For the Monthly Magazine. ACCOUNT of a recent VOYAGE to MALTA. MARCH 25, 1802, I embarked in the Downs, on board the Enterprife, merchant veffl, of 220 tons burthen, Capt. James Francis, commander; and after one unsuccessful attempt to be gin our voyage, finally weighed anchor on the 29th, with a fresh gale from the northnorth-eat. We efcaped, very providen tially, a serious danger in the very act of getting under weigh. The violence of the wind and tide hurried our fhip with fuch precipitation toward another, lying near us in the Downs, that all effort to prevent their collifion proved ineffectual. We thought ourfelves happy to escape from fo violent a fhock, without any other injury than the lofs of the timbers which fupported one of our boats, at the fern of the fhip, and fome flight damage to that part of the rigging which entangled with the other vefiel. The gale of wind, March So, bore us with the rapidity of ten miles an hour through the ftreights of Dover, and 31ft along the coafts of Kent, and Hampshire; April 1, the Ifle of Wight, Dorfet, Devon and Cornwall, into the Bay of Biscay. April 2, 3, and 4, we continued our courte with unufual rapidity, over the big rolling waves of the Bay. I had little other amusement than that of afcertaining our daily change of latitude by my quadrant, or watching fome or other of the veffels that occafionally bounded over the billows, like ourselves, near us. For our provifions being rather fubftantial than delicate, the qualms of fea-fickness drove all pleasurable thoughts away: till the morning of the 5th, when the Captain affured me he had plainly feen the rock of Lisbon at fun-rife. About 10, I had the delightful fatisfaction of perceiving with my naked eye, the high land of the kingdom of Algarve, in the fouth of Portugal, and began to hope my anxious and eager longing to indulge in the delicious fruits of thole countries would foon be gratified. The mountains in view, have the name of Manchique. We glided along the coast that terminates their bafe the whole morn ing and afternoon, highly delighted with fo fwift a tranfportation to a new climate, and before fun-fet wore round the blunt bold rock that forms the fouth-weft angle of the Spanish peninfula, well known to be Cape St. Vincent. A monaftery crowns the fummit of this Cape. We were fufficiently near it to diftinguith plainly, with an ordinary telefcope, minute objects in the monaftery. I believe it to be dedi I cated to St. Vincent; whence the appella, tion of the Cape. It was called by the The ancients Sacrum Promontorium. monaftery standing on this bold promontory, overhanging the vast Atlantic ocean, muft command one of the moft magnificent fea-views in the world. We rounded the Cape in the night, April 6, and at funrife next morning, found ourselves off the little Portuguese town of Carvociro. We were, indeed, rather too far from the land to diflinguish objects clearly, without a glafs; but with one, the border of the mountains lying behind the town, the groves of olive trees, and cattle, formed a very pleasing and picturesque appearance. The town of Faro, near Carvociro, lies very near the Portus Hannibalis of the ancients:-a geographical title that awakened me to the agreeable recollection of the fhort space of time which had borne me into the neighbourhood of the molt interefting countries honoured in Claffic Annals. We were becalmed off this coaft till the evening, wishing to hold fome intercourfe with the inhabitants, whom we had a diftant view of on fhore and in their fish ing-boats. But no fignal our captain would allow us to make, proved effectual. April 7, we wore off with a light breeze, and next day by two o'clock in the afternoon, approached near enough to the coaft of the Province of Andalulia, in Spain, to diftinguish with our glaffes, the cafles and towns that lie in the vicinity of Cadiz. On the 8th, in the morning the wind began to blow strong and adverse. To our great mortification, we entirely loft fight of land, and were all day toffed about in one of thofe gales of wind, called among fea men a Levanter. I paffed the whole day in confiderable alarm; and though in general not aware of any unusual dread of death, I confefs the horrors of a watery grave came powerfully upon my mind. The first excurfion of a restless traveller, fo admirably defcribed by De Foe, in his Crufoe's fate, and an hundred fad tales of fhipwreck, took full poffeffion of my imagination. On the 9th, after a little intermiffion, the Levanter refumed its violence, and con, tinued through the whole of the 10th it pleased God, that it entirely abated on the morning of