. These Bedouins come from the interior. They are a distinct people from the Moors who inhabit the coast, and who cultivate the ground; the Bedouins are shepherds, have no fixed habitation, and the hope of booty brings many of them into the open country, and near the towns. It is they, who when some ill-fated vessel has been shipwrecked on the coast of Barbary, far from any town, have fallen upon the unfortunate men escaped from a watery grave, and either have murdered them, or carried them into the interior. may expect little more mercy from them than from their neighbours, the wild beasts of the desert. There are among them some wretches of various countries, runaway slaves, and criminals.

One

I was jogging on; the wretched mule I strode was either vicious or tired; it kicked and knelt on its fore legs repeatedly, and so suddenly that once or twice I was thrown over its head, as I had no stirrups to support myself. After easing itself of its burthen, the beast set off at a quick trot, and I pursuing after, to the great amusement of the Moors, who seemed to enjoy the sight of a Christian dog harassed and tormented by thirst and fatigue. The apostrophe kelb! (dog,) was often in their mouths. Having mounted my mule again, I followed in the rear of the caravan with the janizary, who was walking beside me. I was musing on this little specimen of African travelling. We had not met for several hours with a single trace of habitation; we were in a vast solitude; images of Bedouins were crowding on my fancy; I felt how helpless civilized man is, when cast amongst barbarians! I had no tie whatever to entitle me to the interest of the people about me; no analogy of education, feelings, or principles. Amongst them I was a complete outcast; my very dress, my language, and faith, prejudiced them against me; if I should fall into slavery, I thought to myself, what would be my fate? In the political circumstances of Europe at that period, I could hardly expect the protection of any Consul; besides which, when once carried into the interior, what means could I have of making my situation known?