coat and linen drawers: a filk fafh was wrapped round him: in the breaft pocket of his veft were a pencil, a small pocketbook, and a watch. The next wave was to determine the fate of thofe in the boat. He therefore called to his fervants to follow him, if they could fwim, and inftantly let himself down in the face of the wave. With all his ftrength and activity in swimming, he could not withstand the force of the furf. From the ebbing wave he received a violent blow on the breast, which threw him upon his back, and occasioned him to fwallow a confiderable quantity of water. He dipped his head, while the next wave paffed over. He was now breathless, weary, and exhausted, but almost on land. A large wave floated him up. But he was again ftruck on the face and breaft, and involuntarily twisted about by the violence of the ebbing wave. As a laft effort, he tried to feel the bottom, and happily reached the fand with his feet, although the water was ftill deeper than his mouth. This fuccefs infpired him with new vigour. He floated on with the conflux of the wave; and by finking and touching the ground, withstood the ebbs. At lalt, finding his hands and knees upon the fand, he fixed his fingers in it, crawled forward a few paces when the fea retired, and at length found himself beyond the reach of the fea.

The Arabs in the mean time came down to plunder the veffel. The perfons in the boat had perifhed. One boat was thrown afhore. The Arabs had feveral others. In thefe they made their way to the ship, to plunder the wreck, and brought the people fafe on fhore. A blow on the neck, with the butt end of a lance, was what first awakened Mr. Bruce from the fenfelefs ftate in which he lay, after escaping the violence of the waves. The Arabs believing him from his drefs to be a Turk, after beating, kicking, and curfing him, ftripped him of the scanty cloathing yet upon him; and after treating the rest in the fame manner, went to their boats, to feek the bodies of those who had been drowned.

In this piteous condition, our traveller crawled up among fome white fandy hillocks, and there concealed himself as much as poffible. Naked as he was, he durft not approach

the

the tents where the women were, for fear of meeting with ftill feverer treatment. His confufion had hitherto hindered him from recollecting that he could fpeak to them in their own language. It was now it occured to him, from confidering that the Arabs, when beating and ftripping him, had uttered a gibberish, in imitation of Turkish, that owed the ill usage which he had received, at least in part, to his having been mistaken for a Turk.

Seeing an old Arab, with a number of young men come up to him, he faluted them in a customary phrase in their own language, Salam Alicum! Only one young man returned the falutation, and he in a contemptuous tone. The old man asked whether he were a Turk? He replied, that he was a poor Chriftian physician,-a dervish, who went about the world to do good for God's fake. 'A Cretan?' No; he had never been in Crete: he was from Tunis, and was returning thither, having loft his all in the fhipwreck of the veffel. A ragged dirty baraca was immediately thrown over him, and he was ordered into a tent, through the end of which was thruft a fpear, the enfign of fovereignty.

In that tent he saw the Shekh of the tribe, who, being a peace with the Bey of Bengazzi and the Shekh of Ptoleineta, ordered him a plentiful fupper, of which his servants all fhared. He complained to no purpose of the lofs of all his medicines they would give him no affiftance to fearch for his inftruments. After two days ftay, the Shekh reftored all that had been taken from him and his company, and furnished them with camels, and a conductor to carry them to Bengazzi. From Bengazzi he fent a prefent to the Shekh, with promifes of an handfome reward, if he would make his people fish up, and return the things which he had loft in the wreck. He thus recovered his filver watch in a fhattered condition, fome pencils, a small port-folio, and his pocket book.

At Bengazzi he found a small Freneh floop, with the mafter of which he had been acquainted at Algiers, and who had come with a cargo of corn, which for a time relieved

the neceffities at least of the foldiers in the place. Our traveller, with his party, caught a quantity of fishes with a small net and lines; and procuring pepper, vinegar, and onions, with these and a very little bread, faved themselves from fuffering by extremity of hunger. They in vain attempted to teach the starving multitude to take fish after their ex. ample.

With the French captain Mr. Bruce failed for the Archipelago with a fair wind. In four or five days they landed fafe at Canea, in the island of Crete, where he was taken dangeroufly ill. From Canea he proceeded to Rhodes, and from Rhodes to Caftelroffo*, on the coaft of Caramania. From Caflelroffo he proceeded to Cyprus ; and from Cyprus, where he staid only half a day, to Sidon.

At Sidon he was kindly received by M. Clerambaut, French conful there. He made from Sidon feveral excur. fions into Syria, by Libanus and Anti-Libanus, but has not chofen to enter into a particular detail of those. From Canea and Rhodes he had written both to France and England for a moveable quadrant, a flop-watch, a time-keeper, a reflecting and an achromatic telescope.

