1-J2 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



or four hundred of their countrymen, all armed 

 with lances and targets, who stopped the English, 

 and began to pilfer and insult them, and at last 

 fell upon them and beat them. With these in 

 human wretches they had to engage in a kind of 

 /unning fight for upwards of two hours ; after 

 which, they cut the buttons from their coals, and 

 presented them to the natives, on which, they 

 went away and returned no more. The follow 

 ing night they were terrified with the noise of 

 the wild beasts, and kept constant watch for fear 

 both of them and the natives. How dreadful a 

 situation, especially for those delicate ladies and 

 children, who had so lately been accustomed to. all 

 the delicacies of the East! Next day, as they 

 were advancing, a party of natives came down 

 upon them, and plundered them, among other 

 things, of their tinder-box, flint and steel, which 

 proved an irreparable loss. Evzry man was now 

 obliged to travel, by turns, with a fire-brand in 

 his hand ; and before the natives retired, they 

 showed more insolence than ever, robbing the 

 gentlemen of their watches, and the ladies of 

 their jewels, which they had secreted in their 

 hair. Opposition was vain; the attempt only 

 brought fresh insults or blows. 



This group of wretched wanderers now sepa 

 rated into different parties, and took different 

 directions ; their provisions were nearly exhaust 

 ed ; and the delay occasioned by travelling with the 

 women and children was very great. Their dif 

 ficulties increased, as they proceeded on their 

 journey ; they had numerous rivers, sometimes 

 nearly two miles in breadth, to swim across in 

 the course of their route, while the women and 

 children were conveyed across on floating sta 

 ges, at the imminent hazard of their lives, and of 

 being carried down by the impetuous current into 

 the sea. Whole days were spent in tracing the 

 rivers towards their source, in order to obtain a 

 ford. They traversed vast plains of sand, and 

 bleak and barren deserts, where nothing could be 

 found to alleviate their hunger, nor the least drop 

 of water to quench their raging thirst. They 

 passed through deep forests, where human feet 

 had never trod, where nothing was heard but the 

 dreadful howlings of wild beasts, which filled 

 them with alarm and despair. Wild sorrel, 

 berries which the birds had picked at, and a few 

 shell-fish which they occasionally picked up on 

 the shore, were the only food which they had to 

 subsist on for several days ; and on some occa 

 sions the dead body of a seal, or the putrid car 

 ets of a whale, was hailed as a delicious treat to 

 their craving appetites. One person fell after 

 another into the arms of death, through hunger, 

 tatigue, and despair, and were sometimes obliged 

 to be left in the agonies of dissolution, as a prey 

 to ravenous beasts, or to the fowls of heaven. 

 The following circumstance shows the dreadful 

 situation to which they were reduced for want of 

 r ood. &quot; It appeared that the captain s steward 



had been buried in the sand of the last desen 

 they had passed, and that the survivors were re 

 duced to such extremity, that, after he had been 

 interred, they sent back two of their companions 

 to cut off part of his flesh; but while they pro 

 ceeded in this horrid business, they had the good 

 fortune to discover a young seal, newly driven 

 on shore, which proved a most seasonable re 

 lief.&quot; 



Imagination cannot form a scene of deeper 

 distress than what the tender sex, and the little 

 children must, in such a case, have experienced. 

 It harrows up the very soul to think what pangs 

 those delicate females who had so lately been in 

 ured to all the pleasures and luxuries of India, 

 must have endured, when they were fain to ap 

 pease their craving appetites on the putrid car 

 cass of a whale, and were obliged to repose on 

 the bare ground, amidst the howlings of the tem 

 pest, and the more dismal yells of the beasts ot 

 prey. But, amidst this heart-rending scene, 

 their fellow-men, who ought to have been their 

 soothers and protectors, and who had it in their 

 power to have alleviated their distresses, were 

 the greatest enemies they had to encounter , and 

 their appearance filled their minds with greater 

 alarm than if they had beheld a roaring lion, or a 

 raging bear. The following are some speci 

 mens of the perfidy and inhumanity of the na 

 tives. In passing through a village, one of the 

 company observing, &quot; that a traffic would not 

 be unacceptable, offered them the inside of his 

 watch for a calf; but though they assented to the 

 terms, no sooner had they obtained the price, 

 than they withheld the calf, and drove the Eng 

 lish from their village.&quot; In the same manner 

 were they used on many other occasions. One 

 time, when resting at a village, where the natives 

 offered no particular resistance, &quot;they produced 

 two bowls of milk, which they seemed willing to 

 barter, but as our wretched countrymen had no 

 thing to give in exchange, they denied them this 

 humble boon without an equivalent, and ale it 

 up themselves.&quot; At the same place, they im 

 plored in the most impressive terms, to partake 

 with the natives of the spoils of a deer, which 

 they had just killed, but they turned a deaf ear 

 to their solicitations, and insisted, moreover, on 

 their quitting the kraal. On another occasion, 

 &quot; on coming to a large village, the inhabitants 

 set upon them with such fury, that several 

 were severely wounded, and one of them died 

 soon after.&quot; 



In this manner, did the wretched remains of 

 these hapless wanderers traverse the wilds ol 

 Africa, during the space of one hundred and 

 seventeen days, till they accidentally met with 

 some Dutch settlers, when within 400 miles ol 

 the Cape. Here they were treated with the 

 kindest attention, and their wants relieved. But. 

 by this time, only 15 or 20 emaciated beings sur- 

 vived, out of more than 120 persons who were on 



