BRUCE'S TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA
Perhaps one of the strangest facts in the whole history of exploration
is that Africa was almost an unknown land a hundred years ago, and
stranger still, that there remains to-day nearly one-eleventh of the
whole area still unexplored. And yet it is one of the three old
continents that appear on every old chart of the world in ancient days,
with its many-mouthed Nile rising in weird spots and flowing in sundry
impossible directions. Sometimes it joins the mysterious Niger, and
together they flow through country labelled "Unknown" or "Desert" or
"Negroland," or an enterprising cartographer fills up vacant spaces
with wild animals stalking through the land.
The coast tells a different tale. The west shores are studded with
trading forts belonging to English, Danes, Dutch, and Portuguese,
where slaves from the interior awaited shipment to the various
countries that required negro labour. The slave trade was the great,
in fact the only, attraction to Africa at the beginning of the
eighteenth century. In pursuit of this, men would penetrate quite a
long way into the interior, but through the long centuries few
explorers had travelled to the Dark Continent.
Towards the end of the century we suddenly get one man--a young Scottish
giant, named James Bruce, thirsting for exploration for its own sake.
He cared not for slaves or gold or ivory. He just wanted to discover
the source of the Nile, over which a great mystery had hung since the
days of Herodotus. The Mountains of the Moon figure largely on the
Old World maps, but Bruce decided to rediscover these for himself.
Herodotus had said the Nile turned west and became the Niger, others
said it turned east and somehow joined the Tigris and Euphrates. Indeed,
such was the uncertainty regarding its source that to discover the
source of the Nile seemed equivalent to performing the impossible.
James Bruce, athletic, daring, standing six feet four, seemed at the
age of twenty-four made for a life of travel and adventure. His business
took him to Spain and Portugal. He studied Arabic and the ancient
language of Abyssinia. He came under the notice of Pitt, and was made
consul of Algiers. The idea of the undiscovered sources of the Nile
took strong hold of Bruce's imagination.
"It was at this moment," he says, "that I resolved that this great
discovery should either be achieved by me or remain--as it has done
for three thousand years--a defiance to all travellers."
A violent dispute with the old bey of Algiers ended Bruce's consulate,
and in 1765, the spirit of adventure strong upon him, he sailed along
the North African coast, landed at Tunis, and made his way to Tripoli.
On the frontier he found a tribe of Arabs set apart to destroy the
lions which beset the neighbourhood. These people not only killed but
ate the lions, and they prevailed on Bruce to share their repast. But
one meal was enough for the young explorer.
In burning heat across the desert sands he passed on. Once a great
caravan arrived, journeying from Fez to Mecca, consisting of three
thousand men with camels laden with merchandise. But this religious
pilgrimage was plundered in the desert soon after. Arrived at Bengazi,
Bruce found a terrible famine raging, so he embarked on a little Greek
ship bound for Crete. It was crowded with Arabs; the captain was
ignorant; a violent storm arose and, close to Bengazi, the ship struck
upon a rock. Lowering a boat, Bruce and a number of Arabs sprang in
and tried to row ashore. But wave after wave broke over them, and at
last they had to swim for their lives. The surf was breaking on the
shore, and Bruce was washed up breathless and exhausted. Arabs
flocking down to plunder the wreck, found Bruce, and with blows and
kicks stripped him of all his clothes and left him naked on the barren
shore. At last an old Arab came along, threw a dirty rag over him,
and led him to a tent, whence he reached Bengazi once more, and soon
after crossed to Crete.
[Illustration: A NILE BOAT, OR CANJA. From Bruce's _Travels to
Discover the Source of the Nile_.]
It was not till July 1768 that the explorer at last reached Cairo _en
route_ for Abyssinia, and five months later embarked on board a Nile
boat, or canja. His cabin had close latticed windows made not only
to admit fresh air, but to be a defence against a set of robbers on
the Nile, who were wont to swim under water in the dark or on goatskins
to pilfer any passing boats. Then, unfurling her vast sails, the canja
bore Bruce on the first stage of his great journey. The explorer spent
some time in trying to find the lost site of old Memphis, but this
was difficult. "A man's heart fails him in looking to the south," he
says; "he is lost in the immense expanse of desert, which he sees full
of pyramids before him. Struck with terror from the unusual scene of
vastness opened all at once upon leaving the palm trees, he becomes
dispirited from the effect of the sultry climate."
