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themselves, as it mixes with the roar of the tempest, they never fail to rise from their devotions with their spirits cheered and their confidence renewed, and go to sleep with an exaltation of mind of which kings and conquerors have no share. Often have I been a sharer in such scenes; and never, even in my youngest years, without having my heart deeply impressed by the circumstances. There is a sublimity in the very idea. There we lived, as it were, inmates of the cloud and the storm; but we stood in a relationship to the Ruler of these, that neither time nor eternity could ever cancel. Woe to him that would weaken the bonds with which true Christianity connects us with Heaven and with each other.

But of all the storms that ever Scotland witnessed, or I hope ever will again behold, there is none of them that can once be compared with the memorable 24th of January 1794, which fell with such peculiar violence on that division of the south of Scotland that lies between Crawford-muir and the border. In that bounds there were seventeen shepherds perished, and upwards of thirty carried home insensible, who afterwards recovered; but the number of sheep that were lost far outwent any possibility of calculation. One farmer alone, Mr Thomas Beattie, lost seventy-two scores for his own share and many others, in the same quarter, from thirty to forty scores each. Whole flocks were overwhelmed with snow, and no one ever knew where they were till the snow was dissolved, that they were all found dead. I myself witnessed one particular instance of this, on the farm of Thickside: there were twelve scores of excellent ewes, all one age, that were missing there all the time that the snow lay, which was only a week, and no traces of them could be found; when the snow went away, they were discovered all lying dead, with their heads one way, as if a flock of sheep had dropped dead going from the washing. Many hundreds were driven into waters, burns, and lakes, by the violence of the storm, where they were buried or frozen up, and these the flood carried away, so that they were never seen or found by the owners at all. The following anecdote somewhat illustrates the confusion and devastation that it bred in the country :-The

greater part of the rivers on which the storm was most deadly, run into the Solway Frith, on which there is a place called the Beds of Esk, where the tide throws out, and leaves whatsoever is carried into it by the rivers. When the flood after the storm subsided, there were found on that place, and the shores adjacent, 1840 sheep, nine black cattle, three horses, two men, one woman, forty-five dogs, and one hundred and eighty hares, besides a number of meaner animals.

To relate all the particular scenes of distress that occurred during this tremendous hurricane is impossible-a volume would not contain them. I shall, therefore, in order to give a true picture of the storm, merely relate what I saw, and shall in nothing exaggerate. But before doing this, I must mention a circumstance, curious in its nature, and connected with others that afterwards occurred.

Some time previous to that, a few young shepherds (of whom I was one, and the youngest, though not the least ambitious of the number), had formed themselves into a sort of literary society, that met periodically, at one or other of the houses of its members, where each read an essay on a subject previously given out; and after that, every essay was minutely investigated and criticised. We met in the evening, and continued our important discussions all night. Friday the 23d of January was the day appointed for one of these meetings, and it was to be held at Entertrony, a wild and remote sheiling, at the very sources of the Ettrick, and now occupied by my own brother. I had the honour of having been named as preses-so leaving the charge of my flock with my master, off I set from Blackhouse, on Thursday, a very ill day, with a flaming bombastical essay in my pocket, and my tongue trained to many wise and profound remarks, to attend this extraordinary meeting, though the place lay at the distance of twenty miles, over the wildest hills in the kingdom, and the time the depth of winter. I remained that night with my parents at Ettrick-house, and next day again set out on my journey. I had not, however, proceeded far, before I perceived, or thought I perceived, symptoms of an approaching storm, and that of no ordinary nature. I remember the day well: the wind, which

was rough on the preceding day, had
subsided into a dead calm; there was
a slight fall of snow, which descended
in small thin flakes, that seemed to
hover and reel in the air, as if uncer-
tain whether to go upward or down-
ward-the hills were covered down to
the middle in deep folds of rime, or
frost-fog-in the cloughs that was dark,
dense, and seemed as if it were heaped
and crushed together-but on the
brows of the hills it had a pale and
fleecy appearance, and, altogether, I
never beheld a day of such gloomy as-
pect. A thought now began to intrude
itself on me, though I strove all that
I could to get quit of it, that it would
be a wise course in me to return home
to my sheep. Inclination urged me
on, and I tried to bring reason to her
aid, by saying to myself, "I have no
reason in the world to be afraid of my
sheep, my master took the charge of
them cheerfully, there is not a better
shepherd in the kingdom, and I can-
not doubt his concern in having them
right." All would not do I stood
still and contemplated the day, and
the more closely I examined it, the
more was I impressed that some mis-
chief was a brewing; so, with a
heavy heart, I turned on my heel, and
made the best of my way back the
road I came ;-my elaborate essay, and
all my wise observations had come to
nothing.

