Sufferings In Africa

by James Riley

Chapter XXXIV

Description of a horrid show of two venomous serpents —sets out from Rabat—Of Sallee, Marmora, Laresch—Spanish Missionaries—Moorish Navy — Arrival at Tangier.

On Sunday, the 14th January, 1816, being anxious to get forward on my journey, I went into the Jews’ town to make the necessary preparations; for I intended to proceed without my Jew’s company, whom I had found out to be deceitful and dishonest, having already manoeuvred me out of most of my money. The soldier and muleteer went along with me : this muleteer, as I before observed, had been a sailor; had visited Spain and Portugal, and spoke the Spanish language so that I could understand him; his name was Mohammed. Soon after our entrance into the Millah, we saw a concourse of people, consisting of Moors and Jews, crowding about one of the single-storied houses, which stood alone. Going near it, I inquired the cause of this assemblage, and was informed that a couple of that kind of Moors, called Serpent Eaters, were about to amuse the Moors and Jews with a‘sight of two of the most venomous serpents on earth; together with their manner of attacking the human species: and that each one who chose to see the exhibition through the windows, (for it was to take place in that room,) must pa_; t;a!! a dollar. Being desirous of having a look, I c.:. .J. a dollar for a station at a window; but all the windows were already occupied, and the places ' paid for. My guard, observing my disappointment, asked me) if I wished for a birth ? which I answered by putting two dollars in his hand: whereupon he called out to the Jews at one of the windows to clear a place for el Tibib del Sultan , (the Sultan’s doctor). Those, however, who had paid their money, not liking to lose their places, were unwilling to move: upon which my guard brushed them away with his big cane without ceremony; giving m£ a whole window to myself, saying he would keep guard. I looked into the room without interruption: it was about twenty feet long, and fifteen feet broad, paved with tiles, and plastered within. These had also been secured by an additional grating made of wire, in such a manner as to render it impossible for the serpents to escape from the room: it had but one door, and that had a hole cut through it, six or eight inches square; this hole was also secured by .a grating. In the room stood two men who appeared to be Arabs, with long bushy hair and beards; and I was told they were a particular race of men that could charm serpents. A wooden box, about four feet long and tivo feet wide, was placed near the door, with a string fastened to a slide at one end of it: this string went through a hole in the door. The two serpent-eaters were dressed in haicks only, and those very small ones. After they had gone through with their religious ceremonies most devoutly, they appeared to take an eternal farewell of each other: this done, one of them retired from the room, and shut the door tight after him. The Arab within seemed to be in dreadful distress—I could observe his heart throb and his bosom heave most violently j and he cried out very loudly, “ Allah houakibar!” three times, which is, as I understand it, “ God, have mercy on me!” The Arab was at the farthest end of the room: at that instant the cage was opened, and a serpent crept out slowly; he was about four feet long, and eight inches in circumference; his colours were the most beautiful in nature—being bright, and variegated with a deep yellow, a purple, a cream colour, black and brown spotted, &c. As soon as he saw the Arab in the room, his eyes, which were small, and green, kindled as with fire: he erected himself in a second, his head two feet high, and, darting on the defenceless Arab, seized him between the folds of his haick, just above his right hip bone, hissing most horribly: the Arab gave a horrid shriek, -when another serpent came out of the cage. This last, was black, very shining, and appeared to be seven or eight feet long, but not more than two inches in diameter: as soon as he had cleared the cage, he cast his red fiery eyes on his intended victim,thrust out his forked tongue, threw himself into a round coil, erected his head, which was in the centre of the coil, three feet from the floor, flattening out the skin above his head and eyes in the form and nearly of the size of a human heart; and, springing like lightning on the Arab, struck its fangs into his neck, near the jugular vein, while his tail and body flew round his neck and arms in two or three folds. The Arab set up the most hideous and piteous yelling, foamed and frothed at the mouth, grasping the folds of the serpent, whieh were round his arms, with his right hand, and seemed to be in the greatest agony-—striving to tear the reptile from around his neck, while with his left he seized hold of it near its head, but could not break its hold: by this time, the other had twined itself around his legs, and kept biting all around the other parts of his bpdy, making apparently deep incisions: the blood issuing from every wound, both in his neck and body, streamed all over his haick and skin. My blood was chilled in my veins with horror at this sight, and it was with difficulty my legs would support my frame. Notwithstanding ■ the Arab’s greatest exertions to tear away the serpents with his hands, they twined themselves still tighter; stopped his Ijreath, and he fell to the floor, where he continued for a moment, as if in the most inconceivable agony, rolling over, and covering every part of his body with his own blood and froth, until he ceased to move, and appeared to have expired. In his last struggle, he had wounded the black serpent with his teeth, as it was striving, as it were, to force its head into his mouth; which wound seemed to increase its rage. At this instant, I heard the shrill sound of a whistle; and looking towards the door, saw the other Arab applying a call to his mouth: the serpents listened to the music; their fury seemed to forsake them by degrees; they disengaged themselves leisurely from the apparently lifeless carcass; and creeping towards the cage, they soon entered it, and were immediately fastened in. The door of the apartment was now opened, and he without, ran to assist his companion: he had a phial of blackish liquor in one hand, and an iron chisel in the other: finding the teeth of his companion set, he thrust in the chisel, pried them open, and then poured a little of the liquor into his mouth; and holding the lips together, applied his mouth to the dead mart’s nose, and filled his lungs with air: he next anointed his numerous wounds with a little of the same liquid; and yet no sign of life appeared. I thought he was dead in earnest; his neck and veins were exceedingly swollen; when his comrade, taking up the lifeless trunk in his arms, brought it out into the open air, and continued the operation of blowing for several minutes, before a sign of life appeared : at length he gasped* and after a time recovered so far as to be able to speak. The swellings on his neck, body, and legs, gradually subsided, as they continued washing the wounds with clear cold water and a sponge, and applying the black liquor occasionally: a clean haick was wrapped about him, but his strength seemed so far exhausted, that he could not support himself standing; so his comrade laid him on the ground by a wall, where he sunk into a sleep. This exhibition lasted for about a quarter of an hour from the time the serpents were let loose, until they were called off, and it was more than an hour from that time before he could speak. I thought that I could discover that the poisonous fangs had been pulled out of these formidable serpents’ jaws, and mentioned that circumstance to the showman, who said that they had indeed been extracted - and when I wished to know how swellings on his neck and other parts could be assumed, he assured me, that though their deadly fangs were out, yet that the poisonous quality of their breath and spittle would cause the death, of those they attack: that after a bite from either of these serpents, no man could exist longer than fifteen minutes, and that there was no remedy for any but those who were endowed by the Almighty with power to charm and to manage them, and that he and his associate were of that favoured number. The Moors and Arabs call the thick and beautiful serpent El Efah, and the long black and heartheaded one El Buschfah, I afterwards saw engra- yings of these two serpents in Jackson's Morocco , which are very correct resemblances: they are said to be very numerous on and about the south foot of the Atlas mountains, and border of the desart, where these were caught when young, and where they often attack and destroy both men and beasts. The Effah’s bite is said to be incurable, and its poison so subtile as to cause a man’s death in fifteen minutes. When I saw the Effah, it brought to my mind the story pf the fiery serpents that bit the children of Israel in the desarts of Arabia, near Mount Hor, as recorded in the 21 st chapter of the Book of Numbers; merely because the Effah resembled, jn appearance, a brazen serpent: the two serpent-eaters said, they came from Egypt, about three years ago.

