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THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF BRUCE,
THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER.
BY
MAJOR SIR FRANCIS B. HEAD.
Magna est veritas, ot praevalebit:
FROM THE LAST LONDON EDITION.
NEW-YORK:
PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS,
NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET.
1840
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York.
[Illustration: JAMES BRUCE.]
New York, Harper & Brothers.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The following work is one of no ordinary interest. It presents such an
example of heroic fortitude, constancy, and perseverance under trials
and difficulties, as cannot fail to excite in us the highest admiration.
Few individuals have been placed in circumstances of greater peril and
suffering than Bruce the traveller; and none, perhaps, ever more
strikingly displayed that rare combination of tact and courage, which
enables their possessor to triumph over every obstacle. Much practical
wisdom, therefore, may be gathered from reading this volume. The
country, too, visited by Bruce, and his account of its people, their
history, government, laws, customs, traditions, &c., have peculiar
claims on our attention. Abyssinia, remote and barbarous as it is, has,
from the earliest period, steadily retained a form of Christianity. This
is certainly a very remarkable phenomenon, cut off almost entirely, as
that country has been, from communication with other Christian states,
and surrounded on every side by Pagan and Mohammedan nations. Hence the
most lively curiosity has been manifested to know more of a people who
have thus marvellously preserved their ancient faith in the midst of
barbarism, idolatry, and the fierce fanaticism of the followers of the
Prophet. Of the few travellers who have succeeded in penetrating this
secluded and dangerous country, none have had anything like the ample
opportunities possessed by Bruce to obtain minute and accurate
information, and no one could more faithfully improve the advantages
thus fortunately offered him. The groundless and ungenerous distrust
with which his statements were received for years after his return (and
which is very properly noticed and rebuked by his biographer) has passed
away, and his travels may now be read as containing not only the
fullest, but the most authentic and credible account of Abyssinia, and
the singular people by which it is inhabited.
This volume will be found written in a familiar, lively, and agreeable
style, and to contain whatever is most interesting in the larger work of
Bruce. It is published from the last English edition, carefully revised
and corrected by the American editor, with the omission of a few
passages of minor interest, not essential to the completeness of the
narrative.
H. & B.
New-York, August, 1840.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Bruce's Birth--Education--Marriage.--Travels in Europe Page 9
CHAPTER II.
Bruce's Residence at Algiers as British Consul 25
CHAPTER III.
Bruce Travels through the Kingdoms of Tunis and Tripoli--Is
Wrecked--Beaten by the Arabs--Sails to Crete, Rhodes, Asia
Minor, and Syria--Visits Palmyra and Baalbec--Is Detained
at Cyprus--Sails for Egypt 39
CHAPTER IV.
Bruce arrives at Cairo--Has very singular Interviews with the
Bey--Sails up the Nile--Gains a promise of Protection from
the Arabs Ababde--Visits the Sepulchres of Thebes--Reaches
the Cataract of Syene--Descends the Nile to Keffe 53
CHAPTER V.
Bruce crosses the Desert to the Red Sea--Meets with the Arabs
Ababde at Cosseir--His Adventures in the Red Sea--Arrives
at Massuah, the ancient Harbour of Abyssinia 74
CHAPTER VI. 95
CHAPTER VII.
A short Description of Abyssinia 101
CHAPTER VIII.
A Sketch of the History of the Kingdom of Abyssinia 114
CHAPTER IX.
Bruce's Arrival and dangerous Detention in Masuah 140
CHAPTER X.
Journey from Arkeeko, over the Mountain of Tarenta to
Gondar, the Capital of Abyssinia 153
CHAPTER XI.
Bruce resides at Gondar, and gradually raises himself
to distinction 199
CHAPTER XII.
Bruce accompanies the King's Army, and returns with it
to Gondar 222
CHAPTER XIII.
Bruce again attempts to reach the Fountains of the Nile,
and succeeds 239
CHAPTER XIV.
