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of Lublaw as a retreat for them; but by the imprudence of the officer who was to affift him, and who prematurely divulged the plan, it proved abortive, and the count was again feized and fent to general Apraxin. On his way to that general, he was however refcued by a party of the confederates; and after a variety of gallant actions performed by him, and great viciffitudes of fortune, he was overpowered by numbers, and taken prifoner a third time by the Ruffians, on the 20th of May 1769.

The cruelties which he fuffered from the barbarous Ruffians are almoft incredible; the furgeon was not permitted to drefs his wounds; he was loaded with irons; and he paffed twenty-two days with eighty companions, in a dreadful fubterraneous dungeon, without light or air, and in which the dead were left to putrify among the living. No conftitution could long refift fuch hardships; more than five-fixths of the prifoners died; and the count fuffered under a dreadful fever and delirium. The Ruffian commanders were not only destitute of all feeling, but fome of them were actual thieves. While a prifoner at Cazan, a confpiracy was formed by a number of the Ruffian nobility to fhake off the cruel and arbitrary yoke of the prefent czarina, and overtures were made to the Polish prifoners to join them; the prifoners affected rather a neutral line of conduct; but one of the difcontented lords turning informer, impeached his affociates and the prifoners alfo. By a fingular accident, count Benyowfky was enabled to efcape, and made his way to Petersburgh, where he engaged to embark for Holland; but by the perfidy of the Dutch captain he was betrayed. He was loaded with irons; and after repeated examinations, he was prevailed on to fign an engagement never to ferve against the Ruffians, on a promise of being fet at liberty. This promife, however, was not fulfilled; on the contrary, he was immediately remanded to prifon, and banished to Kamchatka.

In the fingle province of Tobolczy in Siberia, it appears there are upwards of twenty-two thousand exiles, who fubfift chiefly by hunting and fishing. Of the state of thefe unfortunate perfons,

fome judgment may be formed from the following extract.

"From Berenowfky we departed on the 6th, and arrived very late in the night at firga, a village compofed of about fifteen houfes, inhabited by exiles; among whom I recognized an Hungarian, who informed me, that he had been major of one of the regiments of Huffars in the Ruffian fervice, commanded by general Horvath; and that he had the misfortune to be banished for requefting his difmiffion, in order to return into his own country. He affured ine, that he was a gentleman of the family of Orofz. As I ran no rifk in converfing with this unfortunate perfon in the Hungarian language, which was underftood by no one prefent but him and myself, I asked him many questions, and among others, how it happened that fo great a number of exiles, re-. duced to the moft extreme mifery, had not yet made fome attempts to efcape; to which he answered, that a confiderable number of their companions had already attempted to escape towards Perfia, but having been met by the Nogais Tartars, they were all flain, and that this event had intimidated the others, and prevented them from following their example."

A fpirit of humanity appeared to prevail among the people of the north, in proportion to their distance from the feat of defpotifin. In the course of his journey to Kamchatka, the count met with feveral fignal inftances of kindnefs: at Tomizky, a dealer in furs of fered to affift him in escaping to China, and to accompany him thither; and when he declined the offer, from the ftate of his wounds, the generous Tartar difmiffed him loaded with prefents. At Jakutfzk he met with a furgeon, who was fent thither from Petersburgh, with a falary of one thoufand roubles; but confidering this only as a fpecies of exile, he propofed to the count to attempt their efcape in a small veffel to China or Japan; and the count, on the other hand, very heartily entered into the measure.

"The manner of travelling here," fays the count de Benyowsky, "on" fledges drawn by elks was very agreeable to us. The fwiftnefs and agility) with which thefe animals run, can hardly

be

be conceived, and their manner of fubfifting is still more furprising: an handful of mofs mixed with urine, enables them to fupport the fatigue of three or four days.

"On the third of September we paffed the river Tola, and continued our journey without interruption thus far, excepting a difference which happened among our conductors, during the time our camp was pitched on the banks of this river, where they made a ftop for the purpose of gambling, an occupation which they had ftrenuoufly followed ever fince our departure from Jakutfzk. One of the Coffacks having loft all his provifions in play against the chief, thought proper to indulge him felf in fome difrefpectful expreffions, upon which the commander ordered the Coffacks to tie him up and give him one hundred lashes with the whip. Inftead, however, of executing the orders of their commander, the Coffacks took the part of the culprit, and after having ftripped their officer naked, entertained him with more than three hundred ftripes; an operation which, though we bore no part in it, nevertheless afforded us fome diverfion."

