in this account to reconcile the relation by Alcaforado, who was esquire or equerry to prince Henry, with that of de Barros. Having opened the latter fart of this account, we will faithfully and to the letter translate the passage in Joam de Barros: "Joam Gonzalvez and Tristram Vaz, being called to a better fortune and more prosperity, did not chuse to return to the kingdom; still less to make their abode in that island, (Porto Santo.) But, when Bertolameo Perestrallo had departed, they determined to go and see whether that thick shadow which the island now called Madeira made, was land. For a long time they had not been able to decide this; for, by reason of the great moisture contained there by the thickness of the woods, they always saw it smoaking with vapours, which seemed to them to be thick clouds; and at other times they affirmed that it was land, for marking the place they did not see it cleared away like other parts. So that being moved by this desire, they, seeing the sea fit for their purpose, passed over to it in two barks which they had built with the wood of the island, and they called it Madeira, because of the great and thick woods with which it was covered." Decade i. book i. chapter iii. page 29. last edition.

This is the narrative, and the whole narrative, as it is found in Joam de Barros. The method by which Mr. Clarke has reconciled it with the relation of prince Henry's equerry, is by disregarding the plain tale of the historian, and substituting in its place the whole romance which bears Alcaforados'name: romance we call it, for we do not believe that even Mr. Clarke himself, though he believes in Kissæus and Jacob Bryant, could believe he was recording history when he inserted the tale of the dreadful SHADE and the dreaded abyss. The phenomenon, if a fog is to be called a phenomenon, still exists. When abreast of Porto Santo, says Stavorinus, you first perceive a great haziness very like a thick smoke to the S. W. nearly ten degrees above the horizon, which on a nearer approach is dissipated, and the high land of Madeira rises to view, yet still enveloped with clouds, half way downwards from the summits of the Hils. Neither Joam de Barros, nor Faria y Sousa, poet and hyperbolist as he was, have exaggerated the common

circumstance.

On prince Henry's application to the pope for a bull to establish his right to the discoveries, we are told that the Jesuits were not insensible to the advantages they might thus obtain. Ignatius Loyola was not born till long after prince Henry's death. Mr. Clarke has fallen into the common absurdity of disguising the faults of his favourite: the unfortunate expedition to Tangiers did not arise from the military ardour of king Edward, as he has stated; king Edward was averse to the expedition, but his weak temper yielded to the pertinacity and artifices of Henry. In this instance, a 'foolish courage led prince Henry; a more criminal cowardice made him desert his brother Pedro in his distresses. These circumstances are not necessarily connected with the "Progress of Maritime Discovery," but Mr. Clarke has uniformly exalted the characters of his heroes by this species of falshood. In one instance he has been guilty of a worse disingenuity: it is in the account of the sufferings of Gama's men from the scurvy:

"With this pestilent infection and sicmany of them dyed thereof; which also put nesse, our men were greatly discomfited, and the reste of the companie in greate fare and perplexitie of minde. Yea, and further would haue increased and aggrauated their griefes of bodye, and sorrowes, were it not, that one DA GAMA, a man of good nature and condition, had taken spreiall care and used greate dilligence, for the recouerye of who continually visited the sicke, and liber their healths, and putting them in comfort = ally departed unto them such wholesome and medicinable things, as for his mene bodye hee had prouided and carried with him. Through whose good counsell giuen, great paines taken, and franke distribution of that he had, many of our men reconered which would otherwise have died, and all the rest thereby were greatly recomforted."

By this passage thus printed in italics, with the name da Gama in capitals, it is evident that Mr. Clarke wishes to make the reader believe that it was the commander of the expedition who thus gave his own private stores of medicine to be divided among the sick. Yet it is rather extraordinary that an historian should call him one da Gama; and the absurdity will be felt if we imagine Dr. Hawksworth writing of the benefit which the sailors of the Endeavour experienced from the humanity of one Cook. Mr. Clarke instead of condensing a narrative from Castanheda, has given scraps of an old

translation, "after a careful comparison" of it with the original Portugueze: but the original Portugueze says, that Paulo da Gama was the man who performed this act of humanity. Paulo da Gama, the brother of Vasco, to whom the command of the expedition was first offered, but who declined it, not having health for the charge, and consented to serve under his brother, and who died himself on his return, perhaps from the want of those very medicines which he had thus distributed. Did Mr. Clarke make this ungenerous alteration himself? or did he only aid and abet the old translator in this lie by implication, by permitting the mistranslation to remain after his careful comparison," and forcing it into notice by italic types and capitals? The character of Vasco da Gama has been usually misrepresented; we have been taught to class him with Columbus, for his hideous and hellish cruelties have been industriously concealed.

