FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY /¥SSo Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/amuletOOhall AMULET. EDITED BY S. C. HALL. LONDON : FREDERICK WESTLEY AND A. H. DAVIS. WILLIAM JACKSOX, NEW YORK. MDCCCXXN.VI. LONDON: 3. HADDON AXD CO., DOCTORS' COMMONS CONTENTS. Sour Grapes. By Lamau Blanchaid 7 The Island of Jerbi. By Thomas Kerrich 9 The Hermit's Grave. By L. E. L. . . . . . .38 Morning Hymn. By the Ettrick Shepherd . . . .42 The Spirit of the First Emigrant By the Author of * Corn-Law Rhymes." ■ . .44 The Drowned Fisherman. By Mrs. S. C. Hall . . . .46 Ludlam's H when th< object of our desire begins to lose its attraction in our eyes." Mr. Collins—Pride and Prejttdice. Those tempting grapes ! — how rich their hue, Amidst the green on which they rest ! Their purple blood seems bursting through, As eager to be pressed. A bunch of beauty ! — hue and shape Combined to form the fair design ; A group of fairy globes — each grape A little world of wine ! .Most beautiful to every sense ; The heart drinks pleasure through the eye- ; And now its longing grows intense — The hand would seize the prize. SOUR GRAPES. It seizes — no ! but try again ; Another catch — on tip- toe try ; One effort more ; — the hope is vain, They hang so very high. A dreary change — a chilling shade, A sudden breath of blighting power, Falls on the grapes — their colours fade — The fruit, in fact, is sour ! So is it with us ; hour by hour, Age after age ; and this were meet, If calling sweets beyond us sour, Could make our sours more sweet. It may be wise to scorn the prize, For which in vain we read or wrote ; But wiser far to see a star Still radiant, though remote. If happy he, who, should he miss The fruit, can pass it as pernicious, More bless'd his lot, who, losing bliss, Still thinks the grapes delicious ; — Who sees the crowning cluster — where His hand may reach in two more summers And laughs, and leaves its sweetness there. A feast for after-comers. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ISLAND OF JERBI, AND THE TOWER OF HUMAN' HEADS. From information obtained on a visit to that Island during the Summer of 1833. BY THOMAS KERRICH. It will doubtless sound rather singular to the reader, that a person should undertake a voyage to the coast of Barbary, beginning in June and continuing throughout the three following months, for pleasure and not from necessity ; yet such was the case, in spite of anticipated heat. In conjunction with some relatives, I hired a good stout brigantine of 120 tons, which was entirely at our disposal for any length of time, at a stipulated price per month. We sailed direct for Algiers, but from baffling winds and calms, were some time before we made this new colony of France. Of this paltry possession I will say nothing, as it is now so well known, and has been so 10 ISLAND OF JERBI. often described in different colour?. Suffice it that we were treated with every attention by the governor, not- withstanding an idea at first prevalent, that we were accredited emissaries, charged to spy out the nakedness of the land. After a fifteen days' stay, we coasted to Bona, another point of French occupation. We put in here for two reasons ; first, to know if there were any foundation in the report of two Greek pirates being out ; and secondly, to visit the remains of the ancient Hippo Regius ; — antiquities being the principal object of our trip. I cannot say we were here treated as civilly as at Algiers, owing to our having a renegade Moorish Jew on board our vessel, as interpreter, who had been, by chance, for a short time, in the service of the Ex-Dey, when at Naples. We had landed very early in the morning, and having procured an escort of about two hundred Arabs, in French pay, under the command of the well- known Yusuf, scoured the woods, which lie about a mile from the town, and visited the remains of the city above-named. If I were to describe this little excursion in full, it would take up too much of my brief space ; suffice it, therefore, to say it was one I never shall forget. The novelty of the scene, the exquisite scenery itself, the wildness of the Arabs, dashing over every impediment in their way, a chance shot or two, which led us to expect an attack from the enemy, and consequent preparations, all combined to produce a degree of excitement, which has left a lasting impression of delight in my mind. Before, however, we had quite completed our excursion, and in the midst of our enjoyment, the escort was recalled by an aide-de-camp from the town, and any future pleasures we ISLAND OF JERBI. 