The Prosperous, Captain Driver, a southwhaler, was wrecked near Cape Noon, in 1790; the crew was redeemed by me, and brought to my house at Santa Cruz, after being upwards of two years in captivity in the Desert: and I sent them all from Santa Cruz to Mogodor on mules, where, after remaining about two months, the Bull-dog sloop of war came down from Gibraltar for them, and they were sent off to her by the imperial order. p. 279
Wrecked Sailors.
English seamen that are so unfortunate as to be wrecked on the coast of Sahara, are generally better treated than the French, Italian, or Spanish, because there is a greater probability of a ransom; and because it is well known that the English admit no slaves in their own country.
Timbuctoo Coffee.
Coffee grows spontaneously in the vicinage of Timbuctoo, south of the Nile Elabeed. I sent a quantity to Mr. James Willis, formerly Consul for Senegambia: it was of a bitter taste, which is the general character of this grain before it is improved by cultivation.
Sand Baths.
The Arabs bury the body erect in sand, up to the chin, as a remedy for several disorders, particularly syphilis.
Civil War common in West Barbary.
In the provinces of Haha and Suse, particularly in the mountainous districts, intestine wars frequently prevail: kabyl against kabyl, village against village, house against house, family against family. In these lamentable wars, which so continually disturb the peace of society, retaliation is considered an incumbent duty on every individual who may have lost a relation, so that the embers of hostility are thus incessantly fanned; and this lamentable revenge pervades whole clans, to the utter destruction of every humane and philanthropic propensity, converting the human race to a degradation below the beasts of the field.