Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1825-08-06

manaCieS and CHAINS. was CaptlVe,
and 10 the Moor.
"sAllah !Ackbar'-Allah Ackbar,
was the loud shout; and the poor mari
ners Of Naples walled bitterly; and |
was bound and dumb.
"They rowed us rapidly away, and
their other boat kept close to us; and
they were tawney men, with small skull
caps ofred, and no hair but the fero-
cious mustache; and necks naked and
bull-like; and the butts of pistols, and
the hits of daggers, stuck out from
their girdles; and they laughed as they
rose TO their oars, and shouted, as in
chorus, allah Ackbar.'
Gin the pale grey hour of early dawn
we came alongside large armed YES
sci. A golden flowerpot, with green
and yellow roses, was painted on its
stern; a flag, biood-red, with the half
moon embroidered on it, hung calmly
floating above; and as we came upon
the deck, the crew were rising from
their rest; and some were combing out
the beard; some curling their musta-
ches; some amounting the shaven head;
some lifting water, and performing the
prescribed additions: and they looked
up at us, as we were driven forward,
with hooking grins, and cruel eyes,
and coniemptuous hate. All chained
and wretched as / was, something no.
vel in this sight, a something realizing
old descriptions, moved me 10 kind
of secret pleasure, and now the light
broke brighter, and one voice, loud,
deep, and mellow, was lifted up, and
you could not hear any sound beside,
were it even the rustic of garment;
once my chains clanked, and eyes
glared on me, and held them STILL
In the short call, my ear caught six
times repeated the allah Ackbar;' and
! could distinguish 'Mahomed Resoul
Allah,' and Illah Illalah-'la Illah H.
lalah;' and the Moors all rose, and stood
with naked feet, and with the open
hands of peaceful salutation, and they
raised them to their shoulders, and
crossed them on their bodies, and si-
Iently, or with soft under voice, they
prayed after their leader; and they
burst out at each pause with the loud
amen: and eight times they Frustrated
themselves, and with their foreheads
humbly pressed the deck. The black
slave, and the Aga in his full ,urban,
side by side, and their faces all turned
to the sacred Mecca. Deeply the scene
impressed me. ] felt as the great pain
ter, when a prisoner among banditti,
that it were sight TO charm away for
a moment the sense of misery. AS my
eyes rested OH the groupe, methought
one face was known to me; large mus
taches of a thick bristly red, overshad-
owed in part mouth hideous with a
broken tooth; one eye was half closed,
the other scowled sullenly beneath the
turbanfolds; the blue collarless Turkish
vest showed thick strong neck; and
broad Herculean shoulders spread with
a bursting strength beneath; leg OF
vast proportions pillared the giant
frame, and his voice was like no other,
and his salaamirgs and prostrations
were done with clumsy, reluctant Ell
fort. could not be mistaken: 1t was
the Lisbon robber-the violator-he
that murdered the fair girl.
"The prayers w're no sooner over
than we captives were summoned to
the poop. The Rails was short, thin,
pale, cruel looking man, The deck
was crowded; but there were no sounds
save alternatively his voice, and that OF
his interpreter, and the trembling re-
plies of poor Neapolitan taken with
me, who spoke the Lingua Franco, and
then, at times, long pause and the
eurele of water, as the snake-likc pipe
was slowly updrawn. The result OF
this was the taking off my chains, and
an assurance that, when my ransom was
paid, l should go free, and promise OF
freedom for those taken with me, pro,
vided l would pay their ransom, to
which l agreed; and there came to me
cunning looking interpreter, and ne
gave me place, and a carpet, separate
from the other prisoners; and gave me
coffee and bread, and squatted inquisi-
lively by my side, During the day
could get no privacy-no rest. l had
no power to think of my situation, and
in the course oft, witnessed strange
scene of Turkish despotism. There
was sudden tumult, and loud cries
ard all hurried off; and they dragged
with them the renegade.
Gle had struck, it seemed, the black
cook, and had overset the food, and in
suited the serang. Again all was 81
lence, as, amid the hushed crowd, the
two accusers told their tale; a mutter
ed something fell from the prisoner
but the dead silence awed him, and M
felt fear, and the savage eye looked ap
prehension. The Rails drew up hi:
smoke calmly and slow, and the Ions
gurgle echoed loud; and then Still
smile Just passed across his face, ant
he gave a motion with his hand, ane