11 had proposed to ourselves, were soon after damped by a most singular act of the Commandant of the place. We had returned on hoard our brig for dinner, intending to re-land and pay our respects to him in the evening, but, during our meal, were not a little surprised at seeing a man-of-war's boat pull alongside, whose officer informed us that he had to transmit the notification, that no one belonging to the vessel would be permitted to land. This, on the part of the officer despatched, was done in the most polite way imaginable ; although we were further requested to get under weigh as soon as possible. I have every reason to suppose, that this curious proceeding (for which no plea was at the moment given) arose from pique on the part of the General, at our not having waited upon him immediately on arriving, but on remonstrance, he informed us, that our having an agent of the Ex-Dey, in the person of our Moorish Jew, on board our vessel, fully justified him in preventing any communication with the shore. Owing to foul winds, we were obliged to stay two days longer ; during which time we received several milder messages from the town, giving permission to land, with the exception of the servants ; but at the same time I must conceive the General mistrusted us, for even our water- casks were examined by the corvette near us, lest arms should be carried on shore when the boats went to water. We declined availing ourselves of the permis- sion to land, as we had already drawn up a statement of our case, to our Consul at Algiers. This, I feel happy I have it in my power to say, was instantly attended to by the Governor, and in consequence the General received an appropriate reprimand. ] 2 ISLAND OF JEREI. We met with nothing but calms and light winds on our way to Tunis. This dull and monotonous life was once changed by our having one night to muster all hands on deck, as a long, suspicious-looking craft, full of men, refused to answer our repeated hailing, and was nearly alongside of us. It was only when they perceived us to be well-furnished with arms, and giving unequivocal signs of our proceeding to use them, that they bore away when within pistol-shot. Their design was evident : if they had found us unprepared, they would have boarded us, but the light of a fuzee proved to them that the attempt would not be unattended with risk to themselves. Our reception at Tunis is not to be forgotten. Every- one who has been received at the Abdalleah,* has found -hospitality in deeds, not words. We spent some time here, as our vessel had to be careened ; but that time was pleasantly passed. The vicinity of the plains of Carthage caused many an interesting walk. When our brig was ready, we sailed towards Tripoli, having fixed to take Medhdia, Susa, Sfakus, and the island of Jerbi, in the way. From Medhdia, our Arab pilot conducted us to Sfakus, through the narrow and intricate passage of the Kerkenna Isles. Those who have been either through this passage, or seen Captain Smyth's beautiful chart of this perilous coast, will know, or easily judge, how hazardous the undertaking is, unless there be every favour- able chance of sea and wind. If the former be not calm, no vessel drawing seven feet water, can pass without bump- ing. Our passage was in every way successful ; although, at times, we felt a little nervous, inasmuch as the lead-line * Abdallcah, The residence of the British Consul. ISLAND OF JEEBI. 13 constantly told us we had but fifteen inches of water under the keel of the brig. " Providence is great !" said our Arab. We anchored at Sfakus, from whence we made a most interesting journey inland as far as El-Jemme,* where there is a most splendid and perfect amphitheatre, built, it is supposed, by Gordian. On our return from this excur- sion, which took up five days, we proceeded direct to the island of Jerbi.f Our reasons for visiting this place were various. First, we had heard reports, although contradictor)', of ancient remains ; next we were induced by curiosity, for almost every one is more or less curious to see places very little known ; and lastly, we were tempted by the facility of visiting it, being within a few hours' sail, with a fair wind ; besides which, our time was our own, and we did not care much whither we went. The appearance of the island, as viewed from the anchorage, (which is four miles out) is not worthy of remark, as little of it is to be seen, owing to the extreme flatness of the land, such being the character of that part of the coast of Barbary. The tops of the lofty date-trees, which appeared to cover the island, were the only distinguishable objects. These trees are here most beautiful ; the most so, indeed, I ever saw, especially as I beheld them to advantage, clothed, as they were, in the lustrous yellow garlands of their delicious fruit. The island is famous for dates, and olives. Of the latter tree, I saw some trunks partly decayed, of immense dimensions. * El-Jemme was the ancient Thyrsus. t Vertot Gelve:-. p. 247, Tom. iii. calls it Gelves or Gerbi ; atrain, p. 333, Zerbi or 14 ISLAND OF JEREI. I witnessed an Arab ride through an aperture in one, on horseback. We found here, that a considerable commerce in the particular