the 11th. The chearful fun broke out about noon, difcovering, to my infinite joy, the two Capes which bound the eastern extremity of the ftreights of Gibraltar; Cape Trafalgar, anciently called Promontorium Junonis, and Cape Spartel, Spartel, anciently Ampelufiæ Promontorium. As we advanced, we gradually obtained fight of all the high land of Africa, that runs behind Tangier, Ceuta, &c. and which terminates the northwestern extremity of Mount Atlas. We entered the Streights at fun-fet, and on the morning of the 12th, we found ourfelves paffing from the eastern end of this magnificent natural portal into the Mediterranean, juft at fun rife: "Right against the eastern gate, Where the great fun begins his state, Rob'd in flames and amber light" and who seemed to lift his full orb in a cloudlefs fky above the fartheft extremity of the Mediterranean, to gild the glorious profpect before us. On our left the Bay of Algeziras, the town of St. Roque, Gibraltar rock, the orange groves of Andalufia and all the high ground of Spain: on our right, the thin flat marble rocks of the Streights peering over each other; the broad green paftures and milk-white town of Ceuta, the Bay of Tetuan and Mount Atlas, fnow-capped, extending its fummits full many a league into the interior of Africa, and right before us a cerulean fummer-fea. On the 13th, the wind became adverfe at noon, and we lingered off the high land of Grenada, which hides the little city of Almeria from the fight of feainen. I had every reason to believe, that the most beautiful and most fertile part of Spain lay behind alfo; but alas! though we were all convinced of its abundance in fruits and wine, the Captain dared not venture into the good harbour here before him; and I retired to reft this and the two following nights, as I had feveral preceding, dreaming of green fields, flowery meadows, and groves loaded with delicious fruit, tantalized almoft beyond endurance. Indeed, I would willingly have ftopped here, at leaft for fome months, being invalid; but I fear we too often, as I did, I believe, now, forego prefent, for diftant and imaginary gratifications. April 14 and 15, wind adverse; fatiguing and tormenting; my only confolation was that I began to advance to interefting countries: that I faw on my left the fnow-topt mountains of Grenada and Murcia lifting their white fummits near the clouds: that I tafted the air of Fenelon's Betica, as vifited by Telema. chus; and that on my right, I had a glimpfe of the coaft of antient Numidia: recalling to my mind the feats of the Moors on one fide, and the pathetic appeal of Adherbal against the wiley villainies of Jugurtha on the other. On the 16th, a favourable breeze fprung up from the weft, which bore us along-fide a small vessel, from which we procured half a dozen oranges, a few lemons, and fome Malaga wine. The fruit, fcarcely gathered a week at Malaga, was fome confolation, though it almoft ferved to aggravate our thirst for more. To-day we faw many bonetas and finall turtle afleep; one of the former was taken, and after being kept twenty-four hours, ate very firm and well, when Rewed in fome tart red malaga; it was generally approved, but not by every one. boneta is from ten inches to two feet in length; they fwim fwift, and in fhoals, and may be harpooned by the fhip's fide. The On the 18th, being Eafter Sunday, the paffengers and crew affembled on the poop of the fhip, and heard divine fervice read: this was the first time I had been called upon fince we had been on board. Saw feveral turtle, but could not take one. On the 19th, feveral heavy fqualls; it pleafed God that our veffel wore through them with only the loss of a shattered fail, and a joint of the rigging. The weather continued blowing with a heavy fea, to the 21ft; it was fucceeded by dead calms and fine fun-fhine, till the 23d, when a breeze fprung up, which, to my real joy and fatisfaction, brought us on the 25th, being Sunday, in fight of the Inland of Sardinia; as our captain had been a dreadful reckoner and knew not his longitude by 120 miles. For an account of the ancient ftate of this Ifland, fee Paufanias. D'Anville lays down in his maps, the cities of Calaris (now Cagliari) Olbia, Sulci, Jura, &c. as mentioned by Paufanias. We lay toward the calm of the evening, off the ancient Herculis Portus, and the promontory which hides the latter town, or that which fucceeded it. With a glass I could only ditcern one low white tower, whether ancient or modern I could not afcertain. We loft fight of it and bore toward Sicily next morning, and the whole of the following day and night, careful to avoid