''Commerce'' was a

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

-based American merchant

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

that ran aground on 28 August 1815 at

Cape Bojador Cape Bojador ( ar, رأس بوجادور, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; ber, ⴱⵓⵊⴷⵓⵔ, ''Bujdur''; Spanish and pt, Cabo Bojador; french: Cap Boujdour) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W ...

, off the coast of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. Far more famous than the ship itself is the story of the crew who survived the shipwreck, who went on to become slaves of local tribes who captured them. ''Commerce'', sailing from

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

to Cape Verde Islands, was under the command of American Captain James Riley and crewed by 11 others. Most were Americans. After sailing for several days in dense fog, the ship ran aground on a reef near Cape Bojador. After being attacked and ransacked on shore by Sahrawi natives, who killed one of the seamen in cold blood, the crew returned to their rowboat and attempted to reach the Cape Verde Islands or hoped to meet another passing ship. This proved impossible, as their meager provisions were running out, and they decided to return to shore and take their chances with the local tribes. Landing some 300 miles further south down the coast, near Cape Barbas, less than one hundred miles north of Cape Blanco, they were taken captive by nomads of the

Oulad Bou Sbaa The Oulad Bou Sbaa (var. Oulad Bou Sbaâ, Oulad Bousbae, from ''awlād abū sib'a'', children of Abu Sib'a, the "Father of the Lions") is a Chorfa/Zaouia tribe, who claim descent from Abu Sib'a, the Idrissid 16th century tribal chief. They live in ...

tribe. The survivors were eventually rescued thanks to James Simpson, the American consul at

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

, and

William Willshire William Willshire also known as William Wiltshire (c. 1790 – 4 August 1851), was British Vice Consul to Mogadore (Essaouira), Morocco from 1814 until 1844, before being assigned to the Consularship of Adrianople (Edirne) in 1845, until his ...

, British

Vice Consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

to Mogadore (Essaouira),

. Morocco had been the first country to recognize the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and attempted to maintain generally friendly relations despite the behavior of corsairs and raiders within their borders. The survivors' story of extreme

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...

, severe

starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...

, and ever-present brutality while roaming the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

desert with their captors became a published story, first in the 1820s in retelling by Captain Riley himself, then by Archibald Robbins, a member of his crew, and then in the 2004 account ''Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival'' by American writer Dean H. King. The original ''Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce by the "Late Master and Supercargo James Riley'' is quoted by

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

as one of the six most influential books he read in his youth and was republished as ''Sufferings in Africa''.

Citations

Further reading