This exhibition of serpents, (the first I was told of the kind that had ever taken place at Rabat,) and our preparations, detained us the whole day; however I had made all the necessary arrangements, got the tent, provisions, &c. in order to be ready for a start the next morning, and on January the 15$h, very early, I took my leave of Mr. Abouder- ham, who, though a Jew, was nevertheless a man of feeling, and much of a gentleman: he is a native of Leghorn, had received a good education, and spoke the French language fluently.

We crossed the river, which is here about half a mile wide, and proceeded towards the walls of Sallee: the river has entirely left the Sallee side, which is now filled up with sand and mud, leaving the town nearly a mile from the water: there were still to be seen some remains of its ancient docks, and wrecks of vessels. I looked attentively at Sallee, in passing its walls, which are high and strong, built of stone, and well cemented; they had been repaired lately, and are flanked by many circular and square towers, on which about two hundred pieces of cannon are still mounted, of all calibers; and it appeared that it must have formerly been mounted with several hundred pieces more. Near its walls, on the east, north, and west sides, are beautiful gardens that appear to be extremely fertile, well laid out, and cultivated: great numbers of orange, lemon, and sweet lemon trees, were bending under their loads of rich yellow fruit: hundreds of fig, pomegranate, almond, and other fruit-trees, were now leafless, but budding forth, and thus promising abundance in their season. Many of the gardens are of great extent, and planted with the cotton-tree, which is small, and produces cotton interior to the American, called Georgia Upland, and only in small quantities.