Bruce returns to Gondar.--His Residence there.--Accompanies
the King in the Battles of Serbraxos.--Revolution at
Gondar.--Defeat and Overthrow of Ras Michael.--Bruce
returns to Gondar, and succeeds in obtaining Permission
to leave Abyssinia 271
CHAPTER XV.
Bruce leaves Gondar and travels to Sennaar, the Capital
of Nubia 297
CHAPTER XVI.
Bruce leaves Sennaar.--Crosses the great Desert of
Nubia.--His Distress.--Reaches Syene, on the Nile 326
CHAPTER XVII.
Kind Reception at Assouan.--Arrival at Cairo.--Transactions
with the Bey there.--Lands at Marseilles 354
CHAPTER XVIII.
Bruce returns to Europe.--Visits Paris--Italy.--Returns
to England.--Quarrels with the Writers of the Day.--Retires
to Scotland.--Marries.--At last publishes his Travels.--The
Incredulity of the Credulous.--Bruce's
Disappointment--Sorrow--Death 364
LIFE OF BRUCE,
THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER.
CHAPTER I.
Bruce's Birth--Education--Marriage.--Travels in Europe.
James Bruce was born at the family residence of Kinnaird, in the county
of Stirling, in Scotland, on the 14th day of December, 1730. His father
was the eldest son of Helen Bruce of Kinnaird,[1] and David Hay of
Woodcockdale, descended from an old and respectable branch of the Hays
of Enroll, distinguished in ancient Scottish history by their bravery,
and who received from Robert I. the hereditary office of high-constable
of Scotland. Bruce's 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.
On the 23d of November, 1733, Bruce lost his mother. She died of a
lingering disorder, which had long undermined her constitution; and,
scarcely, three years old, he thus unconsciously suffered the greatest
misfortune that can befall a child, and which nothing in this world can
compensate. A few years afterward, his father married the daughter of
James Glen, of Longcroft, in the shire of Linlithgow, by whom he had two
daughters and six sons, one of whom, while fighting as a volunteer in
the forlorn hope, was mortally wounded in the breach of a fortress at
the Havannah; another, in the service of the East India Company,
proposed the attack, and led on the party which, on the 3d of August,
1780, took from the Mahrattas the fortress of Gualior.
Though well formed, Bruce did not, as a child, appear to possess the
athletic constitution and unusual stature which he attained in manhood.
The relentless disorder which had hurried his mother to an early grave,
seemed to have recoiled upon him: he was subject to frequent pains in
the breast; and his temper, contrary to the impetuous and daring
character which it afterward assumed, was mild, quiet, and gentle. At
eight years of age, his father, resolving to give to his apparent heir
the advantages of a liberal education, sent him to London to the
friendly care of his uncle, Counsellor Hamilton, under whose
superintendence he remained until the year 1742, when, being twelve
years old, he was removed to Harrow school, then conducted by Dr. Cox.
Young Bruce prosecuted his studies with unusual steadiness and
assiduity; and, on the 14th of July, 1744, Dr. Glen wrote to Bruce's
father, his brother-in-law, as follows:
"What I wrote to you about James is all true, with this difference only,
that you may say, as the Queen of Sheba said of Solomon, the one half
has not been told you, for I never saw so fine a lad of his years in my
life; but, lest I should have been deceived in my own opinion of him, I
waited purposely on Dr. Cox to get information how he was profiting,
whose answer to me on that occasion was this: 'When you write to Mr.
Bruce's father about his son, you cannot say too much; for he is as
promising a young man as ever I had under my care, and, for his years, I
never saw his fellow.'"
