the eye of reason and science. From this extraordinary history it will be seen that in the desert of Africa, the FOULAH'S, or a humane society of Mahometans have associated themselves together, amid barbarism and superstition, to soften the pains of the captured slave. To our shame and honour, we have slaves and Foulahs; at the moment that this article is writing, we have wretches prowling over our land to entrap the infant of the black; but we also have our Foulahs-we have men whose days are spent in giving comfort to the unfortunate, and in shielding the oppressed. written, the account of the Adventures of Capt. Judah Paddock, written by that gentleman himself, has been published; and the two works, that of Riley and of Paddock, are now identified, as they have been published together, are bound together, and their merits must stand or fall together. A few days past a friend put into my hand a copy of each; Riley's work I had read before, and as the foregoing will show, I give to the author my full credence. Paddock's Narrative was entirely new, and it gave me the more satisfaction, because on every subject touched by the two writers, one confirms the veracity of the other. This will appear from a comparison of leading facts laid down in the two narrations. 1st. The cause of the respective ship- I am convinced that it contains some facts respecting the human character that can wrecks. never be too well understood. Facts that may be of the greatest utility in the fu 2d. Capture by the natives of the country. I cannot but recommend, and that with emphasis, this part of Paddock's Narrative to the attention of my countrymen. 3d. Character of those natives, and their ture improvement of our species, and in manners and customs. 4th. Final destination of the respective shipwrecked parties. In all these respects an accordance exists between the two works, which, to all candid minds, will carry more than mere assent to the fidelity of each narrator. Respect for the men will add infinitely to the interest due to their sufferings. I will not swell an already long article by extracts, but will refer to the pages of each, Riley's and Paddock's narrative, where the latter fortifies the correctness of the former in the most important points, and particularly that of the indraught or current, which produced the unfortunate wreck of both vessels, the Oswego and the Commerce; and the law of nations practised upon the African coast, of enslaving all strangers who are thrown upon their shores, and appropriating the property contained in wrecked vessels to their own use. Riley's Narrative, page 26, Paddock's, page 19; Riley, page 30, and I cannot but rePaddock, page 45; commend to very serious attention, Paddock, page 106. The sequel will exhibit, perhaps the most extraordinary picture of human character that ever met future reasoning upon human character. In It would be useless to point out every coincidence between these two authors; most of those who will read this article, will also read, or have already read, both Riley's and Paddock's narrations. point of composition there is a marked difference; Riley's work derives an additional charm from the pleasing style of his narrative; we cannot doubt the auThe unparalleled thenticity of his facts. sufferings of himself and his men, and the signal fortitude with which those suf ferings were withstood; the generous magnanimity of Mr. Willshire and Mr. Sprague; their restoration to their homes and their kindred; and the new and wonderful views of human nature opened to the civilized world by the history of their adventures, form together one of those pictures which will for ages continue to enchant and interest the feelings of maukind. A striking simplicity runs through the whole of Paddock's account; the incidents are touchingly related, without the aid of ornamental language. The facts are at once assented to; the mind does not a moment hesitate to give credence 1 to what is related in a manner so natural the two respectable and interesting men are now in the full enjoyment of all that competence, with family endearment, can give them. By their own firesides they enjoy the heart-felt retrospect of dangers past, and perfect safety and comfort, with the love and esteem of their fellow citi. zens. Those of our countrymen who are actively engaged in assuaging the pains of the African slave, will be gratified to find that in Africa, a SOCIETY exists, whose object is to administer comfort to the Christian slave ! WILLIAM DARBY. ART. 7. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. The following overture toward an agri- government, and from his connexion with the most eminent persons here, he is able to give you in return satisfactory answers to any thing relating to the arts and sciences in Italy, which you may choose to ask of him. I trust, Sir, that you will pardon this and Mr. Ombrosi, to the particular at- intrusion in favour of its motive; and 1 tention of agricultural societies. I have been applied to here for information respecting the culture of potatoes, and the manner, if any there be, of making them into bread in the United States. At the same time inquiry was also made of me, respecting the best modes of making bread of indian corn meal. Unfortunately it is out of my power to give satisfactory answers to these interesting queries; and knowing that the benevolent philan-, thropy of your disposition is equalled only by your great and general information, I determined to take the liberty of soliciting for Mr. James Ombrosi, of this city, your correspondence upon these or similar questions. Mr. Ombrosi is a gentleman of great respectability, who has resided several years in the United States; he is employed in the administration of this beg you to accept the assurance of respectful consideration with which