INTRODUCTION. xlvii 



purpofe, fo that, after flaying two days among them, the 

 Shekh reflored to us all that had been taken from us, and 

 mounting us upon camels,, and giving us a conductor, he 

 forwarded us to Bengazi, where we arrived the fecond day 

 in the evening. Thence I fent a compliment to the bhekh, 

 and with it a man from the Bey, intreating that he would 

 ufe all poffible means to fifh up fome of my cafes, for 

 which I allured him he ihould not mifs a handfome re- 

 ward. Promifes and thanks were returned, but I never 

 heard further of my initruments ; all I recovered was a 

 filver watch of Ellicot, the work of which had been taken 

 out and broken,fome pencils, and a fmall port-folio, in which 

 were fketches of Ptolemeta; my pocket-book too was found, 

 but my pencil was loft, being in a common filver cafe, and 

 with them all the agronomical obfervations which I had 

 made in Barbary. I there loll a fextant, a parallactic in- 

 flrumenr, a time-piece, a reflecting telefcope, an achromatic 

 one, with many drawings, a copy of M. de la Caille's ephe- 

 merides down to the year 1775, much to be regretted, as be- 

 ing full of manufcript marginal notes ; a fmall camera ob- 

 fcura, fome guns, piflols, a blunderbufs, and feveral other 

 articles. 



I found at Bengazi a fmall French iloop, the mailer of 

 which had been often at Algiers when I was conful there. 

 I had even, as the mailer remembered, done him fome lit- 

 tle iervice, for which, contrary to the cuflom of that fort of 

 people, he was very grateful. He had come there laden 

 with corn, and was going up the Archipelago, or towards 

 the Morea, for more. The cargo he had brought was but a 

 mite compared to the necemties of the place ; it only re- 

 lieved 



