COMPRISING
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR CONSTABLE AND CO.
AND
THOMAS HURST AND CO. LONDON.
1827.
The expeditions in which it is attempted to explore unknown and distantoceans, are usually those which are most pregnant with adventure anddisaster. But land has its perils as well as sea; and the wanderer,thrown into the unknown interior of the Continents of Africa andAmerica, through regions of burning sand and trackless forest, occupiedonly by rude and merciless barbarians, encounters no less dreadful formsof danger and suffering. Several such examples are presented in thepresent volume, which exhibit peril, captivity, and 'hair-breadthescape,' in some of their striking and tragical results.
The catastrophe of the Medusa is already known to the public, as one ofthe most awful and appalling that ever befel any class of human beings.[Pg iv]The Shipwreck, and the dreadful scenes on the Raft, have been recordedin the Narrative of Messrs Savigny and Corréard. But the adventures ofthe party who were cast ashore, and forced to find their way through theAfrican Desert, could be reported only imperfectly by those gentlemenwho were not eye-witnesses. This want is supplied in the first part ofthe present volume, which contains the Narrative by Mad. Dard, thenMademoiselle Picard, one of the suffering party, and for the translationof which, the Editor is much indebted to Mr Maxwell.
There is in it so much feeling and good sense, mixed with an amiable andgirlish simplicity, as to render it particularly engaging. There is alsosomething peculiarly gratifying to an Englishman in the reflection, thatsuch disaster could not have befallen almost any British crew. It wasevidently nothing but the utter and thorough selfishness which actuatedthe leaders and most of those on board both of the ship and the raft,which rendered the affair at all very serious. A wise plan formed and[Pg v]acted upon, with a view to the general good, would have enabled them,without difficulty, to save the crew, the cargo, and perhaps the vessel.The narrative of the shipwreck and journey is also combined with theadventures of an interesting Family, related in such a manner as to givethem a strong hold in our sympathy.
The Second Part of the Volume has an affinity to that which has now beenmentioned. The western coast of Africa, lying along a great maritime andcommercial route, and being heavily encumbered by rocks and shoals, hasbeen the theatre of frequent shipwrecks; and Europeans, when castashore, have always experienced the most dreadful fate from the inhumanand bigotted natives. Several relations of this nature have been latelypublished, but under somewhat of a romantic and dubious aspect. That ofBrisson, here inserted, appears the most authentic, and at the same timeto present the most interesting and varied train of vicissitudes; andalthough it is already not unknown to the English reader, its[Pg vi]republication, we presume, will not be altogether unacceptable.
The Third Relation carries them into quite a different