He had the mortification to receive answers to thofe letters, informing him, that no such inftruments could be at present procured; and that ridiculous accounts of his purposes in his travels, and of the route which he had chofen, had been circulated in Europe. The indignation with which he heard this, tempted him to renounce his defign of exploring the fources of the Nile; but he refolved ftill to visit the famous ruins of Palmyra.

At the invitation firft of Mr. Abbot, the British conful at Tripoli in Syria, and afterwards of his fucceflor Mr. Vernon, our traveller now proceeded to Tripoli. In preparing for his expedition towards Palmyra, he visited the ancient Byblus, and bathed in the river Adonis. Through Latikea and Antioch, he paffed on to Aleppo. At Aleppo he was afflicted

with.

*See Savary's travels in Greece, for fome account of Caftelroffo, and the ad

joining parts of Caramania,

with a return of a fever and ague which he had first caught, by his sufferings at Bengazzi. By the attentions of Dr. Ruffel, he happily recovered from this dangerous illness.

When his health was re-established, he profecuted his purpofe. The deferts around Palmyra are inhabited by two rival tribes of Arabs; the Annecy, remarkable for having the finest horses in the world; and the Mowallia, who ride much worse horses, but are better foldiers. Mr. Bruce was lucky enough to obtain the protection of the Shekh of the Mowalli, and directions from him by what road to travel to Palmyra.

Thus encouraged, he returned from Aleppo to Tripoli; fet out at a time agreed upon with the Shekh to Hamath, the northern boundary of the Holy land; and having there met an Arab, whom the friendly Shekh had fent to be his conductor, proceeded to Haflia. On his way he had occafion to cross the river Orontes, which paffes through the plains where the best tobacco in Syria is cultivated. At some miferable huts near the river, inhabited by Turcomans, he asked the master of one to fhew him the ford. The Turcoman readily did fo : bat Mr. Bruce had advanced but a fhort way through the pretended ford, when his horfe fell on a fudden out of his depth.

He had a rifled gun flung across his fhoulders, with a buff belt and swivel. Luckily the fwivel gave way, and the gun fell to the bottom of the river. Thus difengaged, he and his horse swam separately ashore. At a sinall distance was a caphar, or turnpike. Mr. Bruce going thither to dry himself, was informed, that the Turcomans who had mifguided him were an infamous banditti, and that he and his horse had fallen from the remains of the wing of a bridge, which had formerly croffed the river in that place. The capharman then fhewed his fervants the right ford, and they paffed fafe. From Haffia our travellers proceeded to Carcateeu, where they found Haffan a kelp merchant, their old acquaintance, and two thoufand of the Annecy encamped around. Two old men from the two tribes, the Mowalli and the Annecy, accompanied them on horfeback to Palmyra. The tribes furnished them with camels, and they paffed the desert, between Carcateeu and Palmyra, in a day and two nights.

Juft

Just as they approached within fight of the ruins, they afcended a hill of white gritty ftone by a narrow winding road. Arrived at the top of that hill, they beheld before them one of the most stupendous sights that perhaps ever appeared to mortal eyes. An extensive plain, covered thick with magnificent buildings of white stone, which at a distance appeared like marble, of fine proportions, and agreeable forms; and at the end, the palace of the fun, more magnifi-cent than any of the reft.

Of the ruins of Palmyra Mr. Bruce drew fix angular views on large paper, and proceeded next to Baalbec, about 130 miles diftant from the former. He reached Baalbec on the very day on which his friend, Emir Youfef, having reduced the city, and fettled the government, was decamping to return home. His friend the Emir made things about the city very agreeable to him, and left him to his freedom.

Baalbec is pleasantly fituated on a plain, weft of Anti Libanus, about 50 miles from Haffia, and thirty from the ancient Byblus, on the nearest fea-coaft. The interior parts of the temple of the fun at Baalbec exhibits fome of the most perfect works of sculpture, and surpaffes any thing at Palmyra..

Paffing Tyre, Mr. Bruce became a mournful witness of the accomplishment of that prophecy, by which it was foretold, that Tyre, the queen of nations, fhould be a rock for fishermen to dry their nets on. Two wretched fishermen who had juft been drawing their nets, were perfuaded by Mr. Bruce to drag in those places where shell fish were to be found, He had hoped that they might bring out one of the famous purple fishes, for which Tyre was renowned in antiquity. Mr. Bruce fancies, by that talking of purple fishes, the Tyrians only concealed their knowledge of cochineal. He finished this expedition by arriving fafe at the hofpitable manfion of M. Clerambaut, at Sidon.

At Sidon he found letters from Europe, more agreeable than those which he had laft received, with the time-piecesand aftronomical instruments for which he had written. But fill he wanted a quadrant; an inftrument of effential utility,