As we proceeded on our road, we came to the aqueduct which supplies Sallee with fresh water: this aqueduct serves as an outer wall to the city on the north; is nearly a mile from it, and about thirty feet high where we passed through it: here are three large arches resembling gateways, and marks are still to be seen, where gates were once hung: the wall is eight or ten feet in thickness, and appears to be about four miles in length. The canal for conducting the water is near the top, but uncovered : this aqueduct is said to have been built by the Romans; it is formed of large hewn stones, and is extremely solid.

We travelled on through a fine champaign country, every where cultivated, until two P. M. when we saw on our left, and passed a lake of fresh water, about two miles in length, and half a mile in breadth: this was the first lake, or indeed pond, I had ever seen in this country; and soon afterwards we arrived on the bank of the river Mediah. On the left bank of this river, near its mouth, stands, though mostly in ruins, the ancient Portuguese town and fortress of Mamora; the fortress is situated on a high hill that overlooks the surrounding country, commands the ruins of the town, and is now gari£ soned by about three hundred black troops. The town was built close along the brink of the river, and its northern wall was washed by every tide; and though very old, has not yet sustained much injury. The river enters the sea over a bar in a N. W. direction: the lower wall has an excellent circular battery, built of large hewn-stone, and was calculated for mounting thirty heavy guns for the defence of the harbour; though now dismantled. This town wall is about half a mile in length along the river, and the ruins two hundred yards in breadth, and the place was once very strongly walled in on the land side, but this wall is now in ruins: not a soul inhabits this town at present. Here some of my former opinions were confirmed; for it is certain that the sea has receded from this coast: the evident marks of the water high on this wall, and on the point of land near which the town stands, that must from appearances have been worn in by the dashing of the sea, together with the situation of the present bar, prove to an observer, without any possibility of doubt, that the ocean has receded since this place was built, for more than a mile distance, and that its perpendicular height has decreased at least fifteen feet since that period. I do not pretend to account for this fact, but leave it to be explained by philosophers.

We were to cross this river in a good boat that took over fifteen camels with their loads at a trip; but there were on the bank, waiting for their turns to cross, at least five hundred loaded camels, besides mules and asses, chiefly with burdens of wheat and barley going on to Tangier and Tetuan, where all kinds of bread stuffs were said to be very scarce and dear. I told my soldier that it was necessary te inform the boatman that as I was the emperor’s surgeon, and himself an Alcayd, that we could not wait, but must pass over immediately, for the wind blew fresh from the S. W. and they had but one boat, which could not make above six trips in a day; and it would not be our turn, from the then appearances, in less than a week: this, with an offer of two dollars to the boatman, had the desired effect, and we were ferried over with the second boat-load, though not without much opposition and dispute between my guard and those who were waiting before us, and which was only settled by the interference of the black garrison; for my guide had the address to persuade them that he was indeed an Alcayd, and I the Sultan’s doctor. After crossing the river, we mounted the sand hills, and at 10 P. M. pitched our tent in the midst of a douhar, where we got some milk and eggs for our money.

