Bruce's Arrival and dangerous Detention in Masuah.
Masuah is a small island on the Abyssinian shore, standing in front of
the town of Arkeeko, and forming an excellent harbour: it is three
quarters of a mile in length, by about half that distance in breadth.
One third of it is occupied by houses, one third by cisterns to receive
rain-water, and the remainder is reserved as a place of burial.
Masuah was once a place of great commerce, possessing a share of the
Indian trade; but its importance declined from the time when, with
several other towns of the western coast of the Red Sea, it fell under
the dominion of Selim, emperor of Constantinople.
When the Turks first came in possession of this island, a governor was
sent to it from Constantinople; but its commerce having been ruined, it
was soon found not to be worth the expense attending the establishment
of a pashalic. The pasha was accordingly withdrawn; and the Turks,
having been assisted in their conquest of the place by a chieftain of
the mountains of Habab, he was created Naybe or Governor of Masuah,
holding his title by a firman from the Ottoman Porte, to which he agreed
to pay an annual tribute. The janisaries who had formed the Turkish
garrison were left in the island, and, intermarrying with its
inhabitants, they soon introduced into the country the lawless,
predatory, despotic notions of their race.
The naybe, who thus became, in fact, the sovereign of the island,
observing the great distance which separated him from the Turks in
Arabia, whose garrisons were daily decaying; finding also that he was
completely dependant upon Abyssinia for provisions, and even for water,
soon perceived that he had better make advances to a country from which
he could obtain both sustenance and protection. It was accordingly
agreed between the King of Abyssinia and the naybe, that the former
should receive one half of the customs of the port of Masuah, for which
the latter should be permitted to enjoy his government unmolested, and
purchase from Abyssinia whatever provisions, &c., he might require. The
friendship of Abyssinia being thus secured, and the power of the Turks
constantly declining in Arabia, the naybe began gradually to withdraw
himself from paying tribute to the Pasha of Jidda, to whose government
he had been annexed by the Porte. He, in short, annually received his
firman as a matter of form, offering in return trifling presents, but
giving nothing in the way of tribute.
It has already been stated, that, a short time before Bruce arrived at
Masuah, Abyssinia, under the influence of its minister, Ras Michael, had
been plunged into a war, and the great province of Tigre (bordering on
the little dominion of Masuah) being thus drained of its troops, the
naybe fraudulently availed himself of the opportunity to decline paying
any longer his share of the customs to the crown of Abyssinia. This
daring step he was induced to take from the peculiar situation in which
Abyssinia seemed to be placed. Michael, the ras or governor of Tigre,
having lately caused King Joas to be assassinated, sent to the Mountain
of Wechne, upon which the royal princes were confined, for Hatze Hamnes,
an imbecile, superstitious old man. On its being observed to him that
Hamnes had only one hand, and that, by a most ancient custom, he was on
this account ineligible for the throne, Michael angrily exclaimed, "What
have kings to do with hands?" and no one daring to answer him, Hamnes
was declared King of Abyssinia. Hatze Hamnes, whom Ras Michael had thus
placed upon the throne, was more than seventy years of age, and Michael
himself was not only nearly eighty, but lame, and scarcely able to
stand. The naybe of Masuah, who was in the vigour of life, fancied,
therefore, that he might safely despise a government which appeared to
him to be in its dotage; but in this he was greatly mistaken. No sooner
had he declared his intention of retaining the whole of the customs of
Masuah, than the old ras informed him "that in the next campaign he
would lay waste Arkeeko and Masuah, until they should be as desert as
the wilds of Samhar!" and as the ras, during the whole of his eventful
life, had always very faithfully performed all promises of this nature,
many of the foreign merchants at Masuah fled from the approaching storm
to Arabia. Still, however, the naybe showed no signs of fear, nor would
he give the smallest portion of his revenues either to the King of
Abyssinia or to the Pasha of Jidda.
