TRAVELS

TO DISCOVER

The SOURCE of the NILE.

BOOK VIII.

Mr. Bruce returns by Sennaar through Nubia and the great defert-Arrives at Alexandria, and afterwards at Marfeilles.

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N the 26th of December, 1771, at one o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Bruce left Gondar. He had purpofed to fet out early in the morning, but was detained by the importunity of his friends. The king had delayed his fetting out, by feveral orders fent him in the evening each day; and he plainly faw there was some meaning in this, and that he was wishing to throw difficulties in the way, till fome accident, or fudden emergency, never wanting in that country, fhould make it abfolutely impoffible for him to leave Abyffinia. When, therefore, the last meffage came to Kofcam on the 27th, at night, Mr. Bruce returned his refpectful duty to his majefty, put him in mind of his promife, and fomewhat peevishly, he believes, intreated him to leave him to his fortune; that his fervants were already gone, and he was refolved to fet out next morning.

The next morning early, Mr. Bruce was furprised at the arrival of a young nobleman, lately made one of his bed-chamber, with fifty light horfe. As he was fatisfied, that leaving Abyffinia, without parade, as pri

vately as poffible, was the only way to pass through Sennaar; he therefore infifted upon none of his friends accompanying him, and he begged to decline this escort. At one o'clock, Mr. Bruce fet out by the weft fide of Debra Tzai, having the mountain on their right hand, From the top of that afcent, they saw the plain and flat country below, black, and, in its appearance, one thick wood, which fome authors have called lately, the Shumeta, or Nubian foreft.

All the disasters which Mr. Bruce had been threatened with in the courfe of the journey, which he had thus begun, now prefented themselves to his mind, and made, for a moment, a ftrong impreffion upon his spirits. But it was too late to draw back, the dye was caft, for life or for death; home was before him, however distant ; and if, through the protection of Providence, he should be fortunate enough to arrive there, he promised himself both ease and the applaufe of his country, and of all unprejudiced men of fense and learning in Europe; for having, by his own private efforts alone, compleated a difcovery, which had, from early ages, defied the addrefs induftry, and courage of all the world.

Having rather hardened, than comforted his heart by these reflections, he now advanced down the steep fide of the mountain, through very strong and rugged ground, torn up by the torrents that fall on every fide from above. This is called the Defcent of Moura; and though both they and their beafts were in great health and spirits, they could not, with their utmost endeavours, advance much more than one mile an hour. Two Greeks, one of whom only was his fervant, and a third, nearly blind, flying from poverty and want; an old janiffary, who had come to Abyffinia with the Abuna, and Copht who left them at Sennaar; these, and fome common men who took charge of the beafts, and were to go no further than Tcherkin, were his only companions in this long and weary journey.

On the 28th they entered a thick wood, winding round a hill, in a fouth-east direction, to get into the plain below, where they were furrounded by a great multitude of men, armed with lances, fhields, flings, and large clubs or sticks, who rained a fhower of ftones to

wards

wards them; but they were at fuch a distance, that all of them fell greatly fhort of them. Whether this was owing to fear, or not, they did not know; but fuppofing that it was, they thought it their intereft to keep it up as much as poffible. Mr. Bruce, therefore, ordered two shots to be fired over their heads; not with any intention to hurt them, but to let them hear, by the balls whistling among the leaves of the trees, that their guns carried farther than any of their flings; and that, diftant as they then were, they were not in fafety, if they had a difpofition to do harm. They feemed to understand their meaning, by gliding through among the bushes, and appearing at the top of a hill farther off, where they continued hooping, and crying, and making figns, which our travellers could not, neither did they endeavour to understand.

While refting on the banks of the river Mogetch, they had been overtaken by two men, and two women, who were driving two loaded affes, and were going to Tcherkin; they had defired leave to keep company with our travellers, for fear of danger on the road. Mr. Bruce had two Abyffinian fervants, but they were not yet come up, attending one of the baggage mules that was lame. They were obliged then to have recourfe to one of these ftranger women, who understood the language of Tigré, and undertook readily to carry their meffage to a ftranger, who was ftill very bufy making figns from behind a tree, without coming one step nearer.