Their project of escape was dashed by the death of Mr. Hoffman, the furgeon, whom they had left behind at Jakutfzk, among whofe papers fome hints of the defign were found, which were fent inclofed to the governor of Ochoczk, by their conductor. This packet the count and his companions determined to feize, and to fubftitute in its place a letter to the governor, recommending them particularly to his favour. An opportunity foon prefented, when they contrived to intoxicate their conductors with brandy, and to alter the difpatches. Their ftratagem fucceeded, and procured for them a very agreeable reception at Ochoczk, whence they embarked for Kamchatka, and arrived at Bolfharezk the capital of that country, on the 2d of December 1770.

The following extract will explain the terms upon which the exiles were allowed their liberty, and will throw fome light upon the nature of this fpecies of banifhment.

"1. That we fhould be fet at liberty on the following day, and provided with fubfiftence for three days, after

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3. That every one must work at the corvee one day in the week for the fervice of government, and that we might not abfent ourselves from our houses for twenty-four hours without the permiffion of the governor.

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4. That each exile fhould bring to the chancery fix fables skins, fifty rabbits skins, two foxes skins, and twentyfour ermines per annum.

"After this information the secretary difmiffed our guards, and caufed provifions for three days to be immedi ately diftributed, the whole confifting of nine pounds of dried fifh. We then quitted the chancery, and went directly to the magazine to receive our arms and utenfils, which were carefully delivered to us according to our choice, for the ftore-keeper permitted us to choose in confequence of our having promifed him fome furs. It was with the greatest pleasure that I again beheld myfelf armed; and my companions received equal fatisfaction from the fame circumftance. When we came out of the magazine we perceived twenty exiles, who had brought fome fledges drawn by dogs to affift in carrying our charge, and who offered us the use of their cabins until we fhould have built our own. We accepted their invitation, and departed towards their home. Their repeated marks of civility were exceedingly fatiguing to us who were in a ftate of extreme hunger, but at length, about three in the afternoon, we arrived at their habitations, which formed a fmall village compofed of eight cabins, and the fame number of balagans, or magazines. In the center of the village we perceived a long fquare building, which our new companions in

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formed us was their public hall of meeting."

In addition to the above they found"1. That the ordinances of the czar Peter enacted, that no exile could poffefs property; and that in confequence of this edict the foldiers of the garrifon frequently entered the houses of the exiles, and carried away whatever they pleased, against which depredation the exiles had no remedy.

66 2. That in cafe an exile fhould have been fo rash as to ftrike a citizen or foldier, though upon provocation, he was condemned to die of hunger.

"3. That on account of their being declared exiles from civil fociety, every faithful fubject was prohibited from receiving them into their houses.

"That their lives being granted them for no other purpofe than to implore the mercy of God and the remiffion of their fins, they could be employed only in the meanest works to gain their daily fubfiftence."

[To be continued.]

TRAVELS FROM THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE INTO THE INTERIOR PARTS OF AFRICA. BY MONS. VAILLANT; WITH ELEGANT PLATES. 12S. LANE

THESE travels were made in the years 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, and 1785, by Monf. Vaillant. This gentleman was born at Parambarino, on the left shore of the river of Surinam; and, his parents being particularly fond of Natural History, their fon caught an earneft, indeed ardent, inclination for the fame purfuit; which his fituation enabled him to gratify. "Placed," fays he, "under the burning climate of the torrid zone, five degrees north of the line, this region, yet enveloped in the mist of time, conceals, if I may fo exprefs it, the focus where Nature forces her exceptions to general rules." He first conceived the defire of vifiting the interior parts of Africa, at Paris, at which city he arrived in 1777, in company with his parents; who had now refided in Europe about fourteen years, part of which time they fpent in Hol land and Germany. The contradic

tions which our author had obferved in books of Natural History, induced him VOL. II..

to think that thofe parts of the globe which were unexplored, might give now information, and rectify former errors; "looking on that man as fupremely happy, who fhould have the courage to trace them to their fource. The interior parts of Africa appeared, for that purpose, a Peru. It was a virgin land."