certain very dangerous rocks, called the Squills, that lay, we fuppofed, about thirty miles to the fouth of us; by the kindness of Providence, we experienced no evil from them; and on Tuesday morning, the 26th, came in fight of the promontory of ancient Lilybæum, and the iflands vifible near the western extremity of Sicily. We failed along the fair coaft of Sicily all Tuesday and Wednesday near enough to distinguish its towns and groves with with the naked eye, and with an ordinary telescope to trace out many interesting objects. We faw, or fancied we faw, ancient Girgenti, and one or two temples behind it. We clearly discovered Mount Etna, and the fmoke iffuing from his fnowy fummit. We could even perceive, though 120 miles diftant, the black lines of lava near the edge of the Crater which the partial melting of his fnows exposed. We lay close to a neat little town in the evening, which we fuppofed to be Alicata, and on the afternoon of the 28th, we had a diftant glimple on our right, of the four clumps of land which our fea-men knew to be Malta, and its dependencies, Gozo and Commino. Next morning, 29th, we were near enough the principal city of Malta, called Valetta, to diftinguifh houfes, churches, and hipping; the multitude of ftone-walls, that give the island fo much the appearance of one continuity of amphitheatrical rocky ftrata rifing above each other, interfperfed with dark green clumps of locuft trees and ftreaks of green corn-fields. About noon two boats rowed by Maltese, put off from the port of La Valetta, and foon afforded us the delightful fatisfaction of fetting foot on the tone-quay. We were accompanied by our amiable Moorish friend, who jabbered Arabic with the crews of the boats all the way with great glee. As foon as we were landed, we were placed within a fimall railed area, till the healthofficer fhould allow us to proceed into the town; and during our half-hour's quarantine, had time to look round on the variety of individuals in fomewhat a fimilar predicament with ourselves. We found the quay divided into fuch little compartments as that we occupied, and at that moment, each a little parade of Moors, Greeks and Levanters, of different defcriptions, in the drefs of their refpective countries. The beautiful dress and venerable afpect of a Greek, nearly drew me into a very aukward difficulty. He was fmoaking a long ornamented pipe, in a neighbouring compartment, and like myfelf unwittingly drew near to chat, if haply we could make each other understood:-had I touched him or his habiliments, a forty days quarantine must have been my lot! Our good friend, the young Moor, with extreme earnestness ran up and warned me of my danger. So foon as we were relieved by the health-officer, and our fellow paffengers had made fome provifion from the market of La Valetta, of live stock, fruit and vege tables for their voyage to the Levant; we all went to dine together at the principal inn. We paid nine fhillings each, for a good dinner of meat, foup, fish, fowl, and paftry, and indifferent red wine. After dinner I parted from my friend, the young Moor, with fincere regret; and he pursued his courfe with the rest of the paffengers, on board the ship I had quitted, to Conftantinople. As the fortune of this gentleman was fomewhat fingular, I cannot avoid mentioning it :-he was a native of Tetuan, on that part of the coaft of the kingdom of Morocco, which lies in the bay of the fame name, nearly oppofite the rock of Gibraltar. When at the age of nineteen, fome unpleasant fracas had induced his friends, or the government, to recommend or command him to leave his country for a few years. He complied; and in order to spend his time in the most profitable way, determined to pass the years of his exile in travelling. He began with making the pilgrimage to Mecca, in company with twelve other Moorish gentlemen. He went coaft ways, by fea to Egypt, whence he joined the Caravan by land in Arabia, and proceeded to the holy city. This pil grimage obtained to the pilgrim the ho nourable title of Albadj; الحاج which, though it means, literally trans lated, no more than Pilgrim to Mecca, is a distinction more valued in Barbary than knighthood formerly was in England: and the account he gave me of the perils of the journey, confirming the generally received apprehenfions of it, feem fully to entitle the traveller to fuch diftinction here, whether the motives from which pilgrimages are frequently performed thall or thall not be deemed meritorious hereafter. Much was fuffered in the voyage from want of water, and the difficulty of procuring fupplies from nations hoftile