| Here is a fuller account of his life
BRUCE, JAMES, a
celebrated traveller, born on the 14th of December, 1730, at Kinnaird,
in the county of Stirling. Bruce was by birth a gentleman, and might
even be considered as nobly descended. He was the eldest son of David
Bruce, Esq. of Kinnaird, who was in turn the son of David Hay of
Woodcockdale, in Linlithgowshire, (descended from an old and respectable
branch of the Hays of Errol,) and of Helen Bruce, the heiress of
Kinnaird, who traced her pedigree to that noble Norman family, which, in
the fourteenth century, gave a king to Scotland. It will thus be
observed that the traveller's paternal name had been changed from Hay to
Bruce, for the sake of succession to Kinnaird. The traveller was
extremely vain regarding his alliance to the hero of Bannockburn,
insomuch as to tell his engraver, on one occasion, that he conceived
himself entitled to use royal livery! He took it very ill to be
reminded, as he frequently was, that, in reality, he was not a Bruce,
but a Hay, and, though the heir of line, not the heir male of
even that branch of the family which he represented. In truth, the real
Bruces of Kinnaird, his grandmother's ancestors, were but descended from
a cadet of the royal family of Bruce, and, as it will be observed,
sprung off before the family became royal, though not before it had
intermarried with royalty. His mother was the daughter of James Graham,
Esq. of Airth, dean of the Faculty of Advocates, and judge of the High
Court of Admiralty in Scotland - a man distinguished by his abilities
and respected for his public and private virtues. Unfortunately, the
traveller lost his mother at the early age of three years - almost the
only worldly loss which cannot be fully compensated. His father marrying
a second time, had an additional family of six sons and two daughters.
In his earliest years,
instead of the robust frame and bold disposition which he possessed in
manhood, Bruce was of weakly health and gentle temperament. At the age
of eight years, a desire of giving his heir-apparent the best possible
education, and perhaps also the pain of seeing one motherless child
amidst the more fortunate offspring of a second union, induced his
father to send him to London, to be placed under the friendly care of
his uncle, counsellor Hamilton. In that agreeable situation he spent the
years between eight and twelve, when he was transferred to the public
school at Harrow, then conducted by Dr Cox. Here he won the esteem of
his instructors, as well as of many other individuals, by the
extraordinary aptitude with which he acquired a knowledge of classic
literature, and the singularly sweet and amiable dispositions which he
always manifested. To this reputation, his weakly health, and the fear
that he was destined, like his mother, to an early grave, seems to have
given a hue of tenderness, which is seldom manifested for merely clever
scholars. The gentleness of his character, the result solely of bad
health, led him at this early period of his life to contemplate the
profession of a clergyman; a choice in which he might, moreover, be
further satisfied, from a recollection of his ancestor, Robert Bruce of
Kinnaird, who was the leading divine in Scotland little more than a
century before. So completely, however, do the minds of men take colour
from their physical constitution, that on his health becoming confirmed
with advancing manhood, this tame choice was abandoned for something of
a bolder character; which, in its turn, appears to have given
way, in still further increased strength, for something bolder still.
He left Harrow, with the
character of a first-rate scholar, in May 1746, and, after spending
another year at an academy, in the study of French, arithmetic, and
geometry, returned, May 1747, to Kinnaird, where he spent some months in
the sports of the field, for which he suddenly contracted a deep and
lasting attachment. It was now determined that he should prepare himself
for the profession of an advocate; a road to distinction, which, as it
was almost the only one left to Scotland by the Union, was then, and at
a much later period, assumed by an immense proportion of the young
Scottish gentry. He entered, in the winter of 1747, as a student in the
college of Edinburgh, and attended the lectures on civil law, Scottish
law, and universal history. But the study was not congenial to his mind.
"In vain he pored over distinctions, which he did not remember, and
puzzled himself with points of which he could not comprehend the
importance. An ardent admirer of truth and simplicity, he very rashly
conceived that, in the studies which his father had proposed for him, he
could worship neither the one nor the other; moreover, while, in filial
obedience, he hung his bewildered head over his law books, his youthful
heart was apparently devoted to lovelier and more congenial objects, for
on the leaves of ‘Elementa Juris Civilis Heineccii,' on which stands
the name of "James Bruce, 1749," we find written in the middle
of some very grave maxims, ‘Bella ingrata, io moriro!’ with other
equally love-sick sentiments from Metastasio and Ariosto.’ - Head's
Life of Bruce.
A return of bad health
relieved him from this bondage. He was remanded to Kinnaird for exercise
and air; and for several years he remained undetermined as to his future
course of life. Be it remarked, there might have been no necessity for
his leaving the paternal home in search of fortune, had not the number
of his father's second family diminished his prospects of wealth from
that source.
Having at length resolved
upon going to India, at that time a more adventurous field than it has
since become, he left Scotland, July 1753, in the twenty-third year of
his age, and arriving in London, was received in the kindest manner by
those friends with whom he had formerly resided. While waiting for the
permission of the East India directors to settle there as a free trader,
he was introduced to Adriana Allan, the beautiful and most amiable
daughter of a wealthy wine-merchant deceased. An attachment to this
young lady, which soon proved mutual, once more changed his destination
in life. On making known his feelings to the surviving parent of his
mistress, it was suggested that, in marrying her, he might also wed
himself to the excellent business left by her father. Love easily
overcame every scruple he might entertain regarding this scheme; and
accordingly, on the 3rd February, 1754, he was married to Miss Allan.