An account of Cada Mosto's two voyages concludes the history of the discoveries during prince Henry's life. It is remarkable that Barros makes no mention of this navigator, though his narrative was printed nearly fifty years before the publication of the first decade. The next section narrates the voyages of Pedro da Cintra, and the Portugueze pilot from Ramusio; and carries on the history till the death of John II. One ludicrous error must be noticed for its oddity: the king of Portugal is said to have had a Jey rabbi for his confessor. In his account of Covilham Mr. Clarke has been misled by Bruce. Frequent dispatches, says that traveller, came from him to the king of Portugal, who, on his part, spared no expence to keep open the correspondence.

"In his journal Covillan described the several ports in India which he had seen; the temper and disposition of the princes; the situation and riches of the mines of Sofala: he reported that the country was very populous, full of cities both powerful and rich; and he exhorted the king to pursue, with unremitting vigour, the passage round Africa, which he declared to be attended with very little danger; and that the cape itself was well known in India. He accompanied this description with a chatt, or map, which he had received from the hands of a moor in India, where the Cape, and cities all around the coast, were exactly represented."

the Portugueze historians; no tidings were ever received from Covilham, from the time when he entered Abyssinia, till the Portugueze found him there, long after king John's death. Ruy de Pina, in his chronicle of king John, mentions him as a man lost; and all the other historians affirm that he was never heard of till after the lapse of many years. The passage in Bruce is very extraor dinary: it will hardly be supposed that he found copies of Covilham's journal and chart in Abyssinia; but unless he actually did find such copies, the only solution is, that he wrote the passage from memory, having no documents before him, and has thus altered the account which was sent orally by the Jew from Cairo, into written papers from Abyssinia. That the passage is erroneous is indisputable. Some hydrographical remarks are appended to this section; here the author mentions as a desideratum, accurate observations of the width and depth of all the rivers in the world, with observations on their bars.

In the following section we have a rambling inappropriate retrospect of Indian history, from the Macedonian discoveries to the close of the fifteenth century.

The last section comprizes the outward voyage of Vasco da Gama. This is related by alternate scraps from the old translation of Castanheda, and froin Mickle's Lusiad, for "the Lusitanian Homer, says the author, as he must have had access to many authorities now lost, or not generally known, is justly entitled to the authority of an historian: his means of information were ample and extended from Portugal to India.' Even if this could by any possibility be admitted; it would not follow that Mr. Mickle's translation was entitled to the same confidence; for no poem was ever so

licentiously translated as the English Lusiad; the English poet has every where inserted without scruple whatever he thought would improve the original. The extracts from this version fill twenty pages of this part of Mr. Clarke's history,

66

matter; with extracts from common books, the republication of papers which are not scarce, and the recapitulation of historical facts which have no relation to maritime discovery. Long notes are every where annexed to long digressions, like the hairs of a mole, the excrescencies of an excresence, deforming deformity. The part which actually relates to the professed subject of the work, might have been comprized in a small octavo volume; and that part is badly executed. Instead of comparing the accounts of various authors, and digesting them into one connected narrative, Mr. Clarke has indolently sewed together scraps whenever they would suit his purpose, contrasting occasionally the rust of Hakluyt and the old translator, with his own modern tinsel. The price of the volume has been unnecessarily enhanced by engravings, admirably executed indeed, but which are altogether superfluous. The spectre of the cape, for instance, is the frontispiece. Still more absurdly has a view of Columbo harbour in Ceylon been introduced, upon these grounds: Mr. Clarke enters into a discussion concerning the situation of Solomon's Ophir; he enumerates the various opinions of the thousand and one authors who have

discussed the question; and "after much consideration" he inclines to give the preference to that distinguished scholar, Samuel Bochart, who in his valuable work on sacred geography, entitled Phaleg and Canaan, demonstrates with equal ability and reason, that Ophir was the great island Taprobana, since called Zeelan and Ceylon, which produces gold, ivory, precious stones, and peacocks." He has therefore given a view of the Ophir, that is, of Columbo harbour: this is a perfectly flat shore, with a few trees and fortifications, being no doubt the batteries erected by the Jews; and to fill up the plate, an English man of war brig is added, representing, we presume, one of the fleet sent, in conformity to treaty, by his present Majesty, to protect the possessions of his good ally, King Solomon, against the machinations of Tippoo Saib, Bonaparte, and Nebuchadnezzar.

When we consider the important nature of this work, and that it was projected "under the auspices, and with the approbation" of the then first lord of the admiralty, we cannot but feel that a compilation so every way despicable, appearing under such patronage, is to be considered as a national disgrace.

With Observations on the Gum Trade of

MR. CURTIS accompanied the Eng lish embassador, in 1801, from Gibraltar to Fez: in this little volume he relates such circumstances as he saw or heard during his journey.