Bruce remained at Harrow till the 8th of May, 1746; and, in the four
years he was at school, he not only acquired a competent share of
classical knowledge, but won the esteem of many individuals, whose
valuable friendship he retained through life. He was now nearly sixteen
years of age; but his health, which had always been delicate, was by no
means confirmed. He was much too tall for his age; his breast was weak:
his general appearance indicated that he had grown faster than his
strength; and his relations were alarmed lest he should become
consumptive: however, it was now necessary to consider what profession
he was to follow, and Mr. Hamilton was accordingly requested by the
elder Bruce to speak to him upon this important subject. Mr. Hamilton
was much pleased with young Bruce's replies; and on the 28th of July,
1746, he addressed his father as follows: "He is a mighty good youth, a
very good scholar, and extremely good tempered; has good solid sense,
and a good understanding. I have talked to him about what profession he
would most incline to: he very modestly says he will apply himself to
whatever profession you shall direct, but he, in his own inclination,
would study divinity and be a parson. The study of the law, and also
that of divinity, are, indeed, both of them attended with uncertainty of
success; but as he inclines to the profession of a clergyman, for which
he has a well-fitted gravity, I must leave it to you to give your own
directions; though I think, in general, it is most advisable to comply
with a young man's inclination, especially as the profession which he
proposes is in every respect fit for a gentleman."
This curious picture of young Bruce's early character may appear
extraordinary when compared with the performances of his after life; yet
a few moments' reflection will reconcile the seeming contradiction. Many
men possess talents--many possess application--the very few who possess
both become what we justly term great men: there is, however, one other
ingredient, namely, health, which, in proportion to its amount, induces
men to seek occupations more or less active and sedentary; and it may be
observed, that this ingredient, like the down which conveys many
vegetable seeds to a distant soil, transports men to the remotest
regions; thus scattering over the surface of the earth talents and
application which, without a superabundance of health, would have been
all confined at home, and directed to nearly the same pursuits: and
hence it was that Bruce, when a sickly lad, as much surprised his
friends by his grave, sedentary disposition, as he afterward astonished
them by his wild, wandering propensities and daring researches.
After leaving Harrow, Bruce went, for about a year, to an academy,
where, besides the classics, he studied French, arithmetic, and
geometry. In compliance with his father's wishes, he cheerfully
abandoned his inclination to enter the church, and agreed to prosecute
his future studies with the view of becoming an advocate at the Scottish
bar. He accordingly took leave of his English friends--one of whom, Mr.
Hamilton, wrote to Mr. D. Bruce in the following terms: "As to my giving
him advice with respect to his conduct and behaviour on his journey, I
apprehend that to be entirely unnecessary, because it is with pleasure I
think that God Almighty has given him an understanding superior to what
is common at his age, and sufficient, I hope, to conduct him through all
the various stages of life."
With this well-earned character, young Bruce returned to his native
country in the month of May, 1747. He arrived in better health than his
father had been led to expect, and spent the whole of the autumn in the
enjoyment of the sports of the field, for which he suddenly acquired a
partiality that he retained to the last hour of his life. Considerably
strengthened by this manly and healthy recreation, at the end of the
year he commenced his studies at the University of Edinburgh, by
attending the lectures of the professors of civil law, Scotch law, and
universal history; but he now found how much easier it is for a young
man to promise than to perform, and how painfully the mind proceeds on
the journey which it has not willingly undertaken. The intricate and
tedious details of the Roman and Scottish codes were subjects for which
Bruce's eager mind had no affinity: they were grave companions with whom
he soon felt that he could never associate. In vain he studied
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; but 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
midst of some very grave maxims, "Bella ingrata, io moriro!" with other
equally loving sentiments from Metastasio and Ariosto. However, Bruce's
bodily sickness soon closed the serious volume of the law: his health
became impaired, and his physicians, wisely prescribing for his mind
rather than for his body, ordered him to return to the country to enjoy
fresh air and exercise. This simple medicine soon restored him to
health; but it was now acknowledged that his prospect of succeeding at
the bar was very limited, and to his great joy it was at last determined
that he should abandon that learned profession for ever. He was, in
fact, incompetent to perform its labours; and yet it is not unworthy of
remark, that the boy who was thus lost in the labyrinths of Scottish law
lived to be the man who afterward reached the long-hidden fountains of
the Nile!