For some months, Bruce enjoyed the society of this excellent creature,
and during that time he applied himself to business with an enthusiasm
borrowed from love. But, unfortunately, the health of his partner began
to decline. It was found necessary that she should visit the south of
France for a milder climate. Bruce accompanied her on this melancholy
journey. Consumption outstripped the speed with which they travelled.
She was unable to move beyond Paris. There, after a week's suffering;
she died in his arms.
By this event, the
destiny of Bruce was once more altered. The tie which bound him to trade
- almost to existence, was broken. He seems to have now thought it
necessary that he should spend a life of travel abandoning the cares of
business to his partner, and resolving to take an early opportunity of
giving up his share altogether, he applied himself to the study of the
Spanish and Portuguese languages, and also improved his skill in
drawing, under a master of the name of Bonneau, recommended to him by Mr
(afterwards Sir Robert) Strange. Before this time he had chiefly
cultivated that part of drawing which relates to the science of
fortification, in hopes that he might, on some emergency, find it of use
in military service. But views of a more extensive kind now induced him
to study drawing in general, and to obtain a correct taste in painting.
This notice of his application to the study of drawing we have given in
the words of his biographer (Dr Murray), because it was long and
confidently reported by those who wished to lessen his reputation, that
he was totally and incorrigibly ignorant of the art.
In July 1757, he sailed
for Portugal, landed at Corunna, and soon reached Lisbon. He was much
struck by the ways of the Portuguese, many of which are directly
opposite to those of all other nations. A Portuguese gentleman, showing
out a friend, walks before him to the door; a Portuguese boatman rows
with his face to the front of the vessel, and lands stern foremost; when
a man and woman ride on horseback, the woman is foremost, and sits with
her face to the right side of the animal. And what, in Bruce's opinion,
accounted for all this contrariety, the children are rocked in cradles
which move from head to foot.
From Portugal, after four
month's stay, Bruce travelled into Spain, where he also spent a
considerable time. The sight of the remains of Moorish grandeur here
inspired him with the wish of writing an account of the domination of
that people in Spain; but he found the materials inaccessible through
the jealousy of the government. Leaving Spain, he traversed France,
visited Brussels, and, passing through Holland into Germany, there
witnessed the battle of Crevelt. Returning by Rotterdam, he received
intelligence of the death of his father, by which event he became laird
of Kinnaird. The property he thus acquired was soon after considerably
increased by the establishment of the Carron company, which was supplied
with coal from his mines.
He now employed himself
in studying the Arabic language, a branch of knowledge then little
regarded in Britain. In 1761, he withdrew entirely from the wine trade.
About this time, Bruce formed an acquaintance with Mr Pitt, (the elder,)
then at the head of affairs, to whom he proposed a scheme for making a
descent upon Spain, against which country Britain was expected to
declare war. Though this project came to nothing, Lord Halifax had
marked the enterprising genius of this Scottish gentleman, and proposed
to him to signalise the commencement of the new reign by making
discoveries in Africa. It was not part of this proposal that he should
attempt to reach the source of the Nile; that prodigious exploit, which
had baffled the genius of the civilised world for thousands of years,
seemed to Lord Halifax to be reserved for some more experienced person;
his lordship now only spoke of discoveries on the coast of Barbary,
which had then been surveyed, and that imperfectly, by only one British
traveller, Dr Shaw. For this end, Bruce was appointed to be consul at
Algiers. In an interview with George III., with which he was honoured
before setting out, his Majesty requested him to take drawings of the
ruins of ancient architecture which he should discover in the course of
his travels. It having been provided that he should spend some time by
the way in Italy, he set out for that country in June 1762.
He visited Rome, Naples,
and Florence, and fitted himself by surveying the work of ancient art,
for the observations he was to make upon kindred objects in Africa. Here
he formed an acquaintance with a native of Bologna, name Luigi Balugani,
whom he engaged to attend him in his travels, in the capacity of an
artist. He at length sailed from Leghorn to Algiers, which he reached in
March 1763. Ali Pacha, who then acted as Dey in this barbarous state,
was a savage character, not unlike the celebrated personage of the same
name, whom Lord Byron introduced to European notice. An injudicious
yielding to his will, on the part of the English government, who changed
a consul at his request, had just given an additional shade of insolence
and temerity to his character; and he expected to tyrannise over Bruce
as over one of his own officers. The intrepidity of the new consul, it
may be imagined, was, under such circumstances, called into frequent
action. He several times bearded this lion in his very den, always
apparently indebted for his safety to the very audacity which might have
been expected to provoke his ruin. A good idea of the true British
fortitude which he exerted under such circumstances, may be gained from
a letter to Lord Halifax, in which, after recommending forcible
measures, which would have been highly dangerous to his own personal
security, he says, - "I myself have received from a friend some
private intimations to consult my own safety and escape. The advice is
impracticable, nor would I take it were it not so. Your lordship may
depend upon it, that till I have the king's orders, or find that I can
be of no further service here, nothing will make me leave Algiers but
force. One brother has already, this war, had the honour to lose his
life in the service of his country. Two others, besides myself, are
still in it, and if any accident should happen to me, as is most
probable from these lawless butchers, all I beg of his Majesty is that
he will graciously please to extend his favour to the survivors, if
deserving, and that he will make this city an example to others, how
they violate public faith and the law of nations."