Masuah was in this disturbed state, when information was received there
from Jidda that a prince, a very near relation of the King of England, a
person who was no trader, but, strange to say, was travelling only to
visit different countries and people, was about to arrive at Masuah in
his way to Abyssinia. When this intelligence arrived, the naybe and his
councillors assembled to determine what was to be done with the English
prince. Several proposed that he should at once be put to death, and his
property divided among themselves. This expeditious and customary mode
of receiving a stranger at Masuah was opposed by others, who more
prudently recommended that they should first see what letters the
stranger might bring with him, lest, by murdering him, they should add
fuel to the fire with which Ras Michael and the Pasha of Jidda had
already threatened to consume them. But Achmet, the naybe's nephew,
nobly maintained that, whether the stranger had letters or not, his rank
ought to protect him; that to murder him would be to act like banditti;
that a sufficient quantity of the blood of strangers had been already
shed; and that, in his opinion, it had brought the curse of poverty upon
the place. He observed, also, that he had heard of a salute which had
been fired at Jidda in compliment to this stranger, and he remarked that
half that number of ships and guns would lay Masuah and Arkeeko as
desolate as Ras Michael had already threatened to leave them. Achmet
therefore proposed that the Englishman should be received and treated
with marks of consideration, until, on inspecting his letters and
conversing with him, they might be able to judge what sort of a person
he was, and on what errand he came; and that, if it should turn out that
he was one of those foreign disturbers of the country who had heretofore
occasioned so much trouble, then, indeed, they might treat him with as
much severity as they pleased. There was both eloquence and prudence in
Achmet's speech; besides which, he was the heir-apparent of his uncle
the naybe. His opinion and arguments were therefore approved of by all,
and it was agreed that the fate of the English prince should be left at
his disposal.
Bruce was always of opinion that the salute with which he had been
honoured in the port of Jidda was the means of saving his life on his
landing in Abyssinia; and, if so, it may fairly be said that his own
good conduct, which had obtained for him this mark of the approbation of
his countrymen, was, under Providence, the cause of his escaping alive
from Masuah, that slaughter-house of strangers.
On the 19th of September, 1769, Bruce and his party, little aware of the
debate which had been held respecting them, arrived at Masuah, tired of
the sea, and eagerly desirous to land. The Pasha of Jidda, determined to
obtain the tribute which was due to him from the naybe of Masuah, had
prevailed upon the Sherriffe of Mecca to send over with Bruce Mohammed
Gibberti, who was ordered peremptorily to demand payment from the naybe,
and also privately to request Ras Michael to lend his aid in compelling
him to fulfil his engagement.
Mohammed Gibberti, a sincere friend to Bruce's interests, landed
therefore immediately; and being an Abyssinian, and having also
connexions at Masuah, he managed to despatch that same night to Adowa,
the capital of Tigre, letters, by which Ras Michael and the court of
Abyssinia were informed that Bruce had arrived at Masuah, bearing
letters from the Sherriffe of Mecca, from the Greek Patriarch of Cairo,
&c., &c.; but that, being afraid of the naybe, he begged some one might
be immediately sent to protect him. These letters were addressed to the
care of Janni, a Greek, who was then residing at Adowa, in Tigre. He was
a man of excellent character, had served two kings of Abyssinia, and had
been lately appointed by Ras Michael to the custom-house of Adowa, to
superintend the affairs of the revenue during the time that the ras was
occupied at Gondar.
As soon as these despatches had left Masuah, Mohammed Gibberti waited
upon Achmet and the naybe, and adroitly confirmed in their minds the
impression they had already received of Bruce's importance. He told them
of the firman which he carried with him from the Grand Seignior, of his
acquaintance with the Sherriffe of Mecca, of the honours he had received
from his countrymen, and of the surprising power and wealth of his
nation.
Gibberti having thus made every exertion possible to ensure the safety
of his English friends, Bruce landed at Masuah on the 20th of September,
1769. The naybe himself was at Arkeeko; but Achmet, his nephew, came
down to receive the duties on Bruce's merchandise.