On my way home, I called at a place named the Hope-house, to see a maternal uncle, whom I loved; he was angry when he saw me, and said it was not like a prudent lad to be running up and down the country in such weather, and at such a season; and urged me to make haste home, for it would be a drift before the morn. He accompanied me to the top of the height called the Black Gate-head, and on parting, he shook his head, and said, "Ah! it is a dangerous looking day! In troth I'm amaist fear'd to look at it;" I said I would not mind it, if any one knew from what quarter the storm would arise; but we might, in all likelihood, gather our sheep to the place where they would be most exposed to danger. He bade me keep a good look out all the way home, and wherever I observed the first opening through the rime, to be assured the wind would rise directly from that point: I did as he desired me, but the clouds continued close set all around,

till the fall of evening; and as the snow had been accumulating all day, so as to render walking very unfurthersome, it was that time before I reached home. The first thing I did was to go to my master and inquire where he had left my sheep-he told me-but though I had always the most perfect confidence in his experience, I was not pleased with what he had done-he had left a part of them far too high out on the hills, and the rest were not where I wanted them, and I told him so he said he had done all for the best, but if there appeared to be any danger, if I would call him up in the morning, he would assist me. We had two beautiful servant girls, and with them I sat chattering till past eleven o'clock, and then I went down to the old tower. What could have taken me to that ruinous habitation of the Black Danglasses at that untimeous hour, I cannot recollect, but it certainly must have been from a supposition that one of the girls would follow me, or else that I would see a hare

both very unlikely events to have taken place on such a night. However, certain it is, that there I was at midnight, and it was while standing on the top of the staircase turret, that I first beheld a bright bore through the clouds, towards the north, which reminded me of my uncle's apothegm. But at the same time a smart thaw had commenced, and the breeze seemed to be rising from the south, so that I laughed in my heart at his sage rule, and accounted it quite absurd. Short was the time till awful experience told me how true it was.

I then went to my bed in the byre loft, where I slept with a neighbour shepherd, named Borthwick; but though fatigued with walking through the snow, I could not close an eye, so that I heard the first burst of the storm, which commenced between one and two, with a fury that no one can conceive who does not remember of it. Besides, the place where I lived being exposed to two or three gathered winds, as they are called by shepherds, the storm raged there with redoubled ferocity. It began all at once, with such a tremendous roar, that I imagined it was a peal of thunder, until I felt the house trembling to its foundation. In a few minutes I went and thrust my naked arm through a hole in the roof, in order, if possible, to

ed to make a bold effort to reach them, Our master made family worship, a duty he never neglected; but that morning, the manner in which he manifested our trust and confidence in Heaven, was particularly affecting. We took our breakfast-stuffed our pockets with bread and cheese-sewed our plaids around us-tied down our hats with napkins coming below our chins-and each taking a strong staff in his hand, we set out on the attempt.

No sooner was the door closed behind us than we lost sight of each other-seeing there was none-it was impossible for a man to see his hand held up before him, and it was still two hours till day. We had no means of keeping together but by following to one another's voices, nor of working our way save by groping with our staves before us. It soon appeared to me a hopeless concern, for, ere ever we got clear of the houses and haystacks, we had to roll ourselves over two or three wreaths which it was impossible to wade through; and all the while the wind and drift were so violent, that every three or four minutes we were obliged to hold our faces down between our knees to recover our breath.