It is this constancy and
firmness, in postponing the consideration of danger to the consideration
of duty, which has mainly tended to exalt the British character above
those of other nations. Bruce weathered every danger, till August 1765,
when, being relieved by the arrival of another consul, he left this
piratical stronghold, and began to prosecute his researches along the
coast of Africa. Landing at Bona, he paid a visit to Utica, "out of
respect to the memory of Cato," and then, with a proper retinue for
his protection, penetrated into the interior of the kingdoms of Algiers
and Tunis. On the borders of these states, he found a tribe named the
Welled Sidi Boogannim, who are exempted from taxes on condition of their
living exclusively upon lions; a means of keeping down those enemies of
the public. Dr Shaw, the only British predecessor of Bruce in this line
of research, had been much laughed at, and even openly scouted, for
having hinted at the existence of such a custom. His friends at Oxford
thought it a subversion of the established order of things, that a man
should eat a lion, when it had long passed as almost the peculiar
province of the lion to eat the man. Bruce was exactly the man to go the
more boldly forward when such a lion was in the way.
He thus alludes, in his
own travels, to the foolish scepticism with which Dr Shaw's statement
had been received: "With all submission to the learned University,
I will not dispute the lion's title to eating men; but since it is not
founded upon patent, no consideration will make me stifle the merit of
the Willid Sidi Boogannim, who have turned the chase upon the enemy. It
is a historical fact, and I will not permit the public to be misled by a
misrepresentation of it. On the contrary, I do aver, in the face of
these fantastic prejudices, that I have ate the flesh of lions, that is,
part of three lions, in the tents of the Willid Sidi Boogannimo."
This is certainly a notable enough specimen of the contra audientior
ito. After having traversed the whole of these states, and taken
drawings of every antiquity which he esteemed worthy of notice, he moved
further west to Tripoli, where he was received with great kindness by Mr
Fraser of Lovat, British consul at that place.
From Tripoli he
dispatched the greater part of his drawings to Smyrna, by which
precaution they were saved from the destruction which must have
otherwise been their fate. Crossing the Gulf of Sidra, which makes a
considerable sweep into the northern coast of Africa, Bruce now reached
Bengazio, the ancient Berenice built by Ptolemy Philadelphus. From this
place he travelled to Ptolemata, where, finding the plague raging, he
was obliged to embark hastily in a Greek vessel which he hired to carry
him to Crete. This was perhaps the most unlucky step he took during the
whole of his career. The vessel was not properly provided with ballast;
the sails defied the management of the ignorant man who professed to
steer it; it had not therefore got far from shore when a storm drove it
to leeward, and it struck upon a rock near the harbour of Bengazi. Bruce
took to the boat, along with a great number of the other passengers; but
finding that it could not survive, and fearing lest he should be
overwhelmed by a multitude of drowning wretches, he saw it necessary to
commit himself at once to the sea, and endeavour to swim ashore. In this
attempt, after suffering much from the violence of the surf, he was at
last successful. He had only, however, become exposed to greater
dangers. A plundering party of Arabs came to make prey of the wrecked
vessel, and his Turkish clothing excited their worst feelings. After
much suffering he got back to Bengazi, but with the loss of all his
baggage, including many valuable instruments and drawings. Fortunately,
the master of a French sloop, to whom he had rendered a kindness at
Algiers, happened to be lying in that port. Through the grateful service
of this person, he was carried to Crete. An ague, however, had fixed
itself upon his constitution, in consequence of his exertions in the sea
of Ptolemata; it attacked him violently in Crete, and he lay for some
days dangerously ill.
On recovering a little,
he proceeded to Rhodes, and from thence to Asia Minor, where he
inspected the ruins of Baalbec and Palmyra. By the time he got back to
Sidon, he found that his letters to Europe announcing the loss of his
instruments, were answered by the transmission of a new set, including a
quadrant from Louis XV., who had been told by Count Button of the
unhappy affair of Bengazi. In June 1768, he sailed from Sidon to
Alexandria, resolved no longer to delay that perilous expedition which
had taken possession of his fancy.
"Previous to his
first introduction to the waters of the Nile," says Captain Head,
"it may not be improper, for a moment, calmly and dispassionately
to consider how far he was qualified for the attempt which he was about
to undertake. Being thirty-eight years of age, he was at that period of
life in which both the mind and body of man are capable of their
greatest possible exertions. During his travels and residence in Europe,
Africa, and Asia, he had become practically acquainted with the
religion, manners, and prejudices of many countries different from his
own; and he had learned to speak the French, Italian, Spanish, Modern
Greek, Moorish and Arabic languages. Full of enterprise,
enthusiastically devoted to the object he had in view, accustomed to
hardship, inured to climate as well as to fatigue, he was a man of
undoubted courage, in stature six feet four, and with this
imposing appearance, possessing great personal strength; and lastly, in
every proper sense of the word, he was a gentleman; and no man about to
travel can give to his country a better pledge for veracity than when,
like Bruce, his mind is ever retrospectively viewing the noble conduct
of his ancestors - thus showing that he considers he has a stake in
society, which, by the meanness of falsehood or exaggeration, he would
be unable to transmit unsullied to posterity."
From Alexandria he
proceeded to Cairo, where he was received with distinction by the Bey,
under the character of a dervish, or soothsayer, which his acquaintance
with eastern manners enabled him to assume with great success. It
happened, fortunately for his design, that in the neighbourhood of Cairo
resided a Greek patriarch, who had lived sometime under his roof at
Algiers, and taught him the Modern Greek language. This person gave him
letters to many Greeks who held high situations in Abyssinia, besides a
bull, or general recommendation, claiming protection for him from the
numerous persons of that nation residing in the country. Bruce had
previously acquired considerable knowledge of the medical art, as part
of that preparatory education with which he had fitted himself for his
great task. The Bey fortunately took ill: Bruce cured him. His highness,
in gratitude, furnished him with recommendatory letters to a great
number of ruling personages throughout Egypt, and along both shores of
the Red Sea. Bruce, thus well provided, commenced his voyage up the
Nile, December 12, 1768, in a large canja or boat, which was to carry
him to Furshoot, the residence of Amner, the Sheikh of Upper Egypt.
