1804. | 
jigens, non adverterit, verba ifta fuerunt ad- 
dita.” 
_ Now, Sir, highly as T efteem the learn- 
ing, induftry, and Jabours o! the venerable 
Mr. A du Perron, I cannot forbear faying 
this charge is illiberal and difingenuous ; 
and I hope foon to prove unfounded. 
William Hunter, Efq. is at prefent a mott 
refpectable member of the Afiatic Society ; 
and his literary talents are an honour both 
to himfelf and his country: and as without 
a thorough knowledge of the Perfian lan- 
guage, he could nov have been admitted 
among the members of that honourable and 
ulcfui inftituiion,. this confideration alone 
will, doubtlefs, be though: by moft (if not 
all) of your readers a fufficient confutation 
ot the illiberal, not to fay invidious, 
‘© baud legens, haud intelligens,” of Mr. 
Du Perron. But Mir. Hanter has added 
‘¢ Martyr Prince,” and, “ whofe fins are 
Forgiven,” which are: not in the Perfian 
text, and which he muft have received 
from the mouth of an interpreter, it being 
the cuftom to add iuch words when /peak- 
ing of deceafed faints, great men, &c. 
Mr. Du Perron is too well acquainted with 
Arabic and Perfian manufcripts not to 
know, that it is as commonacufom toufe 
fuch words when writing of great men, 
faints, &c. as when /peaking of them: and 
it would have required only a fmall mea- 
fure of candour in Mr. Du Perron, to have 
Auppofed that thefe words were actually 
in the manuicript ufed by Mr. Hunter; 
but, through the ignorance or careleffnefs 
of the compofitor or Editor, were omitted 
in the Bricifh edition: for I fiill take it 
for granted they are in that of Calcutta. 
But were they even abfent from both, I 
have inconteftable proof that they were in 
the manuicript ufed by Mr, Hunter; and 
that they were neither added by him, nor 
by any interpreter. A very correct copy 
of the ** Zee; Mohammed Shabee’” now lies 
before me, and in it the Perfian text of the 
paflage, referred to by Mr. Du Perron, 
fiands thus:—"* Az Zeman Jfhch shubeed, 
. maafoor Murza Ulug Beeg ta een zeman.” 
The preper tranfl:tion of which 1s chat 
given by Mr. Hunter; ,and in which, 
‘* Shah Shubeed”’ is literally the ‘* Mar- 
tyr-Prince ;’ and “ maafoar”’ —‘* whofejins 
are forgiven.” 
To many the whole of this bufine{s may 
appear a matter of little importance, and 
the trefpaffing thus on your time and pa- 
per may be thought to require an apology ; 
but mindful of my motto, and the com- 
mand of a fuperior auihority—‘* What- 
foever ye would that men fhouid do unto 
you, de ye even fo to them’’—I have feit 
Query refpefting the Death of Sir Francis Drake. 
191 
it my duty thus to vindicate the literary 
(and indeed moral) charaéter of an abfent 
gentleman; and not only 47s character, 
but that of the Afiatic Society, and all the 
Briti/h Orientalijis, the whole of whom are 
included in the {weeping cenfure of Mr. 
Du Perron; for thé reader will not forget 
that he commences his inveétive with ** 4 
uno difce omnes.’ —(See Oupuek hat, vol. I. 
page 733-) It neceflarily, therefore, fol- 
lows, that this OnE being exculpated, the 
reff are proved to be innocent. 
As I have no doubt your Magazine will 
travel as extenfively as the Ozpnek bat, 
permit me to conclude with indulging the 
hope, that this paper may even yet reach 
the eye of Mr. Dz Perron, and not only 
fpread the vindication of Mr. Hunter as 
far as the unfounded charge brought 
againft him, but alio fhew the learned 
tranflator of the Oupuek'h vt, that there are 
Englifhmen who, whi'e they deplore that 
irritability of temper, and exuberant felf- 
complacerce, which have too frequently 
appeared in his ulefel writings, know well 
how to venerate his general virtues, and 
refpect his learaing; and who earneftly 
with, for the honour of literature, that na- 
tional prejudices and enmity may never be 
permitted to mingle themfelves in the fci- 
entific purfuits of the Eng!fh and French 
literati: for as thefe may be termed czti- 
zens of the world, being born for the com- 
mon good of mankind, they fhould ever, 
as far as poflible, forget that their refpec- 
tive countries are unhappily divided by 
political contentions, and the horrid alarms 
of ware fT amy/Sir; Your's, &c. 
Manchefter, Aug. 28. A. €, 
Ta the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N Bomaro’s ‘* Dictionnaire d’Hiffoire 
Naturelle,’ third edition, 1776, 1s the 
following extraordinary paflage, under the 
word Crabe :-—‘* On voit des crabes dune 
grandeur démefurée dans tlle des Cancres, 
en Amerigue: ce fut dans cet endrott, et par 
ces mémes animaux, qu en 1605, le fameux 
navigateur Anzlois, Frangois Diack, fut 
Offaili, et périt mijerablement ; quoique bien 
armé, il lui fallut fuccomber et devenir la 
proie de ces crabes monfireux,”—** Crabs 
of an immoderate fize are found in the Ifle 
of Crabs, in America. It was in this 
place, and by thefe animals, that, in 1605, 
the famous Englifi navigator, Francis 
Drake, was aflaiied, and perifhed mifera- 
bly. Although weil armed, he was oblig- 
ed to yield, and become the prey of thofe 
menftrous crabs.’ With refpec& to the 
I truth 