produce of the country was carried on. Great quantities of oil are exported, also date-brandy and fine wool. Jerbi is famous for its manufactures of sefsaars, and bournoozes, which compose the clothing of the Arabs. There are also considerable potteries. Water is bad and bitter, and though the mastic-bush grows here, I am not sure whether in sufficient quantities to answer the labour of gathering the gum. Jerbi belongs to the Pashalic, or kingdom, of Tunis, and is nearly on its con- fines towards that of Tripoli, from which place I should imagine it to be distant nearly 130 miles in a straight line. At a guess, I should put down the island in dimensions at about 20 miles in length and breadth, its extremities bearing, as near as can be, to the four cardinal points of the compass. I was much struck with the island, and as much so with the natives, who seem unadulterated Arabs. In every new scene, some points may forcibly strike one per- son's fancy, whilst others may catch another ; but there is an object in this little island which can hardly fail to call the attention of even a casual visitor; and which must arrest the attention of every one Mho takes a deeper inte- rest in the fate and history of those who have preceded us on the surface of a globe which, even in its most desert spots, presents mementos fraught with moral instruc- tion in the history of ages passed away ; — this is no other than a pyramidal monument of human skulls, embedded in masonry, situated at the usual landing-place on the sea- shore. ISLAND OF JERBI. ]j As to its history I was for a time quite at a loss, but trusted some local tradition might be brought to light, which would put me on the track of discovering it. True it is, I was aware of the island having been the scene of more than one sanguinary contest betwixt the " true believers " and the " dogs of Christians," as the Turks are wont to express themselves ; and, although fairly acquainted with the details of these combats, yet I could in no wise tax my memory with having either read or heard of the building of such a barbarous monument. Amongst the various trophies of victory, or vengeance, to be met with in the wide world, this one is, I believe, soli- tary. In the flush of victory, barbarian conquerors have caused piles of slaughtered enemies' heads to be erected at the very entrances of their tents, in order that their eyes might feast on the " bloody and gory harvest ; " but I feel sure that a solid, compact monument of " heads," bedded in masonry, like the present, exists nowhere but in the little known, and less frequented, island of Jerbi. In shape the aforesaid monument may be most aptly com- pared to one of the great Senegal ants' nests ; conical, but not coming to an abrupt point, from 30 to 35 feet high, and 25 in diameter at its base. The whole consists, or is formed, of human heads, in layers, supported on thigh- bones. It appears, that in the first instance, these were simply filled up without any other material, but afterwards emplastered with cement to preserve the whole from the sea-spray. This is obvious ; as, on the side facing the sea, the cement has, in part, given way, and the skeleton heads are for a considerable space exposed to view I have now in my possession some teeth, extracted 10 ISLAND OF JERBI. in my presence by one of our sailors, who climbed to the top of the tower, using irreverently many an empty mouth with his foot as the steps of a ladder. I learned from our Arab pilot that the tower was called Burj-er-Roos, and that it was formed of Christian heads ; but as to any thing more, he seemed to think it of no earthly conse- quence. I had first addressed myself to him in particular, as he was a native of the island. I then tried many other persons, but with no better success ; so that I was half- inclined to despair of ever finding out the real history of this extraordinary construction. We were luckily fur- nished with every requisite order from the Bey of Tunis, to the Governors of the different places in the Pashalic which we might visit, and we were thus sure of every possible attention. Amongst the rest we had a letter to the Kaiade or Governor of Jerbi. He himself was absent, but his locum tenens proved just as useful as the principal could have been. He was a fine, old, thorough-going Mussulmaun, one who, scorning the reforming principles of the day, would as soon have eaten " pork sold by a Jew," as have clipped his fine beard to dimensions laid down by tariff from Stambool ; yet he was liberal in his ideas, for he took wine — but as medicine ; and liked nun better, because it was stronger. When " drinking a pipe "* with him, a bottle of old Jamaica used, quite by chance, of course, to appear from the dragoman's pocket ; upon which his eyes would strangely dilate, and his lips half give out a Wuliah ! W'ullah ! I used on such occasions to feign my surprise as naturally as I could. He, in return, swore by " his * An ordinary eastern term for smoking. ISLAND OF JERBI. 