For two or three weeks he
enjoyed the pleasure of coasting at ease and in safety along the
wonder-studded banks of this splendid river, only going on shore
occasionally to give the more remarkable objects a narrower inspection.
He was at Furshoot on the 7th of January, 1769. Advancing hence
to Sheikh Amner, the encampment of a tribe of Arabs, whose dominion
extended almost to the coast of the Red Sea, he was fortunate enough to
acquire the friendship of the Sheikh, or head of the race, by curing him
of a dangerous disorder. This secured him the means of prosecuting his
journey in a peaceable manner. Under the protection of this tribe, he
soon reached Cossier, a fort on the Red Sea, having previously, however,
sent all his journals and drawings, hitherto completed, to the care of
some friends at Cairo.
Bruce sailed from Cossier
on the 5th of April, and for several months he employed himself in
making geographical observations upon the coasts of this important sea.
On the 19th of September, after having for the first time determined the
latitude and longitude of many places, which have since been found
wonderfully correct, he landed at Massuah, the port of Abyssinia. Here
he encountered great danger and difficulty, from the savage character of
the Naybe, or governor of Massuah, who, not regarding the letters
carried by Bruce from the Bey of Cairo, had very nearly taken his life.
By the kindness of Achmet, a nephew of the Naybe, whom Bruce rescued
from a deadly sickness, he was enabled to surmount the obstacles
presented against him in this place, and on the 15th November began to
penetrate the country of Abyssinia.
In crossing the hill of
Tarenta, a mountainous ridge, which skirts the shore, the traveller
encountered hardships under which any ordinary spirit would have sunk.
Advancing by Dixan, Adowa, and Axum, he found himself greatly indebted
for safety and accommodation to the letters which he carried for the
Greeks, who formed the civilized class amongst that rude people. It was
in the neighbourhood of Axum that he saw the unfortunate sight (the
slicing of steaks from the rump of a live cow), which was the chief
cause of his being afterwards generally discredited in his own country.
On the 14th of February, after a journey of ninety-five days from
Massuah, he reached Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia, a town containing
about ten thousand families. The king and his chief minister Ras
Michael, to both of whom Bruce had letters of introduction, were now
absent with the army, putting down a rebellion which had been raised by
Fasil, a turbulent governor of a province. But Bruce was favourably
received by one Ayto Aylo, a Greek, and chamberlain of the palace. It
happened that the favourite child of Ras Michael was at this time ill
with the small pox at the country palace of Koscam. Ozoro Esther, the
beautiful young wife of Ras Michael, and the mother of this child,
watched over the sick-bed with intense anxiety. Bruce, by the good
offices of Ayto Aylo, was introduced to the distracted mother as a
skilful physician; and after some preliminary civilities, he undertook
to cure the child, in which task he very soon succeeded. Having thus at
once made favour in a very high quarter, he waited patiently for two or
three weeks, when the king and Ras Michael, having gained a victory,
returned to Gondar, and Bruce was then presented to them. Ras Michael,
at the first interview, acknowledged the powerful nature of Bruce's
recommendations, but explained to him, that owing to the present
convulsed state of the country, it would be difficult to afford him all
the protection that might be wished. It appeared to Michael, that the
best way of ensuring personal safety and respect for him throughout the
country, would be to give him a high office in the king's household.
Bruce consented, from the conviction that in becoming Baalomaal, and
commander of the Koccob horse, he was doing his best towards
facilitating his journey.
While acting in the
capacity of Baalomaal, which seems to have been somewhat like the
British office of Lord of the bed-chamber, he secured the king's favour
and admiration, by the common school-boy trick of shooting a small
candle through a dense substance. He was now appointed to be governor of
a large Mahometan province, which lay on the way he designed to take in
returning home: this duty, however, he could perform by deputy. In May,
the army set out from Gondar to meet the rebel Fasil, and Bruce took
that share in the fatigues and perils of the campaign which his office
rendered necessary. He was of great service in improving the discipline
of the army, and was looked upon as a finished warrior. After a good
deal of marching and countermarching, the royal forces gained a complete
victory over Fasil, who was consequently obliged to make his submission.
This rebel now lived on amicable terms with the king and his officers,
and Bruce, recollecting the interesting site of his government, busied
himself in performing medical services to his principal officers. When
the king came to ask Bruce what reward he would have for his share in
the campaign, the enthusiastic traveller answered, that he only wished
two favours, the property of the village of Geesh, with the spot in its
neighbourhood where he understood the Nile to arise, and a royal mandate
obliging Fasil to facilitate his journey to that place. The king,
smiling at the humility of his desires, granted the request, only
regretting that Zagoube (such was the name assumed by Bruce in his
travels,) could not be induced to ask something ten times more precious.
The attention of the
sovereign and his minister were now distracted by the news of another
insurrection in the western parts of the kingdom; and it was necessary
to move the army in that direction. Bruce made the excuse of his health
(which was really bad) to avoid attendance in this campaign; and at
length, with some difficulty, he obtained the king's permission to set
out for Geesh, which he was now resolved on, notwithstanding that the
breaking out of another rebellion omened ill for the continued
submission of Fasil, and consequently for the safety of the traveller.
