J A F 



r.oa 



J A L 



Jiff*, with the exception of m single youth, wko made a 

 "V"*' fruitless appeal to the humanity of his merciless con- 

 querors. Those who could accomplish it, with un- 

 common resignation performed that ablution which 

 their religion enjoins, by means of the stagnant 

 water, ami then bid each other adieu ; but none 

 ever attempted to escape. In narrating these events, 

 M. Miot observes, " I saw a respectable looking 

 old man, whose manner and appearance denoted su- 

 perior rank, I saw him coolly cause a hole be dug in 

 the sand at his feet, deep enough to admit of his being 

 buiied alive. Doubtless, be wished to perish by his 

 on n hands. He stretched himself on his back in this 

 melancholy tomb, which now afforded him protection, 

 while his comrades, offering supplicatory prayers to 

 heaven, loon covered him up with sand. Then they 

 tamped on the earth thus enshrouding him, as if to 

 give a more speedy termination to his sufferings. This 

 spectacle made my heart palpitate within me. It took 

 place while the groups scattered on the downs were 

 massacred. At last, of all the prisoners none remain- 

 ed but those who were beside the marsh. The cart- 

 ridge* of our soldiers were now expended ; and it was 

 aeceteary to dispatch them with swords and bayonets. 

 1 could no longer support this horrible butchery. I 

 fled from it pale and ready to sink ; but several officers 

 told me in the evening, that some of those miserable be- 

 ings, yielding to that irresistible impulse which prompts 

 mankind to avoid destruction, leapt on each other, and 

 thus received in their limb* the blow which was aimed 

 at their hearts. If the truth must be disclosed, a fright- 

 ful pyramid was reared of the dead and dying, stream- 

 ing with blood ; and it became nicsesary to remove 

 those who had expired, in order to murder others who, 

 sheltered by this terrific rampart, had not yet been 

 struck." Their bones are said to have lain long in 

 heap*, and to have been shewn to traveller* ; hut Dr 

 Clarke could not find any trace* of them, nor even 

 obtain the most distant information that Mich a massa- 

 cre had ever taken place. 



(n regard to the inducements which led to an event 

 so noted in the history of Jaffa, the French affirm, that 

 these were unconnected with the thirst of revenge, or 

 the love of cruelty. Their army, already reduced by 

 the siege* of 1 Aruch and this unfortunate town, daily 



became still more enfeebled by the ravages of disease. 

 Great difficulty of subsistence was experienced, and the 

 soldier rarely received his ration complete. The scar- 

 city was increased by the hostile disposition of the in- 

 habitants of Syria and Palestine towards the French. 

 " To maintain the prisoners," they pleaded, " by keep- 

 ing them along with us, was not only augmenting our 

 necessities, but would have been a constant restraint on 

 our motions. Confining them in Jaffa was admitting 

 the possibility of revolt, considering the slender guard 

 that could be left to watch them, without removing the 

 former inconvenience. Sending them back to Egypt 

 would have required a considerable detachment, and re- 

 duced our troops greatly. To liberate them on their 

 parole was, notwithstanding all engagements, hazarding 

 an addition to the number of our enemies, and particu- 

 larly to the garrison of Acre. Thus there remained on- 

 ly one universal measure of conciliation ; it was fright- 

 ful, but it was judged the result of necessity." 



The exact number of the Turkish garrison thus mas- 

 sacred by the French is not exactly ascertained. Sir 

 Robert Wilson states it at 3800: M. Miot, a spectator 

 of the victims, thinks there were not quite so many. 

 But possibly Bonaparte's manifesto to the Egyptians 

 may be considered an ingredient of evidence, wherein 

 he says, " he found at Jaffa about 5000 of the troops of 

 Djezxar. He destroyed them all ; very few saved 

 themselves by flight." Such is a brief account of this 

 memorable tragedy, the truth of which has been so 

 keenly controverted in Europe. 



The French have been charged with another atrocity 

 in poisoning 580 of their own nick and wounded in the 

 hoepitili at Jaffa ; but happily it has not yet received 

 the same confirmation we believe as the former. In 

 their retreat from Acre in May 1799, they seized on all 

 the (tore* found in Jaffa, and blew up the fortifications, 

 which have since been repaired. Distance from Acre 

 40 miles South. Lat. 32' 2' N. Long. 34' 5:1' E. 



JAGAS. Sae CONGO. 



JAGGERNAUT. See JIOCSRNAUT. 



JAGO, ST. SeeCruv. 



JAGO, ST. one of the Captde VKRDE Itlandt, which 

 ee. 



JAGO, ST DI COMFOITCLLA. See Coxroi FI i *. 



JALAP. See MATEUIA MEDJCA. 



JAMAICA. 



J AM ur*. the most considerable a* well as by far the 

 moit valuable of the British West India islands, is si- 

 tuated in the Atlantic Ocean, among what are called 

 by geographer* the Greater Antilln, in 1 8" 1 2' of North 

 Latitude, and 76* 45' Went Longitude from London. 

 The latitude of Kington, the principal town, is 18 

 north ; the latitude of Morant point east is 17 56", and it< 

 longitude 7ff> V ; and the latitude of South Negril Point 

 west is 18 Iff, and it* longitude 78* S'f. Jamaica is 

 nearly of an oval form ; 140 English miles in length, 

 and in its broadest part about 50. It is the third in 

 MIC of* the island*) of the Archipelago. It i bounded 

 on the east by the island of St Domingo, from which 

 H i* separated by the channel called by English seamen 

 tfcc Windward passage : by Cuba on the north ; by the 



Bay of Honduras on the wet, and by Carthagena in J*mic.i. 

 New Spain on the south. ** p v < > ' 



Jamaica is divided into three counties; Middlesex, 

 Surry, and Cornwall. The county of Middlesex is 

 divided into eight parishes, which contain one town V*i 

 and thirteen village*. The town is called St Jago dc la 

 Vega, or Spanish Town ; and as this is the residence 

 of the governor, it is accounted the capital of the inland. 

 The county of Surry contains seven parishes, in which 

 there are two towns and ten villages. The chief of these 

 is the town and parish of Kingston. Port Royal is also 

 in this county, and likewise the villages of I'urt Mo- 

 rant and Morant Bay, the latter of which is a place of 

 considerable importance, on account of its shipping. 

 The parish of Portland in this county contains the vil 