For some days the canja, with a fair wind, stemmed the strong current
of the Nile. "With great velocity" she raced past various villages
through the narrow green valley of cultivation, till the scene changed
and large plantations of sugar-canes and dates began. "The wind had
now become so strong that the canja could scarcely carry her sails;
the current was rapid and the velocity with which she dashed against
the water was terrible." Still she flew on day after day, till early
in January they reached the spot "where spreading Nile parts
hundred-gated Thebes." Solitude and silence reigned over the
magnificent old sepulchres; the hundred gates were gone, robbers
swarmed, and the traveller hastened away. So on to Luxor and Karnac
to a great encampment of Arabs, who held sway over the desert which
Bruce had now to cross. The old sheikh, whose protection was necessary,
known as the Tiger from his ferocious disposition, was very ill in
his tent. Bruce gave him some lime water, which eased his pain, and,
rising from the ground, the old Arab stood upright and cried: "Cursed
be those of my people that ever shall lift up their hand against you
in the desert."
He strongly advised Bruce to return to Kenne and cross the desert from
there instead of going on by the Nile. Reluctantly Bruce turned back,
and on 16th February 1769 he joined a caravan setting out to cross
the desert to the shores of the Red Sea.
"Our road," he says, "was all the way in an open plain bounded by
hillocks of sand and fine gravel--perfectly hard, but without trees,
shrubs, or herbs. There are not even the traces of any living creature,
neither serpent, lizard, antelope, nor ostrich--the usual inhabitants
of the most dreary deserts. There is no sort of water--even the birds
seem to avoid the place as pestilential--the sun was burning hot."
In a few days the scene changed, and Bruce is noting that in four days
he passes more granite, porphyry, marble, and jasper than would build
Rome, Athens, Corinth, Memphis, Alexandria, and half a dozen more.
At last after a week's travel they reached Cossier, the little
mud-walled village on the shores of the Red Sea. Here Bruce embarked
in a small boat, the planks of which were sewn together instead of
nailed, with a "sort of straw mattress as a sail," for the emerald
mines described by Pliny, but he was driven back by a tremendous storm.
Determined to survey the Red Sea, he sailed to the north, and after
landing at Tor at the foot of Mount Sinai, he sailed down the bleak
coast of Arabia to Jidda, the port of Mecca.
[Illustration: AN ARAB SHEIKH. From Bruce's _Travels_.]
By this time he was shaking with ague and fever, scorched by the burning
sun, and weather-beaten by wind and storm--moreover, he was still
dressed as a Turkish soldier. He was glad enough to find kindly English
at Jidda, and after two months' rest he sailed on to the Straits of
Babelmandeb. Being now on English ground, he drank the King's health
and sailed across to Masuah, the main port of Abyssinia. Although he
had letters of introduction from Jidda he had some difficulty with
the chief of Masuah, but at last, dressed in long white Moorish robes,
he broke away, and in November 1769 started forth for Gondar, the
capital of Abyssinia.
It was nearly one hundred and fifty years since any European of note
had visited the country, and it was hard to get any information.
His way led across mountainous country--rugged and steep. "Far above
the top of all towers that stupendous mass, the mountain of Taranta,
probably one of the highest in the world, the point of which is buried
in the clouds and very rarely seen but in the clearest weather; at
other times abandoned to perpetual mist and darkness, the seat of
lightning, thunder, and of storm." Violent storms added to the terrors
of the way, trees were torn up by the roots, and swollen streams rushed
along in torrents.
Bruce had started with his quadrant carried by four men, but the task
of getting his cumbersome instruments up the steep sides of Taranta
was intense. However, they reached the top at last to find a huge plain,
"perhaps one of the highest in the world," and herds of beautiful cattle
feeding. "The cows were completely white, with large dewlaps hanging
down to their knees, white horns, and long silky hair." After
ninety-five days' journey, on 14th February Bruce reached Gondar, the
capital, on the flat summit of a high hill.