Bruce set out upon this
last great stage of his journey on the 28th of October, 1770, and he was
introduced to the presence of Fasil at a place called Bamba. Fasil,
partly through the representations of those officers to whom Bruce had
recommended himself; was in reality favourably disposed to him; but he
at first thought proper to affect a contrary sentiment, and represented
the design as impracticable. In the course of the wrangling which took
place between the two on this subject, Bruce was so much incensed that
his nose spontaneously gushed with blood, and his servant had to lead
him from the tent. Fasil expressed sorrow at this incident, and
immediately made amends by taking measures to facilitate Bruce's
journey. He furnished him with a guide called Woldo, as also seven
savage chieftains of the country for a guard, and furthermore added,
what was of greater avail than all the rest, a horse of his own, richly
caparisoned, which was to go before the travelling party, as a symbol of
his protection, in order to insure the respect of the natives. By way of
giving a feasible appearance to the journey, Bruce was invested by Fasil
with the property and governorship of the district of Geesh, in which
the Nile rises, so that this strangely disguised native of Stirlingshire,
in the kingdom of Scotland, looked entirely like an Abyssinian chief
going to take possession of an estate in the highlands of that remote
and tropical country.
Bruce left Fasil's house
on the 31st of October, and as he travelled onward for a few days
through this rude territory, the people, instead of giving him any
annoyance, everywhere fled at his approach, thinking, from the
appearance of Fasil's horse, that the expedition was one of taxation and
contribution. Those few whom Bruce came in contact with, he found to
have a religious veneration for the Nile, the remains of that Pagan
worship which was originally paid to it, and which was the sole religion
of the country before the introduction of Christianity. Even the savages
who formed his guard, would have been apt, as he found, to destroy him,
if he had crossed the river on horseback, or employed its waters in
washing any part of his dress. He also learned that there was still a
kind of priest of this worship, who dwelt at the fountain of the Nile,
and was called "the servant of the river." It thus appeared
that, as in the ruder parts of Bruce’s native country, the aboriginal
religion had partly survived the ordinances of a new and purer worship
for many centuries.
It was early in the
afternoon of November 3d, that Bruce surmounted a ridge of hills which
separated him from the fountain of the Nile, and for the first time cast
his European eyes upon that object - the first, and, we believe, the
only European eyes that have ever beheld it. It was pointed out to him
by Woldo, his guide, as a hillock of green sod in the middle of a marshy
spot at the bottom of the hill on which he was standing. To quote his
own account of so remarkable a point in his life - "Half undressed,
as I was, by the loss of my sash, and throwing off my shoes, [a
necessary preliminary, to satisfy the Pagan feelings of the people], I
ran down the hill, towards the hillock of green sod, which was about two
hundred yards distant; the whole side of the hill was thick grown with
flowers, the large bulbous roots of which appearing above the surface of
the ground, and their skins coming off on my treading upon them,
occasioned me two very severe falls before I reached the brink of the
marsh. I after this came to the altar of green turf, which was
apparently the work of art, and I stood in rapture above the principal
fountain, which rises in the middle of it. It is easier to guess than to
describe the situation of my mind at that moment - standing in that spot
which had baffled the genius, industry, and enquiry of both ancients and
moderns for the course of near three thousand years. Kings had attempted
this discovery at the head of armies, and each expedition was
distinguished from the last only by the difference of numbers which had
perished, and agreed alone in the disappointment which had uniformly and
without exception followed them all. Fame, riches, and honour had been
held out for a series of ages to every individual of those myriads these
princes commanded, without having produced one man capable of gratifying
the curiosity of his sovereign, or wiping off this stain upon the
enterprise and abilities of mankind, or adding this desideratum for the
encouragement of geography. Though a mere private Briton, I triumphed
here, in my own mind, over kings and their armies! and every comparison
was leading nearer and nearer to presumption, when the place itself
where I stood, the object of my vain glory, suggested what depressed my
short-lived triumph. I was but a few minutes arrived at the sources of
the Nile, through numberless dangers and sufferings, the least of which
would have over-whelmed me, but for the continual goodness and
protection of Providence: I was, however, but then half through my
journey, and all those dangers through which I had already passed
awaited me on my return; I found a despondency gaining ground fast, and
blasting the crown of laurels which I had too rashly woven for
myself." In this paragraph - one of the most deeply touching
ever written - we find the Herculean mind of Bruce giving way, under the
influence of success, to sensations, which had scarcely ever affected
him during the whole course of his journey, while as yet the desire of
going onward, and the necessity of providing the means of doing so with
safety, possessed and amused his mind. Nothing could be more
characteristic of a great mind - by danger and hardship only braced to
more nervous exertion - by opposition only rendered the more eager and
firm - by the menaces of inferior minds only roused to contemptuous
defiance; and only to be softened by kindness, only to be subdued by
success.
Many other emotions,
however, must have entered the breast of the traveller in that
remarkable hour of his life. All the inspiring causes of his journey
must have rushed full upon him - the desire of overcoming a difficulty
which had defied the civilized part of the earth since ever it was
civilized - the hope of doing that which Alexander, and many of the
greatest men of antiquity had wished, but failed to do - the curiosity
of rendering that a matter of real and human exertion which an ancient
poet could only suppose possible to a supernatural being on an
extraordinary occasion: and, finally, the more rational glory of
performing such a service to science, as must procure for him the
approbation of his sovereign and fellow-countrymen, and even obtain a
peculiar distinction for his country among the other civilized nations.
Besides all these emotions, which had hitherto carried his enthusiastic
mind through unheard of difficulties, he must have recalled at this
moment softer sensations.
