Description

A PAIR OF SHIPWRECK NARRATIVES 

Dumont, P[ierre]. J[oseph]. Narrative of Thirty-Four Years Slavery and Travels [Bound with:] De May, R. Narrative of the Sufferings and Adventures of Henderick Portenger, a Private Soldier of the Late Swiss Regiment De Meuron, Who Was Wrecked on the Shores of Abyssinia, in the Red Sea. London: Printed for Sir Richard Phillips and Co. Bride-Court, Bridge-Street, 1819. 8vo, later marbled paper over boards with red morocco lettering-piece at spine.

A pair of African shipwreck/captivity narratives, both published as part of no. 3, vol. II of the publisher's [New] Voyages and Travels (1819-1823), but also sometimes found as separate pamphlets or bound together, as here. “Dumont was wrecked in Oct. 1782, on the coast between Oran and Algiers. He was captured by the Berbers ("Koubal"=Kabail), and passed much of his time in Tlemçen and the neighboring country, then to some extent under the control of the Sultan of Morocco, of whom, of the various renegades in that region and of the native customs, he supplies curious if doubtfully authentic particulars.”--Playfair. Portenger and his shipmates were wrecked on the Ethiopian coast en route to Egypt from India on the 7th of June, 1801. Most made it to shore, but the party was soon attacked by native people and many were killed, while others fled, enduring a variety of travails in an inhospitable environment, with little to eat or drink. Portenger and a companion subsequently live essentially as slaves or Christian pariahs in two Muslim villages before being rescued by a British naval ship. However, the captain sends the men back to shore with an armed party to obtain water. The party is attacked and most are killed, including Portenger’s companion. REFERENCES: Playfair, Sir Robert Lambert. A Bibilography of Algeria, Supplement, #4977.

CONDITION: Very good.

Ref#: 3415
 

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