CHAPTER XI. 
4 aaS U rntfiAifrPiSf '• ' •'• '■■ * '• ■**.("■ u r,ik 
riley's narrative. 
&,hipx»reck.--Captivity< — Deliverance. — Sidi hhem.—Natm- 
live of Sidi Hamet. — Adventures in the Desert* — Tombuc- 
too. — -Wassanah. 
J ames Riley, master and supercargo of the brig- 
Commerce of Hartford, sailed from New Orleans 
on the 24th June 1815, and arrived at Gibraltar 
on the 9th of August. From that place he set 
sail on the 23d for the Cape de Verd islands. In 
passing the Canaries the sea began to run high, 
and the weather became so dark and foggy, that 
they could not discern their track. On the 
28th, near Cape Bojador, as it afterwards proved, 
the vessel struck ; it soon began to fill with water, 
and seemed every moment in danger of going to 
pieces. The crew, therefore, put out the long 
boat, and having placed on board of it the most va- 
luable articles, reached with difficulty the shore. 
They were soon joined by an Arab family, con- 
sisting of a man, two wives, and five or six chil- 
dren. The man resembled an oran-outang rather 
than a human being; and the whole party pre- 
10 
