INHUMANITY TO SHIPWRECKED MARINERS. 



141 



stated several instances, shows, that war, re 

 venge, and the preparation ofthe instruments of 

 leath, are both their employment, and th^ir de- 

 -ight. Yea, not only savage and half-civilized 

 tribes, but almost every civilized nation on the 

 face of the earth, is found in a hostile attitude 

 with respect to surround ing nations either actu 

 ally engaged in a deadly warfare with a foreign 

 lower, or preparing for an attack, or keeping up 

 fleets and standing armies, and forging cannons, 

 and balls, and swords, in the prospect of a rup 

 ture with neighbouring states. And in such 

 deadly preparations and employments, a great 

 proportion of those treasures is expended, which, 

 if directed by the hand of benevolence, would be 

 the means of transforming the wilderness into a 

 fruitful field, ofdistributing intelligence and moral 

 principle among all ranks, and of making the 

 hearts of the poor, the widow, and the orphan, 

 &quot; to leap for joy.&quot; What a pitiful picture is here 

 presented of Man, who was originally formed 

 after the image of his Maker, for the purpose 

 of displaying benevolent affections towards his 

 fellows, now divided into hostile tribes, and 

 brandishing, with infernal fury, at all around, the 

 instruments of destruction! How art thou fallen, 

 O.man, from thy original station of dignity and 

 honour! &quot; How is the gold become dim, and the 

 most fine gold changed ! The crown is fallen 

 from our heads ; wo unto us, for we have sin 

 ned !&quot; 



INHUMANITY OF UNCIVILIZED TRIBES TO 

 UNFORTUNATE TRAVELLERS. 



In passing through the scene of his earthly pil 

 grimage, Man is exposed to a variety of distresses 

 and dangers. Sometimes he is exposed to &quot; the 

 pestilence that walketh in darkness,&quot; and to the 

 ever &quot; that wasteth at noon-day.&quot; Sometimes 

 he is exposed to the desolations of the earthquake 

 and the volcano ; the blasts of the tempest, the 

 hurricane, and the tornado, and the billows of 

 the stormy ocean ; and, at other times, he is ex 

 posed to the attacks ofthe lion, the tiger, and the 

 hyena, in the dark recesses of the forest. It 

 would be well, however, with man, were these 

 the only evils and enemies which he had to en 

 counter. But the greatest enemy which man has 

 to encounter, is Man himself those who are 

 partakers of the same nature, and destined to the 

 same immortal existence ; and from these 

 kindred beings, he is exposed to evils and dis 

 tresses, incomparably greater anJ 7nore numerous, 

 than all the evils which he suffers from the rave 

 nous beasts ofthe forest, or from the fury of the 

 taking elements. It is a most melancholy re- 

 liection, that, throughout the greater part of the 

 habitable world, no traveller can prosecute his 

 : ourney, without being in hazard either of being 

 dragged into captivity, or insulted and maltreated, 

 or plundered of his treasures, or deprived of his 

 jfe, by those who ought to be his friends and pro- 





lectors. After he has eluded the pursuit of the 

 lion or the wolf, or after he has escaped, with 

 difficulty, from the jaws of the devouring deep, he 

 is frequently exposed to the fury of demons in 

 human shape, who insult over his misfortunes, 

 instead of relieving the wants of his body, and 

 soothing the anguish of his mind. The following 

 relations, among a numerous series which might 

 be presented to the view of the reader, will lend 

 to illustrate these remarks. 



My first example shall be taken from tho 

 &quot; Narrative of the Loss ofthe Grosvenor India- 

 man.&quot; This vessel sailed from Trincomalee, 

 June 13th, 1782, on her homeward-bound voyage, 

 and was wrecked on the coast of Caffraria, on 

 the 4th of August following. It is needless to 

 dwell on the circumstances which attended the 

 shipwreck, and on the consternation, distraction, 

 and despair, which seized upon the passengers 

 and the crew, when they became alive to all the ter 

 rors of the scene. Shipwreck, even in its mildest 

 form, is a calamity which never fails to fill the 

 mind with horror; but what is instant death, 

 considered as a temporary evil, compared with 

 the situation of those who had hunger, and thirst, 

 and nakedness, to contend with ; who only escap 

 ed the fury of the waves, to enter into conflicts 

 with the savages of the forest, or the still greater 

 savages of the human race ; who were cut off 

 from all civilized society, and felt the prolonga 

 tion of life to be only the lengthened pains of 

 death ? 



After losing about twenty men, in their first 

 attempts to land, the remaining part of the crew 

 and the passengers, in number about a hundred, 

 after encountering many difficulties and dangers, 

 reached the shore. Next morning a thousand 

 uneasy sensations were produced, from the na 

 tives having come down to the shore, and, 

 without ceremony, carried off whatever suited 

 their fancy. They were at this time about 447 

 leagues from the Cape of Good Hope, and 226 

 beyond the limits of any Christian habitation. 

 Their only resource appeared to be, to direct 

 their course by land to the Cape, or to the nearest 

 Dutch settlement. As they moved forward, they 

 were followed by some of the natives, who, in 

 stead of showing compassion to this wretched 

 group, plundered them from time to time, of 

 what they liked, and sometimes pelted them with 

 stones. In this way they pursued their journey 

 for four or five days ; during which the natives 

 constantly surrounded them in the day, taking 

 from them whatever they pleased, but invariably 

 retired in the night. As they proceeded, they 

 saw many villages, which they ca ro fully avoided, 

 that they might be less exposed to the insults of 

 the natives. At last, they came to a deep gully, 

 where three ofthe Caffres met them, armed with 

 lances, which they held several times to the cap 

 tain s throat. Next day, on coming to a large 

 village, they found these three men, with three 