Delighted, beyond expreffion, with this idea, M. Vaillant fet out, from Paris, on the 17th of July 1780, for Holland; where he found it expedient to form a close friendship with the treafurer of the Dutch Eaft India Company, and to whom he communicated his intentions; which fortunately meeting the approbation of this gentleman, he rendered our traveller every poffible fervice. Thus encouraged, he took a paffage to the Cape of Good Hope, in á veffel which was to touch there in its way to Ceylon; and, after escaping the clofe purfuit of an English privateer, he landed fafely at the place of his deftination. The Dutch governor, at this time, was fearful of being attacked; he therefore ordered the fhips in the bay to repair to that of Saldanha: here, notwithstanding, they were encountered by Johnstone's fquadron; and the fhip, which had our author's property on board, was blown up by the captain. "I had," fays M. Vaillant, who, from fhore, faw the conflagration, "the cruel mortification of feeing my collections, my fortune, my projects, and all my hopes, rife to the middle regions, and evaporate in fmoke."

M. Vaillant, however, was enabled to purfue his project, without waiting for the affiftance of his European friends, by means of the beneficence of Mr. Boers, the fiscal at the Cape, to whom he had been recommended.

During his refidence at Saldanha, he made frequent excurfions. "Every time I went to Schaapen Island, a kind of hollow found, which had fomething dreadful in it, ftruck my ear. I spake of this to the captain, [the commander at Saldanha] he anfwered, that if I had the finalleft inclination that way,' we would pay it a vifit; for that he himfelf fhould like to fee the Danish tomb. The next morning he gave orders accordingly, and we fet off on this expedition.

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"In proportion, as we approached this place, the noife excited our curiofity, the more fo, as the fea breaking with violence against the rocks (which form a kind of rampart round this inland) feemed to re-echo the hollow buzzing, the cause of which we could not poffibly divine. At length we arrived, I cannot fay we landed, for the earth was covered with water, and the furf was so violent, that we were every moment covered with it.

"With great difficulty and danger we climbed up the rocks, and gained the level plain. Never did a more extraordinary spectacle prefent itfelf to mor tal eye! There arofe from the whole furface of the idle, an impenetrable cloud, which formed, at about forty or fifty feet above our heads, an im menfe canopy, or rather fky of birds, of all forms, and of all colours: cormorants, fea-gulls, fwallows, pelicans, all the feathered inhabitants of the air, who frequent this part of Africa, feemed affembled in this place; while all their various croakings mingled toge ther, and modified according to their different kinds, formed mufic, that I was every moment obliged to ftop my ears in order to diminish the din, and afford myself fome relaxation.

"The alarm was the more general among these innumerable legions of birds, as we had principally to do with females; it was precifely the feafon of their breeding, and they had their nefts, their eggs, and their young ones to defend. They attacked us like enraged harpies, and actually deafened us with their cries. Sometimes they fought on full wing, even rufhing with violence against us; they feemed regardless of our fhot, and nothing was capable of difperfing them; nor could we make a ftep without crushing either eggs or young ones under our feet. The earth was abfolutely covered with them.

"The caverns and crevices of the rocks were inhabited by phocafes and mors, a fort of fea calves and fea lions. We killed, among others, one of the latter fort, of an enormous fize.

