Narrative of a Voyage to Senegal in 1816 | Page 7

that when
the women heard that some Frenchmen were arrived in the town, they

placed themselves at their doors, and when they passed, urged them to
enter. All this is usually done in the presence of the husbands, who
have no right to oppose it, because the Holy Inquisition will have it so,
and because the monks who are very numerous in the island take care
that this custom is observed. They possess the art of blinding the
husbands, by means of the prestiges of religion, which they abuse in
the highest degree; they cure them of their jealousy, to which they are
much inclined, by assuring them that their passion, which they call
ridiculous, or conjugal mania, is nothing but the persecution of Satan
which torments them, and from which they alone are able to deliver
them, by inspiring their dear consorts with some religious sentiments.
These abuses are almost inevitable in a burning climate, where the
passion of love is often stronger than reason, and sometimes breaks
through the barriers which religion attempts to oppose to it: this
depravity of morals must therefore be attributed to inflamed passions,
and not to abuses facilitated by a religion so sublime as ours.
The Island of Teneriffe is not equal to that of Madeira: one cannot even
compare their agricultural productions, on account of the great
difference of their soils: but in a commercial view, Teneriffe has the
advantage of Madeira. Its geographical position in the middle of the
Canaries, enables it to carry on an extensive trade, while Madeira is
confined to the sale and exchange of its wines for articles of European
manufacture.
The soil of Teneriffe is much drier; a great part of it is too volcanic to
be used for agriculture: every part of it however, which is capable of
producing anything is very well cultivated, which should seem to prove,
that the Spaniards of this country are naturally much less indolent than
they have been represented.[A3]
When we were in the open sea we had favorable winds from the N.N.E.
In the night of the 29th of June the frigate caught fire between decks,
by the negligence of the master baker; but being discovered in time, the
fire was extinguished. In the following night the same accident was
repeated; but this time it was necessary, in order to stop the progress of
the fire, to pull down the oven which was rebuilt the next day.
On the 1st of July we descried Cape Bayados, situated in latitude 26°
12' 30", and in longitude 16° 47'. We then saw the skirts of the
immense desert of Zaara, and we thought we perceived the mouth of

the river St. John [A4], which is very little known. We passed the tropic
at ten o'clock in the morning; the usual ceremony was there performed
with a certain pomp; the jokes of the sailors amused us for some
moments; we were far from thinking of the cruel event which was soon
to deprive of their lives a third of the persons who were on board the
frigate. This custom of tropical baptism is strange enough; the chief
object of it, is, to procure the sailors some money.
From St. Croix, we had constantly steered to the S.S.W. During the
ceremony at the tropic we doubled Cape Barbas, situated in lat. 22° 6',
and long. 19° 8': two officers suddenly had the course changed, without
informing the captain; this led to a pretty warm dispute, which however
had no serious consequences. These two officers affirmed that we were
running upon a group of rocks, and that we were already very near to
the breakers. We had sailed the whole morning in the Gulph of St.
Cyprian, the bottom of which is strewed with rocks, so that at low
water, brigantines cannot frequent these seas, as we were told at
Senegal by M. Valentin, senior, who is perfectly acquainted with this
whole coast, and could not conceive how the frigate could have passed
amidst all these reefs without striking. The shore was within half a
cannon shot, and we clearly saw enormous rocks over which the sea
broke violently.[11] If it had fallen calm, there is no doubt but the
strong currents which set, in-shore, would have infallibly carried us
into danger.
In the evening we thought we descried Cape Blanco[A5], and
according to the instructions given by the Navy Office, we steered
W.S.W. During a part of the night the Echo, with which we had
constantly kept company since we left Madeira, burnt several charges
of powder and hung a lanthorn at the mizen-mast; her signals were not
answered in the same manner; only a lanthorn was hung for a few
moments to the fore-mast; it went out soon after, and was not replaced