Two elbow-chairs were placed in the middle of the market-place. On one
of them Achmet was seated, surrounded by several of the officers who
were to open Bruce's bales and packages, which were before him; while
the other chair, on his left, remained unoccupied. Achmet was dressed in
a long white muslin Banian habit, which reached to his ankles; and, when
Bruce arrived within arm's length of him, he arose. They touched each
other's hands, carried their fingers to their lips, and then crossed
their hands upon their breasts. "Salum Alicum!--peace be between us!"
(the salutation of the inferior), said Bruce, firmly. "Alicum
Salum--there is peace between us!" replied Achmet, who then pointed to
the chair, which Bruce at first declined; but Achmet insisting that he
should occupy it, they both with great dignity sat down. Achmet then
made a sign for coffee, which Bruce knew to be the token of the country
that the life of the guest was not in danger.
"We have expected you here for some time," said Achmet, "but thought you
had changed your mind and gone to India. Are you not afraid, so thinly
attended, to venture upon these long and dangerous voyages?" "Since
sailing from Jidda," replied Bruce, "I have been in Arabia Felix, in the
Gulf of Mocha, and crossed last from Loheia. The countries in which I
have been are either subject to the Emperor of Constantinople, whose
firman I have now the honour to present to you, or to the Regency of
Cairo and port of Janisaries (he presented also their letters), or to
the Sherriffe of Mecca. To you, sir, I present the sherriffe's letters,
and, besides, one from him to yourself; depending on your character, he
assured me this alone would be sufficient to preserve me from ill usage
so long as I did no wrong."
Achmet returned the letters to Bruce, saying, "You will give these to
the naybe to-morrow. I will keep my own letter, and will read it at
home." He accordingly put it in his bosom, and the coffee being removed,
Bruce rose to take leave; but he was scarcely on his feet before he was
wetted to the skin with deluges of rose-water, showered upon him on
every side from silver bottles.
One of the best houses in town had been provided for him; and, when he
entered it, a large dinner followed him from Achmet, with a profusion of
lemons, and good fresh water, one of the scarcest commodities at Masuah.
Very shortly afterward the baggage arrived unopened, which gave him much
pleasure, as he had been greatly afraid that his clock, telescope,
quadrant, and other instruments would have suffered from the violent
curiosity of the naybe's officers.
Late at night Bruce received a private visit from Achmet, who was then
in his undress. His body was naked, excepting a barracan, which was
thrown carelessly about him: he wore a pair of loose cotton drawers,
and a white cap was on his head. Bruce rose to meet him, and thanked him
for his civility in sending his baggage.
After expressing great surprise that Bruce, a Christian, had managed to
get letters from Mohammedans; and inquiring whether he really was a
prince, if he had been banished from his own country, and for what
possible object he could voluntarily expose himself to so many
difficulties and dangers, in order merely to visit that country; he
earnestly endeavoured, as the sole object of his visit, to persuade
Bruce to remain at Masuah, and not to proceed into Abyssinia.
Instead of making a long reply to these questions, and to a request to
which he knew he could give no satisfactory answer, Bruce soon put an
end to Achmet's speech by presenting him with a very handsome pair of
pistols. "Let the pistols remain with you," said Achmet, "and show them
to nobody till I send you a man to whom you may say anything; for there
are in the place a number of devils, not men; but Ullah Kerim! God is
Great! The person that brings you dry dates in an Indian handkerchief,
and an earthen bottle to drink your water out of, give him the pistols.
In the mean time, sleep sound and fear no evil; but never be persuaded
to trust yourself to the cafrs of Habbesh at Masuah." With this caution
Achmet departed, and a female slave very shortly arriving with dates,
&c., for Bruce, he committed the brace of pistols to her charge.