to his ftate, on the Barbary coaft, between Tunis and Alexandria; but the blast of the peftilential Shamaul, شمال 7 From Mecca he returned by Alexandria to the Mediterranean, which he croffed thence to Conftantinople; where, as a defcendant of Mahommed, he was entitled to the privilege of wearing a green turban. He appeared quite clear in his genealogy from Mahommed, on my requesting him to trace it. From Conftantinople he went, by fea, to London; after vifiting Genoa, Lisbon, and fome other ports in the Mediterranean, partly from curiofity, partly from commercial views. He was brave, generous, and frank in his difpofition; extremely affectionate and obliging. During his exile, he had received intelligence of the death of all his fifters, fix in number, with all their families and relations, to the number of fixtv, who died of the plague in Tetuan. which appeared to me, from his account, to ferve their fovereign fomewhat after the manner of the Polish Poft polite. He gave me alfo much other interesting information refpecting the kingdom of Dukala; if I recollect aright, a great dependency on Morocco; of the connections of Morocco with Tunis, and all the other neighbouring ftates, and of the internal commerce of Africa; but as I had not an immediate opportunity of noting down his obfervations, I fhould be unwilling to attempt repeating them now at random. After this account of him, it is no wonder that I fhould regret his departure. (To be continued.) For the Monthly Magazine. NOTICE and EXTRACTS from the LATIN DISSERTATION of M. N. IGNARRA (DE URBIS NEAPOLIS REGIONE HERCU LANENSIUM) relative to the EPOCH of the TOTAL DESTRUCTION of the C1TIES of HERCULANEUM and POMPEII, as lately PUBLISHED in the MAGAZINE ENCYCLOPEDIQUE. A GENERAL opinion prevails, the author tells us, that Herculaneum and Pompeii were totally deftroyed and even swallowed up at the time of the famous eruption of Mount Vefuvius, which took place under the reign of Titus. This opinion, however, is far from being found I never faw a man more likely to feel fenfibly fo dreadful a lofs. But his › pious refignation to the will ofed on the exact truth. The eruption, to Providence, fubdued all complaint. I have obferved in him, on other occafions, the fame tranquil refignation to the divine will. During the heavy gales of wind we encountered in our voyage, while moft of us Chriftians were quaking with alarm, he would ftretch himself out on his mattrafs, and quietly hope for better weather. He was not incapable of expreffing his refentment when offended; and while almoft unaware of their effect, fond of indulging in the use of wine and fpirits; but as far as the experience of a few weeks enabled me to estimate his value, he was as amiable a friend as a Chriftian could hope to find. He spoke English and Spanish and Italian fluently; but he did not write in any other character than that of his own country, which is almoft to a point the Arabic. In the babel of languages spoken among our crews, he was chief interpreter; and, generally speaking, chief talker. He informed me that the Emperor of Morocco has 100,000 good, well mounted cavalry a confiderable proportion of MONTHLY MAG. No. 116. which we here allude, was not the first that had ravaged those places. The difafters which it occafioned in the two cities were not fo completely deftructive, but that in dating from that epoch, both the cities were again raised, and ftill lefs that they had entirely disappeared from the face of the earth. Every thing announces that from the moft remote times, Mount Vefuvius has ejected flames. In fact, there does not remain any memorials relative to the most ancient eruptions of that volcano, However, if we examine well what Ter. tullian fays, in a paffage of his Apologeti con (chap. xl.) we fhall find that this author must have had knowledge of a certain eruption which had occafioned great dif afters, long before the year 79 of the chriftian æra: "Oro vos, ante Tiberium, id eft, ante Chrifti adventum, quante clades orbem & urbem ceciderunt ? Nondum Judæum ab Ægypto examen Palestina fufceperat, nec jam illic Chriftianæ fecta origo confederat, quum regiones ac fines ejus Sodoma et Gommorrha igneus imber exuffit..... Sed nec Tufcia atque Campania de Chriftianis querebatur, 4 B quum quum Volfcinios de cœlo, Pompeios de fuo monte, perfudit ignis. The burning of Volfcinium, of which Tertullian fpeaks, dates from the year 93, before the Chriftian æra; this we learn from Julius Obfequens, who fays (chap. exii.) that it took place during the conful fhip of C. Valerius Flaccus and of M. Herennius Nepos. It was about the fame