the King. He had various interviews with this sovereign, was appointed Baalo-maal, or Lord of the Bed-chamber, and afterwards Lord of Geesh, a province in the southern parts of the kingdom, which promotions were in the issue of great service to Mr. B. in his escape from this land of barbarism. He rode also in the Koccab horse, among the king's attendants, and was, in fact, respected, beloved, and promoted, as much as a stranger could be.

Various were the political disturbances which it was the fate of our intrepid, yet reflective traveller to witness; scenes of alternate rebellion and battle; slaughter and execution. We pass these deeds of blood, to attend to those objects of more interesting description to the civilized world, and what were the principal objects of Mr. B.'s inquiry. The sources of the Nile had long been considered among the literati, ancient and modern, as places to be discovered, but as having never been visited by any European; though Mr. B. allows to Poncet, one of the Jesuit missionaries, a knowledge in this respect, which some had denied him. But he asserts in decided terms the falsity of Jerome Lobo's pretensions.

We shall do no more, in this place, than hint a doubt, whether this Nile was the river which gave rise to the proverb.

as undiscovered as the head of Nilus:"

because, we have some suspicion, that it rather referred to the Nilal, a river of India, and a sacred abode of the original deities of mankind. Alexander the Great, at least, seems to have been of this opinion, when he wrote a letter to his mother, acquainting her, that he, advancing toward India, had almost arrived at the head of Nilus; and informning her, at the same time, that the gods of the nations had been mortals, bnt consecrated after death.

Waving this, we proceed to give Mr. B.'s description of the greatest cataract of the Nile, the second from its source. And this we select the rather, because most, if not all, writers have applied the description of Lucan to the Cataracts near Syene in Egypt, and have in consegnence, criticised that poet too severely, since he had in contemplation, what accounts had reached him, of a more considerable fall than the lower Cataracts present.

We shall see now to what degree this description agrees with that of Mr. B.

The Nile here is confined between two

rocks, and runs in a deep trough, with great roaring and impetuous velocity.

The cataract itself was the most magnifi about 50 feet, I may venture to say nearer to cent sight I ever beheld the missionaries say 40 feet high. The river had been considerably increased by rains, and fell in one sheet of water, without any interval, above half an English mile in breadth, with a force and noise that was truly terrible, and which stunned and made me, for a time, perfectly dizzy. A thick fume, or haze, covered the fall all round, and hung over the course of the stream, both above and below, marking its river, though swelled with rain, preserved its track, though the water was not seen. The

natural clearness, and fell, as far as I could

discern, into a deep pool, or basin, in the solid rock, which iwas full, and in twenty different eddies to the very foot of the precípice; the stream, when in fell, secming part of it to run back with great fury upon the rock, as well as forward in the line of its course, faising a wave, or violent ekullition, fell with a noise like the loudest thunder, by chaffing against each other...... The stream sufficient to make the solid rock (at least as to sense) shoke to its very foundation, and threaten to tear every nerve to pieces, and to deprive one of other senses beside that of hearing. It was a most magnificent sight, that ages, added to the greatest length of human life, would not efface from my memory; it struck me with a kind of stupor, and a total oblivion of where I was, and of every other sublunary conceru. It was one of the most magnificent sights in the creation !..... bly reflection was suspended, or subdued; and, while in sight of the fall, I think I was under a temporary alienation of mind; it seems to me as if one element had broke loose? from, and become superior to, all laws of subordination; that the fountains of the great deep were again extraordinfarily-o.end, and the destruction of a world was once more.

begun by the agency of water.-Vol. V. p.

100.