On the morning of the 21st the naybe came from Arkeeko. He was attended
by three or four servants, and about forty naked savages on foot, armed
with short lances and crooked knives. He was preceded by a drum, made
out of one of those earthen jars in which butter is sent over to Arabia;
it was covered with skin, and looked more like a jar of pickles than an
instrument of music. The whole of the procession was in the same style.
The naybe was dressed in an old, shabby Turkish habit, much too short
for him, and on his head he wore a Turkish cowke or cap.
In the afternoon Bruce went to pay his respects to him, and found him
sitting in a large elbow-chair, from which two files of naked savages
formed an avenue that reached to the door. The naybe was a tall, thin,
black man, with a large mouth and nose; he had no beard, save a scanty
tuft of gray hairs on the point of his chin: his eyes were large and
heavy; and a malicious, contemptuous smile sat on his countenance. His
character perfectly corresponded with his appearance; for he was a man
of no abilities, cruel to excess, brutal, avaricious, and, moreover, a
great drunkard.
It was to this creature that Bruce presented a firman, which the
greatest pasha in the Turkish empire would have kissed and carried to
his forehead. The naybe took it, as well as the various letters which
accompanied it, in both his hands, and, laying them unopened by his
side, "You should have brought a moullah (an interpreter) with you," he
said to Bruce. "Do you think I shall read all these letters? why, it
would take me a month!" "Just as you please!" replied Bruce.
A dead silence followed this laconic remark: at last Bruce offered his
presents, and then took his leave, little pleased with his reception,
and heartily rejoicing that the despatches which had been sent to Janni
were now far beyond the power of the naybe.
The inhabitants of Masuah, which, like the whole of the lower coast of
the Red Sea, is at all times a most unhealthy spot, were sinking under
the smallpox in such numbers that the living were scarcely able to bury
the dead; and the whole island, night and day, resounded with shrieks
and lamentations. Bruce on this account had suppressed his character of
physician, fearing lest he should be detained by the multitude of the
sick.
On the 15th of October the naybe despatched the vessel which had brought
Bruce to Masuah; and this evidence or spy upon his own conduct was no
sooner out of the way, than that very night he sent a message to Bruce,
desiring that he would prepare for him a handsome present; he even gave
a list of the articles, which he requested might be made up in three
parcels, to be delivered to him on three separate days. The first parcel
was to be given to him as Naybe of Arkeeko, the second as the
representative of the Grand Seignior, and the third for having passed
the baggage, particularly the quadrant, gratis and unopened.
It is always worse than useless to yield to the impositions of a savage;
for, in his presence, he who bends must also break. Under these
circumstances, firmness can hardly be called courage: it is rather a
desperate means of preserving life and property. Bruce replied, that,
having the firman of the Grand Seignior, and letters from the Sherriffe
of Mecca, it was mere generosity which had induced him to give any
present at all; that he was not a trafficker who bought and sold; that
he had brought no merchandise with him; and that, therefore, he had no
customs to pay. Upon this the naybe sent for Bruce to his house, where
he found him in a most violent passion; many words passed on both sides;
at last the naybe peremptorily declared, that unless Bruce paid him
three hundred ounces of gold, "he would confine him in a dungeon,
without light, air, or meat, until his bones came through his skin."
"Since you have broken your faith," replied Bruce, undauntedly, "with
the Grand Seignior, the government of Cairo, the Pasha of Jidda, and the
Sherriffe of Mecca, you will, no doubt, do as you please with me; but
you may expect to see the English man-of-war, the Lion, before Arkeeko
some morning before daybreak!"
"I should be glad," exclaimed the naybe, holding out his hand, "to see
that man at Arkeeko or Masuah that would carry as much writing from you
to Jidda as would lie upon my thumb-nail. I would strip his shirt off
first, then his skin, and then hang him before your door, to teach you
more wisdom."
"But my wisdom," replied Bruce, "has already taught me to prevent all
this. My letter is already gone to Jidda! and if, in twenty days from
this, another letter from me does not follow it, you will see what will
arrive. In the mean time, I here announce it to you, that I have letters
from the Sherriffe of Mecca to Ras Michael, governor of Tigre, and to
the King of Abyssinia; let me, therefore, continue my journey!"