time, if not at an anterior epoch, that we muft refer the fact relative to Pompeii, of which Tertullian here, likewife, makes mention. His object being to prove that long before the existence of Chriftianity, the world had experienced catastrophes fimilar to those which, in his age, fome were difpofed to confider as owing to the inftitution of the Chriftian religion; he muft therefore, neceffarily only refer to events anterior to the birth of Jefus Chrift. If those which he cites, are only to be dated from the reign of Nero, or ftill later, from the reign of Titus; the difafters that took place at one or other of those two epochs, might have been attributed, it matters not on what foundation, to the Chriftians. We know, for a certainty, that in the year 53, or the 11th of the reign of Nero, in the middle of winter, on the 5th of February, a very violent terræ motus, or earthquake was felt throughout all Campania, which almoft wholly deftroyed the city of Pom.. peii: a portion of the city of Herculaneum was overthrown, and the reft was fhaken. At Naples, no public edifice fell, but many houfes were damaged : this is attested by Seneca, a contemporary author, and perhaps, an eye-witness. The city of Pompeii did not remain always in that state of defolation. Vefpafian favoured it with marks of his protection. An infcription found amongst the ruins of that city, informs us that the Emperor, in the 7th year of his tribunitian power, and in his 7th confulthip, that is to fay, in the courfe of the year 76, caused to be rebuilt at Pompeii the temple of the Mother of the Gods, which had been overthrown by an earthquake. Three years later, in the year 79, the first of the reign of Titus, the famous eruption took place, the details of which have been tranfmitted to us by Pliny the younger. That author does not appear to have exaggerated in his recital. This is not the cafe with Statius, It fhould be obferved here that M. Ignarra affigns no reasons for the motives that have induced him to prefer this reading Pompeois, to the common reading, Tarpeois. It cannot be denied that the latter appears to be the most plaufible. who was, in like manner, a witness of that terrible event, and who was certainly alive at the time when Herculaneum and Pompeii fuffered in that dreadful disaster. Doubtlefs, according to the manner in which the poet expreffes himself, in a piece to Victorius Marcellus (Sylvar. lib. iv. ver. 78.) one would be led to think, that no veftige remained of those two cities. Hæc ego Chalcidicis ad te, Marcelle, fonabam Littoribus, fractas ubi Vefuvius erigit iras, mula Trinacriis volvens incendia flammis. Mira fides! Credet ne virûm ventura propago, Cum fegetes iterum, cum jam hæc deferta virebunt, Infra urbes populofque premi, proavitaque toto. Rura abiifle mari? Nec dum letale minari Ceffat apex. The According to the Account of Pliny, it was on the ift of November, at one o'clock at noon, that the explofion took effect in its full extent. It was at the hour when tre, and we are told by the fame Latin the people were wont to repair to the theawriter, that the people were actually afafter him Lafena were of opinion, that the fembled there. Camillo Peregrini, and cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii never had a theatre, and that the paffage of Dion Caffius, wherein mention is made of an affemblage of the people in that place, difcovery, however, of a theatre at Pomfhould be understood of Naples. that they were mistaken. The inhabitants, peii, as, likewife, at Herculaneum, prove under the direction of officers appointed affifted by the munificence of Titus, and for that purpose, by means of the fums that devolved on that occafion to the fisc, or public treasury, for want of heirs, were enabled to repair in a great measure, the rofe again, and even with luftre, from misfortunes they had experienced. They the fragments and afhes with which they had been encumbered. Statius himself, gives us to understand this, and feems to intimate, in fome measure, that we ought not to interpret, literally, what he had before written to Victorius Marcellus. In another piece addreffed to his fpoufe, and wherein he earnestly invites her to meet him at Naples, he declares, in exprefs terms, that notwithstanding the ravages fuvius, the afpect of that spot had nothing occafioned by the recent eruption of Vedejected in it, and that the towns there were in a flourishing condition. Non adeo Vefuvinus apex et flammea diri Montis hyems trepidas exhaufit civibus urbes ; Stant populifque vigent. How long did the two cities enjoy the fruits of this reftauration? This is a quef |