17 beard and father's grave," that I could be nothing else than a " true believer," and devoutly wished, he said, that 1 might " safely pass over the narrow-edged bridge to Paradise." To a certain degree, I believe these pious wishes for my future welfare, arose from a humble gift of a brace of Birmingham pistols, expressly perpetrated, by conscientious makers, for the use of " true believers ;" but we have no right to judge of motives. For my own part, I consider the gift as extremely trifling, inasmuch as I would, on no consideration, have fired them off when loaded in the Turkish fashion. Customs and ideas are fortunately different. The Mussulmaun trusts in Fate to such an extent as sometimes to neglect even common precautions. * The Sub-Kaiade and myself speedily becoming friends, I prevailed upon him, without much difficulty, to promise me a visit on board our vessel — after giving him an assurance of finding something better than plain kous-kous. He kept his word — came — enjoyed himself vastly — ate hugely — and swallowed divers doses of his pseudo-medicine in as * I must here venture to quote what I myself have witnessed, as an instance. At Tunis, by permission, we visited the Powder-Manufactory : it so happened that it took place after our ha\ing been presented to the Bey, so that we were in uniform, and, to make the matter worse, cavalry uniform. On entering the Manufacture, we were rather surprised at finding part of the guard quietly enjo\ing their pipes under the archway, within a few yards ouly of mans cuts. of powder drying on frames. One spark, carried by a sudden gust of wind, would have sent them, us, and the fabrique Heaven knows where. This is not all. We went through the place with our sabres on, not to name spurs. Some of the mules, too, working at the mill, were shod, and very little attention seem- ed to be paid as to whether or not there were Hints on the ground. And yet, who ever heard of an explosion of a Turkish powder mill i At Tunis, at least, the thing was never dreamt of as probable, or possible; and I was informed, nevtr hud in the memory of the inhabitants occurred. Go into an English store- room, and behold list shots, &c. And yet, where has Dartford, &c. been more thau once. 18 ISLAND OF JERBI. many shapes as presented. All seemed alike to him, pro- vided there was a sufficiency of alcohol in the material. I took the slight precaution, at our repast, of serving the wine in earthen jugs, so that he might not see its colour, and the consequence was, that not seeing it, his light con- scientious feelings about openly drinking the forbidden liquor were tranquillized at the very smallest expense imaginable. I must remark, that to liqueurs he made no objection whatever, as they were classed outside of the pale of wine. Champagne was put down on the list as bubbling sugar and water ; porter as barley-water, &c. Indeed, I cannot to this day comprehend how the old man contrived to swallow so much indiscriminate spirituous liquid without showing its unequivocal effects. Wondering at the supernatural solidity of the Sub-Kaiade's cranium, I thought this the moment (one evidently of great satis- faction to himself) to begin my inquiries respecting the " Tower of Heads. " After a great deal of palaver, if I may use the term, in which I perceived a decided reluctance on the part of the Moor to answer some questions I caused to be put to him through the dragoman, the conversation took a regular form. It was most richly interlarded with true Islamite phrases, of which I shall not insert the whole, as they might offend more delicate ears than mine own. I firmly believe the Moor did not intend them to come to my hearing, but the rogue of a dragoman was so hugely tickled with them, that not only did he translate them literally, but at the same time kept so marvellously steady a face and bearing, that the scene was doubly enriched. Although Ali the interpreter cared not a bunch of dates ISLAND OF JERBI. 19 tor the Sub-Kaiade, yet, to appearance, he was all humility, as the following brief conversation between them will evince : — " Might your servant," said he, at the same time filling the Moor's glass with neat rum, which quickly disappeared with a grunt of satisfaction, " presume to ask on the part of his Master, if it enters into your memory, to relate when and why the Burj-er-Roos was erected." " How should I know ? " replied the Moor, " when it was before my father's father's time — may their graves be undefiled, and rest in peace ! " •' But still," insinuated Ali, " you might recall some of your father's words respecting it, as one remembers the secrets of hidden treasures handed down to us in the same way. " " Aha !" said the Moor, " is that it ? Well, but they are words only after all. I have heard something about the