him, I took him by furprife with my arm under his twist, and toffed him clear over-board into the fea; he rofe immediately, for he fwam like a cork, and called to me, begged to be taken in, told me he would go all over the world with me: he fwam fo ftrong after the boat, that he would have reached me very quickly, there being but little wind; upon which I ftepped into the cabin, and fetching one of the fowling-pieces, I prefented it at him, and told him, I had done him no hurt, and, if he would be quiet, I would do him none; but, faid I, you swim well enough to reach the shore, and the fea is calm, make the best of your way to the fhore, and I will do you no harm; but if you come near the boat, I will fhoot you through the head; for I am resolved to have my liberty. So he turned himself about, and swam for the fhore, and I make no doubt but he reached it with eafe, for he was an excellent {wimmer.

I could have been content to have taken this Moor with me, and have drowned the boy, but there was no venturing to trust him; when he was gone, I turned to the boy, whom they called Xury, and faid to him, Xury, if you will be faithful to me, I will make you a great man; but if you will not ftroke your face to be true to me, that is, fwear by Mahomet, and his father's beard, I muit throw you into the fea too. The boy fmiled in my face, and fpoke fo innocently, that I could not miftruft him, and fwore to be faithful to me, and go all over the world with me.

While I was in the view of the Moor that was (wimming, I ftood out directly to fea, with the boat rather ftretching to windward, that they might think me gone towards the Streight-mouth (as indeed any one that had been in their wits must have been fuppofed to do) for who would have fuppofed we were failed on to the fouthward, to the truly Barbarian coaft, where whole nations of Negroes were fure to furround us with their canoes, and deftroy us; where we could never once go on shore, but we should be devoured by favage beafts, or more mercilef's favages of human kind?

But as foon as it grew dufk in the evening, I changed my courfe, and steered directly fouth and by east, bending my courfe a litle towards the eaft, that I might

keep

keep in with the fhore; and having a fair fresh gale of wind, and a fmooth quiet fea, I made fuch fail, that I believe by the next day at three o'clock in the afternoon, when I first made the land, I could not be less than 150 miles fouth of Sallee, quite beyond the emperor of Morocco's dominions, or indeed of any other king thereabouts, for we saw no people.

Yet fuch was the tright I had taken at the Moors, and the dreadful apprehenfions I had of falling into their hands, that I would not stop, or go on fhore, or come to an anchor, the wind continuing fair; till I had fail'd in that manner five days; and then the wind fhifting to the fouthward, I concluded alfo, that if any of our veffels were in chace of me, they also would now give over, fo I ventured to make to the coaft, and came to an anchor in the mouth of a little river, I knew not what or where, neither what latitude, what country, what nation, or what river. I neither faw, nor defired to fee, any people; the principal thing I wanted was fresh water. We came into this creek in the evening, refolving to swim on fhore as foon as it was dark, and discover the country; but as foon as it was quite dark, we heard fuch dreadful noifes of the barking, roaring, and howling of wild creatures, of we knew not what kinds, that the poor boy was ready to die with fear, and begged of me not to go on fhore till day. Well, Xury, faid I, then I won't; but it may be we may fee men by day, who will be as bad to us as thofe lions; Then we may give them the fhoot gun, fays Xury, laughing, make them run away; fuch English Xury fpoke by converfing among us flaves. However, I was glad to fee the boy fo cheerful, and I gave him a dram out of our patron's cafe of bottles, to chear him up. After all, Xury's advice was good, and I took it; we dropp'd our little anchor, and lay ftill all night; I fay ftill, for we slept none; for in two or three hours we faw vaft great creatures, we knew not what to call them, of many forts, come down to the fea fhore, and run into the water, wallowing and washing themfelves, for the pleasure of cooling themfelves; and they made fuch hideous howlings and yellings, that I never indeed heard the like. VOL. I.

B

Xury

Xury was dreadfully frighted, and indeed fo was I too: But we were both worse frighted, when we heard one mighty creature come fwimming towards our boat; we could not fee him, but we might hear him by his blowing, to be a monstrous, huge, and furious beast; Xury faid it was a lion, and it might be for ought I I know. Poor Xury cried out to me to weigh the anchor, and row away. No, fays I, Xury, we can flip our cable with a buoy to it, and go to fea, they cannot follow us far. I had no fooner faid fo, but I perceived the creature, whatever it was, within two oars length, which fomething furprized me; however, I immediately Itept to the cabbin door, and taking up my gun, fired at him; upon which he immediately turn'd about, and fwam towards the shore again.

But it was not poffible to defcribe the horrible noises, and hideous cries and howlings that were raifed, as well upon the edge of the fhore, as higher within the country, upon the noise or report of a gun, a thing I have fome reafon to believe thofe creatures had never heard before. This convinced me, that there was no going on fhore for us in the night, upon that coaft; and how to venture on fhore in the day, was another queftion too; for to have fallen into the hands of any of the lavages, had been as bad as to have fallen into the paws of lions and tigers; at least we were equally ap. prehenfive of the danger of it.

