in, on the opposite coast, and
nephew of the governor of that place. His fellow citizens had all the
honesty, however, to declare him an outlaw, from abhorrence of his
profession; but he found that aid and protection at Bushire, which his
own townsmen denied him. With five or six vessels, most of which were
very large, and manned with crews of from two to three hundred each, he
sallied forth, and captured whatever he thought himself strong enough to
carry off as a prize. His followers, to the number of two thousand, were
maintained by the plunder of his prizes; and as the most of these were
his own bought African slaves, and the remainder equally subject to his
authority, he was sometimes as prodigal of their lives in a fit of anger
as he was of his enemies, whom he was not content to slay in battle
only, but basely murdered in cold blood, after they had submitted. An
instance is related of his having put a great number of his own crew,
who used mutinous expressions, into a tank on board, in which they
usually kept their water, and this being shut close at the top, the poor
wretches were all suffocated, and afterwards thrown overboard. This
butcher chief, like the celebrated Djezzar of Acre, affecting great
simplicity of dress, manners, and living; and whenever he went out,
could not be distinguished by a stranger from the crowd of his
attendants. He carried this simplicity to a degree of filthiness, which
was disgusting, as his usual dress was a shirt, which was never taken
off to be washed, from the time it was first put on till worn out; no
drawers or coverings for the legs of any kind, and a large black goat's
hair cloak, wrapped over all with a greasy and dirty handkerchief,
called the keffeea, thrown loosely over his head. Infamous as was this
man's life and character, he was not only cherished and courted by the
people of Bushire, who dreaded him, but was courteously received and
respectfully entertained whenever he visited the British Factory. On one
occasion (says Mr. Buckingham), at which I was present, he was sent for
to give some medical gentlemen of the navy and company's cruisers an
opportunity of inspecting his arm, which had been severely wounded. The
wound was at first made by grape-shot and splinters, and the arm was one
mass of blood about the part for several days, while the man himself was
with difficulty known to be alive. He gradually recovered, however,
without surgical aid, and the bone of the arm