576 ANNUAL REGISTER, 
The second of the two cases is 
of a still more uncommon nature. 
In the course of the expedition 
against Egypt in 1807, the ad- 
vanced guard of Major General 
Fraser's army having taken pos- 
session of Rosetta, and occupied a 
position at El Hamed a few miles 
from that town, was surprised by 
a strong corps of Turkish troops, 
and after an obstinate conflict and 
the loss of many lives, compelled 
to surrender. According to the 
Turkish custom, the prisoners 
taken were sold as slaves, and dis- 
persed over the whole codntry ; 
some of them being sent as far as 
Upper Egypt. Great exertions 
were naturally made by the Bri- 
tish government to redeem those 
unfortunate persons from capti- 
vity ; and this was happily effected 
as to all the prisoners, except a 
few who could not be traced, by 
the assistance of Signor Petrucci, 
the Swedish Consul at Alexandria. 
From the authentic documents 
relating to this transaction, it ap- 
pears that the ransoms paid for 
the redemption of the captives dif- 
fered very considerably ; the prices 
varying from between 20 and 30 
pounds, to more than 100 pounds 
sterling for each man. But it is 
observable, on comparing the dif- 
ferent rates, that the highest ran- 
soms were paid for those, who 
must: be considered, from their 
names, to have been natives of 
Scotland ; and who, it may be pre- 
sumed, were more valuable than 
the rest, from being more orderly 
andintelligent. It could not have 
been easily anticipated that a sol- 
dier, brought up ina Scotch pa- 
trish school, was likely, when en- 
slaved by the Turks and a captive 
in Egypt, to derive much advan- 
BS15. 
tage from his education. Yet itis 
probable from this circumstance, 
that the intelligenee and habits of 
good conduct, which he acquired 
from early instruction, might re- 
commend him to his master, and 
as domestic slavery admits of 
many mitigations, might procure 
him kinder and better treatment. 
THE RIVER NIGER, 
(From the Same.) 
The question regarding the ter- 
mination of the Niger is one of 
the most doubtful and obscure in 
modern geography, and in the 
present defective state of our in~ 
formation with regard to the ine 
terior of Africa, seems hardly to 
admit of a clear and satisfactory 
solution. Of the difficulties with 
which the subject is attended, 
some judgment may be formed 
from the various and even oppo- 
site opinions which have been 
maintained relative to the course 
of the Niger, since Park’s disco 
veries have ascertained that it 
flows from West to East.» As the 
inquiry is somewhat curious, a 
summary view of these different 
opinions, and of the principal ar- 
guments by which they are sup- 
ported, may not be uninteresting 
to the readers of Park’s Life. To 
investigate the question with the 
accuracy and minuteness which it 
deserves, would not only very far 
exceed the limits of a note, but 
would require much more inform- 
ation upon. the subject than the 
editor possesses, united with somé 
previous habits of geographical 
disquisition, 
1, According to the oldest of 