"What, Michael too!" muttered the naybe, writhing under the conviction
that Bruce had overreached him; "then go your journey," he maliciously
added, "and think of the ill that is before you!"
On the 29th of October the naybe again came from Arkeeko to Masuah, and
sent for Bruce, who found him in a large room, like a barn, with about
sixty of his janisaries and officers of state, all naked. The first
question which the naybe asked Bruce was, "What the comet meant, and why
it had appeared?" He added, "The first time it was visible it brought
the smallpox, which killed about one thousand people in Masuah and
Arkeeko. It is known you conversed with it every night at Loheia. It has
now followed you here, to finish the few that remain; and then they say
you are to carry it with you into Abyssinia. What have you to do with
the comet?" To this strange, barbarous speech our traveller was about to
reply, when some one present said he had been informed that Bruce was
going to Ras Michael, to teach the Abyssinians to make cannon and
gunpowder, in order to attack Masuah. Five or six others spoke loudly in
the same strain; and, surrounded by such a crowd of naked
savages--savages in every sense of the word--Bruce would most probably
at this moment have ended his travels and his life, had it not been for
the precautions he had taken in bringing proper letters to Masuah and in
sending others from it, which placed the naybe between two batteries,
the fire of which he trembled to incur. "Dog of a Christian!" exclaimed
one of the company, putting his hand to his knife, "if the naybe wished
to murder you, could he not do it here this minute?" "No!" exclaimed
another voice from the crowd, "he could not! I would not suffer it.
Achmet is the stranger's friend, and has to-day recommended me to see
that no injury be done him. Achmet is ill, or he would have been here
himself!"
Bruce now turned upon his heel, and, without form or ceremony, walked
out of the barn. He had scarcely dined, when a servant came with a
letter from Achmet (who was at Arkeeko), telling him how ill he had
been, and how much surprise he had felt at his refusal to see him; and
concluded by desiring that the bearer should be allowed to take charge
of Bruce's gate until he could himself come to Masuah. Bruce now
discovered the falsehood and treachery of the naybe, and resolved to
follow Achmet's advice. At midnight his gate was attacked; but, on his
threatening to fire, the assassins retired.
On the 4th of November Bruce went to Arkeeko, and found Achmet in his
own house, ill of an intermittent fever, which had the very worst
symptoms: he therefore remained with his patient and prescribed for him
until he was free from the disorder. On the 6th, in the morning, while
at breakfast, he was rejoiced to hear that three servants had arrived
from Tigre. One was from Janni, the Greek officer of the customs at
Adowa; the other two were evidently servants of Ras Michael, or, rather,
of the king, both wearing the red, short cloak, lined and turned up with
mazarine blue, which is the badge of the royal retinue.
Ras Michael's letters to the naybe were very short. He said the king's
health was bad, and that he wondered why a physician sent to him from
Arabia, of whose arrival at Masuah he had long ago heard, was not at
once allowed to proceed to Gondar. He concluded by ordering the naybe to
furnish the stranger with necessaries, and then to forward him without
loss of time. In the evening Bruce returned to the island of Masuah, to
the great joy of his servants, who were afraid of some stratagem of the
naybe.
Without farther interruption, he got everything in readiness, and,
having concluded his observations upon this inhospitable island,
infamous for the quantity of Christian blood which had been shed there
under various pretences, he left Masuah on the 10th of November, after
a detention of nearly two months. On arriving at Arkeeko, he found
Achmet considerably better; but, as he still appeared to be greatly
afraid of dying, Bruce remained with him until he was convalescent, for
which he testified the warmest gratitude.