The reader will judge whether the feelings of Mr. Bruce, are not a striking comment on the verses of the poet; and whether an account like this delivered to us by the traveller, is not likely to have been the origin of such opinions as were current in antiquity concerning the effects of the cataracts of the Nile. We are not aware that any other river than the Nile could furnish this description; at least the Nile is the most famous, and stands foremost among the noisy streams of antiquity. Cicero says, it stunned and deafened those who approached it. “Ubi Nilus ad illa, quæ Catadupa nominantur, precipitat ex altissimis montibus, ea gens, quæ illum locum accolit, propter magnitudinem sonitus, sensu audiendi taret." Som. Scip. cap. 5. Vide also Diod. Sic. lib. i. cap. 19, 20. Seneca, Nat. Quest. lib. iv. cap. 2.

It was some time after this, and after repeated disappointments that Mr. B. was able to visit the sources which furnish the first feeble rills of this famous river. He describes them as flowing from three springs, which rise in the middle of a marsh, about 40 yards from each side of it, and something less from the bottom of the mountain of Geesh; here stands a hillock of a circular form, about three feet from the surface of the marsh itself, though apparently founded much deeper in it. The diameter of this is something short of twelve feet; it is surrounded by a shallow trench, which collects the water and voids it eastward; it is firmly built with sod or earthen turf, brought from the sides, and kept constantly in repair; and this is the altar on which all their religious ceremonies of the inhabitants are performed. The further description of these springs we shall quote from an Italian attendant of Mr. B., whose account is given among the additions.

The sum of the whole way froin Gondar to the fountains of the Nile, is about 111 miles.

The fountains of the Nile are three. One of them will be 4 palms in diameter; but it is all full of rushes, and shews neither its depth nor true extent, it not being possible to introduce into it any sounding instrument.

The second will be 5 paces distant from the first, to the south, a little west: and will be about 12 inches diameter at the mouth,

but within about 4 palms, and it is 8 feet 3 inches deep.

The third will be 12 paces distant from the first, to S. S. W.; its mouth is somewhat larger than that of the second, but it is only 5 feet 8 inches deep. The first being the lowest, the water is seen at the level of the earth; but in the other two, the ground being a little raised, the water remains about 8 inches lower than the level of the mouth. All the three may be observed to spring (the word bollire signifies to boil or bubble), but so imperceptibly that it can scarcely be discerned by great attention; and it is false what is said by some, that they spring with a noise out of the ground, rising above it.

All this place near the fountains produces only grass and rushes; trees are not found, to the distance at least of about half a mile on every side.

The latitude of the fountains is 10.58 58. -Vol. V. p. 437.

By an observation of an immersion of the first satellite of Jupiter, Mr. B. determined the longitude of these springs to be 36° 55′ 30′′ east of Greenwich. By the quicksilver in the tube, which stood at 22 inches, he found himself more than two English miles above the level of the sea. A prodigious height, to enjoy a sky perpetually clear, as also a hot sun, never overcast for a moment with clouds from sun rising to sun setting.

Nov. 6. At a quarter past five o'clock in the morning, Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at 44°; at noon 90°; at sun set 40°. It was, as to sense, cold at night, and still more so an hour before sun set.

Mr. Bruce explains the cause of the rising of the Nile to be, rains, which fall every morning in Abyssinia, as the sun advances in his course North of the equator.

Every morning in Abyssinia is clear, and the sun shines, but about 9 o'clock, a small cloud, not above four feet broad, appears in the East, whirling itself round-but, arrived in the zenith, its motion abates, it spreads, and dissolves in rain, attended with most violent thunder.-When the sun is in the southern tropic 36° distant, the thermometer is seldom lower than 72°, but when the sun is vertical it falls to 60 and 59°.—The rain accompanies the progress of the sun, and the vapours move with it, Northward or Southward. The quantity of rain in Gondar from March 20 to Sept. 8, 1770, was 35 inches in 1771 it was 414 inches. In 1770 August was the rainy month; in 1771 July.

The Nile is worshipped by those around

its springs and a black heifer, that never bore a calf, is sacrificed to it, on the first appearance of the dog-star. The carcase is eaten raw; and the Nile water only, is drank, on this occasion. The head is carried into an adjoining cavern. Various travellers have mentioned the custom of eating raw, and even living, food, in Abyssinia: nor is it unknown, either in antiquity, sacred or classical; or in other parts of the world-we might say, even among ourselves, and other nations who call each other civilized.