Bruce remained for several years without a profession. He at last fixed
on India as a field, the distance, vastness, and novelty of which were
best suited to the ardent disposition of his mind; but, being now
considerably above the age for receiving a writership from the East
India Company, he resolved to petition the Court of Directors for
permission to settle under its patronage as a free trader. In July,
1753, in the twenty-second year of his age, he left Scotland with the
view of prosecuting this design. On arriving in London, his English
friends and former acquaintances received him with the greatest
kindness; and, during the time he spent in soliciting permission from
the directors, he lived among them in the interesting character of one
who was soon to leave them for a very considerable period of his life.
By one of those friends whose kindness he was thus enjoying, he was
introduced to Adriana Allan, whose mind accorded with the beauty of her
person. She was the daughter of Mrs. Allan, the widow of an eminent
wine-merchant, who had raised himself to opulence by diligence and
integrity. This young person was elegant in her manners and appearance,
and as remarkable for a gentle, unassuming temper, as for a warm,
affectionate disposition. Bruce fell in love with this interesting young
lady, and accordingly addressed himself to Mrs. Allan, who listened with
approbation to the proposal of marriage which he had already made to her
daughter; and she herself suggested that, having no profession, he
should take a share in the wine-trade; and, although Bruce knew nothing
of that business, as it was to be the link which was to connect him with
the object of his affections, he eagerly assented to the proposal. The
marriage took place on the 3d of February, 1754, and Bruce took an
active part in the management of the concern. The dealings of the
company were extensive, and he appeared now to be on a road which was to
lead him to wealth and happiness; but this flattering prospect became
suddenly overcast. His young wife had inherited from her family the
seeds of a fatal disease, which, in a few months after her marriage,
made it necessary for her to leave the foggy atmosphere of London. She
resided at Bristol for a few months, for the benefit of the waters,
though with little advantage: her complaint was alleviated, but not
removed. Her last journey was to try the mild climate of the south of
France. Exhausted, however, by travelling, she was obliged to stop at
Paris, where she apparently rallied for a few days; but consumption was
only insidiously gaining strength to overpower her, and a week after her
arrival she again relapsed, the hectic flush vanished, and she expired!
While Bruce was attending her during her last moments, he was driven
almost to distraction by the disgraceful bigotry of the French priests,
who, in the garb of Christian ministers, crowded around his door to
persecute the last moments of one whom they termed a dying heretic; and,
even when the pale object of their unmanly persecution had ceased to
exist, their intolerant fury sought to deny her Christian burial. At the
hour of midnight, when the savage passions of his enemies were lulled in
sleep, Bruce attended the corpse of his young wife to her untimely
grave; and a month afterward, on the 12th of November, 1754, he thus
addressed his father:
"My mind is so shocked, and the impression of that dreadful scene at
Paris so strongly fixed, that I have it every minute before my eyes as
distinctly as it was then happening. Myself a stranger in the country;
my servants unacquainted with the language and country, my presence so
necessary among them, and indispensably so with my dear wife; my poor
girl dying before my eyes, full of that affection and tenderness which
marriage produces when people feel the happiness, but not the cares of
it; many of the Roman Catholic clergy hovering about the doors, myself
unable to find any expedient to keep them from disturbing her in her
last moments.... But I will write no more. I cannot, however, omit
telling you an instance of Lord Albemarle's very great humanity. The
morning before my wife died he sent his chaplain down to offer his
services in our distress. After hearing the service for the sick read,
and receiving the sacrament together, he told me, in case I received any
trouble from the priests, my lord desired I would tell them I belonged
to the English ambassador. When my wife died, the chaplain came again to
me, desired me to go home with him, and assured me that my lord had
given him orders to see my wife buried in the ambassador's
burying-ground, which was accordingly done; and, had it not been for
this piece of humanity, she must have been buried in the common yard
where the wood is piled that serves the town for firing. Having ordered
the mournful solemnity, with as much decency as is allowed in that
country to heretics, at midnight, between the 10th and 11th ult.,
accompanied only by the chaplain, a brother of my Lord Foley's, and our
own servants, we carried her body to the burying-ground at the Porte St.
