Sufferings in Africa

Welcome to my Sufferings in Africa book summary!

“..I was weighed, and fell short of ninety pounds, though my usual weight for the last ten years, had been over two hundred and forty..” (p. 249)

One-Sentence-Summary: An intricate day-by-day account by James Riley, a ship captain and the author, of his shipwreck in Africa in 1815 along with his crew of 11 being swallowed into the Barbery slave trade and ransomed a few months later.

The Barbery slave trade was active from the 16th to 19th centuries and consisted of hundreds of thousands of European or American sailors enslaved by North African groups. These unprovoked attacks were so significant that the U.S. engaged in military actions, known as the Barbary Wars (1801–1815), to stop these practices.

booboo real-time book rating: ★★★★★ (percentage of books with this rating: 8%)

See Also: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass- Life of an American Slave

In Chapter 8, Riley accounts a dream so specifically that after a few long paragraphs, I can’t tell if we’re still in the dream or real life. The book was almost immediately written after these events unfolded (published two years later), I question how much of this is bullshit. Did they have super-human memories back then? Or is he filling in the blanks? It seems unbelievable that he’d remember even the finer details of one dream years ago..After I finished reading this section: It was a dream, and he did address the fact that he was able to recall unimaginable details from a dream years ago. “..nor ever did I believe in dream or vision, as they are termed, or even remembered them, so as to relate any I may have had; but this dream made such an impression on my mind, that it was not possible for me to remove it from my memory.” (p. 68)

And, again, I’m suspicious. “..we had travelled twelve hours, at the rate of five miles an hour, making sixty miles..” (p. 129) The author seemingly recalled at which speed they traveled nearly every day and for how many hours. Either our collective memories have shrunk immensely in the past 200 years, or the author is just approximating the details.

“..so true it is that the most generous and humane men are always the most courageous.” (p. 153)

Starting at Chapter 12, I started getting bored. The nuance and level of detail Riley provides are impressive on the one hand and unnecessary and irrelevant on the other. He’s recalling almost hour by hour every single day. And after a while, it’s more of the same. They’re traveling often, starting in the mornings, every day, in the desert, thirsty, tired, and hungry.

And, by the way, why are they traveling so much? Up to 60 miles every single day. Why? I get their nomadic. But almost every day travelling 8 or 10 or more hours. I’m failing to see the point. ChatGPT tells me it’s to constantly search for water and food. What a nightmare. Still, though, primary human foundational thought would be: our first goal is to find someplace with permanent water and food. It seems like they’re on the brink of dying year-round.

“..we kept on twenty-four days as fast as we could through the dry, deep, and hot sand, without finding any green bushes worth noticing for our camels to eat..” (p. 267) Call me ignorant; I probably am in this far distant living condition, but if this is ever even once a remote possibility (and it happens to them constantly, just so in the very next paracgaph), then you need to reassess your life choices. There’s not a river or lake to be camped near? I’m looking at the African continent, and I see numerous bodies of water throughout. (After finishing the book, I may have my answer. They would rather be wanderers than submit to any humanly government.)

I do like how the author labels chapters. For example, IV. Description of the natives.-They make war upon the crew, and drive them off to the wreck. A little synapsis prior to reading the chapter so you know what to expect.

It’s the first time I’ve read a 7-page long paragaph.

While a tremendous book, and while Riley and his crew were treated worse than Frederick Douglass, the American slave, and in worse climatic conditions of a desert (although for a much shorter period of only three months), I don’t feel his suffering like I did that of Douglass and this is due to the superior writing of the later author.

“This was a sight none of us expected to behold, and I poured out my soul in repturous effusions of thankfulness to the Supreme Being.” (p. 144) Riley at the sight of some stone huts, a steam, and date trees. I find neverending the absurdness of giving thanks to the imaginary Supreme Being for the good, yet no blame for when things are bad. The fact that they shipwrecked is not the fault of this god, the fact that the natives killed one of the crew is not the fault of this god, the fact that they are in their current situation is not the fault of this god. But the slimmest of positives are to be attributed wholeheartedly to the Supreme Being. Someone care to explain this to me?

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In Chapters 21-23, a character Sheick Ali enters who tries to extort the slaves for $1,500. This failed when a prince of the city they were in entered to settle the argument. What I don’t understand is why the prince offered the protection of 200 horses and men for the safe travel of James Riley and his crew, all slaves, to reach William Wilshire. What I don’t understand is Ali’s intense focus on recapturing these particular slaves. He had followed them for days, supposedly with his own army and after negotiating with another high-authority figure to take the slaves.

“I am fully of opinion, that a great many Arabs on this vast expanse of desert, actually live to the age of two hundred years of our calendar.” (p. 310) This was James Riley’s conclusion based on the accounts of his master and his observation of their lifestyle and the old. He attributes it to no variation in their food or lives and no alcohol. His master also includes that list meat, breads, and fruit as bad for longevity and would prefer to consume only camel milk, if possible.

Did you know I’m an author? I wrote four books on real estate investing, travel, and language learning.

In Chapter 22, a Spaniard named Fermín is briefly mentioned, who I want to know more about, but my searches have proved fruitless. He was shipwrecked off the coast of Africa, just like James Riley, except he was held in captivity for an entire year under the assumption of lifetime slaveryship until, again, through an Archbishop and William Wilshire, came in to save the day. “This is said to be the only Spaniard who has been redeemed in that part of Barbary, for many years past.” (p. 225)

New Words

• Brackish – water that is a mixture of fresh and saltwater
• Scimitar (si·muh·tr) – a type of curved, single-edged sword with a sharp edge on the convex side, traditionally associated with Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian cultures
• Gold doubloons – gold coins used in Spain, tied to illicit activities back then, but today highly valued due to their gold content.
• Licentiousness – promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters
• Haicks – a large wrap, typically white, worn by people from North Africa.

Thanks for visiting and thanks to James Riley for writing Sufferings in Africa!

Date Started: Monday, October 14, 2024

Date Finished: Monday, October 21, 2024