The idea that he was now
at the extreme point of distance from home, would awaken the vision of
that home which he had not seen for so many years; and from this spot,
in a metaphysical mirage, he would see the far blue hills of his
native land, the estuary, the river, the fields, and the mansion of his
childhood - the hearts that beat for him there, including one whose
pulsations were worth all the rest; and the old familiar faces, whose
kindly expression had been too long exchanged for the unkindred
countenances of barbarians and strangers. There might also mingle with
the varied tide of his sensations a reluctantly acknowledged sense of
the futility of all his exertions, and perils, and sufferings, since they
had only obtained for him the sight of a Pagan altar from which
proceeded one of the feeders, not certainly known to be the principal
one, of the mighty Nile; to what good could this sight conduce, since,
after all, it was only a sight? the object having been all along proved
to exist by the mere laws of nature.
The majestic intellect of
Bruce might turn from such a paltry object, and confess, with secret
bitterness, that the discovery of the source of the Nile was only
valuable so long as it seemed impossible, but that, now being achieved,
it sunk into insignificance, like the glittering air-ball seized by the
hand of a child. The traveller relates that his despondency continued
for some time; and that, as he could not reason it away, he resolved to
direct it till he might be able, on more solid reflection, to overcome
its progress. Calling to Strates, a faithful Greek, who had accompanied
him throughout all his Abyssinian travels, he said, 'Strates, faithful
squire! come and triumph with your Don Quixote at that island of
Barataria, to which we have most wisely and fortunately brought
ourselves! Come and triumph with me over all the kings of the earth, all
their armies, all their philosophers, and all their heroes! ‘Sir,'
says Strates, ‘I do not understand a word of what you say, and as
little of what you mean: you very well know I am no scholar.' ‘Come,’
said I, ‘take a draught of this excellent water, and drink with me a
health to his Majesty George IlI. , and a long line of princes,' I had
in my hand a large cup, made of a cocoa-nut shell, which I procured in
Arabia, and which was brimful." [This cup was brought home by
Bruce, and his representatives at Kinnaird still use it every day when
they entertain company at dinner.] He drank to the king speedily and
cheerfully, with the addition of 'confusion to his enemies,’ and
tossed up his cap with a loud huzza. 'Now, friend,' said I, 'here is to
a more humble, but still a sacred name - here is to Maria!" This
was a Scottish lady, we believe, a Miss Murray of Polmaise, to
whom Bruce had formed an attachment before leaving his native country.
These ceremonies being completed, he entered the village of Geesh, and
assumed for four days the sovereignty to which Fasil had given him a
title.
During this brief space,
he made forty observations as to the exact geographical site of the
fountain, and found it to be in north latitude 10 degrees 59' 25",
and 36° 55’30" east longitude, while its position was supposed
from the barometer to be two miles above the level of the sea. Bruce
left Geesh upon his return on the l0th of November, and he arrived at
Gondar, without any remarkable adventure, on the 17th. Here he found
that Fasil had set a new insurrection on foot, and had been again
unsuccessful. For some time great numbers of his adherents, or rather
the adherents of a mock king whom he had set up, were daily sacrificed.
Bruce was at first somewhat uneasy in this disagreeable scene, and the
maxim of the Abyssinians, never to permit a stranger to quit the
country, came full upon his mind. Early, however, in January, 1771, he
obtained the king's permission, on the plea of his health, to return
home, though not without a promise that he would come back, when his
health was re- established, bringing with him as many of his family as
possible, with horses, muskets, and bayonets. Ere he could take
advantage of this permission, fresh civil wars broke out, large
provinces became disturbed, and Bruce found that, as he had had to take
part in the national military operations in order to pave the way for
reaching the head of the Nile, so was it now necessary that he should do
his best for the suppression of the disturbances, that he might clear
his way towards home. During the whole of the year 1771, he was engaged
with the army, and he distinguished himself so highly as a warrior, that
the king presented him with a massive gold chain, consisting of one
hundred and eighty-four links, each of them weighing 3 and 1-12th dwts.
It was not till the 26th of December, thirteen months after his return
from the source of the Nile, that he set out on his way towards Europe;
nor even then was the country reduced to a peaceable condition. He was
accompanied by three Greeks, an old Turkish Janissary, a captain, and
some common muleteers; the Italian artist Balugani having died at Gondar.
On account of the dangers which he had experienced at Massuah from the
barbarous Naybe, he had resolved to return through the great deserts of
Nubia into Egypt, a tract by which he could trace the Nile in the
greater part of its course.
