small; the manner in which he strews it over his page, shews that his mind is more filled with learning than inflated with vanity; and the consciousness of his wealth makes him disregard the pomp of appearances. Where he differs from others he manifests no arrogance nor presumption, and he always appears less like a man who is disputing for victory than for truth. He is more learned than Johnson, and less acute than Tooke; but his diligence is not exceeded by either, and his modesty is equal to that of both put together.

ART.XII.-The Adventures of Robert Drury, during Fifteen Years captivity in the Island of Madagascar, containing a Description of that Island; un Account of its Produce, Manufactures, and Commerce; with an Account of the Manners and Customs, Wars, Religion, and Civil Policy, of the Inhabitants: to which is added, a Vocabulary of the Madagascar Language, Written by Himself, and now carefully revised and corrected from the original Copy. 8vo. 8s. London, Meadows in Cornhill, 1748, Stodart and Craggs, Hull. 1807.

THIS is to certify, that Robert Drury, fifteen years a slave in Madagascar, now living in London, was redeemed from thence, and brought into England, his native country by myself. I esteem him an honest, industrious man, of good reputation; and do firmly believe, that the account he gives of his strange and surprising adventures is genuine and authentic.

May 7, 1728.

WM. MACKETT.'

Such is the advertisement prefixed to the first edition of these adventures. We would observe that truth stands in need of no certificate: it possesses a native force and character, which irresistibly carries the mind along with it, and extorts its assent. If a tale bear internal marks of falsehood, a certificate will serve only to awaken suspicion, and to warn the reader against being made the dupe of his credu lity. It is not worth while to examine minutely the support given by Captain Mackett to this history of Robt. Drury. In 1807, the evidence of Capt. Mackett and the story of Mr. Drury carry with them about equal weight. But even in 1743, it would have been reasonable to ask whether the captain who signed the certificate 13 years before, was still in existence? How do we know, that the adventures to

the truth of which he deposed, are the very same as those given to the public after the interval of 15 years? and other questions, which the strict laws of evidence would naturally suggest.

But let this pass, and let us come to the tale itself; the foundation of which at least, being the ordinary occurrences which happen to ordinary men in a sea-faring line, it carries with it no particular marks of improbability.

Robert Drury, was the son of an inn-keeper of London: at eleven years of age he was seized with a passion for going to sea; on which he was so resolutely bent, that his parents found it necessary to comply with his inclination. Accord ingly he embarked on board the Degrave East Indiaman, commanded by Capt. William Young, in the beginning of the year 1701, being then in his 14th year. They had a prosperous voyage to Bengal; from whence they sailed again, homeward bound. Going down the river, the ship ran aground; but she got off the next high water, it was thought, without damage. But at sea she proved leaky, which made them put into the Mauritius; where they searched for the leak, but to no purpose. Pursuing their voyage to the cape, the water gained upon them so fast that they despaired of saving the ship. In this extremity they resolved to reach Madagascar, at which island they arrived, and with the greatest difficulty gained the land, two men and one woman only perishing in the attempt. The whole number who reached the shore was above 160, including some Lascars, whom they had taken in at the Mauritius. The ship was wrecked.

The company now fell into the power of a king, who seems to have entertained no design against their lives, but rather wished to make use of their services against his enemies. By his orders they were marched to the seat of the royal government, of which we receive the following des cription:

The residence of this king is about fifty miles from the sea side, for I reckon we might travel 16 or 17 miles a day. It stands in a wood, secured with trees all round it, which seem to have been planted there when very young; they grow very regular and tall, and so close together, that a small dog cannot pass between them. They are likewise armed with large strong thorns, so that there is no breaking through or climbing over them. There are but two passages or gates, which are so narrow that two only can go abreast: One of these to the northward, and another to the southward; the whole is about a mile in circumference.'

:

The party (who had been joined by about nine of their countrymen whom misfortune had thrown into like circumstances) seeing themselves prisoners, and all hopes of leaving the island cut off, formed a resolution, which, had it been executed with the same judgment and courage, with which it had been concerted and begun, would probably have effected their deliverance. It was to follow the example of Cortes in his treatment of Montezuma; to seize upon the monarch and his son in the midst of his subjects; to keep them as hostages for their own safety, and to pass through his dominions in a body to a neighbouring state, where they had reason to believe that they should be secure. This was accordingly done; and the party set off. But from the irresolution of men worn out with fatigue and thirst, and in hourly danger of being overwhelmed by a superior force, they were tempted to confide in faithless sa vages; first, to exchange their royal prisoner for some arms; and secondly, to give up his son for three other hostages. In fine, nearly the whole party were massacred. They spared however, our author, and three or four other boys, nearly of the same age; whose lives were preserved at the expence of their liberty.