Martin, where I saw all my comfort and happiness laid with her in the
grave. From thence, almost frantic, against the advice of everybody, I
got on horseback, having ordered the servant to have post-horses ready,
and set out, in the most tempestuous night I ever saw, for Boulogne,
where I arrived next day without stopping. There the riding in the
night-time, in the rain, want of food, which for a long time I had not
tasted, want of rest, fatigue, and excessive concern, threw me into a
fever; but, after repeated bleedings, and the great care taken of me by
Mr. Hay, I recovered well enough to set out for London on the Wednesday.
I arrived at home on the Thursday, when my fever again returned, and a
violent pain in my breast. Thus ended my unfortunate journey, and with
it my present prospects of happiness in this life."
After this melancholy event Bruce returned to his business in London;
but he soon found that the tie which had connected him with the
wine-trade was completely broken. He therefore at once gave up the chief
burden of its management to his brother; and, resolving to embrace the
first opportunity to resign his share altogether, he applied himself to
studies calculated to divert his mind from painful thoughts and
recollections. For about two years he occupied himself with the Spanish
and Portuguese languages, which he learned to pronounce with great
accuracy. He also laboured hard in practising several different styles
of drawing. Fortunately for his views, the trade in which he was engaged
required a regular and constant intercourse with France, Portugal, and
Spain. The plan which he had secretly formed of visiting the Continent
happily coincided, therefore, with his business; and he looked forward
to the time when he should travel over the south of Europe with the
taste and judgment of a scholar.
After having made a short visit to the islands of Guernsey and
Alderney, he sailed in the month of July for the Continent, and spent
the remainder of the year in Portugal and Spain. His professed object
was to be present at the vintage of that season, while his real
intention was to view the state of society and of science in those
kingdoms. He landed at Corunna, in Gallicia, on the 5th of July, and
proceeded to Ferrol, where he remained a few days. From Ferrol he
travelled to Oporto, and thence to Lisbon. In Portugal he was much
diverted with the novelty of manners and customs so different from those
of his own country; and his journals during this period are filled with
satirical observations on the apparent pride and stiffness of the
nobility, and the ignorance of the clergy. The following may be given as
a specimen of one of his first impressions as a young traveller:
"There are many particular customs in Portugal, all of which may be
known by this rule--that, whatever is done in the rest of the world in
one way, is in Portugal done by the contrary, even to the rocking of the
cradle, which, I believe, in all the rest of the world is from side to
side, but in Portugal is from head to foot; I fancy it is from this
early contrariety that their brains work in so different a manner all
their lives after. A Portuguese boatman always rows standing, not with
his face, but his back to the stern of the boat, and pushes his oar from
him. When he lands you, he turns the stern of the boat to the shore, and
not the head; if a man and woman ride on the same mule, the woman sits
before the man, with her face the contrary way to what they do in
England; when you take leave of any person to whom you have been paying
a visit, the master of the house always goes out of the room, down
stairs, and out of the house before you," &c.
After travelling about Portugal for nearly four months, Bruce entered
Spain; but, instead of going at once to Madrid, he turned to the right,
passed through Toledo, and made an excursion over the mountains into the
province of New Castile. Having advanced beyond the Sierra Morena, he
traversed the districts of Cordova and Seville, on the river
Guadalquivir, and about the middle of November reached Madrid. In this
rapid journey he seems to have considerably improved his knowledge of
the Spanish language, and to have made several attentive and judicious
observations. His character, which had hitherto been concealed by
various untoward circumstances, now began to appear in its real colours.
