40 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF FRANCIS ARAGO. 
whom we should help off. We only wished to aid the 
flight of the astronomer. Since it seems to be otherwise, 
you must leave this officer here, unless you would prefer 
to throw him into the sea,” 
Damian at once informed me of the imperative wishes 
of his boat’s crew. M. Berthémie agreed with me to 
suffer some abuse such as could only be tolerated by a 
servant threatened by his master; all the suspicions 
disappeared. 
Damian, who feared also for himself the arrival of 
Majorcan fishermen, hastened to set sail on the 29th of 
July, 1808, the first moment that was favourable, and we 
arrived at Algiers on the 3d of August. 
Our looks were anxiously directed towards the port, to 
guess what reception might await us. We were reassured 
by the sight of the tri-coloured flag, which was flying on 
two or three buildings. But we were mistaken; these 
buildings were Dutch. Immediately upon our entrance, 
a Spaniard, whom, from his tone of authority, we took 
for a high functionary of the Regency, came up to Da- 
mian, and asked him: “ What do you bring?” “I bring,” 
answered the commander, “four Frenchmen.” “ You will 
at once take them back again. I prohibit you from dis- 
embarking.” As we did not seem inclined to obey his 
order, our Spaniard, who was the constructing engineer 
of the ships of the Dey, armed himself with a pole, and 
commenced battering us with blows. But immediately 
a Genoese seaman, mounted on a neighbouring vessel, 
armed himself with an oar, and struck our assailant both 
with edge and point. During this animated combat we 
managed to land without any opposition. We had con- 
ceived a singular idea of the manner in which the police 
act on the coast of Africa. | 