The embassy landed at Tangiers. The old castle, he tells us, remains as it was left by the Portugueze; for the Moors never repair a building, though they do not scruple to add to it. The town itself, like all Moorish towns, is dirty, and with narrow streets; the houses all whitewashed, a pernicious custom ia so hot a climate: the number of blind in consequence is very great; and there is scarcely one person in ten free from the gutta serena. The population is computed at 15,000 souls. Tangiers was once a strong place; it baffled the army of Portugal for many years, and once gave that country a severe lesson, ominous of the fate of Sebastian. The fortifications are now in a ruinous state; yet the parapet wall which surrounds it has the appearance of strength. The storks perch

on it in great numbers; so constantly indeed, and in such number, that the author at first mistook them for soldiers. The stork, we believe, is every where a sacred bird; perhaps because he builds upon churches and mosques: and having there been usually protected by the sanctuary, a sanctity has been attributed every where to his nest. The whole trade of Tangiers consists in supplying the opposite coasts with provisions; their markets are held thrice a week, abundantly supplied, and of course cheap: they resemble English fairs, cattle are bought there for sale, and tradesmen and handicrafts of every description pitch their tents, for the people never think of having any work done but on these days. Add to this bustle of business, shows, jugglers, and dancing to the Moorish tambourine; and the work days in Tangiers resemble cur holidays in England.

"The fertile valleys of Barbary, (says Mr. Cartis,) the rich and extensive corn

fields, and the exquisite perfumes of the flowers, present the appearance of one vast cultivated garden; or rather of a land flowing with milk and honey." This venerable metaphor has seldom been more unhappily introduced. There is however no doubt that this country is one of the most delightful in the world: nature is no where better, and man no where worse. The grass grows five or six feet high; the vineyards are most luxuriant. Every part of the country round Tangiers is beautiful, and interspersed with villages and gardens. All the foreign consuls reside here.

The governor of Tetuan escorted the embassy:

"He is about forty-five years of age, with hard features, and was formerly a muleteer, but by his good conduct obtained the countenance of the emperor, who finally rewarded his merit with the government of Tetuan. On his arrival, he presented the embassador with two mules laden with fruit from Tetuan, and announced the necessity of our departure, and encampment on the next day at a short distance from the town, in order to give the muleteers an opportunity of ascertaining the particular baggage entrusted to each of them, without which there would be unceasingly fighting. It was not a little curious to hear them enquire for the brother of a trunk, a peculiarity of expression unknown in Europe, but which our interpreter informed us was the common language of Barbary, where every article that has been put with others, carried on the same animal, or bears the least resemblance to another, is always denoted by the term brother."

Mr. Curtis is mistaken in supposing that the peculiarity of expression is unknown in Europe. It is a common idiom both in Spain and Portugal; whoever has resided in either country, must have heard of the brother of his boot, his glove, &c. our English word "fellow" has originated in the same anthropomorphitism of language.

"The governor came to receive the presents and our baggage on the 26th. His soldiers were drawn up in a line fronting the consul's house; but on his leaving it, they formed a semicircle, and saluted him with a profound reverence, at the same time exclaiming, "Long live our noble master." While he was mounting his horse, one held the head, another the tail, half a dozen the stirrups and bridle, and others assisted him in placing himself, and this is the usual mode in which the people of Barbary display respect to their superiors.

"On the 27th, after dinner, we marched to our encampment about three miles from

Tangiers, at a place called Swanee, and were accompanied by all the consuls of foreign powers, and the governor of Tangiers with a body of horse, colours flying, and all the pomp of the Moors; but the banner of British ambassador throughout the whole Haghig-Hage was always carried before the journey. A supper was prepared by the governor for the embassy on their arrival, which, though good, had such a quantity of garlick mixed with it, that we could not faste it; but some of the kus-kus, which I shall wholesome and excellent for the inhabitants, have occasion fully to detail hereafter, is though ill suited to the palate of an English

man.

"We struck our tents early on the morning of the 28th, but from some delay in the distribution of the baggage, we were not able to Moors, like all the oriental nations, have no leave the ground till seven o'clock. The idea of measuring distances according to the European method, and therefore they cal culate them by the hour; hence I conclude

we travelled at the rate of about three miles

and a half each hour. Our retinue was composed of the embassador, the vice-consul, myself and servant, an artificer from the corps at Gibraltar, two interpreters, a cook and hair-dresser, with two other servants of the embassador; the alkaide, or governor of Tetuan, with sixty horse soldiers as our guard, sixty mules and six camels for transporting the baggage. The embassador and his suite marched in front of the soldiers, and this order was preserved throughout the whole journey."

The country is represented to be in a In this parade the embassy proceeded. high state of cultivation, and well stocked with every kind of cattle; they frequently met droves of five hundred and a thousand each, attended by only a little boy. These boys collect their droves by a whistle.

