Alexandria Gazette, Commercial And Political

From the Boston Daily Advertiser.

The fifty-second number of the Edinburgh Review contains a very entertaining article on the Narrative of Robert Adams, an American sailor, who was detained as a slave, for several years in the interior of Africa. He sailed from America in June, 1810, in the ship Charles, and proceeding on a trading voyage to the coast of Africa, was shipwrecked near Cape Blanco, 400 miles to the northward of Senegal. The whole crew were there made prisoners by a tribe of Moors. A short time afterwards Adams, with a Portuguese, named Stevens, while on a slaving expedition was captured, with his masters, by a large party of negroes, and sent as prisoners to Tombuctoo, to be sold. He remained at this place six months, and the most important part of his narrative relates to this celebrated city. The size, population, wealth, and civilization of this city have been, according to Adams's account, extravagantly exaggerated. It is large in extent, but the houses are much scattered. The King and Queen, Woola and Fatima, are old, with grey hair, and the latter excessively fat, and dressed in blue nankin. The palace is of mud, and excessively mean. The largest vessels are canoes ten feet long. The soil is easily cultivated, and only with a hoe. The principal food is Guinea corn, ground between two stones, boiled and eaten with goat's milk. No knives, spoons, or other utensils are used at their meals. They have no outward appearances of religion, no house of worship; no priests. They have no shops; the goods imported remain in the king's palace until sold. Adams thinks that no white man had ever been at Timbuctoo before him, from the information he received, and from the curiosity that his colour excited.

After about six months they were ransomed by a party of Moors, and after a distressing journey over the desert, and a variety of interesting adventures, arrived at Wadinoon, where Adams was detained as a slave for a long time, and shockingly maltreated. At length he was ransomed by Mr. Dupuis, the British Vice-Consul at Mogadore. From Mogadore he proceeded to Fez, and thence, under the care of the American Consul, to Cadiz, where he arrived May 17, 1814. After remaining more than a year at Cadiz, he proceeded to Gibraltar, in pursuit of a passage to his native country, but being disappointed, he worked his passage to London. He remained there a short time in extreme poverty and misery. Being accidentally discovered by some gentlemen, who had heard something of his adventures, he was carried to the office of the African committee. He afterwards underwent various examinations, although very reluctant to delay his embarkation for America, by a number of gentlemen, from the result of which examinations the narrative is compiled. A variety of circumstances are related, as tests of the credibility of Adams, all of which are so decidedly conclusive in his favour, that there is very little reason to doubt his veracity, or the general accuracy of his narrative.

The following is an extract from the part of the narrative which describes the journey of 29 days across the Desert from udenog to Wled Duleim, during which, they did not meet with a human being, or see a tree or shrub, or even a blade of grass. They suffered greatly from food and water, the season being uncommonly dry, and the usual watering places failing.

"The Moors who had been in confinement at Tombuctoo, becoming every day weaker, three of them in the four following days lay down, unable to proceed. They were then placed upon the camels; but continual exposure to the excessive heat of the sun, and the uneasy motion of the camels, soon rendered them unable to support themselves, and towards the end of the second day they made another attempt to pursue their journey on foot, but could not. The next morning at day break they were found dead on the sand, in the place where they had lain down at night, and were left behind without being buried. The next day another of them lay down and like his late unfortunate companions, was left to perish. But on the following day, one of the Moors determined to remain behind, in the hope that he who had dropped the day before, might still come up, and be able to follow the party. Some provisions were left for him. At this time it was expected, what proved to be the fact, that they were within a day's march of their town, but neither of the men ever afterwards made his appearance, and Adams has no doubt that they perished."