Our author became the slave of a native lord or dean (as they are called in the Madagascar tongue) whose name was Dean Mevarrow, from whose savage and irritable disposition his life was in frequent danger. But the kindness and gen tleness of his wife made him some ameads for the tyranny of the husband. In this condition he lived several years, till he had nearly forgotten his native tongue. His princi pal domestic employment was taking care of his master's cattle; in the time of war he officiated as a domestic and guard to the female part of the family; and when he had arrived at man's estate made one of their parties to war. He has related at length his own history during this period of his life, and has interwoven with it such an account of the man, ners, customs, religion and opinions of the natives, as he thought interesting. Though from the early period of life at which he was thrown into this singular situation, a confined education, and a contracted acquaintance of the world, it cannot be expected that he could penetrate below the superficies of the scene before him, yet we must acknowledge that we have been much amused with his simple narrative, and that he has given a lively and interresting picture of the habits of a society little elevated above the savage state.. The manners of the great men bear a resemblance, in some

striking points, to those of the heroes of Homer, though the whole community seem to have been far below the Grecians, as depicted by the venerable bard, in civilization. This resemblance is to us no mean proof of the fidelity of the portrait; for neither Robert Drury nor his editors seem conscious that there ever existed a poet of the name of Homer.

The wives and (we presume too) the mistresses of the deans are captives taken in war, and often, like Andromache, the daughters of princes. Even inferior men obtain wives by the chance of war; cattle, women, and children being the chief prizes of the victors. In this manner, our author himself obtained a wife, the daughter of a neighbour ing chieftain, and for whom he professes to have felt the warmest affection. But liberty had still greater charms. To obtain his freedom he left her, but very reluctantly.The husband exercises à despotic authority over his household. The mark of submission paid by inferiors are of the most humiliating kind,

'When it was broad daylight (says Drury) we marched homeward (for so I must now call it,) and in three or four hours time we arrived at a considerable town, with three or four tamarind trees before it. One of the negroes carried a large shell, which when he blowed, sounded like a postboy's horn. This brought the wo men to a spacious house in the middle of the town, about twelve feet high which I soon perceived was my master's. No sooner had he seated himself at the door, but his wife came out, crawling on her hands and knees till she came to him, and then licked his feet; and when she had thus testified her duty and respects, his mother paid him the like compliment; and all the women in the town saluted their husbands in the same manner; then each man went to his respective habitation, my master's brother only excepted, who though he had a house had no wife to receive him; ́and so he staid behind."

But

Though the use of letters and consequently of written laws. is unknown, still there is an unwritten code,which is commit. ted to the memory,and by which penalties are affixed to flagrant breaches of moral and civil duties. Fines, estimated by cattle or sheep (for they have no coined money) are im posed according to the magnitude of the offences. these are not sufficient to prevent habitual outrages, particularly of the lords, whose power sets the controul of law at defiance. Their great grievance is stealing each other's cattle; this system of rapine seems general, and causes eternal feuds reprisals are made; the friends of each party take part in the quarrel; and the whole country becomes

ascene of blood and disorder. The contest finally ends ia a famine; and the parties do not think of an accommodation till the general misery has nearly put it out of their power to inflict any further evil on each other.

Causes of the same sort are in the main the occasion of wars likewise among the nations, who call themselves civilized; though the pretexts are rather more specious, and the real motives are concealed under a thicker veil of hypocrisy. The untutored savage too has, like his civilized brethren, recourse to the solemnities of religion to sanctify, as it were, the breach of all the ordinances of God and man. We have our annual fastings and prayings.

Dean Mevarrow, after a plundering expedition, performed the ceremony of thanksgiving to God for his happy deliverance from all the hazards of war, and for the success of his arms: which is performed after the following manner. The inhabitants have in all their houses a small portable utensil, which is devoted to religious uses, which they call the owley. It is made of a peculiar wood, in small pieces, neatly joined, and making almost the form of an half moon, between which are placed two alligator's teeth; this is adorned with various kinds of beads, and such a sash fastened to it behind, as a man ties about his waist when he goes to war. [[ shall not here pretend to give an exact account of their religious worship, for I had not been long enough in the country to be a perfect master of the true meaning of what they either did or said.] However I observed that they brought two forks from the woods, and fixed them in the ground, on which was laid a beam, slender at each end, and about six feet long, with two or three pegs in it; and upon this they hung the owley. Behind it was a long pole, to which a bullock was fastened with a cord. They had a pan full of live coals, on which they threw an aromatic gum, and planted it under the owley. Then they took a small quantity of hair from the tail, chin, and eyebrows of the ox, and put them on the owley; then Dean Mevarrow, my master, used some particular gestures, with a large knife in his hand; and made a formal prayer, in which the people joined. In the next place, they threw the ox on the ground, with his legs tied fast together, and the dean cut his throat ; for as there are no priests among them, the chief man, whether of the country, town, or family, performs all divine offices himself."

The deans seem to possess an absolute authority over the persons of their subjects; the laws therefore can only be regarded as rules with which they give a voluntary compli ance, and useful regulations by which they may frame their own decisions, but over which they exercise a dispensing power, whenever it suits their pleasure or their convenience. Dean Mevarrow suspected a man to have had