On the 23d of March,
after a series of dreadful hardships, he reached Teawa, the capital of
Abbara, and was introduced to the Sheikh, who, it seemed, was unwell,
though not so much so as to have lost any part of his ferocious
disposition. Bruce was met with an adventure, which, as it displays his
matchless presence of mind in a very brilliant light, may be here
related. He had undertaken to administer medicine to the Sheikh, who was
in the alcove of a spacious room, sitting on a sofa surrounded by
curtains. On the entrance of Bruce, he took two whiffs of his pipe, and
when the slave had left the room said, "Are you prepared? Have you
brought the money along with you?" Bruce replied, "My servants
are at the other door, and have the vomit you wanted." "Curse
you and the vomit too," cried the Sheikh in great passion, "I
want money and not poison. Where are your piastres?" " I am a
bad person," replied Bruce, "to furnish you with either; I
have neither money nor poison; but I advise you to drink a little warm
water to clear your stomach, cool your head, and then lie down and
compose yourself; I will see you to-morrow morning." Bruce was
retiring, when the Sheikh exclaimed, "Hakim, [physician] infidel,
or devil, or whatever is your name, hearken to what I say. Consider
where you are; this is the room where Mek Baady, a king, was slain by
the hand of my father: look at his blood, where it has stained the
floor, and can never be washed out. I am informed you have twenty
thousand piastres in gold with you; either give me two thousand before
you go out of this chamber, or you shall die; I shall put you to death
with my own hand." Upon this he took up his sword, which was lying
at the head of his sofa, and drawing it with a bravado, threw the
scabbard into the middle of the room, and, tucking the sleeve of his
shirt above the elbow, like a butcher, he said, "I wait your
answer." Bruce stept one pace backwards, and laid his hand upon a
little blunderbuss, without taking it off the belt. In a firm tone of
voice, he replied, "This is my answer: I am not a man to die like a
beast by the hand of a drunkard; on your life, I charge you, stir not
from your sofa. I had no need," says Bruce, '" to give this
injunction; he heard the noise which the closing of the joint in the
stock of the blunderbuss made, and thought I had cocked it, and was
instantly to fire. He let his sword drop, and threw himself on his back
upon the sofa, crying, ‘For God's sake, Hakim, I was but
jesting.'" Bruce turned from the cowed bully, and coolly wished him
a good night.
After being detained
three weeks at this place, he set out for Sennaar, the capital of Nubia,
which he reached at the end of April. He was here received kindly by the
king, but the barbarous maxims of the country caused his detention for
upwards of four months, during which the exhaustion of his funds caused
him to sell the whole of his gold chain except a few links. At length,
on the 5th of September, he commenced his journey across the great
desert of Nubia, and then only, it might be said, began the true
hardships of his expedition. As he advanced upon the sandy and burning
plain, his provisions became exhausted, his camels and even his men
perished by fatigue, and he was in the greatest danger, almost every
day, of being swallowed up by the moving sands which loaded the breath
of the deadly simoom. For weeks and months the miserable party toiled
through the desert, enduring hardships of which no denizen of a
civilized state can form the least idea. At last, on the 29th of
December, just as he had given his men the last meal which remained to
them, and when all, of course, had given themselves up for lost, they
came within hearing of the cataracts of the Nile, and reached the town
of Syene or Assouan, where succour in its amplest forms awaited them.
Twelve dreadful weeks Bruce had spent upon the desert: his
journey from the capital of Abyssinia to this point had altogether
occupied eleven months.
It was now exactly four
years since he had left civilized society at Cairo; during all which
time he had conversed only with barbarous tribes of people, from whose
passions no man possessed of less varied accomplishment, less daring,
and less address, could have possibly escaped. He sailed down the Nile
to Cairo, which he reached on the 10th of January, 1773. He then sailed
for Alexandria, whence he easily obtained a passage to Europe. Arriving
at Marseilles in March, he was immediately visited and congratulated by
a number of the French savans, at the head of whom was his former
friend, Count de Buffon. For some time, however, he was not sufficiently
recovered from the debilitating effects of his journey to enjoy the
polished society to which he was restored. A mental distress, moreover,
had awaited his arrival in Europe. His Maria, whose health he had
only postponed to that of his sovereign in drinking from the fountain of
the Nile, despairing of his return, had given her hand to an Italian
Marchese. Bruce withered under this disappointment more than under the
sun of Nubia. In a transport of indignation, he travelled to Rome, and
in a style of rodomontade, only to be excused by a kind consideration of
his impetuous and ingenuous character, called the Marchese to account
for a transaction, in which it was evident that only the lady could be
to blame. The Marchese, with Bruce's sword almost at his throat,
disclaimed having married Maria with any knowledge of a previous
engagement on her part: and with this Bruce had to rest satisfied. Mente
alta reposcit; his only resource was to bury his regrets in his own
proud bosom, and despise the love which could permit a question of time
or space to affect it.
In the summer of 1774, he
returned to England, from which he had now been absent twelve years. His
fame having gone before him, he was received with the highest
distinction. He was introduced at court, where he presented to George
III. those drawings of Palmyra, Baalbec, and the African cities, which
his Majesty had requested him to execute before his departure from the
country. The triumphs of this enterprising traveller were, however, soon
dashed and embittered by the mean conduct of a people and age altogether
unworthy of him. Bruce, wherever he went, was required to speak of what
be had seen and suffered in the course of his travels. He related
anecdotes of the Abyssinian and Nubian tribes, and gave descriptions of
localities and natural objects, which certainly appeared wonderful to a
civilized people, though only because they were novel: he related
nothing either morally or physically impossible. Unfortunately, however,
the license of travellers was proverbial in Britain as elsewhere. It was
also a prevailing custom at that time in private life, to exert the
imagination in telling wonderful, but plausible, tales, as one of the
amusements of the table. There was furthermore a race of travellers who
had never been able to penetrate into any very strange country, and who,
therefore, pined beneath the glories of a brother who had discovered the
source of the Nile. For all these reasons, the stories of Bruce were at
the very first set down for imaginary tales, furnished forth by his own
fancy. This view of the case was warmly taken up by a clique of
literary men, who, without science themselves, and unchecked by science
in others, then swayed the public mind.
A mere race of
garreteers, or little better, destroyed the laurels of this greatly
accomplished man, who had done and endured more in the cause of
knowledge during one day of his life, than the whole of them together
throughout the entire term of their worthless and mercenary existence.
