598 Retrofpect of Domeftic Literature—Voyages, Travels, and Tours. 
had perhaps little lefs reafon to complain 
of the inconvenience which they fuffered 
from the numerous trunks and packages 
of the literati. In fhort, however honour- 
able—and it certainly was very honour- 
able on the part of the Conftituent Af- 
fembly, to fend fhips for the difcovery of 
whatever remnant might be alive of La 
Peroufe’s crew—they feem to have paid 
very inadequate attention to the conve- 
nience and accommodation of the crew in 
fo diftant and dangerous a voyage. ‘The 
_ Harrow limits of our article prohibit us 
from accompanying the voyagers in their 
difaftrous track: fuffice it to fay, that 
the Admiral] purfued, as nearly as poffible, 
thet which had been pointed out to Pé- 
roufe, till, having heard at the Cape, by 
_ two French captains, that, being at Ba- 
tavia, Commodore Hunter had informed 
them that he had feen at the Admiralty 
Iflands fome natives dreffed in the uni- 
form of the French navy, he committed a 
venial error in departing from his inftruc- 
tions, and immediately went thither, preg- 
nant with hopes that proved abortive. 
It is not to be accounted for, that as Cap- 
tain Hunter arrived at the Cape fome 
hours before M. d’Entrecafteaux failed, 
the latter fhould not have obtained more 
accurate and complete information: the 
report feemed to be entirely unfounded, 
for after having examined thefe iflands 
with the utmoft care and minutenefs, the 
Admiral could learn nothing of Peroufe 
and his companions. After purfuing a 
devious and unfuccefsful courfe, the voy- 
agers pafled through Dampier’s Strait, to 
examine the North-coaft of New Britain: 
here they loft their Admiral: hence pro- 
ceeding to Waygiou, an ifland near Pitt’s 
Strait, they finally and fatally landed at 
Batavia, at whicli place they were detain- 
-ed on account of the war, and loft the 
sreater part of their crew! The furvivors 
. were difperfed, and but few, it is feared, 
ever returned to their native country! Re. 
{fpeéting the advantages which {cience has 
derived from this difaftrous voyage, it is 
generally allowed, that M. Labillardierre 
was an excellent naturalift, but an infuffi- 
cient philofopher: he was indebted for 
nautical obfervations to M. Legrand, and 
M. Piron, painter to the expedition, pre- 
fented him with a copy of all his draw- 
ings. As moft of the iflands which were 
vifited had betn vifited before, much new 
information is net to be expected: M. 
Labillardierre, however, has given a very 
interefting defcription of fome favages 
with whom we were unacquainted, and he 
Se. 
fe 
has‘made many and valuable additions to 
the {cience of na-ural hiftory. : . 
It is fufficient ‘to fay, that the following 
work is compiled with judgment and abi- 
lity, and that a very good Map of 
Africa is prefixed, upon which the 
routes of the different travellers are deli- 
neated :—‘* The Modern Traveller; Vo- 
lume I. containing the comprefled Travels 
of Mungo Park; Volume IT. thofe of | 
Ledyard, Lucas, and Sonnini, in Africa ; 
Volume III. thofe of Browne, Savary, 
and Volney ; and Volume IV. containing 
thofe of Vaillant in Africa. 
Now we are on the fubje&t of African 
travellers, it might be expeéted that we 
fhould give fome account of the celebrated , 
Damberger, celebrated, if difgrace and in- 
famy can be fuppofed to confer celebrity; 
fuch an account, however, having already 
appeared in the prefent volume of our 
journal, we fhall merely refer our readers 
to it (fee page 387) for perufal, ftating,. 
that Mr. DaMBERGER-TAURINIUS- 
SCHRODTER’s ‘* Travels in the Interior 
of Africa,”’ have appeared in a duodecimo 
edition, long fince the public has been in 
poffefiion of the knowledge that they are 
a complete forgery from alpha to omega! 
Such is the gaping avidity for any thing 
new and wonderful! — 
A fbilling pamphlet has been publifhed, 
¢* Of the Shoemaker, Schrodter ; the Prin- 
ter, Taurinius; and the Cabinet-maker, 
Damberger; three Travellers, who never 
travelled at all, but fabricated their Ac- 
counts in one Manufaétory.””. A full, 
yet concile, hiftory of the infamous for- 
gery is here given, in an entertaining man- 
ner; but the pamphlet itfelf, of thirty- 
two pages, which is fold for one filling, 
is as great an impofition as the travels 
which it profefles to detect. Py 
RicHarD WHARTON; Efq. has pub- 
lifhed fome “ Obfervations on the Authen- 
ticity of Bruce’s Travels in Abyffinia ; 
in Reply to fome Paflages in Browne’s 
Travels through Egypt, Affica, and Sy- 
ria; to which is added, a Comparative 
View of Life and Happinefs in Europe 
and in Caffraria.”’ Thisisa weak and un- 
gentlemanlike attack on Mr. Browne, be-~ 
caufe fome paflages in the work of that 
{cientific traveller appeared to the confuf- 
ed imagination of this writer, as reflecting 
on the credibility of Mr. Bruce’s narra- 
tive: Mr. Wharton has difplayed a de- 
gree of perfonal feverity, which difgraces 
his temper; anda degree of ignorance on 
the fubje&t which employs his pen, that 
difcredits his underflanding. 
« Travels 
