A short account of the life of the narrator will enable the reader to judge of the necessity of such assistance, as well as of his qualifications to relate the incidents of his voyage. ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL was born at Wynford, near Glasgow, on the 19th of July, 1787. His father, who was a soldier in the 45th regiment, died at St. Lucia, upon which his mother removed to Paisley, her native place, when her son was about four years of age. He there received the common rudiments of education, and at the age of ten was bound apprentice to a weaver. Before the term of his apprenticeship had expired, however, a strong desire to visit remote countries induced him to go to sea; and in the year 1800, he entered as apprentice on board the ship Isabella, of Port-Glasgow, commanded by Mr. Hugh Paterson. In this vessel he made three voyages to the West-Indies. He afterwards served about a twelvemonth in a coaster; and, in 1804, again sailed for the West-Indies, in the sloop Robina, belonging to the same port. At Madeira he was pressed on board the Diana frigate, and remained in that ship till her arrival at Portsmouth in 1806. He there found means to make his escape, and entered as seaman on board the Thames Indiaman. The history of the six most eventful years of his life will be found in the following pages. He returned to his native country, in April, 1812, having lost both his feet; and from the unskilful manner in which amputation has been performed, the wounds have never healed. A gentleman in Rio Janeiro, of the name of Lawrie, had furnished him with letters to his father in Edinburgh, by whose interest he obtained admission into the Infirmary in that city; but after remaining there nearly four months, he was dismissed as incurable. Mr. Lawrie, senior, presented him with a barrel organ; and he contrived to earn a miserable pittance, by crawling about the streets of Edinburgh and Leith, grinding music, and selling a metrical history of his adventures. Being ambitious, however, of performing on a more dignified instrument, he has since learned to play on the violin; and he finds employment on board the steam-boats that ply upon the river Clyde, by playing for the amusement of the steerage passengers. In one of these vessels his appearance attracted the notice of the editor; and the answers he gave to some questions excited so much curiosity, that he took him home with the intention of making a few memoranda of his story for his own information.