This is a dreadful imputation upon the age of George III., but we fear
that the cold and narrow poverty of its literature, and the almost
non-existence of its science, would make any less indignant account of
its treatment of Bruce unjust. Even the country gentlemen in Scotland,
who, while he was carving out a glorious name for himself and providing
additional honour for his country, by the most extraordinary and
magnanimous exertions, were sunk in the low scottishness of the period,
or at most performed respectably the humble duties of surveying the
roads and convicting the poachers of their own little districts, could
sneer at the "lies" of Bruce. His mind shrunk from the
meanness of his fellows; and he retired, indignant and disappointed, to
Kinnaird, where, for some time, he busied himself in rebuilding his
house, and arranging the concerns of his estate, which had become
confused during his long absence.
In March 1776, he
provided additional means of happiness and repose, by marrying, for his
second wife, Mary Dundas, daughter of Thomas Dundas, Esq. of Fingask,
and of Lady Janet Maitland, daughter of the Earl of Lauderdale. This
amiable and accomplished person was much younger than Bruce, and it is
rather a singular coincidence, remarks Captain Head, that she was born
in the same year in which his first wife had died. For nine years Bruce
enjoyed too much domestic happiness to admit of his making a rapid
progress in the preparation of his journals for the press. But, after
the death of his wife in 1785, he applied to this task with more
eagerness, as a means of diverting his melancholy. We have heard that in
the composition of his book, he employed the assistance of a
professional litterateur, who first transcribed his journals into a
continuous narrative, and then wrote them over again, involving all the
alterations, improvements, and additional remarks, which the traveller
was pleased to suggest. The work appeared in 1790, seventeen years after
his return to Europe. It consisted of five large quarto volumes, besides
a volume of drawings, and was entitled, "Travels to Discover the
Sources of the Nile, in the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and
1773, by James Bruce, of Kinnaird, Esq., F. R. S." It was dedicated
to the king; and it is but justice to the memory of that sovereign to
state, that, while society in general raised against it the cry of envy,
jealousy, and ignorant incredulity, his Majesty stood boldly up in its
favour, and contended that it was a very great work. The King used to
say, that, had it not been for the indecorous nature of certain
passages, he could have wished to find it in the hands of all his
subjects, and he would himself have placed a copy of it in everyone of
his palaces. The taste of this monarch did not perhaps lead him to
expend great sums in patronizing the arts of the lighter branches of
literature, but he certainly was qualified to appreciate, and
also disposed to encourage, any exertion on the part of his subjects
which had a direct utility, and was consistent with honour and
virtue. The magnum opus of Bruce was bought up by the
public at its very first appearance: it required the whole of the impression
to satisfy the first burst of public curiosity. It was, in the same
year, translated into German and French.
Bruce, in his latter
years, lost much of his capabilities of enjoying life by his prodigious
corpulence. We have been told that at this period of his life he was
enlarged to such a degree as almost to appear monstrous. His appearance
was rendered the more striking, when, as was his frequent custom, he
assumed an Eastern habit and turban. His death was at length caused
indirectly by his corpulence. On the evening of the 27th of April, 1794,
after he had entertained a large party at dinner, he was hurrying to
escort an old lady down stairs to her carriage, when his foot - that
foot which had carried him through so many dangers, slipped upon the
steps; he tumbled down the stair, pitched upon his head, and, was taken
up speechless, with several of his fingers broken. Notwithstanding every
effort to restore the machinery of existence, he expired that night. He
was buried in the churchyard of his native parish of Larbert, where a
monument indicates his last resting-place.
To quote the character
which has been written for him by Captain Head, "Bruce belonged to
that useful class of men who are ever ready ‘to set their life upon a
cast, and stand the hazard of the die.' He was merely a traveler - a
knight-errant in search of new regions of the world; yet the
steady courage with which he encountered danger - his patience
and fortitude in adversity - his good sense in prosperity - the tact and
judgment with which he steered his lonely course through some of the
most barren and barbarous countries in the world, bending even the
ignorance, passions, and prejudices of the people he visited to his own
advantage - the graphic truth with which he described the strange scenes
which he had witnessed, and the inflexible fortitude with which he
maintained his assertions against the barbarous incredulity of his age,
place him at the top of his own class, while he at least stands second
to no man." Bruce understood French, Italian, Spanish, and
Portugese - the two former he could write and speak with facility.
Besides Greek and Latin, which he read well, but not critically, he knew
Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac; and in the latter part of his life,
compared several portions of the Scripture in those related dialects. He
read and spoke with ease, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Amharic, which had
proved of the greatest service to him in his travels. It is said that
the faults of his character were - inordinate family pride, and a want
of that power to accommodate one’s self to the weaknesses of others,
which is so important a qualification in a man of the world. But amidst
the splendours of such a history, and such an intellect, a few trivial
weaknesses - even allowing those to be so - are as motes in the meridian
sun.
A second edition of Bruce’s
Travels was published in 1805, by Dr Alexander Murray, from a copy which
the traveller himself had prepared to put to press. The first volume of
this elegant edition contains a biographical account of the author, by
Dr Murray, who was perhaps the only man of his age whom learning had
fitted for so peculiar a task as that of revising Bruce's Travels.
Download his books in pdf
format below...
An
Account of James Bruce and his Writings
Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile In the Years 1768, 1769,
1770, 1771, I772 and 1773 in 5 volumes by James Bruce of Kinnaird
Volume 1 |
Volume 2 | Volume 3 |
Volume 4 |
Volume 5
Note that there is a later
multi-volume set which has edited out the letter f for s but we have
been unable to find a complete set.
|
Had Scotsman James Bruce not been such a
remarkable man he might be better known today. As the discoverer of the source of the Blue
Nile in 1770, his name would be up there with those heroes of the following century,
Livingstone, Speke and Burton.