Voyages to the Coast of Africa by Mess. Saugnier and Brisson, Containing an Account of their Shipwreck on Board Different Vessels, and Subsequent Slavery, and Interesting Details of the Manners of the Arabs of the Desert and of the Slave Trade as Car
London: G.G.J. and J. Robinson, 1792.
Hardcover. Very Good. First Edition in English, translated and compiled from the original French accounts. vii, 500 pp, with folding map of northern Africa. Period calf, gilt rules, lettering on spine. Corners and joints rubbed, some loss of leather at spine ends, a few short, closed tears (no loss) to map. Bookplate of Fraser Mortland. Saugnier was shipwrecked on Jan. 17, 1784, near Cape Leven, and Brisson in July 1785, at Cape Blanco, both in the Spanish zone of Rio del Oro (Cox I, p. 391). "M. Saugnier sailed from Bordeaux in the Deux Amis on December 29, 1783, for Senegal. After encountering storms in the Bay of Biscay the ship was caught in treacherous currents off the coast of Morocco and struck on a sandbank near Cape Non. Most of those on board eventually reached the shore, where they were captured by Arabs, who enslaved them. Saugnier was passed from owner to owner, and finally reached Mogadore, where French and English merchants aided him. He was freed, and returned to France in the fall of 1784. Saugnier seems not to have been badly used by his captors, as compared with Adams, Riley, and Paddock, for instance, who were captured under similar circumstances. He even tells in his narrative of eating truffle while his owner drank camel's milk" (Huntress 114C). He soon went back to Senegal as a slave trader, and a later section of the work provides detailed advice (including lists of provisions and supplies, with prices) for anyone who wants to carry on commerce in the regions, particularly in the slave trade.
Item #13128
Sold