The traces of Oriental manners visible in the south of Spain, the ruined
palaces of the Caliphs, and the tales of romantic chivalry interwoven
with the Moorish wars, suggested to him the idea that an inquiry into
the history of Spain during the eight centuries in which it was
possessed by the Arabs would elucidate many of the obscure causes which
had obstructed the prosperity of that country.[2] Two large and
unexplored collections of Arabic manuscripts belonging to the Spanish
crown were lying buried in the monastery of St. Lawrence and in the
Library of the Escurial; and, though Bruce was as yet but little
acquainted with the Arabic language, he felt a strong ambition to trace,
through this tedious labyrinth, the Moorish history of the country. On
reaching Madrid, he procured an introduction to Don Ricardo Wall,
minister to his Catholic majesty, a gentleman of British extraction, and
of superior abilities; and from him he earnestly solicited assistance in
the researches which he desired to make in Arabic literature. Mr. Wall
frankly told Bruce, that the jealousy with which the Spaniards concealed
their historical records from every intelligent foreigner obstructed all
access to the Library of the Escurial; but the minister, pleased with
the adventurous spirit and the intelligence which he evinced, used every
endeavour to persuade him to enter his master's service. Bruce, however,
had already many roaming projects in his head: he was therefore
unwilling to settle; and, like the swallow, about to take its departure
it knows not where, he kept constantly on the wing, flying apparently
everywhere rather than be at rest. After having made many observations
on the several places which he visited in Spain, on Christmas day, 1757,
he arrived at Pampeluna, the capital of Navarre, on his way to France.
Crossing the Pyrenees, he went to Bordeaux, where, delighted with the
cheerful vivacity of French society, he remained several months among
friends and some relations who were residing there. From Bordeaux he
travelled through France to Strasburg; then, following the course of the
Rhine to its confluence with the Maine, he visited Frankfort. Returning
to the romantic valley of the Rhine, he visited Cologne, from whence he
proceeded to Brussels, the capital of the Austrian Netherlands, which
country he had long been extremely desirous to examine. On the second
day after his arrival, he happened to be in the company of a young man,
a perfect stranger to him, who was rudely insulted. Bruce foolishly
remonstrated with the aggressor, who sent him a challenge, which he
accepted. They met; and Bruce, having wounded his antagonist, left
Brussels immediately for Holland; whence, proceeding towards Hanover, he
arrived in time to see the battle of Crevelt. This was the first
military operation which he had ever witnessed. He had often boasted,
and still more often dreamed, of what he was always delighted to call
the _exploits_ of his ancestors, but hitherto he had only read or heard
of war. The moment he became acquainted with its reality, it appeared to
his excited mind to be a brilliant game, teeming with prizes and blanks;
a legal gambling of life, which, by comparison, made every other
employment appear trifling and insipid; and, impressed with these
feelings, he resolved to forsake the peaceful life he had hitherto led,
and seek adventures more congenial, as he conceived, to the spirit of
his ancestors.
On his way to England he received a letter at Rotterdam informing him of
the death of his father. The inestimable affection of a mother Bruce had
never known; and, by the demise of his father, a man of excellent
character and sound abilities, he was now deprived of all that he had
ever known of parental love. He immediately proceeded to England, where
he arrived in the end of July, 1758. In consequence of his father's
death, Bruce succeeded to the family estate of Kinnaird, a respectable
inheritance, but inadequate to the wants of his growing ambition. He did
not immediately visit Scotland, being partly occupied with his concern
in the wine-trade: but he gradually retired from this occupation, and in
1761, three years after his return, the partnership was legally
dissolved. During this period he had been diligently employed in
acquiring the Eastern languages; and, in the course of studying the
Arabic (a branch of learning at that time little connected with European
knowledge), he was induced to examine, in the works of Ludolf, the
Ethiopic or Geez tongue, which first directed his attention to the
mountains of Abyssinia. While he was thus employed, the establishment of
the Carron Company in Scotland made a very considerable addition to his
fortune: his property partly consisting of coal-mines, which were
required by that company for the smelting of their iron.
A circumstance now happened which forms the leading feature in the
singular history of Bruce's life. During the few days which he had spent
at Ferrol, in Gallicia, a report was circulated that the court of Spain
was about to engage in war with Great Britain. On considering the means
of defence which the place possessed, it appeared to Bruce that an
attack on it by a British squadron could not fail of being successful,
and that, in case of a war with Spain, it was the point at which that
country ought to be invaded.
On his return to England, although perfectly unknown to the public, our
travelling partner in the wine-trade boldly resolved to submit his
project to Mr. Pitt. He accordingly fully explained to his friend Mr.