The naybe again endeavoured, by intimidation, to prevail upon Bruce to
pay him a thousand patakas; and his friends, seeing his obstinacy, and
aware of the cruelty of his disposition, strongly recommended Bruce to
give up all thoughts of proceeding to Abyssinia, as in passing through
Samhar, among the many barbarous people whom the naybe commanded there,
he would most surely be cut off. Bruce, however, peremptorily replied
that he was determined to go forward; and accordingly, early in the
morning of the 15th, he ordered his tents to be struck and his baggage
made ready, to show that he was resolved to stay no longer. At eight
o'clock he went to the naybe, who was almost alone, and who began, with
no small fluency of speech, to enumerate the difficulties of the
journey, the rivers, precipices, mountains, woods, wild beasts, savage,
lawless people, &c., which were to be encountered, in order still to
induce Bruce to remain at Masuah. In the midst of their conversation, a
servant entered the room covered with dust, and apparently fatigued with
a rapid journey from some distant place. The naybe, with much pretended
uneasiness and surprise, read the letters which this man delivered to
him, and then gravely told Bruce, that the three tribes who occupied
Samhar, the common passage from Masuah to Tigre, had revolted, driven
away his servants, and declared themselves independent. With apparent
devotion, he then hypocritically lifted up his eyes, and said he thanked
God that Bruce was not on his journey, as his death would have been
unjustly imputed to him! Bruce only laughed at this barefaced
imposition, on which the naybe told him he might proceed if he thought
proper, but that he had considered it his duty to warn him of his
danger. "We have plenty of firearms," replied Bruce, "and your servants
have often seen at Masuah that we are not ignorant of the use of them.
It is true we may lose our lives--that is in the hands of the
Almighty--but we shall not fail to leave enough on the spot to give
sufficient indication to the king and Ras Michael who were our
assassins!" "What I mentioned about the Shiho," replied the naybe, whose
treacherous countenance now assumed a look of complacency, "was only to
try you; all is peace! I only wanted to keep you here, if possible, to
cure my nephew Achmet; but, since you are resolved to go, be not afraid;
the roads are safe enough; I will give you a person to conduct you
safely."
After bidding adieu to this wretch, Bruce had a short interview with
Achmet, who privately told him it was yet far from the naybe's
intentions he should ever reach Gondar; but that he would take his final
deliverance upon himself, and concluded by advising him to set out
immediately.
The short account which we have here given of the Naybe of Masuah may
appear exaggerated to those who have never had the fortune to treat with
human beings of this description. But, in fact, no human beings can be
worse than the people of Masuah; who, as we have already observed, are a
mongrel race between the savages of the western coast of the Red Sea,
and those super-savages, the Turkish janisaries.
Salt visited this place in 1810, forty-one years after Bruce had left
it. Notwithstanding the handsome presents he made to the governor, he
was unable to resist the impositions of the naybe, his brothers, and his
sons; "and among this tribe of locusts," says Salt, "I was compelled to
distribute nearly five hundred dollars before I could get clear of the
place. With a pleasure somewhat similar to that expressed by Gil Blas,
when he escaped from the robbers' cave, we quitted Arkeeko. Among all
the descriptions of men I have ever met with, the character of the
half-civilized savages found at Arkeeko is the most detestable, as they
have ingeniously contrived to lose all the virtues of the rude tribes
to which they belonged, without having acquired anything but the vices
of their more civilized neighbours. The only description I recollect
that would particularly suit them, may be found in Mr. Bruce's very
energetic account of the inhabitants of Sennaar."
It is very singular that Salt, who thus invariably corroborates Bruce in
all the principal features of his history, should have been, as we shall
shortly see, so completely carried away by the party spirit which
existed against him. "Adversity," it has been justly remarked, "makes
men friends;" but, though Bruce and Salt suffered at Masuah and Arkeeko
under the same rod, yet the latter even there takes every opportunity of
supporting Lord Valentia in his petty attempt to convict Bruce of
"falsehood" and "exaggeration." The tide of public opinion was still
strong against Bruce, and on its faithless waters Lord Valentia and his
secretary were enabled to float in triumph.