I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, WILLIAM SHALER. CHAS. G. HAINES. then possessed great zeal for collecting your opinion on this subject, which is of instruction, and making constant experi- much importance to the people of Alabaments in the botanical garden established ma, and, in fact, to the nation at large. With high considerations of respect and in the time of Cosmo I. The members, esteem, I remain, Sir, your obedient however, well knew that the study of simservant, ples, herbs, and plants would be promoted by the productions of foreign countries, and intercourse with societies abroad; nevertheless this correspondence has languished of late. I cannot forbear to remark that the prosperity of the United States appears exceedingly propitious to their wishes; and that a proper correspondent in your land, would be of singular benefit to Italy. Any intelligence and parcels with which I shall be honoured, may be addressed to Thomas Appleton, Esq. American Consul at Leghorn, who will forward them to me. I shall have the pleasure of replying through the same channel, and of repaying you by every fact and article which promises advantage to the United States. We should particularly rejoice on receiving botanical notices, relative to the ́science of vegetables, and their employment in medicine and economy. With great esteem and respect, I have the honour to be your most humble and devoted servant, New-York, December 12, 1818. DEAR SIR, It is not without some degree of contrition I acknowledge yours of the 10th ult. but the pressure of preparing my NorthWestern Tour for the press, must plead my excuse. You inform me that some gentlemen from the Alabama territory have applied to you for the seed of the date palm, with an intention to propagate that fruit in that section of the country. You desire my opinion of the probability of success in such an undertaking, which opinion will be frankly given, though it may not possess the value you are so kind as to ascribe to it. The fourth chapter of my Emigrant's Guide is appropriated to discuss the subject, of the useful vegetables that are now cultivated in Alabama, Louisiana, and the southern part of the Mississippi state; as also those plants that I then, when JAMES OMBROSI. writing that work, considered as capable of being introduced into those countries with advantage to the inhabitants. In the latter class, I enumerated the vine, olive, white mulberry, and a species of sesamum, called oriental bhené. I did not mention either the coffee or date, because I did not consider them as capable of being introduced into general culture in any part of the continent of North-America above N. lat. 29o. New-York, Nov. 10, 1818. William Darby, Esq. DEAR SIR, I have recently received an application from a gentleman residing in the Alabama Territory, to procure a quantity of date seed; it being his intention to attempt the cultivation of the date-bearing palm in that section of the Union. To me, some doubt occurs whether the winter frosts incident to that territory will not prove fatal to his enterprising de sign. Knowing your extensive geographical attainments, and presuming you to be well acquainted with the climate and all its vicissitudes, throughout the whole southern country, I have taken the liberty to trespass upon your kindness, and solicit VOL. IV-No. 111. In page 177, of the Emigrant's Guide, I have laid down the following rules, to determine whether any given vegetable can be transplanted into a new situation, or not: 1. The extremes between frosts in the respective places, or, in other words, the length of the absolute summers. 2. The intensity of their winters, and the ordinary quantity of frost and snow. 28 3. The summer life, or, more explicitly, the time between the flower and ripe fruit. 4. The degree of cold at which the tree perishes. These rules, if carefully applied, will obviate the danger of abortive experiment, by determining the practicability or impracticability of any attempt to na turalize a plant. I have no doubt but that a fair vegetable comparison, founded upon the foregoing principles, would blast all reasonable hope of ever introducing the date palm upon either the Alabaina or Mississippi rivers. I will now present you with the data upon which my convictions were formed and have been perpetuated. If either the cotton, sugar cane, indigo plant, tobacco, or maize were perennial plants, they could not exist in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama territory. I have known all those vegetables destroyed by frost, repeatedly, as low as latitude 29° 30′, or half a degree south of the city of New-Orleans. The sweet Seville orange-tree is indeed cultivated in the neighbourhood of New-Orleans, but liable also at that place to be destroyed by frost. The fig of Palestine has been introduced into Louisiana and the adjacent countries, and grows well as high as N. lat. 33°. The latter tree protrudes its leaves on the lower part of the Mississippi, in the latter part of March; the fruit becomes plentiful in the New-Orleans market in the latter end of June. The date palm is a perennial plant, easily destructible by frost, and found only in countries where the winters are extremely mild. Its fruit forms a part of human subsistence in the south of Asia, and in some parts of the north of Africa. It is not cultivated in Spain, the south of Italy, Sicily, or the Greek islands, the only parts of Europe where its existence throughout the year could be supposed possible. Some parts of Andaluzia, Murcia, Valencia, and Grenada, have milder and more uniform winters than are experienced upon the countries watered by the Mobile and Mississippi rivers; the same remark applies to Sicily, Calabria, Candia, and Cyprus. When Dr. S. L. Mitchill's letter upon the date-tree was published, I sought in vain