Tuesday, the lbth, we started very early: it had rained very hard with heavy squalls of wind most part of the preceding night, but my tent being sound, kept off the storm: it was now clear and serene; nearly the whole face of the ground was covered with violet and pink coloured flowers, not more than an inoh or two in height, which seemed to have sprung up during the night, and as the sun exhaled the dews from around them, the fresh air of the morning was filled with the most delightful fragrance. The country on our right was a low morass, partly covered with water, which soon grew into a lake of considerable breadth. We travelled, during the whole day, along its left margin: its surface was spotted over with innumerable wild ducks and other aquatic birds, which some of the inhabitants were shooting at. In lieu of boats they use a kind of catamaran, which is made by lashing three small palm tree logs together by means of cords made of the bark of this useful tree; they have a crotched stick set up near one end of their float for a rest to their guns, and instead of oars, use long poles to force it along: when the gunner gets on his, raft, he leaves his haick behind him for fear of wetting it, and shoves out entirely naked: their guns are very long and clumsy, with Moorish locks; so that mode of fowling supplies them with but little game, though the lake is nearly covered with it. The sight of this catamaran brought to my mind those made use of in the Atlantic ocean along the coast of Brazil, and in some other parts of the world: the fishermen on those coasts form a raft by laying three rough logs alongside of one another, thirty feet in length, and pinning them together with wooden tree-nails, they then place two more logs partly on the upper side of the exterior logs, and pin them on fast; sharpen the two ends of all the logs, and the float is finished. To make it manageable, they raise a four-legged bench in it, near the centre, which serves to steady a mast, on which they hoist a shoulder-of-mutton sail, and go out to sea. I have seen them twenty leagues from land. These boats are perfectly safe, for they can neither leak, upset, nor founder, and sail remarkably fast, and are steered with a stout oar.

There are several islands in this lake, on one of ■which there is a very spacious sanctuary, many fruit- trees, and several apparently good gardens. Since leaving Darlbeda, we had seen no high land, only moderate acclivities, no more than to make it agreeable to the cultivator. This afternoon we discovered the ridge of mountains which lie behind Fez and Miquinez, stretching from the Atlas to the straits of Gibraltar, and forming one of the far-famed pillars of Hercules. At first they were scarcely visible in the distant horizon, and appeared like the tops of high islands, when approaching them on the ocean: not a tree or bush of any magnitude had we seen for several days, except the fig, palm, or other fruit- trees, which were generally planted in clusters or in gardens near the towns : at night we pitched our tent at a douhar near the border of the lake.

Wednesday, January the 17th, we started early, and went down the bank near the sea, to pass round the former outlet of this lake, which was now dammed with sea-sand very high; and on the sides of the bank which formed the outlet, stood four saint- houses, nearly covered up with sand-drifts. Continuing our journey until about noon, we began to come among trees of considerable size ; they looked like a species of oak with a thick shaggy bark, but are an ever-green : this wood is very brittle, and the trees produce a kind of acorn of a very large size, which the Spaniards and Portuguese used to carry awa^ in large quantities from this country: they were as highly esteemed as the ‘chesnut, and used for food by the people of 4hose nations,:, they also fed their swine on them.

Passing through a large forest, we qame to a small lake on our right, and, at ‘sunslV, approached the walls of Lansch, Having heard that some Spanish friars resided here, I inquired for them, and was soon conducted to their dwelling, a very good house, of European construction. The principal friar came out to meet me; and, after I had given a short account of myself in Spanish, said he would lodge me for charity’s sake; and then conducted me into a tolerably well furnished room: and, as he had lived in Mogadore, asked me many questions concerning that city, and his old acquaintances there, some of whom I happened to know. He treated me with some wine, which he said was of his own manufacture ; it was none of the best, however: and, at 10 o’clock at night, an excellent supper of fowls and sallads, dressed in the Spanish style, was served up. This Padre, whose name is Juan Tinaones, told me that he had lived in Barbary for ten years, four of which he had spent at Mogadore, three at Rabat, and three here, secluded from the civilized world; that the court of Spain allowed a large premium to those Padres, or Fathers, of good character, to be approved of by the Archbishop, who are willing to spend ten years in Barbary as missionaries, aud a stipend of three thousand dollars a year for the remainder of their lives. I asked him of what use he could be in Barbary to the cause of Christianity, since he dare not even attempt to convert a Moor or an Arab, or mention the name of the Saviour as one of the Godhead to either, or even, to a Jew ? “ None at all,”