Here lived the King of Abyssinia, a supposed descendant of King
Solomon; but at the present time the country was in a lawless and
unsettled condition. Moreover, smallpox was raging at the palace, and
the royal children were smitten with it. Bruce's knowledge of medicine
now stood him again in good stead. He opened all the doors and windows
of the palace, washed his little patients with vinegar and warm water,
sent away those not already infected, and all recovered. Bruce had
sprung into court favour. The ferocious chieftain, Ras Michael, who
had killed one king, poisoned another, and was now ruling in the name
of a third, sent for him. The old chief was dressed in a coarse, dirty
garment wrapped round him like a blanket, his long white hair hung
down over his shoulders, while behind him stood soldiers, their lances
ornamented with shreds of scarlet cloth, one for every man slain in
battle.
Bruce was appointed "Master of the King's horse," a high office and
richly paid.
But "I told him this was no kindness," said the explorer. "My only
wish was to see the country and find the sources of the Nile."
But time passed on and they would not let him go, until, at last, he
persuaded the authorities to make him ruler over the province where
the Blue Nile was supposed to rise. Amid great opposition he at last
left the palace of Gondar on 28th October 1770, and was soon on his
way to the south "to see a river and a bog, no part of which he could
take away"--an expedition wholly incomprehensible to the royal folk
at Gondar. Two days' march brought him to the shores of the great Lake
Tsana, into which, despite the fact that he was tremendously hot and
that crocodiles abounded there, the hardy young explorer plunged for
a swim. And thus refreshed he proceeded on his way. He had now to
encounter a new chieftain named Fasil, who at first refused to give
him leave to pass on his way. It was not until Bruce had shown himself
an able horseman and exhibited feats of strength and prowess that leave
was at last granted. Fasil tested him in this wise. Twelve horses were
brought to Bruce, saddled and bridled, to know which he would like
to ride. Selecting an apparently quiet beast, the young traveller
mounted.
"For the first two minutes," he says, "I do not know whether I was
most in the earth or in the air; he kicked behind, reared before, leaped
like a deer all four legs off the ground--he then attempted to gallop,
taking the bridle in his teeth; he continued to gallop and ran away
as hard as he could, flinging out behind every ten yards, till he had
no longer breath or strength and I began to think he would scarce carry
me to the camp."
On his return Bruce mounted his own horse, and, taking his
double-barrelled gun, he rode about, twisting and turning his horse
in every direction, to the admiration of these wild Abyssinian folk.
Not only did Fasil now let him go, but he dressed him in a fine, loose
muslin garment which reached to his feet, gave him guides and a handsome
grey horse.
"Take this horse," he said, "as a present from me. Do not mount it
yourself; drive it before you, saddled and bridled as it is; no man
will touch you when he sees that horse." Bruce obeyed his orders, and
the horse was driven in front of him. The horse was magic; the people
gave it handfuls of barley and paid more respect to it than to Bruce
himself, though in many cases the people seemed scared by the
appearance of the horse and fled away.
On 2nd November the Nile came into sight. It was only two hundred and
sixty feet broad; but it was deeply revered by the people who lived
on its banks. They refused to allow Bruce to ride across, but insisted
on his taking off his shoes and walking through the shallow stream.
It now became difficult to get food as they crossed the scorching hot
plains. But Bruce was nearing his goal, and at last he stood at the
top of the great Abyssinian tableland. "Immediately below us appeared
the Nile itself, strangely diminished in size, now only a brook that
had scarcely water to turn a mill." Throwing off his shoes, trampling
down the flowers that grew on the mountain-side, falling twice in his
excitement, Bruce ran down in breathless haste till he reached the
"hillock of green sod" which has made his name so famous.
"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 inquiry of both ancients and moderns for the course of
near three thousand years. Kings had attempted this discovery at the
heads of their armies--fame, riches, and honour had been held out for
a series of ages without having produced one man capable of 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 over kings and their armies. I was
but a few minutes arrived at the source of the Nile, through numberless
dangers and sufferings, the least of which would have overwhelmed me
but for the continual goodness and protection of Providence. I was,
however, but then half through my journey, and all those dangers which
I had already passed awaited me again on my return. I found a
despondency gaining ground fast upon me and blasting the crown of
laurels I had too rashly woven for myself."
Bruce then filled a large cocoa-nut shell, which he had brought from
Arabia, full of the Nile water, and drank to the health of His Majesty
King George III.