Be that as it would, we were obliged to go on fhore fomewhere or other for water, for we had not a pint left in the boat, when or where to get to it was the point.-Xury faid, if I would let him go on fhore with one of the jars, he would find, if there was any water, and bring fome to me. I asked him, why he would go; why I fhould not go, and he stay in the boat? The boy anfwered with fo much affection, that made me love him ever after-Says he, If wild mans come, they eat me, you go way. Well, Xury, faid I, we will both go, and if the wild mans come, we will kill them, they fhall eat neither of us. So I gave Xury a piece of rufkbread to eat, and a dram out of our patron's cafe of bottles, which I mentioned before, and we haled the boat in as near the fhore as we thought was proper,

and

and waded on shore, carrying nothing but our arms, and two jars for water.

I did not care to go out of fight of the boat, fearing the coming of the canoes with favages down the river: But the boy feeing a low place about a mile up the country, rambled to it; and by and by 1 faw him come running towards me: I thought he was purfued by fome favage, or frighted by fome wild beaft, and I ran forward towards him, to help him; but when I came nearer to him, I faw fomething hanging over his fhoulders, which was a creature that he had fhot, like a hare, but different in colour, and longer legs; however, we were very glad of it, and it was very good meat; but, the great joy that poor Xury came with, was to tell me he had found good water, and had seen no wild mans.

But we found afterwards, that we need not take fuch pains for water, for a little higher up the creek where we were, we found the water fresh when the tide was out, which flows but a little way up; fo we filled our jars, and feafted on the hare we had killed, and prepared to go on our way, having feen no footsteps of any human creature in that part of the country.

As I had been one voyage to this coaft before, I knew very well, that the islands of the Canaries, and the Cape de Verd islands alfo, lay not far off from the coaft; but as I had no inftruments to take an obfervation, to know what latitude we were in, and did not exactly know, or at leaft not remember what latitude they were in, I knew not where to look for them, or when to ftand off to fea towards them, otherwife I might now eafily have found fome of these islands. But my hope was, that if I flood along this coaft till I came to that part where the English traded, I fhould find fome of their veffels upon their ufual defign of trade, that would relieve and take us in.

By the beft of my calculation, that place where I now was, muft be that country which lying between the cmperor of Morocco's dominions and the negroes, lies waste and uninhabited, except by wild beafts; the negroes having abandoned it, and gone further fouth, for fear of the Moors; and the Moors not thinking it worth inhabiting, by reafon of its barrennefs; and indeed bot't forfaking it becaufe of the prodigious numbers of tigers, B 2

lions,

lions, leopards, and other furious creatures, which harbour there; fo that the Moors ufe it for their hunting only, where they go like an army, two or three thoufand men at a time; and indeed for near an hundred miles together upon this coaft, we faw nothing but a waste uninhabited country by day, and heard nothing but howlings and roarings of wild beafts by night.

Once or twice in the day time, I thought I faw the Pico of Teneriffe, being the high top of the mountain Teneriffe, in the Canaries; and had a great mind to venture out, in hopes of reaching thither; but having tried twice, I was forced in again by contrary winds, the fea alfo going too high for my little veffel; fo I refolved to purfue my firft defign, and kept along the shore.

Several times we were obliged to land for fresh water, after we had left this place; and once in particular, being early in the morning, we came to an anchor under a little point of land, which was pretty high; and the tide beginning to flow, we lay ftill to go farther in. Xury, whofe eyes were more about him than it seems mine were, calls foftly to me, and tells me, that we had beft go farther off the fhore; for, fays he, look yonder lies a dreadful monfter, on the fide of that hillock, faft afleep. I looked where he pointed, and faw a dreadful monster indeed, for it was a terrible great lion, that lay on the fide of the fhore, under the fhade of a piece of the hill, that hung as it were a little over him. Xury, faid I, you fhall go on fhore and kill him: Xury looked frighted, and faid, Me kill! he eat me at one mouth, one mouthful he meant; however, I faid no more to the boy, but bade him be still, and took our biggest gan, which was almoft musket bore, and loaded it with a good charge of powder, and with two flugs, and laid it down; then I loaded another gun with two bullets, and the third (for we had three pieces) I loaded with five fmaller bullets. I took the beft aim I could with the first piece, to have fhot him in the head; but he lay fo, with his leg raised a little above his nofe, that the flug hit his leg, about the knee, and broke the bone. ftarted up, growling at firft; but finding his leg broke, fell down again, and then got up upon three legs, and the most hideous roar that I ever heard. I was a

gave

He

little