said he, “ but still we bear the name of missionaries at home, to convert the heathen; our allowance of money is ample: fte live well, as you see, (he was indeed fat and in fine order,) laugh at the folly of our countrymen, and enjoy the present as well as we can.” (The circumstance of there being two young and pretty Jewesses in the house, and plenty of good cheer, did not tend, in any great degree, to discredit his representation.) “ When this ten years expire,” continued this pious Padre, “ we get leave to return to our country, where we are received as patterns of piety, that have rendered vast services to the Christian world : every respectable house isopen to receive us : our company is much sought after: our yearly salary of three thousand dollars affords us many gratifications; and, for th^se ten years spent in such privations and severe gospel labours, we are allowed absolution for the remainder of our lives, which, you will readily believe, we try to make as comfortable as possible.” Padre (i. e. father) Ti- naones wanted to know if I was a Catholic ? To this I answered in the negative. He said it was a pity; and that, unless I came within the pale of the Church, he feared my precious soul would be for ever miserable. Our conversation next turned upon the Jews: he said, “ there were about two hundred miserable families of them in Laresch, who, though they are, in a manner, slaves to the Mohammedans, will not believe in our holy religion : there were two Jews wl o applied to me, and said they-were converted to the true Catholic faith, and believed Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, and the Saviour of mankind : they were accordingly baptized as Christians : yet, as soon as they had obtained a loan of four hundred dollars from me, in small sums, and found they could get no more, they turned back to Judaism again, and left me no means of redress; which fully convinced me that their pretended conversion to Christianity was nothing more than a premeditated scheme to rob me of my money; and that, whenever a Jew professes to become a Christian, it is but a false pretence, and he is actuated entirely by mercenary motives. The Jews,” added he, “ hold Christ and his followers in the greatest possible contempt, and pretend to believe that all men, who are not Israelites, will be doomed, at the day of judgment, to eternal punishment.” This night was principally spent in conversation with the Padre, on various subjects.

Thursday, January 18th, I made ready to go on early, but the tide ran so rapidly at that time, that it was impossible to pass the river without the risk of being driven into the sea: so I had time to make observations.

Leresch is handsomely situated on the left bank of the river Saboo , near its entrance into the sea : the town lies along the river’s bank, and is half a mile in length, but very narrow; it is strongly walled in all around, and has two gates; one on the east, and the other on the south side:—the fortress is on a hill south of the town, from which it is only separated by a wall; it is strongly built, and flanked by eight towers; has about one hundred pieces of cannon, mounted on its battlements, and stands too high to be battered down by the shipping, even if they could get into the -river : this town is said to have been built by the Portuguese originally, and only occupies the same space it did formerly, that is to say, about one mile in circumference: it contains about eighteen thousand inhabitants, i. e. sixteen thousand Moors, and two thousand Jews, who are all very poor, as no trade is carried on here by sea or by land : they are obliged to work hard in the adjacent gardens, and till the impoverished fields in order t® gain a scanty subsistence. This is the only safe port the Emperor of Morocco has for fitting out his large cruisers, from whence they can get to sea with their armament : the river here is very narrow, runs close along the walls of Laresch, and is very deep opposite the town; there is said to be on the bar at its mouth eighteen feet water at high spring tides. The river within the town is both broad and deep; the tides run very rapidly both at flood and ebb, so much so, that we were obliged to wait until it was nearly spent, before it was deemed safe to cross: directly in the ferrying place, an old brig lay sunk, which had been captured under the Russian flag, and the crew kept as slaves or prisoners for about a year. The emperor’s navy was now lying alongside of the bank, consisting of one frigate-built ship, coppered to the bends, of about 700 tons burden, and mounting 32 guns, apparently 18 pounders, on the main deck; and a brig, called the Swearah, also coppere,d; a beautiful vessel, mounting 18 guns, said to sail, and from her appearance, would sail very fast: she was built in England, and there fitted in the best possible manner, and presented to the emperor by a Jew of Mogadore, named Macnin , a most notorious character, but called a very rich merchant: this Jew has a brother in London, who it is said, has heretofore managed to get goods on credit to very large amounts, and he then sends them to Mogadore, where his brother loads back the ships with less, generally, than half the value of the outward cargo, and thus continues to gull the English merchants in the true Barbary style: the principal in London fails—his creditors compound with him: he begins anew; obtains,from some quarter or another, all the credit he wishes; sends out the goods to Barbary ; gets no returns; fails again, and again compromises, and commences the old business. The emperor, some time ago, attempted to give this worthy Jew merchant a gentle squeeze, and seized his goods, houses, cash, and every thing valuable that his officers could lay their hands on; upon which Macnin , to conciliate his majesty, and to get a part of his ill-gotten property back again, made him a present of this fine brig, which could not have cost him much, for “ los Inglesis lo pagan ” (the English pay for it,) is his motto. These two vessels and the new frigate at Rabat, now constitute the whole of the emperor’s naval force: his maxim is to be at war with every nation who has not made a treaty with him, or which has not a Consul General residing at Tangier to make him the customary presents on his annual holidays, or pay him tribute agreeably to the terms of his treaties. According to this system, he sends out his cruisers from time to time, who, if they find a vessel bearing a flag, whose nation has not made a treaty of peace with him, they capture her, bring her in as a good prize, and retain the crew as slaves or prisoners. About eighteen months ago, this brig Mogadore, then on a cruise, captured the Russian brig before mentioned, and carried her into Laresch : now the emperor of' Russia had not stipulated for a peace with his Moorish majesty, and had no Consul residing at T angier, so the vessel’s cargo was soon disposed of as a prize, and her officers and crew (ten in number) were thrown into prison, and frequently compelled to work on board the vessels of war. After about a year’s captivity in this manner, finding no Christian power claimed the men, and having no use for them, the emperor ordered them to be removed to the prison at Tangier. Padre Tinaones told me these facts, and said he had done all he could for the Christians while they were in Laresch prison, and that their brig had sunk in the ferrying-place for want of care.

