92 SHIPWRECK OF THE 
companions should esteem it a felicity to die for the Christian 
religion, and that all the loss would be theirs, as they would 
deprive themselves, by this act of inhumanity, of the ransom 
they might otherwise expect. Upon this the most outrageous 
relented a little, but the women and children every moment 
renewed their insults. 
They were guarded with such vigilance, that a Moor, with 
a halbert in his hand, attended them on every occasion, the 
barbarians being apprehensive that they might escape, or that 
their prey might be taken from them by force. With the lat- 
ter they were, in fact, threatened a few days afterward by the 
Bey of Constantine, who demanded that the prisoners should 
be sent to him, or he would come in person with his army to 
fetch them away. The Moors replied that they feared neither 
him nor his army, even were it united to that of Algiers. 
These Moors do not acknowledge the sovereignty of Algiers, 
though surrounded by its territory, and naturally the subjects 
of that power. They live in perfect independence under the 
denomination of Cabail, or the revolted ; and the mountains 
of Couco serve them as impregnable ramparts against all the 
forces of Algiers. 
Such was the state of these victims of misfortune, over- 
whelmed with fatigue, unable to obtain repose, tormented with 
hunger, and consigned, without any human assistance, into 
the hands of merciless barbarians. These ferocious men even 
appeared so enraged against them, that when they spoke to 
them the fire flashed in their eyes, and the white, which is so 
perceptible in the Negroes and Moors, could not be distinguish- 
ed. The maid servant and the footman experienced trials 
equalJy afflicting, and were still deprived of the consolation 
of seeing their mistress, or hearing any tidings of her. 
But even these accumulated evils, which left them without 
any other comfort than what they derived from religion, were 
insignificant, in comparison with the horrid spectacle which 
was soon presented to their eyes. The Moors, not contented 
with having in their possession the five persons who had es- 
caped from the wreck, endeavored to recover some of the ef- 
fects swallowed up by the sea, and which they conjectured to 
be of considerable value. As they were excellent divers, they 
soon raised the bales and chests, as well as the dead bodies, 
from the bottom of the sea. They took with them the stew- 
ard and the footman, to assist them in removing to the moun- 
tain whatever they might save. After dragging the bodies 
on shore, they stripped them for the sake of their clothes, and 