Mr. Bruce, having satisfied that desire which had induced him to confront so many dangers, at length was assailed by those longings for home, which for the wisest purposes are implanted in the human breast. After various events, he quitted Gondar, Dec. 26, 1771. He travelled through the intervening district, which he describes as full of woods, and tall trees; and after many hazards, arrived at Sennaar, April 29, 1772. This town is the capital of a kingdoin of the sanie name, adjacent to Abyssinia. Its chief revenues arise from a duty paid by the Arabs, for their flocks, camels, &c. as they pass southward to the fertile lands, to feed on them, or northward, to avoid an insect, which we may call the gad-fly of these countries; and which, at a certain time of the year, would destroy the whole of the cattle, were they not removed to other districts. The revenue paid for this transit, by one tribe only, was 100,000 ounces of gold, or £250,000. There were ten other tribes; so that at least six times this sum was to be gathered from other Arabs. This multitude of camels supplies the immense destruction of this animal in the annual journeys to Mecca, &c. by many thousand pilgrims,

across the deserts of Africa and Arabia.

Mr. B. left Sennaar, Sept. 5, and proceeded northward, for the great desert lying between this region and Egypt. He arrived Oct. 4. at Chendi, lat. 16° 38′ 35" N. long. 33° 24′ 45′′, E. which he quitted, Oct. 20, and, proceeding, committed himself, and his party to the desert, Nov. 9," a bare desert of fixed gravel, without trees, and of a very disagreeable whitish colour, mixed with small pieces of white marble, and pebbles like alabaster."

This, under the protection of wonderful providence, he passed in safety, but VOL. I. [Lit. Pan. March 1807.]

amidst a thousand difficulties, and after being reduced to his last feed of bread, and his last drop of water. He arrived at Syene, in Egypt, on the 29th. From hence he departed, down the Nile, for Europe, Dec. 11.

But, we must not part thus from the desert and its scenery. We have always regarded Mr. B's description of his journey homewards, as among the most affecting narrations in our language. The progressive interest is so perfectly well supported, that hearts of stone, indeed, must they be, which do not sympathize with the suffering Briton. The following descriptions are equally recommended by novelty and terror.

Nov. 14, at noon. We were here at once surprized and terrified by a sight surely one of the most magnificent in the world. In that vast expanse of desert, from W. and to N. W. of us, we saw a number of prodigious pillars of sand at different distances, at times moving with great celerity, at others stalking on with a majestic slowness; and at intervals we thought they were coming in a very few minutes to overwhelm us; and small quantities of sand did actually reach us, more than once. Again they would retreat so as to be almost out of sight, their tops reaching to the very clouds. There the tops often separated from the bodies; and these, once disjoined, dispersed in the air, and did not appear more. Sometimes they were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large cannon shot. The greatest diameter of the largest might be ten feet. It was vain to think of fleeing; the swiftest horse, or fastest sailing ship, could be of no use to carry us out of this danger. At one time they resembled a thick wood, and almost darkened the sun his rays shining through them for near an hour, gave them the appearance of pillars of fire.

:

These pillars fell in hillocks, from seven to thirteen feet high, drawn into perfect cones, with very sharp points, and wellproportioned bases. The sand was of an inconceivable fineness, having been the sport of the hot winds for thousands of years.Marks of the whirling motion of the pillars were distinctly seen in every heap.-- -On awaking one morning, we found that one side was perfectly buried in the sand that the wind had blown over us during the night. About 300 yards out of our way, to the left, among some sandy hillocks, where the ground seems to be more elevated than the rest, Idris the Hybeer told me, that one of the largest caravans which ever came out of Egypt, under the conduct of the Ababdé and Bishareen

2 R

Arabs, was there covered with sand, to the number of some thousands of camels.