to find, in botanical writers, the smallest information respecting the summer life, the habitudes, or possible transportation of the date-tree. The long Latin name, its being a palm, the number of pistils and stamens, and other things of equal futility, I found from the Systema Naturae, and a number of other collections of hard names. From Miller's ponderous Gardner's Dictionary, I found the mode of cultivating this tree in a hothouse near London. I never before had so much reason to feel the utter uselessness of the mere science of botany. The only valuable information I found upon the subject was from a practical man, who travelled to see matters as they are in nature, and to relate the fruit of his observations in simple terms. Thomas Shaw, D. D. travelled in Palestine, the Levant, and Barbary, about 1722: I have taken the annexed extracts from his work, a copy of which is in the NewYork Library. You will particularly remark the observations of Dr. Shaw respecting the barley and wheat, in places where he expressly declares the cold is too severe to admit the useful culture of the datetree. Barley, in Louisiana and Alabama,` would be scarce in full stalk, much less turned yellow, in April. I have known young cotton killed at Opelousas, N. lat. 30° 30′, after the middle of April, and have also, at the same place, (January, 1812,) seen snow 11 inches deep: this was the same snow-storm mentioned by Mr. Bradbury in his travels, who was then descending the Mississippi near the Lafourche, N. lat. 30° 9'. There is a small difference of temperature between Louisiana and Alabama, in favour of the latter, but not sufficient to balance a degree of latitude. Much the greatest part of the Alabama territory, and all the Alabama river, lies above N. lat. 31°, or directly east of Natches. At the latter place the thermometer was down to 12° above zero in December, 1799, as you may see by referring to the Transactions of the A. P. S. vol. vi. p. 43. and sequel. The work is in the New-York Library. I have quoted the passage E. G. p. 245. and sequel. I was then at Pine Ridge, 8 miles north of Natches, and about 13 miles northwest of where Mr. Dunbar, the author of the communication, resided. The weather was indeed intensely cold, and would have annihilated orange-trees, date-trees, or any other similar tender vegetables. Frosts occurred in the same place in February, 1807, and in December, 1814, more intense than the one recorded by Mr. Dunbar. During the occurrence of the latter, I was in NewOrleans, and saw the ponds, lagunes, and canals near that city completely frozen over, to the thickness of more than an inch. In the winter of 1780, Bayou St. Jean, near New-Orleans, had ice sufficiently strong to admit skating. I was in the country sixteen winters consecutively, and not one passed over without frost, which destroyed cotton, tobacco, indigo, and sugar cane. Very few winters pass away at Natches, N. lat 31° 33', without snow. In brief, from all I have seen, and from all I have read, I would consider the introduction of the two palm-trees, cocoamut and date-plu, into the state of Louisiana, state of Mississippi, or Alabama territory, as equally visionary; and that all attempts at the introduction of the latter will be abortive, I have no doubt. I once believed in the supposed property of vegetables to accommodate themselves to climate; but more experience has exploded in my mind any such opinion. The olive-tree was introduced into France by the Phocians upwards of twenty-two centuries past, and yet, whoever reads the Abbé Rozier's Contrs d'Agriculture will find that the olive-trce is yet a precarious vegetable in France. If any change takes place in vegetables favourable to their supporting a lower temperature than formerly, it is by abridg., ing their summer life, and you will at once perceive that such a change can be only effected in annuals, such as the cerealia, &c. and that if perennials, of which the date-tree is one, were even occasionally, in ten, fifteen, or twenty years, exposed to a destructive frost, such an accident would be fatal to their culture; because, unlike cotton or sugar-cane, they could not be speedily renewed. This is the case with the orange-tree at Opelousas, where repeated attempts have been made to bring it to perfection; but no sooner does the tree arrive at a size which precludes its being covered, than the next winter terminates its existence. No man on earth would more sincerely rejoice than I, if so very valuable a fruit as the date could be produced in Alabama, and adjacent places: as it would contribute to render useful immense tracts of barren, sandy, pine land, but I must consider the introduction into those countries of even the olive, as a very doubtful experiment, and yet the olive grows in Europe and Asia, 10° latitude north of the parallel in which is found the datetree. The following extracts will throw much light upon this subject, and close this already too lengthened communication. In the beginning of April, the barley, all over the Holy Land, was in full ear, and about the middle began to turn yellow in the southern districts. For it was as forward near Jericho, in the latter end of March, as it was found to be, in the plains of Acre, a fortnight after; but the wheat was very little of it in ear, at one or other of these places: and in the fields near Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the stalk was little more than a foot high. The Bocores, or first ripe figs, were hard and no biggerthan our common plums; though they have there a method of making them palatable, by steeping them in oyl." Shaw's Travels, page 364. The description of the month of March and April, in the above, answers, in production, to April and May of Alabama. The fig produces in America three crops, as stated by Dr. Shaw, as taking place |