puration commenced; on the fourth day, my tortures were so great, that the Arabs took compassion on me, and, loosening my bonds, allowed me to crawl to a neighbouring village, where some kind people, pitying my sufferings, did every thing which lay in their power to alleviate them. I remained with them two weeks.

"Finding, however, my case getting daily worse, I determined to return to Tunis, with the expectation to find there medical assistance. After six most painful days, I arrived at my intended destination, where I applied for protection to Cav. Truqui, consul-general for Sardinia and Austria, who, I must confess, to the honour and humanity of that gentleman, received me very kindly, and promised to assist me to get back to my native country."

Such is his own tale. Cav. Truqui* has, according to his promise, assisted him to get back to his native place, which by this time, I dare say, he has reached.

The reader has now seen various ways how converts are added to the Mohammedan faith; but there is one more, which, though last, is not the least. The Mohammedan has also recourse to our Scriptures to prove from them that Mohammed is a true

* Since I wrote the above, Cav. Truqui has met with an untimely death at Florence. He was on his way to visit his family, then residing at Turin. His loss will be felt by a great many, as those who knew him could not but love and respect him. The poor and unfortunate have lost in him a protector; his government, a faithful servant; his equals, a true companion; whilst in his family, his loss will be felt as a tender husband and an affectionate father.

prophet. The passages which they adduce are as follows: Deut. xxxiii. 2; Ps. 1. 2; Isa. xxi. 7 ; John vi. 7: passages which, every sensible reader will see, deserve no refutation. But no sooner do they find that these passages can be proved to have not the slightest reference to their prophet,* than they tell you that there were many others, both in the Old and New Testament, but that the Jews and Christians corrupted them. Mohammed has even the audacity to say that our Lord predicted his coming. The passage to which I allude is found in the chapter entitled " Battle Array," and runs thus: " And when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, O children of Israel, verily I am the apostle of God sent unto you, confirming the law which was delivered before me, and bringing good tidings of an apostle who shall come after me, and whose name shall be Ahmed," [or Mohammed.]

I had, on one occasion, a conversation with a Mohammedan priest on the subject of religion, and referring him to several passages of the Old Testament, which he found bore too hard upon him, he had the impudence to tell me, "Though I acknowledge your Scriptures to be divine, yet you must bear in mind that your books have been corrupted, and are, therefore, no more of the same force.' In reply to which I said, that it was absurd to make such a bare assertion without being able to prove it. I could do the same with regard to the Koran, and

*The Rev. Mr Ewald, late missionary in Tunis, published a course of letters on this subject in Arabic, wherein he most satisfactorily refutes his opponent, a Mohammedan priest.

that upon better grounds; as it is confessed that Mohammed left his pretended revelation in a disordered state, and Abu Bacre, after the death of his master, collected many passages, which had either been committed to memory by Mohammed's followers, or which had been written in fragments, upon palm-leaves or skins, and digested them into the present order. They could not prove that Abu Bacre was infallibly guided in disposing of them in the manner he did.* But besides mentioning that our Scripturest were extant, long before Mohammed made his appearance, in various languages, and in various countries, and, upon comparing these copies, the difference is only such as may consistently be expected in translations; or besides laying any stress upon the pains which the Jews took in preserving the purity of the Old Testament, which amounts almost to superstition,-I ask, why did the Jews not obliterate those remarkable prophecies which refer to Jesus of Nazareth? why did they not corrupt them? How is it that two nations,

*See Reland's Life of Mohammed.

"They (Mohammedans) would have it believed that this holy book (the Bible) is corrupted; but we can show them the same passages, which we make use of to oppose them, in the versions that preceded Mohammed, and in the Fathers of the six first centuries. We must oblige them to prove their senseless accusations, and ask them the epocha of the corruption. When they are shown that it was impracticable from the time of the apostles till that of their false prophet, it may be hoped they will open their eyes to the knowledge of the truth, and condemn the seduction by which both they and their ancestors were abused."-Historical and Critical Reflections upon Mohammedanism and Socinianism.

diametrically opposed to each other in their sentiments, should have combined together in adulterating the fundamentals of their respective religions, merely to oppose Mohammed, and that for no plausible reason whatsoever? Further, the Jews never suffered so much from the followers of Mohammed as they did (and, I am sorry to say, in many countries, still do) from those who called themselves the disciples of the meek and lowly Jesus; and yet, how is it that they left all those remarkable and plain prophecies which refer to our Lord? Why do they acknowledge them as belonging to the volume of inspiration? And for what reason should they have corrupted those prophecies which referred to Mohammed? No reason, I am sure, can be assigned for this groundless charge.

These arguments had the desired effect, and the priest, though I often conversed with him after this, never repeated the same objection.

CHAPTER VII.

Cruelty of the people of Asemorn.-Abdallah is sold to Bo Azes. His journey to the Owlad Matta, over whom Bo Azes is governor.-The tribe surprised by an enemy.They meet the enemy.-Gelela, son of Bo Azes, is killed by the chief of the enemy.-Retreat of the Owlad Matta. -Mourning for Gelela.-Death of his wife.-Sickness of Abdallah.-Cruelty towards him.-Meets a German at Bo Saida, and gets attached to him.-The German sold.

I MUST now beg my reader to return with me to Asemorn, where we left Abdallah. The cruelty of the inhabitants of Asemorn has been sufficiently seen from the treatment I recorded; but their inhuman disposition did not take its stóp here. Abdallah was by them very badly treated: the clothes he had they took from him, and left him only a shirt and a small flannel, which was to serve him both for dress and bedding in the midst of winter. With these merciless creatures he had to remain for some time, till one day a well-dressed Bedouin Arab, in passing through the village on his return to his tribe, the Owlad Matta, then three days' journey from Asemorn, bought him for three camels. The Arab's name was Bo Azes; he was the chief of the above tribe.

Early the following morning, the slave departed with his new master; an old lean mare, without saddle or bridle, was destined to carry the for