Tower, but— (puff, puff, from his pipe and mouth) I cannot exactly recollect now. Hark ye (sotto voce to the dragoman) the tower of which you are talking, is built of ' Christian dogs' ' heads ; and, between our- selves, I wish their fathers roasted in hell, so that it won't suit me to say too much on the subject in your Master's presence ; and yet (puff, puff) I cannot, Ali, believe that he is really an infidel " (here, I must observe, he looked at and handled the afore-named two pistols committed to his charge, which were at the very moment swelling his belt. ) " You judge rightly of my master," replied Ali, " for he loves the Mussulmauns, detests the Greeks, and delights in hearing of the noble deeds of the true believers of Islam." r •> 20 ISLAND OF JEitBI. " If that be the case," cried the Moor, " Inshallah, I will tell him all I know about the tower. Ask him to drink a pipe with me to-morrow. But Wullah ! Wullah ! is it not odd to make such a whirlwind of dust about a few dogs' heads ? (puff, puff, and again sotto voce in a kind of running bass growl) may their livers be turned into pomegranates and eat by Jew pigs. May the father of all dogs defile their graves," &c. &c. " Is there no writing about it," resumed Ali. ■• Writing! writing!" hastily replied the old Moor, " the curse of Shitaun* on writing ! What should they do with writing in these days ? Mashallah ! I can only write my name, and never yet required more." Here, the conversation dropping, my friend took some more pseudo-medicine, and, tumbling into his boat, owing to wind and tide, was soon out of sight. As may be readily imagined, I did not fail to wait upon the Moor, according to appointment, to hear the story of the Burj-er-Roos. I made my notes, and took my sketch, and embarking at " high water," from the remains of an ancient mole or pier most narrowly escaped being swamped in returning to the ship, the kindness of our Moorish friend having loaded the boat to the gunwale with provisions. The word, " high-water," used in regard to the Medi- terranean, sounds extravagant, for the tides, in general, are scarcely perceptible. At Naples I have noticed a rise and fall of from three to four inches ; at Venice, of two inches, and this is only on dose attention to be discovered. At Jerbi, the tide rises and falls above eight English feet. * Or Uie Evil Spirit. ISLAND OF JERBI. 21 It is passing strange that no decided notice has been made in modern times of tins extraordinary fact ; for I find in old books, relative to the sanguinary struggles betwixt the Christians and infidels in the time of Sulei- man the Great, frequent mention of strong currents, which left the coast at times dry for a great distance out to sea. Both Turkish and Christian accounts of the Spanish inva- sion of Jerbi, agree that the great slaughter the Spaniards sustained on that occasion, was owing to their finding their boats, which they had left afloat on landing, high and dry* when they returned in flight. The water on this coast is very shallow, so much so as to cause vessels drawing seven feet as we did, to anchor at the distance of four miles. The first time I went on shore it was nearly low water, and I was obliged to be carried a long way on a sailor's back to land dry, our boat having grounded. So scanty was the water for the last two miles, that we were obliged to keep a look-out at the bow, to prevent our deviating from a narrow kind of channel of deeper water which we had got into,f and which made our course any thing but straight. A second boat, determining to be wiser, took a * See Vertot, page 403, Tom. iii., Les Galeres qui faute de I'eau se trouve- rent alors arretees dans le Bancs de sabie qu'on appellent les seches ou les Basses. Again, page 393, La Flotte remit a hi voile, tint la route de Tripoli, et s'arreta aux sechi'S de Palo ainsi appellez a cause de differens courants qui laissent quelquefois cet eudroit de la mer a sec. t It appears the nature of the coast has not varied for centuries, if we take Vertot as authority, for I find a remark made by him, and put into the mouth of one of the knights of Malta engaged in an expedition to another part of the island, previous to the Spanish invasion — fully coinciding in my observations as marked. Veitot, page 343, Tom. iii., L'eau, comme vous scavez, est basse— et s'il se trouve, comme on dit, entre les baucs de sable quelques caneux plus profonds, Sec. ic. 22 ISLAND OF JERBI. direct course for the landing-place, grounded, and had to wait two hours before she floated. That day returning to our ship, I stepped, as I have before said, into the boat from the pier, which, on landing, I had been obliged to climb up. I then calculated the rise of tide at six feet, but after observation, proved it at least eight. One mea- surement came to ten, but I must remark there was a strong on-shore breeze. This rise and fall can apparently proceed from no other