Mr. Bruce's meffage to them was, that if they fhewed the smallest appearance of further infolence, either by approaching the tent, or flinging ftones that night, the next morning, when the horse he expected were come up, he would burn their town, and put every man of them to the fword. A very fubmiffive anfwer was fent back, with a heap of lies in excufe of what they called their mistake. His two fervants coming foon after, both of whom, hereafter, were to be in the fervice of Ayto Confu, went boldly one to each village, to bring two goats, fome jars of bouza, and to prepare fifty loaves of bread for next morning. The goats were dispatched inftantly, fo was the bouza; but when the morning came, the people had all fled from their houfes, without preparing any bread. These villages were called Gimbaar. They were

three in number; each fituated upon the top of a pointed hill, in a direction from eaft to weft, and made a very beautiful appearance from the plain below.

On the 29th, they left the inhofpitable villages of Gimbaar, not without entertaining fome apprehenfions of meeting the inhabitants again in the courfe of the day. But though they took every precaution against being furprifed, that prudence could dictate, their fears of the encounter did not rife to any great height. Mr. Bruce got, indeed, on horseback, leaving his mule, and, putting on his coat of mail, leaving the fire-arms under the command of Hagi Ifmael, the old Turk, he rode always about a quarter of a mile before the baggage, that they might not come fuddenly upon them, as they had done the night before. However, they met with no opposition, but proceeded on to Waalia; and at half past four in the afternoon encamped in the market-place.

Waalia is a collection of villages, each placed upon the top of a hill, and inclofing, as in a circle, an extenfive flat piece of ground about three miles over, on which a very well-frequented market is kept. The name is given. it from a fpecies of fmall pigeons, with yellow breafts and variegated backs, the fattest and best of all the pigeon kind. Waalia lies due N. W. from Gondar,

On the 30th, they fet out from Waalia, and proceeded along the Mai Lumi, or the River of Lemons. A prodigious quantity of fruit loaded the branches of these trees even likely to break them; and these were in all ftages of ripenefs. Multitudes of bloffoms covered the oppofite part of the tree, and fent forth the most delicious odour poffible. They provided themfelves amply with this fruit. The natives make no use of it, but our travellers found it a great refreshment to them, both mixed with their water, and as fauce to their meat, of which they had now no great variety fince their onions had failed them, and a fupply of them was no longer to be procured.

They foon after reached the pafs of Dav-Dohha, a very narrow defile, full of ftrata of rocks, like fteps of ftairs, but fo high, that, without leaping, or being pulled up, no horfe or mule can afcend. Befides, the defcent, though short, is very steep, and almoft choaked

2

up

up by huge ftones, which the torrents, after washing the earth from about them, had rolled down from the mountain above. Both fides of the defile are covered thick with wood and bufhes, especially that deteftable thorn the kantuffa, fo juftly reprobated in Abyffinia. Having extricated themfelves fuccefsfully from this pafs, their fpirits were fo elated, that they began to think their journey now at an end, not reflecting how many paffes, full of real danger, were still before them.

On the morning of the 2d of January, 1772, Mr. Bruce having dreffed his hair, perfumed it according to the custom of the country, and put on clean clothes, with no other arms but his knife, and a pair of piftols at his girdle, came out of the tent to mount his mule for Tcherkin. He now faw Confu's servant, whose name was Welleta Yafous, pulling the Guinea-fowls and pigeons out of the pannier, where his fervants had put them, and fcattering them upon the ground, faying to those who interrupted him, "Throw away this carrion; you fhall have a better breakfast and dinner, to-day ;" and turning to Mr. Bruce, more than ordinarily pleafed at feeing him dreffed, and that he continued to use the Abyffinian habit, he jumped upon his mule, and appeared in great fpirits. They all fet out at a brifker pace than ufual, by the affiftance of the two fresh mules.

They paffed through the midst of several small villages; and at laft Mr. Bruce pitched his tent in the marketplace at Tcherkin, which feemed a beautiful lawn laid out for pleasure, fhaded with fine old trees, of an enor-. mous height and fize, and watered by a fmall but very limpid brook, running over beds of pebbles as white as fnow.

The impatient Welleta Yafous would only give Mr. Bruce time to fee his quadrant and other inftruments fafely flowed, and hurried him through a very narrow and crooked path up the fide of the mountain, at every turn of which was placed a great rock or ftone, the ftation for mufquets to enfilade the different ftages of the road below, where it was ftrait for any diftance. They at laft reached the outer court, where Mr. Bruce faw a great many of his old acquaintance, whom he had known