In his orthography of Moorish words, Mr. Curtis is always regulated by his ear; he therefore not only differs from other writers, but often from himself. He uses douwar and derwar confusedly; sometimes the governor of Tetuan is Haghig-Hage, at others Hagh-Hagh; Arzilla is sometimes spelt Azilla, some times Ozilla; we have Alkaide, Álkasar, La Rach, with the same disregard or ignorance of established usage.

The governors of all the provinces through which the English were to pass, had received orders from the emperor to provide them with every necessary. These orders were well obeyed, the English, it seems, being in high favour with the Moors, and for a singular rea

son.

"Mahommed having declared that Englishmen would at some future period be converted to the faith, the Moors are led to believe that the time is now approaching, as there can be no doubt the English have been already inspired by the prophet, since they have extended their powerful protection to the religion of the musselinen in Egypt. Under such a favourable prepossession, it was evident our embassy could not have been sent at a more propitious moment, for the emperor had just received intelligence of the defeat of the French army in Egypt."

Their road lay by Alcacere, a town which is said to have lost 10,000 per sons, half its population, by the plague. Our traveller, upon asking the governor his age, was greatly surprized to learn that he could not answer with exactness, and that there was not a Moor in the country who could tell his own age with precision: all they know is, that they were born a little before or after some public event, a battle or a rebellion. They were entertained here with music, and Mr. Curtis mentions with wonder that the objects of their songs were the pleasures of the bottle. It is possible that, like the songs of Solomon and Hafiz, they may have been mystic poems, whose allegoric meaning was not understood. Musquitoes and focusts annoyed them cruelly on their journey; with their sufferings from the former we can sympathize; but we do not understand how they could be infested by the latter, unless encountered by an army, or the stench of a putrefying swarm. they were received with public honours, and fared sumptuously, being of a nation whom the emperor delighted to honour.

At Fez

"Our house consisted of four large apartments, with folding doors to each, opening in front of an extensive garden filled with fruit trees; a square court-vard, in the centre of which was a cold bath of considerable dimensions, supplied at each extremity by a fountain. The house was furnished in the Moorish style, with fine carpets and cushions, &c. but we desired them to be removed, and substituted in their places our beds and camp furniture. The emperor now sent ten large dishes of cus-cus sou, made of fowls, mutton, and fruit, six huge baskets filled with apples, pears, plumbs, and various kinds of fruit from his garden. Presently after, he sent an additional supply of six dishes of cus-cus son, some of which weighed an hundred pounds, for our supper, which enabled us to afford a glorious repast to our soldiers and muleteers. When we retired to rest, we flattered ourselves that after a fatiguing march of eleven

days, we might enjoy the luxury of un'is turbed repose. But the vast numbers of frogs and toads which infest the city and its vicinity with their hideous croaking from sun-set till sun-rise, and the quantity which were about our bath, absolutely deprived us of rest, When I rose on the morning of the 6th, and offered some money to the Moors if they would either destroy or remove them from the bath, they peremptorily refused, on the ground that they were blessed by the prophet, and if one were killed, the destroyer would inevitably be scized with some malady, Fortunately, I found a jew who destroyed the whole for the consideration of six reals, but the Moors were so incensed against him, that it might have been attended with fatal for the powerful protection which we afforded consequences to the man, had it not been him. On the most ridiculous points, the Moors must not be trifled with, when their religion is concerned.

The emperor sent this morning a note to Hagh-Hagh, in which he commanded the alkaide to provide every thing suitable to the dignity of an embassador from so powerful a nation as the English; "do not let us disgrace ourselves," said he, “in the eyes of whatever has been done on any former octhe English people, but endeavour to exceed casion."

Yet notwithstanding the imperial favours, the English were somewhat inconvenienced by the intolerant stupidity of Moorish prejudices. When they were entering the city, a madman insisted that they should stop and hear him pray and madmen being saints in Morocco, they were obliged to comply. It was irksome to walk the streets: Mr. Curtis was repeatedly stopped, that the people might gratify their curiosity by inspecting his clothes; and often were they compelled to turn back and seek some other way, because the mob would not suffer them to pass by the house of a saint. Two hundred thousand persons were destroyed in this city by the plague: but Mr. Curtis is very careless in his narration, and in another place states the loss at 170,000; and even this is probably over-rated, for what a population does it suppose! Morocco, he says, lost 300,000; surely this is absurdly exaggerated. The circumference of Fez is stated to be between seven and eight miles, and the number of persons contained within that space, 800.000. Was Mr. Curtis ignorant of the size and population of London? The following document is curious, and is to be received with due distrust; it was detailed to him by one of the talbs of Fez, whom he calls a great historian.