ascertain what was going on without, for not a ray of light could I see. Í could not then, nor can I yet, express my astonishment. So completely was the air overloaded with falling and driving snow, that but for the force of the wind, I felt as if I had thrust my arm into a wreath of snow. I deemed it a judgment sent from Heaven upon us, and lay down again in my bed, trembling with agitation. I lay still for about an hour, in hopes that it might prove only a temporary hurricane; but, hearing no abatement of its fury, I awakened Borthwick, and bade him get up, for it was come on such a night or morning, as never blew from the heavens. He was not long in obeying, for as soon as he heard the turmoil, he started from his bed, and in one minute throwing on his clothes, he hasted down the ladder, and opened the door, where he stood for a good while, uttering exclamations of astonishment. The door where he stood was not above fourteen yards from the door of the dwelling-house, but a wreath was already amassed between them, as high as the walls of the house and in trying to get round or through this, Borthwick lost himself, and could neither find the house nor his way back to the byre, and about six minutes after, I heard him calling my name, in a shrill desperate tone of voice, at which I could not refrain from laughing immoderately, notwithstanding the dismal prospect that lay before us, for I heard, from his cries, where he was. He had tried to make his way over the top of a large dunghill, but going to the wrong side, had fallen over, and wrestled long among snow, quite over the head. I did not think proper to move to his assistance, but lay still, and shortly after, heard him shouting at the kitchen door for instant admittance; still I kept my bed for about three quarters of an hour longer; and then, on reaching the house with much difficulty, found our master, the ploughman, Borthwick, and the two servant maids, sitting round the kitchen fire, with looks of dismay, I may almost say despair. We all agreed at once, that the sooner When we got free of the park we we were able to reach the sheep, the also got free of the eddy of the wind better chance we had to save a rem--it was now straight in our facesnant; and as there were eight hundred excellent ewes, all in one lot, but a long way distant, and the most valuable lot of any on the farm, we resolv

We soon got into an eddying wind that was altogether insufferable, and, at the same time, we were struggling among snow so deep, that our progress in the way we purposed going was indeed very equivocal, for we had, by this time, lost all idea of east, west, north, or south. Still we were as busy as men determined on a business could be, and persevered on we knew not whither, sometimes rolling over the snow, and sometimes weltering in it to the chin. The following instance of our successful exertions marks our progress to a tittle. There was an inclosure around the house to the westward which we denominated the park, as is customary in Scotland. When we went away we calculated that it was two hours until day-the park did not extend above 300 yards-and we were still engaged in that park when day light appeared.

we went in a line before each other, and changed places every three or four minutes, and at length, after great fatigue, we reached a long ridge of a hill

where the snow was thinner, having been blown off it by the force of the wind, and by this we had hopes of reaching within a short space of the ewes which were still a mile and a half distant. Our master had taken the lead; I was next him, and soon began to suspect, from the depth of the snow, that he was leading us quite wrong, but as we always trusted implicitly to him that was foremost for the time, I said nothing for a good while, until satisfied that we were going in a direction very nearly right opposite to that we intended. I then tried to expostulate with him, but he did not seem to understand what I said, and, on getting a glimpse of his countenance, I perceived that it was quite altered. Not to alarm the others, nor even himself, I said I was becoming terribly fatigued, and proposed that we should lean on the snow and take each a mouthful of whisky, (for I had brought a small bottle in my pocket for fear of the worst), and a bite of bread and cheese. This was unanimously agreed to, and I noted that he swallowed the spirits rather eagerly, a thing not usual with him, and when he tried to eat, it was long before he could swallow any thing. I was convinced that he would fail altogether, but, as it would have been easier to have got him to the shepherd's house before than home again, I made no proposal for him to return. On the contrary, I said if they would trust themselves entirely to me, I would engage to lead them to the ewes without going a foot out of the way-the other two agreed to it, and acknowledged that they knew not where they were, but he never opened his mouth, nor did he speak a word for two hours thereafter. It had only been a temporary exhaustion, however, for after that he recovered and wrought till night as well as any of us, though he never could recollect a single circumstance that occurred during that part of our way, nor a word that was said, nor of having got any refreshment whatever.

At half an hour after ten, we reached the flock, and just in time to save them, but before that, both Borthwick and the ploughman had lost their hats, notwithstanding all their precautions, and to impede us still farther, I went inadvertently over a precipice, and going down head foremost, between the scaur and the snow, found it im

possible to extricate myself, for the more I struggled I went the deeper. For all our troubles I heard Borthwick above convulsed with laughter; he thought he had got the affair of the dunghill paid back. By holding by one another, and letting down a plaid to me, they hauled me up, but I was terribly incommoded by snow that had got inside my clothes.

The ewes were standing in a close body; one half of them were covered over with snow to the depth of ten feet, the rest were jammed against a brae. We knew not what to do for spades to dig them out; but to our agreeable astonishment, when those before were removed, they had been so close pent together as to be all touching one another, and they walked out from below the snow after their neighbours in a body. If the snow-wreath had not broke and crumbled down upon a few that were hindmost we should have got them all out without putting a hand to them. This was effecting a good deal more than I or any of the party expected a few hours before; there were 100 ewes in another place near by, but of these we could only get out a very few, and lost all hopes of saving the rest.