Proceeding on our journey, we soon mounted the high hills on the right bank of this river, where we found many huts constructed of stones and mud with steep roofs thatched, with straw after the manner of the Scotch and Irish hovels: these were the first buildings of the kind I had seen in Africa, and contrary to the Moorish custom, they were quite defenceless. Continuing our journey through a long wood, and over a hilly, sandy soil, all this day as fast as possible, we pitched our tent at night in a deep valley, near a small douhap, where we obtained some milk for our supper. It commenced raining in the evening, and continued to pour without intermission, attended with strong gales and squalls, until daylight, but as our tent was tight and strong, I experienced from it no material inconvenience.

Friday, the 19th, soon after daylight, it ceased to rain, and we proceeded on our journey. After passing many douhars and some huts of the construction mentioned near Laresch, we entered a deep valley, the breadth of which was about six miles: the rain had soaked the soil so much, as to render it almost impassable, so that the mules sunk into the mud nearly up to their bellies, and we were obliged to dismount and wade through it on foot. This valley contains two small rivers, which are not fordable at high tides: the little town of Azila stands at their mouth, at about ten miles to our left: the quautitv of rain that had fallen the preceding night had rendered them quite deep even at low water, so that in attempting to ford one of them on my mule, he was carried away by the current, and I was forced to swim; however, I held the mule by the bridle, and landed safely. My soldier and muleteet seeing I had got safe across, at length ventured in different places, and also succeeded in getting over. Our way now became very mountainous and woody, and the deep valleys, through which a number of brooks ran winding along in very serpentine courses, rendered our path muddy and slippery.

At 3 P. M. we gained the summit of a mountain, when I saw distinctly the bay of Tangier, part of the straits of Gibraltar, and, to my great joy, the coast of Spain; it was the hospitable and civilized shore of Europe! The crowd of sensations that rushed upon my mind at this grateful sight, can be more easily conceived than described. It brought to my recollection the trials and distresses I had undergone since leaving it, as well as my great deliverances : all these sensations together so overcame my faculties, and agitated me in such a manner, that I had not power to keep myself steady, and I actually fell from my mule no less than three times in travelling from thence to Tangier; a distance of five or six miles. As I had not before fallen from my mule during my whole journey from. Mogadore, the soldier who guarded me, thought it very extraordinary, nor could I persuade him that I was not too ill to ride: he, therefore, after helping me on again the third time, gave his horse to the muleteer, and walked by my side, holding me on for some time: my head however became so dizzy from the state of my feelings, that I was obliged to alight and walk with his assistance for about a mile, until we came near the walla of Tangier, when he again, at my request, placed me on my mule.

It was in the dusk of the evening when we arrived at the gate, and the soldier having announced me to the guards, I was conducted directly into the city, and before the Governor, who ordered me to be escorted to the American Consul’s house, where I goon arrived, and was received most hospitably by James Simpson, Esquire, the American Consul General, who immediately introduced me to his amiable lady and family, and requested me to consider his house my home. I accordingly took up my day- quarters with him, and remained under his truly hospitable roof during my stay at Tangier. Having made a present to my guard and muleteer for their attention and fidelity to me on the journey, and made up a packet for my friend Wiltshire, I despatched them with his mule, &c. on the $2d of January, 1816, back for Mogadore.