Wood, then under secretary of state, the facts on which he had formed
his opinion; and, unwilling to appear as one of those who valorously
invent expeditions of danger which they most prudently call upon others
to carry into execution, he concluded by saying, that, in case a war
with Spain should be resolved on by the ministry, if the king would
intrust him in a single boat with a pair of colours, he would plant them
with his own hand on the beach at Ferrol.
Bruce was now sent for by Mr. Pitt, with whom he had the honour of
conversing on the subject; and, at the minister's suggestion, he drew up
a memorandum of his project. He was shortly after informed by Mr. Wood
that Mr. Pitt intended to employ him on a particular service; that he
might, however, go down for a few weeks to his own country to settle his
affairs, but that he must not fail to be ready upon a call. "Nothing
could be more flattering," says Bruce, "than such an offer; to be
thought worthy, when so young, of any employment by Mr. Pitt, was doubly
a preferment." No time was lost; but, just after Bruce had received
orders to return to London, Mr. Pitt went to Bath and resigned his
office.
This disappointment was the more sensibly felt, as it was the first
Bruce had met with in public life. However, shortly after Mr. Pitt's
resignation, he was informed by Mr. Wood that the memorandum he had
addressed to Mr. Pitt had been laid before the king, and had been
strongly recommended by Lord Halifax. The Earl of Egremont and Mr.
Grenville had now several meetings with Bruce, to concert an expedition
against Ferrol, the execution of which was to be intrusted to Lord Howe;
but, at the earnest request of the Portuguese ambassador, the project
was abandoned, and, on the death of Lord Egremont, Bruce's expectations
again vanished.
Disappointed in his offer of public service, he retired to his estate in
Scotland; but he was shortly again called to London by Lord Halifax,
who, appreciating Bruce's character, nobly observed to him, that, being
in the vigour of life, at the height of his reading, health, and
activity, it would be ignoble were he to turn peasant, and bury himself
in obscurity and idleness, while the coast of Barbary, which might be
said to be just at our door, had been but partially explored by Dr.
Shaw, who had not pretended to give to the public any details of the
magnificent remains of ruined architecture which he, as well as Sanson,
had vouched to have seen in great abundance over the whole of that
country. Lord Halifax therefore expressed a wish that Bruce should be
the first, in the reign just now commencing, to set an example of making
large additions to the royal collection; he pledged himself to be his
supporter and patron, and to make good to him the promises which he had
received from former ministers. The discovery of the source of the Nile
was also a subject of their conversation; and although it was mentioned
as a thing to be accomplished only by a more experienced traveller, yet
Bruce always declared it was at that instant of his life that his heart
suggested to him "that this great discovery should either," as he says,
"be achieved by me, or remain, as it had done for the last two thousand
years, a defiance to all travellers, and an opprobrium to geography."
Fortune seemed to favour his scheme. Mr. Aspinall, having been very
cruelly and ignominiously treated by the Dey of Algiers, had resigned
his consulship, and Mr. Ford, a merchant, the dey's acquaintance, had
been appointed in his stead: but, he dying a few days afterward, the
consulship again became vacant, and Lord Halifax pressed Bruce to accept
it, as being convenient for aiding him in the proposed expedition. "This
favourable event," says Bruce, "finally determined me. I had all my life
applied unweariedly, perhaps with more love than talent, to drawing, the
practice of mathematics, and especially that part necessary to
astronomy. The transit of Venus was at hand. It was certainly known that
it would be visible once at Algiers, and there was great reason to
expect that it might be twice. I had furnished myself with a large
apparatus of instruments, the completest of their kind, for the
observation. In the choice of these I had been assisted by my friend
Admiral Campbell, and Mr. Russell, secretary to the Turkish Company.
Every other necessary had been provided in proportion. It was a
pleasure now to know that it was not from a rock or a wood, but from my
own house at Algiers, I could deliberately take measures to place myself
in the list of men of science of all nations who were then preparing for
the same scientific attempt."