than the ordinary cause of tides in other places. It may be supposed, indeed, to take place from a column of water constantly propelled by some local pressure of the air against the island ; but were this column to be six feet only, it must require the aid of something more than a land breeze, however strong, to prevent this peculiarly low place from being undermined or inundated, as the occurrence is frequent, and the sup- posed remedy not so sure. Respecting the tides, however, I have only named what I, in conjunction with many others, witnessed, and took notes of. In what I have collected respecting the Burj-er-Roos,* I have been at great pains to keep to historical facts, as I believe no description has ever yet been given of it — at least not that I am aware of. Of the Sub-Kaiade's tradition I have only availed myself as suited my purpose, without deviating from the main facts. The island of Jerbi appears to have been first conquered and partly colonized by the Eastern Arabs during the * I may here observe that on writing to a relative much more conversant than myself in Antiquities, about the island of Jcrbi, he informs me that its ancient, name was Menics, which, in Punic, literally means the place of reced- ing waters. This is a singular and most interesting piece of information. 1 am also indebted to the same person for much information respecting the Turkish accounts of the island. ISLAND OF JERBf. 23 campaign of Basher, under the reign of Moawyah I. (about, I believe, the forty-second year of the Hegira) and, secondly, a few years after, more completely so by the great conqueror of Africa, Akbah, whose tomb is still to be seen at Keerwan, the African Mekkah of Islam, about three days march from Tunis in the interior. At the time of the Spanish expedition, of which I am about to speak, Jerbi, although governed by a native chief, formed part of the Pashalic of Tripoli, and was tributary to the Porte. In the year 1561 (Vertot says 1559), Philip II. of Spain, at the instigation of La Valette, the famous Grand Master of Malta, caused a numerous body of veterans, and a strong squadron of galleys, to be collected to form a junction with the marine force of the Order, with a view of retaking the city of Tripoli. That place had been a short period before so slightly defended by the Knights, then in possession of it, that it fell an easy prey to the notorious Dorghooth, but not without suspicion of treachery being entertained by many to the great scandal of the Christian world at large. The grand Master at that period was D'Omedes, between whom and the knights were constant accusations and recrimination in this dis- graceful affair. Dorghooth, who saw the importance of his conquest as a stronghold from whence he could easily annoy the Christian trade, immediately busied himself, not only in repairing the old fortifications, but in building new and formidable batteries, which rendered the re-cap- ture of the place in no way easy. Such was the state of affairs at Tripoli when the expedition for its recovery was first proposed. The fleet of the Christians amounted to 24 ISLAND or .n.KLI. iitty galleys, and twenty-eight Large transports, commanded by the veteran Doria, and had on board 30,000 of the best troops of the day, besides a considerable number of knights, a matter of no mean importance in those day-. ( If this force, and its destination, Dorghooth had timely notice from his well-paid emissaries, and instantly dis- patched a light brigantine to Stambool for aid. Scandal even goes so far as to say, hi- information was received from some of the knights themselves in revenge for their having been degraded after the fall of Tripoli. Lacerda, Duke of Medina Cceli, just appointed viceroy of Sicily, was named commander-in-chief of the land force. All, except Doria, thought the fall of Tripoli a certainty. He, taught by experience, always cautiously examined the characters and bearings of the person> with whom he had to act in concert ; and in the present case, a few days at Malta (the general rendezvous) convinced him that the opinion he had formed of Lacerda's talents, courage, and intentions,* was not founded on loose grounds, as the sequel will show. The arrogance of this man was beyond common conception, on finding himself the Leader of such a formidable expedition. He loudly boasted of nothing less than the total extirpation of the Islamite power in Africa; but, to use an old proverb, the dog that barks loud bites not. The armament sailed from Malta under the most favourable auspices, in excellent order, and full * Vertot, in nauiiiiLr Lacerda, >a>- that he Formed a plan of operation. " D'tiH ii esperoit irouver dt in floiri sam perit. n N<'« the rorkiah acooant. Dragut, or Dor ghooth, reported Lacerda, ai tht Vorlt "as a eompmmmdtj htm- . mill gazelli liven." \i the Bame tunc he tald, " Tk* fit I manded l"j tin Lion-eattr, touUtonsumtng, u>t