purpose, so that, after staying two days among them, the Shekh restored to us all that had been taken from us, and mounting us upon camels, and giving us a conductor, he forwarded us to Bengazi, where we arrived the second day in the evening. Thence I sent a compliment to the Shekh, and with it a man from the Bey, intreating that he would use all possible means to fish up some of my cases, for which I assured him he should not miss a handsome reward. Promises and thanks were returned, but I never heard further of my instruments; all I recovered was a silver watch of Ellicot, the work of which had been taken out and broken, some pencils, and a small port-folio, in which were sketches of Ptolemeta; my pocket-book too was found, but my pencil was lost, being in a common silver case, and with them all the astronomical observations which I had made in Barbary. I there lost a sextant, a parallactic instrument, a time-piece, a reflecting telescope, an achromatic one, with many drawings, a copy of M. de la Caille's ephemerides down to the year 1775, much to be regretted, as being full of manuscript marginal notes; a small camera obscura, some guns, pistols, a blunderbuss, and several other articles.
I found at Bengazi a small French sloop, the master of which had been often at Algiers when I was consul there. I had even, as the master remembered, done him some little service, for which, contrary to the custom of that sort of people, he was very grateful. He had come there laden with corn, and was going up the Archipelago, or towards the Morea, for more. The cargo he had brought was but a mite compared to the necessities of the place; it only re-lieved