On his appointment to be consul at Algiers, Bruce had the honour of
being presented to his majesty George III., who graciously requested him
to make accurate drawings of the ruins of ancient architecture which he
should discover in the course of his travels; and to give Bruce a
liberal opportunity of improving his taste, and to qualify him for
collecting with greater ability the remains of antiquity in Africa (the
southern region of the Roman empire), it was arranged that he should
travel through France into Italy, and remain there for some months,
under the pretext of waiting for despatches which were to be there
forwarded to him.
Delighted with prospects so congenial to his disposition, being now
thirty-two years of age, he sailed from England in June, 1762; and,
though some objections had been made as to particular passports
solicited by the British government from the French secretary of state,
M. de Choiseul waived such exceptions with regard to Bruce, and politely
assured him, in a letter accompanying his passport, that those
difficulties did not in any shape regard him, but that he was perfectly
at liberty to pass through, or to remain in France, with those who might
accompany him, without limiting their number, as short or as long a time
as should be agreeable to him.
Having arrived at Rome (August, 1762), Bruce proceeded to Naples, and
there, for some months, awaited his majesty's farther commands. He
afterward went to Florence, where he remained most studiously occupied
for a considerable time.
It would be tedious to enter into a detail of the antiquities,
paintings, and other curiosities which Bruce observed in the course of
his journey, as they have been visited by thousands of Englishmen, and
have been minutely described by travellers of every possible
description. It is only necessary to state that Bruce made very minute
memoranda respecting every remarkable place or object which he
visited;[3] that his catalogue of paintings is very extensive; and that
his notes indicate the variety of his knowledge, the correctness of his
judgment, and the exalted feelings with which he visited those faded
scenes of Roman glory, which, like Byron's "Greece," may be justly
compared to a corpse from which a noble spirit has departed.
While at Naples, he received from slaves, redeemed from the province of
Constantia, descriptions of magnificent ruins which they had seen while
traversing that country in the camp of their master, the bey; and as it
was Bruce's intention not only to take accurate drawings of these, but
also to endeavour to make a map of the country, with observations on its
natural history, and on the manners and language of its inhabitants, he
justly concluded that the packing and repacking, mounting and rectifying
the instruments alone would wholly occupy one man; and he therefore
wrote to several of his correspondents, requesting them to procure him
an assistant. For a long time no one appeared willing to share the
fatigues of such journeys; but at last a young man was engaged who was
then studying architecture at Rome. He was a native of Bologna, named
Luigi Balugani. Besides the assistance of this person, Bruce provided
himself in England with two camera obscuras, the largest of which was
made of separate pieces, folding compactly on hinges: its body was a
hexagon of six feet diameter, with a conical top; in this instrument, as
in a summer-house, the draughtsman sat unseen, and in executing views of
ruined architecture, could do more work in an hour than the readiest
artist, without such assistance, in seven.
After having passed eight months at Naples, Rome, Bologna, and
Florence,[4] during which time he most attentively visited the
antiquities, paintings, cabinets, &c., availing himself of every
opportunity to improve his skill in drawing, he at last received his
despatches from England. Proceeding immediately to Leghorn, Bruce
embarked on board the Montreal man-of-war, and arrived at Algiers on the
15th of March, 1763.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The Bruces of Kinnaird trace their pedigree to that Norman house
which once occupied the throne of Scotland.
[2] See M. Florian's History of the Moors of Spain, published by Harper
& Brothers, 1840.
[3] It appears, from sketches found among his papers, that he intended
to write a dissertation on the ancient and modern state of Rome.
[4] The papers which are preserved relating to this journey are: "A
Narrative of the Route from Turin to Bologna--Inscriptions--Account of
Trajan's Tables--of Bologna--of the Paintings there--Route from Bologna
to Rome--Description of the Paintings in St. Peter's--the Vatican--the
Capitol--Belvidere--Albano--Barbarini Palace--in the Palaces
Spado--Little Farnese--Corsini--Borghese, &c.--Route from Rome to
Naples--Dissertation on Ancient and Modern Rome, Florence, &c., &c."