It was now wearing towards midday, and there were occasionally short intervals in which we could see about us for perhaps a score of yards, but we got only one momentary glance of the hills around us all that day. I grew quite impatient to be at my own charge, and leaving the rest I went away to them by myself, that is, I went to the division that was left far out on the hills, while our master and the ploughman volunteered to rescue those that were down on the lower ground. I found mine in miserable circumstances, but making all possible exertion, I got out about one half of them, which I left in a place of safety, and made towards home, for it was beginning to grow dark, and the storm was again raging, without any mitigation in all its darkness and deformity. I was not the least afraid of losing my way, for I knew all the declivities of the hills so well that I could have come home with my eyes bound up, and indeed long ere I got home they were of no use to me. I was terrified for the water, (Douglas Burn) for in the morning is was flooded and gorged up with snow in a dreadful manner,

and I judged that it would be quite impassable. At length I came to a place where I thought the water should be, and fell a boring and groping for it with my long staff. No, I could find no water, and began to dread that for all my accuracy I had gone wrong. I was greatly astonished, and standing still to consider, I looked up towards Heaven, I shall not say for what cause, and to my utter amazement thought I beheld trees over my head flourishing abroad over the whole sky. I never had seen such an optical delusion before, it was so like enchantment that I knew not what to think, but dreaded that some extraordinary thing was coming over me, and that I was deprived of my right senses. member I thought the storm was a great judgment sent on us for our sins, and that this strange phantasy was connected with it, an illusion effected by evil spirits. I stood a good while in this painful trance; at length, on

I re

making a bold exertion to escape from the fairy vision, I came all at once in contact with the old tower. Never in my life did I experience such a relief, I was not only all at once freed from the fairies, but from the dangers of the gorged river. I had come over it on some mountain of snow, I knew not how nor where, nor do I know to this day. So that, after all, they were trees that I saw, and trees of no great magnitude neither, but their appearance to my eyes it is impossible to describe. I thought they flourished abroad, not for miles, but for hundreds of iniles, to the utmost verges of the visible heavens. Such a day and such a night may the eye of a shepherd never again behold. What befell to our literary meeting, and the consequences of the storm as I witnessed thein, must be deferred to a future Number.

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OBSERVATIONS ON SALAME'S ACCOUNT OF THE EXPEDITION TO ALGIERS.

THE author of this book, Mr Abraham Salamé, is a native of Alexandria in Egypt, but of a Syrian family. His grandfather, a merchant of high respectability at St. Jean d'Acre, was compelled to quit that city in consequence of some of the atrocities of Djezzar Pashaw, (the Butcher); and, the greater part of his children following him in his flight, the race of the Salamés seems now to be fairly transplanted. The family are all of the Christian persuasion, and their name, as our author is at great pains to inform us, signifies in the Arabic peace or salutation; and he explains his anxiety in regard to this point, by mentioning, that in Italian the same word is used to denote a particular kind of sausage.

In Alexandria young Salamé seems to have enjoyed considerable opportunities of improvement in his education. The immense variety of traders who inhabit or visit that city, gave occasion and facility for the acquisi

tion of all the great dialects of the Arabic language, as well as of the Turkish and Italian, and the events which occurred about the close of the last and opening of the present century, furnished him with almost equal facilities for the more rare acquisition of a little French and a little English. In the course of a life of wandering mercantile adventure, Salamé has since improved all these advantages, and is now, it is probable, one of the best qualified persons in Europe for interpreting between Franks and Mahometans. His power of acquiring languages will indeed require no better illustration than what is afforded by the very singular volume before us. When Salamé came first to England, at the close of the year 1815, although he had some smattering knowledge of our language, he assures us, he could not have spelt the word bread; but such is his capacity, and such has been his diligence, that he has now presented us with an oc

A narrative of the expedition to Algiers in the year 1816, under the command of the Right Honourable Admiral Lord Viscount Exmouth; by Mr A. Salamé, a native of Alexandria, in Egypt, interpreter in his Britannic Majesty's service for the Oriental languages, who accompanied his Lordship for the subsequent negotiations with the Dey. London, Murray, 1819.

VOL V.

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