Mr. B.'s description has furnished Dr. Darwin with images truly terrific.

Onwards resistless rolls th'infuriate surge, Clouds follow clouds, and mountains mountains urge,

Wave over wave the driving desert swims,

Bursts o'er their heads, inhumes their struggling limbs ;

Man mounts on man, on camels camels rush, Hosts march o'er hosts, and nations nations crush

Wheeling in air the winged islands fall,

And one great earthy ocean covers all !
Then ceas'd the storm,-

Ethiop brow

-Night bow'd his

To earth, and listened to the groans below;——— Grim horror shook awhile the living hill Heav'd with convulsive throes ;-and all was still.

A second enemy, not less formidable, was the Simoon: which Mr. B. thus describes.

I saw from the S. E. a haze come, in colour like the purple part of the rainbow, but not so compressed or thick. It was a kind of blush upon the air, and it moved very rapidly, for I scarce could turn to fall upon the ground with my head to the northward, when I felt the heat of its current plainly upon my face. We all lay flat on the ground, as if dead, till Idris told us it was blown over. The meteor, or purple haze, which I saw, was indeed passed, but the light air that still blew was of heat to threaten suffocation,

A third enemy, at least equally to be dreaded, was the barbarous tribes which inhabit the various spots of this inhospita'ble wild that afford a scanty growth of pasture. To what is the human mind reduced, when man can plunder the way worn pilgrim, murder the passing traveller, and leave unoffending fellow men perish, by hunger and thirst, on a wide expanse of sand!

to

Indeed, Mr. B's work brings us aequainted with numerous nations of men, some of which, who profess christianity, we cannot recognize as Christians: and most of them have nothing even of the semblance of humanity, but the exterior form and figure. These we cannot now particularize.

We have mentioned Mr. B's. departure from Syene, Dec. 11. He reached Cairo, Jan. 10, 1773. From Egypt he sailed to Marseilles was received with great in

terest by the literati of France; in July visited Italy; returned to Paris in 1774, and arrived in England, from whence he had been absent about 12 years, in June, that year. In autumn he left London for Scotland; where he settled on his estate, rebuilt his house, and arranged his domestic establishment.

May 20, 1776. Mr. B. married Mary Dundas, daughter of Thomas Dundas, of Fingask, Esq. who dying in 1785, he endeavoured to soothe his affliction by revising his journals, and preparing them for publication. They were published in 1790, in five volumes 4to. By this lady he had a son, the present Mr. Bruce of Kinnaird, and a daughter married to John Jardine, Esq. Advocate.

On Saturday, April 26, 1794, having entertained some company at Kinnaird, as be was going down stairs, about eight o'clock in the evening, to hand a lady into a carriage, his foot slipped, and he fell down headlong, from about the sixth or seventh step from the ground. He was taken up in a state of appa rent insensibility, with no marks of contu sion, one of his hands only being a little hurt. Medical assistance was immediately procured, with no advantage. Though some hours after the accident happened, there ap peared a few symptoms of recovery, these gradually vanished, and he expired early next morning.

Mr. B.'s stature was six feet four inches. The editor has drawn an advantageous picture of his general character; which we are not inclined to dispute: but willingly acknowledge his prudence, foresight, courage, and magnanimity. His management, in short, was excellent. The public is under great obligations to him, for communicating a variety of information, which well deserves the enco mium due to novelty. It is also interesting; and we hope to see this interest augmented by those accounts from Abyssinia which the world of letters expects from Lord Valentia, whose return to England from the Red Sea is noticed in our work, p. 864. It appears that Mr. Salt and Major Arundel have visited Gondar.

It is now proper that we attend to the merits of the edition before us.

We must acknowledge that however we might do justice to the general merit of Mr. B.'s work, at its first appearance, yet we were sensible that in several places it suffered from neglect: in others the