"The moft trifling fhelter furnishes a retreat for the manchots, who abound above all others. This bird, which is about two feet high, does not carry his body like other birds, but walks per

pendicularly on its feet, with a laugh able air of gravity; and, what renders its appearance ftill more ridiculous, the wings, entirely devoid of feathers, hang negligently by their fides, and are of no ufe, except in fwimming. As we advanced towards the middle of the isle, we encountered innumerable troops of them ftalking along erect. Thefe creatures did not by any means derange themselves on our appearance, but crowded particularly about the above mentioned monument, in such a manner as feemed to forbid our approach; every avenue was obftructed by them. Nature had added to the fimple tomb of this poor Danish captain, what the imagination of the poet, and the chiffel of the artift, could not poffibly have reached. The beft feulptured fereech owl on our moft fuperb mausoleum has not fo hideous, fo melancholy an aspect as the manchot: the mournful notes of this bird, mingled with the cries of the fea calf, imprefs the mind with forrow, and form the heart to tenderness. For fome time I fixed my eyes on this laft afylum of an unfortunate voyager, and offered the tribute of a figh to his

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After returning from Saldanha Bay, our author spent three months at the Cape, in order to make every poffible preparation for his intended journey. But this time was partly spent in drawing fuch obfervations as appeared worth preferving at that place.

"The beer they brew at the Cape is much efteemed; but they place a very high value on that which is brought from Europe; its price fluctuates from twelve to twenty-four fous the bottle: there is a great demand here for liquors in general.

"On entering a house, you are always prefented with a fopi, that is to fay, with a glass of arrack, Geneva, or perhaps French brandy. Geneva, however, is the common morning dram. Before they fet down to table, the etiquette is to offer a fopi of white wine, in which wormwood or alões have been fteeped, to create an appetite. At table they drink beer or wine indifcriminately. After the defert, the ladies retire to a different apartment, they then bring in pipes and tobacco, with a recruit of wine for the men; mean time the ladies

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ticular, the vanity of the inhabitants is often very ridiculous; one day as I vas walking with Mr. Boers, he made me obferve a man feated at the door of his house, who feeing we were near him, began calling to his flave with a loud voice, to bring him fome red wine, though the fifcal affured me, he had not a fingle bottle at his command, and that moft likely he had not drank of it ten times in his life; when I had paffed him fome little way, I turned and faw that it was beer his flave had brought him.

"For twelve leagues round the Cape the colonists do not employ Hottentots, rather buying negroes who are not fo lazy, and whom they can more fafely truft. The Hottentots, carelefs and inconftant by nature, often go away on the approach of hard labour, and leave their mafters in embarrassment; the negroes defert also, but vain is their efforts for liberty, they are soon retaken, and fent to the bailiff of the canton, from whom the profecutor reclaims them for a small fine, after they have received some trifling correction; nor is there any part of the world where the flaves are treated with fuch humanity as at the Cape.

"The negroes of Molambique and Madagascar are regarded as the best workmen, and most affectionate to their masters; when they are landed at the Cape, they ufually fell from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty piasters a head.

"The Indians are more employed in houshold work in the town; there are alfo Malayans, who are the moft fubtle and dangerous of flaves. Affaf finating their mafter or miftrefs is with them a common crime; during the five years I paffed in Africa, I faw many inftances of it. They go to execution greatest indifference. I heard

know any business, their price is exorbitant. A cook will fell from eight to twelve hundred rixdollars, and others in proportion to their talents. They are ever neatly dreffed, but walk barefoot, as a mark of flavery. At the Cape there is none of that infolent train called footmen, luxury and pride not having yet introduced this useless lumber of the anti-chambers of the great.

"A ftranger is furprized on his arrival at the Cape, to fee a multitude of flaves as fair as Europeans; but astonishment ceases when it is known the young female negroes have generally a lover among the foldiers of the garrifon, with whom they generally pafs the Sunday; the intereft of the mafter makes him overlook the morals of his faves, he profiting by their licentious conduct."

The following account, given by our author, of his travelling apparatus, will be found acceptable.

"I had got every thing in readiness for the journey; my baggage was confiderable; for in the first ardour which had tranfported my imagination beyond its ordinary courfe, I had fet no bounds to my travels, but refolved to profecute them to the utmost poffible extent, and wifhed above all things not to be conftrained to return for want of indifpenfible neceffaries. I knew too that my return might not be equally in my power with the departure; I had therefore taken care not to neglect even thofe things which were not abfolutely neceffary, but which might be ferviceable in a number of unforeseen circumftauces, and I was even afraid of forgetting fomething, the want of which I might have occafion to regret.

"The three months I had passed at the Cape, fince my expedition to the Bay of Saldanha, had been fully employed in thefe neceffary prepara

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